Guild Wars 2

well, I was looking forward to the new stuff, thought it would be based on fun and not “challenge” (read: max level hardcore) because the other parts were doable by my 30-40s.

Did the prelims then entered the hatchery..Bam..too many mobs, no way to single pull, no where to run and spread them out, died of course….. why this insistance to only make stuff for max level hardcore kin players?

Ok so now I’ve wasted my time complaining to some devs who are hardcore junkies, who will never read any of this because of the title, I feel a little better and now I’ll go play a fun RTS game and pray for a MMORPG that doesn’t enjoy making folks feel inadequate…..maybe even one that makes you feel a tad herioc….perhaps even one without dying all the time you attempt anything new. Besides RTS games have a magical “save” button…your stupidities are erased with a simple load.

Wierd, I remember almost never dying in the good old days of early EQ. If you did die, it was a major hassle, but seems there was always a way to snare and run if things got dicey….and you could single pull and whittle down the horde.

My highest level character is 55, so I’m clearly not a “max level hardcore kin” player, and even then, I finished The Razing with a character that was still in their 40s. Your characterizations of The Razing honestly surprised me, and struck me as blatantly false.

That said, GW2’s aggro mechanics are sort of odd. WoW is much closer to EQ than GW2 in that regard. Still, although I couldn’t really single pull, I actually did (somewhat clumsily) whittle down the horde, as you put it. As a Warrior, I used a long bow to throw down AoEs around clustered groups, and otherwise focused on single targets as I’d run away. Some targets would die before reaching me, some would de-aggro, some would still chase me – the latter, if a small enough group, I’d switch to my Greatsword to kill. This way, the horde slowly diminished until all had fallen.

What’s funny to me is that you felt motivated enough to make this topic, yet felt no inclination to try different strategies or ask for help. :\

was using a 40 ranger leafhugger. This was just the entrance, the npc triggers a gate and everything comes rushing into the little entryway, not any real room to manuver and definitly no room for a full distance long-bow shot or to out distance the chasing mobs. I’ve just got to learn to be happy with the basic game until something better comes out. This game started out great, you could solo and then join up wo even forming a group and take down the occasional boss…and run if needed. It’s only the instances and anything new that is too hard it looks like, haven’t been playing very long.

I have a few suggestions that hopefully might help you get through it, if you’re still struggling you are welcome to contact me in-game and we’ll do them together.

When in the Nolan Hatchery solo there’s only one or two times (when taking down the sonic emitters) that you will likely face more than three mobs at once. The rest of the time it’s twos and threes. Remember that you’re in fact not alone though, Rox is with you and she’s more than able to take the hits from one or two enemies whilst you dispatch the others. Additionally, Rox is a Ranger, so look out for her healing spring when she uses it and stand within that, naturally the regeneration as well as condition removal it provides is very handy.

Single-pulling mobs is not a mechanic you should even think about using in this game. This is something to be thankful for, as it makes for horridly boring combat. It’s pretty passe. Every class has the ability to dodge (arguably the most important single-skill we have in the game). Use it and otherwise keep mobile if you can/need be, it helps a great deal.

I would also suggest that, if you haven’t already, you look at your equipment and make sure it’s relatively up-to-date for you level, anything more than 5 levels below your character’s current and I’d highly recommend upgrading. Of this varies with the quality of the actual items, but for the most part mastercrafted and even some rare quality items are available very cheap on the Black Lion Trader. I’d pay special attention to your jewellery, as in my experience they seem to be the items that tend to be forgotten about, as opposed to the more ‘visual’ armour and weaponry.

Other than that I would suggest not ‘worrying’ in combat too much. GW2’s mechanics is quite different from other MMOs and it does take a bit to get use to. For instance, our #1 attack skill/s provide more than enough damage to take down most enemies adequately. To that end so use your other ones (as well as your utilities) wisely; their true value I feel is not in the damage they do but more so in their additional effects, e.g. combos, condition removal, snaring, etc etc. Oh, and don’t forget those ‘blast’ and ‘leap’ combo finishers for when Rox has her healing spring down. 1000-2000 healing (depending upon stats) is quite handy.

Hope this helps somewhat. I will be interested to hear how you get on.

I hate to be the one to say this, but I have an Elementalist and I finished the F&F update with no problems at all. I solo’d them, didn’t die and at most was downed once. I’m not really sure whey anyone would find them difficult as they certainly were not designed to be that way.

My suggestion to you on this is; Get a team to help you!

I managed to solo it with level 80’s who are wearing level 35 gear, so it’s definitely doable even with kitten stats. Rox and Braham can tank fairly well, and the enemy tends to attack them over you, so focus on skills that deal damage and that supplement group healing. The NPCs also follow you in between combats, so don’t hesitate to retreat back after a fight if Rox/Braham’s health is less than 50; wait for them to heal back to max health before going in again.

