Guild Wars 2

VIDEO GUIDE

Group Template
1 Mesmer (Group Support)
2-4 Warriors (Offensive Buffs)
0-2 Thieves (PureDPS)

Gear
Full Berserker Armor Accessories and Weapons
Omnomberry Bar
Potent Potion of Flame Legion Slaying
Superior Sigil of Smothering (If you have no shame)

Weapon Sets
Warriors: Greatsword and Axe/Mace
Mesmers: Greatsword and Sword/Focus
Thieves: Sword/Pistol and Dagger/Dagger

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

Honestly this took me about 2 hours to make, and yes CoF path 1 makes you INSANE amounts of money right now it is INSANELY broken. There are A LOT of players who farm CoF path 1 for this reason. Learning the tips and tricks to turning your 10 minute group into a 5 minute group requires you to either learn it yourself or run in a group that teaches you the techniques. Many players are excluded from CoF farm groups because of inexperience and they never learn how to at least PRETEND to be experience long enough to GET experienced.

Also, if there weren’t already 100 guides for every dungeon path out there on youtube, I’d consider it.

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

You have to be REALLY skilled to run in Berserker. Most in CoF that run Berserker are not skilled even the least and yet they think of themselves as the best around and would boot anyone in any kind of different gear (they boot non warriors too), even though a guardian could deliver more damage with a hammer than a warrior, a condi type warrior can do the same amount of damage as a regular or more and a toughness based dude can make sure that others don’t sit on their kitten for too long.

Don’t feed the trolls.

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

Honestly this took me about 2 hours to make, and yes CoF path 1 makes you INSANE amounts of money right now it is INSANELY broken. There are A LOT of players who farm CoF path 1 for this reason. Learning the tips and tricks to turning your 10 minute group into a 5 minute group requires you to either learn it yourself or run in a group that teaches you the techniques. Many players are excluded from CoF farm groups because of inexperience and they never learn how to at least PRETEND to be experience long enough to GET experienced.

Also, if there weren’t already 100 guides for every dungeon path out there on youtube, I’d consider it.

It is not INSANE amount of money anymore. It is fast but the amount of money for completing the path had adjusted. If you are running P1, pay attention to the reward money at the end, you will see the drop. Also, if you are running P1 for more than an hour now with MF gears, the loots won’t be good and reward money at the end is around 13s/run. I tested yesterday for 2 hours and I hit the DR ceiling for loots and money after an hour.

Wasabee.5031:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

Honestly this took me about 2 hours to make, and yes CoF path 1 makes you INSANE amounts of money right now it is INSANELY broken. There are A LOT of players who farm CoF path 1 for this reason. Learning the tips and tricks to turning your 10 minute group into a 5 minute group requires you to either learn it yourself or run in a group that teaches you the techniques. Many players are excluded from CoF farm groups because of inexperience and they never learn how to at least PRETEND to be experience long enough to GET experienced.

Also, if there weren’t already 100 guides for every dungeon path out there on youtube, I’d consider it.

It is not INSANE amount of money anymore. It is fast but the amount of money for completing the path had adjusted. If you are running P1, pay attention to the reward money at the end, you will see the drop. Also, if you are running P1 for more than an hour now with MF gears, the loots won’t be good and reward money at the end is around 13s/run. I tested yesterday for 2 hours and I hit the DR ceiling for loots and money after an hour.

The money doesnt come from the end reward, its from the 2 bosses + 3 chests (chance at lodes / yellows / exotics) and garbage to npc.

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

Honestly this took me about 2 hours to make, and yes CoF path 1 makes you INSANE amounts of money right now it is INSANELY broken. There are A LOT of players who farm CoF path 1 for this reason. Learning the tips and tricks to turning your 10 minute group into a 5 minute group requires you to either learn it yourself or run in a group that teaches you the techniques. Many players are excluded from CoF farm groups because of inexperience and they never learn how to at least PRETEND to be experience long enough to GET experienced.

Also, if there weren’t already 100 guides for every dungeon path out there on youtube, I’d consider it.

Ah ok, I see your point then. Alright I guess I’ll take some tips while I’m here. what utilities do you suggest the zerk warrior to carry given that someone already has banners covered?

