Guild Wars 2

So with all the aoe damage clones and phantasms become nigh on useless as they get killed rapidly even with traits and signets to make them more durable. This really becomes frustrating during the end boss fights where aoe hitting the party is the name of the game.

Clones/Phantasms were dying as they’d run up to a boss after I’d hit any of my F keys (F1, F2, etc) to shatter them! This makes the class far weaker in these aoe centric situations and needs to be remedied.

As far kittentering goes….
Illusions need to either become invulnerable when you tell them to shatter or teleport right to the target and explode.

It’s not like other classes can do their full damage to the boss either – the Guardian in our group was reduced to pew-pewing the with the scepter auto-attack because the teleports and fire shield were too frequent to get a full dose of Smite. Ranger pets would get murdered by the flaming AOE, no one can get a full melee burst on that boss, etc. The Berserker would be very painful for a dagger elementalist too. I went Scepter/Pistol, Staff in that battle so Duelist and Warlock got something off before getting killed.

In the other encounters of that dungeon I had no problem using clones (at least not more than any other dungeon) – projectile reflect kept away most of that nasty flaming stuff so I could shatter or have the pistol phantasm get a full burst going before it had to go.

I couldn’t get a proper 3-clone shatter off on the boss either, but I wouldn’t invul. clones or else they’ll get overpowered with regards to minions, pets, spirit weapons, etc. Despite the HP buffs, ranger spirits are still more vulnerable than clones to getting killed by AOE before you can get some use out of them.

My phantasmal Warlock died from sneezing before he could cast. happens alot, and i have the +20% hp boost too. :/

However it is possible to shatter on the last bosses but it takes timing and a mid to close range drop. I use mirror image, dodge roll away and shatter then phant duelist, dodge again, staff 2 and shatter, Tho i’m specced for healing shatters, if it hits it’s a bonus.

NibriAyid.3680:

It’s not like other classes can do their full damage to the boss either – the Guardian in our group was reduced to pew-pewing the with the scepter auto-attack because the teleports and fire shield were too frequent to get a full dose of Smite. Ranger pets would get murdered by the flaming AOE, no one can get a full melee burst on that boss, etc. The Berserker would be very painful for a dagger elementalist too. I went Scepter/Pistol, Staff in that battle so Duelist and Warlock got something off before getting killed.

In the other encounters of that dungeon I had no problem using clones (at least not more than any other dungeon) – projectile reflect kept away most of that nasty flaming stuff so I could shatter or have the pistol phantasm get a full burst going before it had to go.

I couldn’t get a proper 3-clone shatter off on the boss either, but I wouldn’t invul. clones or else they’ll get overpowered with regards to minions, pets, spirit weapons, etc. Despite the HP buffs, ranger spirits are still more vulnerable than clones to getting killed by AOE before you can get some use out of them.

My ranged pets did fine on my ranger. My mesmer got downgraded to near uselessness. My warrior was ok with shouts and faster rez times and longbow/rifle…melee just was ugly.

Ranger spirits still suck and always will in their current condition with health pools and internal cooldowns, unlike warrior banners.

I didn’t have any problem as I mentioned in my original post with the rest of the dungeon, just those style boss fights. I too found the pistol phantasm to be ok in that dungeon but it still died vs the bosses as the aoe is big enough to hit them at range and they aoe constantly.

If they want everyone to be pretty much useless and for class mechanics to be nullified then they can make those missions give you a specific weapon that everyone has to use.

As to invulnerable clones on shatter: Currently it’s just a mechanic to have them run up and could have been made to just deliver that packet of damage/effects the moment you hit the shatter button. When a mechanic of a class starts to affect it’s gameplay detrimentally because it “looks cool” then there is a design problem. The devs could always do some sort of pvp/wvw split if needed.

Lifelost.5627:

My phantasmal Warlock died from sneezing before he could cast. happens alot, and i have the +20% hp boost too. :/

However it is possible to shatter on the last bosses but it takes timing and a mid to close range drop. I use mirror image, dodge roll away and shatter then phant duelist, dodge again, staff 2 and shatter, Tho i’m specced for healing shatters, if it hits it’s a bonus.

Yeah I had a shatter centric build myself with the dodge trait, mirror image, decoy, staff/sword/pistol (HATE Scepter) and yet I’m here posting the class problems with fights like these so the developers are aware of them and can do something about them without having to resort to earlier boss encounter mechanics.

I melee’d the whole thing, then again I am playing a shout healing warrior so I am pretty resilient. You just need to spot the tells and get your timing right.

Anyway I was reading this because my second is a mesmer and I was wondering about trying to take it into the dungeon.

What about the skill that summons 2 clones? Don’t they summon right next to the target?

Dunno, my main is a lv80 mesmer and I haven’t noticed anything that would render me useless (Asura, Staff main, Sword + Focus Secondary)

Sure I wasn’t able to pump out 3 Illu Warlocks but hey, that’s common in Temples too (eg.: Dwayna).

Phase retreat is great for escaping AoE, and warlocks should be shattered after they land 1 hit, imo.

Only thing I noticed that Time warp was not the best choice there, since you have to run constatly, and you will be forced to leave the circle. Try using racial skills. I used Summon D-Series golem, wich worked great since it’s protection field + distracted bosses from allies.

Ps.: I hate the scepter too:)

Same goes for my engineer’s turrets, I guess I have to change my tactics somewhat ;P

Try feedback. You can get off 10’s of thousands of damage from just one feedback when used on the ranged mobs there.

I haven’t noticed any issue as a mesmer. I downed only twice, on the last fight. My clones didn’t die really fast, then again I tend to shatter on big fights so they have to die any way. And I’ve got like 5-6 skills that can summon clones, depending on what weapon I run.

Last night went through with a pug of three mesmers (myself included) and two others. No issues at all, but then again I’m not dependent on shatters to any extreme.

No offense to the OP, as I believe everyone has a right to an opinion. But since you posted yours here, Id like to offer my own.

Essentially, I wish this thread was deleted.

Why?

Because these fights were fun. The first boss, there are tricks to make it super easy as is. If you don’t know what I’m talking about, Im sure someone in one of your groups will figure it out eventually. If anything, its too easy. BUT its different from just about any other in the game and as such—- its allot of fun to do without those shortcuts.

As for the last boss, then one in question, Im D/D ele and it’s not easy. I also run a mes and a ranger, and Im here to say—— the last boss is the best and most fun Ive had in this game yet in a pve instance. It walks the perfect line between being easy enough that you can do it without it being a total pain in the rear— but yet hard enough that death is a constant possibility. Yeah, sure—- its hard to keep up pets/illusions/golems/whatever.. and its hard to position since you actually have to move around and pay attention. But that’s why its so fun.

I’ve ran this dungeon around 6 times (mostly with 2 stable ppl and 2 pugs) and to eb honest, it was not difficult at all if you know what to do… and I’m a confusion mes!

Yes, some of us are still around.

Spec for feedback to pop while rezzing. Helps out so much cause the aoe targets the downed.

Medic feedback. Helps out a lot.

I just used GS on his kitten no problems here. Illusionary Berserker dies all the time, nothing different in this boss fight.