If you can’t take hits from multiple mobs, don’t throw out AoE attacks and draw aggro to yourself, nor rush in first. Focus on single targets and follow behind Rox / Braham, hopefully letting Rox / Braham draw aggro.

I see that you’re a Ranger. I’d recommend using a Drake pet for these instances, as Drakes have area abilities which can hit multiple enemies, letting the Drake draw aggro away from you as well, and decent survivability.

Also, when you get to the part of the Hatchery where you have to destroy sonic emitters, destroy one at a time only. Mobs will spawn every time you destroy one, and if you destroy more than one at a time (before killing the mobs) you can very easily get overwhelmed. I made the mistake of blowing up 3 at once and ended up swarmed by around 10 enemies >.>

Wut? I do not mean to insult or anything, but I thought that these were way too easy.

You can just let your NPC ally tank everything and it will never die. Then you just DPS from behind him/her. I did this without even intending too, I just ran to kite and the other stepped in to tank.

It was easier than most personal story missions.

If you still have problems, maybe take in a party.

Its easy actually. I thought why can you take 5 people in if its mindnumbing easy alone already.

Malediktus.9250:

Its easy actually. I thought why can you take 5 people in if its mindnumbing easy alone already.

Yeah. It should scale up at least a little bit. While it was fun soloing, the moment you duo it’s painfully easy.

And about soloing:
You can’t actually loose in that instance as long as you kill at least one enemy before you go down. When you think about it that way it’s quite disheartening, really.
This game already is too easy.

SAB is pretty good in this regard.

The instances are no more difficult than open world enemies. Yes, they spawn several enemies at once, but if you can’t fight several non veteran enemies without dying or at least killing one when downed then you need to learn to play your class better. Your NPC ally is pretty sturdy and you can just let them tank a few while you focus on one. Plus you say you’re a ranger, so you have a pet to help on top of that. I don’t know how much easier it can get.

If you want to talk about challenging, then I would point to the Wintersday toy enemies.

kokocabana.8153:

The instances are no more difficult than open world enemies.

I’m not so sure. They seem to have enormous pools of health and hit harder than ‘normal’ mobs. Took my lvl 70 ranger nearly 60 hits to take down an average minion in these instances. The mobs, on the other hand, take half her health with a single hit. Without the pets and the friendly npc’s tanking while I sit there mindless plinking away with the shortbow, this would be a real pain in the neck.

I’m wondering if they have a specific resistance to projectile weapons…

lunawisp.2378:

I’m not so sure. They seem to have enormous pools of health and hit harder than ‘normal’ mobs. Took my lvl 70 ranger nearly 60 hits to take down an average minion in these instances. The mobs, on the other hand, take half her health with a single hit. Without the pets and the friendly npc’s tanking while I sit there mindless plinking away with the shortbow, this would be a real pain in the neck.

What’s your gear quality like? Level scaling is also affected by the quality of your equipment; for example, a level 10 character with level 10 gear upscaled to 80 will be on par with a level 80 character wearing level 80 gear, but a level 60 character wearing level 30 gear upscaled to 80 would find themselves with weaker stats than the level 10, because the game is assuming that your gear is level appropriate and scaling you appropriately.

I have level 80 characters that are still using level 35 Rares (long story), and I did notice a definite drop in my characters’ power during the instances, although I was still able to solo them with some careful strategy.

They are balanced for level 80 toons in exotic gears. They are too easy for me actually.

I finished them both (they were long for various reasons*), and had a little trouble, but not a lot.

*I was playing a level 32-34 mace/scepter & shield guardian geared appropriately for that level, so no back or neck items.

The NPC went down a couple of times and I rallied once, I carry a rez signet so they were up pretty quick to contribute to the dps again. As others have said, destroy one objective at a time, deal with the mobs that spawn, then the net one, etc. For the norn settlement after freeing the villagers you can move away in between waves and the NPC will follow you, allowing him to heal up.

lunawisp.2378:

kokocabana.8153:

The instances are no more difficult than open world enemies.

I’m not so sure. They seem to have enormous pools of health and hit harder than ‘normal’ mobs. Took my lvl 70 ranger nearly 60 hits to take down an average minion in these instances. The mobs, on the other hand, take half her health with a single hit. Without the pets and the friendly npc’s tanking while I sit there mindless plinking away with the shortbow, this would be a real pain in the neck.

I’m wondering if they have a specific resistance to projectile weapons…

The extra health and extra damage is easily counter balanced by the fact you have an NPC helping you. I found running the instance similar to soloing Dynamic events in the open world (not group events).