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

Scootabuser.4915:

ArcTheFallen.7682:

This doesn’t sound like a beginner’s guide. Just a tutorial. And I feel like most of these are a given for people who do them. It’s not that hard to get down, a better guide would be how other non-dps dependent classes approach it imo.

It’s a beginners guide to CoF P1 Farming.
Not CoF Path 1

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

Ah…right. I guess what I’m trying to say really is that you are actually really neat in writing a dungeon guide, very comprehensive and clear, but I am just flustered at why out of all the dungeons you choose to write one for, you choose cof path1 because it covers such a small percentage of players. I mean, are there really that many zerk warriors out there that do not know how this works? I feel like (“just follow me and dps!”) is pretty sufficient for this path in particular. Given your technique in explaining, your write-up abilities would be far better useful for something like Arah Seer Path (p4).

Honestly this took me about 2 hours to make, and yes CoF path 1 makes you INSANE amounts of money right now it is INSANELY broken. There are A LOT of players who farm CoF path 1 for this reason. Learning the tips and tricks to turning your 10 minute group into a 5 minute group requires you to either learn it yourself or run in a group that teaches you the techniques. Many players are excluded from CoF farm groups because of inexperience and they never learn how to at least PRETEND to be experience long enough to GET experienced.

Also, if there weren’t already 100 guides for every dungeon path out there on youtube, I’d consider it.

Ah ok, I see your point then. Alright I guess I’ll take some tips while I’m here. what utilities do you suggest the zerk warrior to carry given that someone already has banners covered?

The only banner you really need is discipline and strength, every warrior takes Battle Standard though. For Great Justice, Endure Pain, Frenzy, Shake it Off are all good choices. For heals you can go Healing Surge or Mending depending if you want a bigger or or to clean the burning.

Mirta.5029:

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

You have to be REALLY skilled to run in Berserker. Most in CoF that run Berserker are not skilled even the least and yet they think of themselves as the best around and would boot anyone in any kind of different gear (they boot non warriors too), even though a guardian could deliver more damage with a hammer than a warrior, a condi type warrior can do the same amount of damage as a regular or more and a toughness based dude can make sure that others don’t sit on their kitten for too long.

This is prob the funniest thing I have read or watched all day hands down.
Like I was LITERALLY laughing at my desk hysterically with tears rolling down my face. My roomate came to check on me cause she thought I was having a breakdown.

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

You have to be REALLY skilled to run in Berserker. Most in CoF that run Berserker are not skilled even the least and yet they think of themselves as the best around and would boot anyone in any kind of different gear (they boot non warriors too), even though a guardian could deliver more damage with a hammer than a warrior, a condi type warrior can do the same amount of damage as a regular or more and a toughness based dude can make sure that others don’t sit on their kitten for too long.

This is prob the funniest thing I have read or watched all day hands down.
Like I was LITERALLY laughing at my desk hysterically with tears rolling down my face. My roomate came to check on me cause she thought I was having a breakdown.

Its funny and yet its true. Ive had friends I ran hundreds of cof runs with, but the moment i take them into coe/arah, they could not do anything but mash their DPS skills eating every single attack regardless of me telling them what to dodge. 10-15 runs later of coe/arah, they are still dying to the same stupid attacks. They’re pretty kitten efficient at running cof in full berserker, but they can’t handle taking that full berserker outside of cof.

Reality is that there are alot of really really really really bad players that use full zerker while the most efficient / fastest players also use full zerker. Baddies trying to be pro’s =/.

I’m still holding out for the 5x Rangers version. That would make for interesting reading. Or maybe 5x Engineers. That would be cool too.

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

What? Carrion? Why would you run Carrion gear on a necro in high end fractals? The extra HP from Carrion in wasted on Agony and assuming you are condition, the power is somewhat useless without the corresponding precision(ala Rampagers gear).

I think you meant Rampagers, or Rabid if you are expected too take a few mob hits.

Blacklight.2871:

I’m still holding out for the 5x Rangers version. That would make for interesting reading. Or maybe 5x Engineers. That would be cool too.

If only I knew 5 rangers

Right, thieves… Leme guess-OP is a thief.
Funny how thieves and guardians are saying that they are just as good as wars, yet they are not looking for more thieves/guards, but wars to fill the rest of the group. Two words: hypocritical justification.

Maylojager.1307:

Right, thieves… Leme guess-OP is a thief.
Funny how thieves and guardians are saying that they are just as good as wars, yet they are not looking for more thieves/guards, but wars to fill the rest of the group. Two words: hypocritical justification.