Nerokis.8405:

What’s funny to me is that you felt motivated enough to make this topic, yet felt no inclination to try different strategies or ask for help. :\

This. Countless new players I come across don’t seem to get this concept, and frankly, I don’t understand it. If something is difficult and things aren’t working for you, isn’t that a clear message that you should try a different strategy?

It’s kind of the entire underlying theme to GW2 – the fact that classes are so very versatile and can do so many things. You have to mix it up to succeed – to constantly explore your class and abilities and find out what works where.

It’s also been stated that the F&F instances were intended to be more challenging than your typical story mode instance. Bringing a friend or two is encouraged, but not at all necessary if you put some effort into it.

Zaxares.5419:

lunawisp.2378:

I’m not so sure. They seem to have enormous pools of health and hit harder than ‘normal’ mobs. Took my lvl 70 ranger nearly 60 hits to take down an average minion in these instances. The mobs, on the other hand, take half her health with a single hit. Without the pets and the friendly npc’s tanking while I sit there mindless plinking away with the shortbow, this would be a real pain in the neck.

What’s your gear quality like? Level scaling is also affected by the quality of your equipment; for example, a level 10 character with level 10 gear upscaled to 80 will be on par with a level 80 character wearing level 80 gear, but a level 60 character wearing level 30 gear upscaled to 80 would find themselves with weaker stats than the level 10, because the game is assuming that your gear is level appropriate and scaling you appropriately.

Could be that. I had gear 10-15 levels below my characters level. I’ve upgraded it and we’ll see if it helps. TBH though, I’m finding the whole thing a little boring, it’s just the same old wave-after-wave-after-wave of the same mobs over and over. Where four waves would be more than enough, they give us 7 or 8. It’s quantity over quality. Nose to the grinding wheel stuff…

lunawisp.2378:

It’s quantity over quality. Nose to the grinding wheel stuff…

Ground out the 150 sound cannons for the montly yet?
Seems that this has become the games’ normal mode of play.

But with a lvl 80 and lvl 80 exotic gear it is soloable.

Blude.6812:

lunawisp.2378:

It’s quantity over quality. Nose to the grinding wheel stuff…

Ground out the 150 sound cannons for the montly yet?
Seems that this has become the games’ normal mode of play.

But with a lvl 80 and lvl 80 exotic gear it is soloable.

Working on it Got till the end of the month so there’s no rush. It’s either that or the jumping puzzles and I find them even more annoying than the periscopes!

Yeah… I will say that I’m slightly disappointed with how F&F has gone in terms of actual content so far.

GW2 prides itself in doing away with the old MMO cliche of fetch quests and endless grinds. Then they bring them back in the form of new content. Something seems off here…

Gone a bit off topic, but thank goodness for sites like http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/ that have all the map locations to ease the grind a bit.

Also a good guide for the op (on topic)
http://dulfy.net/2013/03/26/gw2-braham-and-rox-living-story-guide/

Not hard, but tedious. My Necro normally takes 5 full cycles of dagger auto-attack to take out a heavy-armor L80 Risen Brute. A Molten Disaggregator, it takes 9-10 full cycles. I would have thought they had learned about more mob health !/= more interesting.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Not hard, but tedious. My Necro normally takes 5 full cycles of dagger auto-attack to take out a heavy-armor L80 Risen Brute. A Molten Disaggregator, it takes 9-10 full cycles. I would have thought they had learned about more mob health !/= more interesting.

I’m reminded of Lost Shores. “So what if we gave mobs TWO HEALTH BARS?!”

Halcyon.7352:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Not hard, but tedious. My Necro normally takes 5 full cycles of dagger auto-attack to take out a heavy-armor L80 Risen Brute. A Molten Disaggregator, it takes 9-10 full cycles. I would have thought they had learned about more mob health !/= more interesting.

I’m reminded of Lost Shores. “So what if we gave mobs TWO HEALTH BARS?!”

I think the Karka were a reaction by ANet to comments that the Risen were annoying but not hard — so they made mobs that were even more annoying but which hit harder.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Halcyon.7352:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Not hard, but tedious. My Necro normally takes 5 full cycles of dagger auto-attack to take out a heavy-armor L80 Risen Brute. A Molten Disaggregator, it takes 9-10 full cycles. I would have thought they had learned about more mob health !/= more interesting.

I’m reminded of Lost Shores. “So what if we gave mobs TWO HEALTH BARS?!”

I think the Karka were a reaction by ANet to comments that the Risen were annoying but not hard — so they made mobs that were even more annoying but which hit harder.

I am so looking forward to getting my mesmer to 80 and hitting those stupid karka with feedback…
Ahem.

On a lvl 80 condition/wells necro (scepter/dagger + staff), soloing those instances is really really easy (and not tedious at all). They did say that not every weapon combo was equally useful in every situation…