I accept thieves I know. Thieves out DPS warriors they just die all the time, so only invite thieves you know ;D

Also… I made the guide? I’m a thief in the video?

Um, no farming needed beyond simply beating the dungeon. Doing it over and over is boring. Instead, knock out all 3 paths twice.

Then, buy as many 30 token rares as you can.

Salvage for ectos. Sell ectos.

Congrats, you probably just made more money than anyone who speed farmed P1 for 2 hours. No RNG or worry of DR here folks.

Not really sure why people want to farm when the method above is on the table….

Unless you need to save the ectos for a legendary but even then…

Don’t attack the OP.

He made a real effort and a real guide to show the minor tricks and clues on how to maximize your CoF 1 efficiency.

You don’t have to approve of CoF farming but you must accept that it’s a popular thing to do and that many people do it. I might feel tempted to do the same if I ever had a perfect setup but as it stands I prefer doing 1 run a day than spend 30 minutes looking for a perfect group and run the dungeon over and over again for less and less return.

Why would you need a guide for this? It’s like creating a guide to show people how to breathe.

Mirta.5029:

Scootabuser.4915:

Mirta.5029:

glad that it will probably get a complete revamp. CoF is the easiest dungeon out there and attracts the most noobs in berserker.

Because spending 20 minutes in Arah for the same reward is just THRILLING >:3

Also what do you mean by noobs in berserkers?
Talk to any 40+ fractal group, you’ll find 1 Guardian in Clerics, 1 Necro in Carrion, and 3 people in Berserkers.

You have to be REALLY skilled to run in Berserker. Most in CoF that run Berserker are not skilled even the least and yet they think of themselves as the best around and would boot anyone in any kind of different gear (they boot non warriors too), even though a guardian could deliver more damage with a hammer than a warrior, a condi type warrior can do the same amount of damage as a regular or more and a toughness based dude can make sure that others don’t sit on their kitten for too long.

Naww…I much prefer to run this path on my GC thief than my guardian actually…at least it’s more “fun”…you know with a guardian, you don’t need to dodge, you just press a few buttons and thus never have to worry about dying.

I think a mixed warrior/thief group is better than a full warrior group.

I don’t know who have higher dps, but a thief with warrior buff probably out dps a warrior who self buff. So I think mix group have higher dps.

I mean I see mixed group kill first boss from full hp to 0 in 1 TW, or last boss from full to 20% hp. I never seen that done in a full warrior group.

Thief if built right can do just as much DPS as a warrior, if not more. Pistol whip spam allows you to match their DPS without having to worry about dodging. Not to mention you have a 4 second self time warp.

Not to mention the added DPS from thieves guild.

The main advantage warriors is have is their buffs, if you have a group that’s like, 1 mes, 2 war, 2 thieves and the thieves are built right, they’ll have the highest DPS in that group.

Poor Elementalists, Necromancers , Rangers, Engineers, and Guardians who came here based on the thread’s title.

I wouldnt normally say anything but posts like this hurt the game and should be removed from the forums. I dont condone excluding any class from any dungeon, and I myself am a Warrior.

Ignore the part of the guide states what class you should be and play it with whatever class you want. Running Path 1 with a mixture of classes will only add a minute or two onto your run which wont matter unless youre grinding the dungeon. In which case id suggest ANET buff the dungeon to stop people grinding it.

I truely hope no new player sees this ‘guide’ and chooses a class based on it.

Oglaf.1074:

Poor Elementalists, Necromancers , Rangers, Engineers, and Guardians who came here based on the thread’s title.

We actually timed ourselves and the difference between running Mesmer/Warrior/Warrior/Thief, and M/W/W/T/T; was about 45 seconds longer.

The 5th person makes very little difference unless your going for time trials. ;D

Heres my CoF p1 guide.
First turrets, just burst down everything you can touch
First boss burst him down, hilariously easy
Bridge part, skip it
Actoyles part, burst and run
Molten rocks part, learn how to play that cross the street video game
Braizer: you really don’t need a tutorial for this >.>
Last boss, learn how to dodge.

Congratulation you are now a expert on CoF p1

LieutenantGoogle.7326:

Heres my CoF p1 guide.
First turrets, just burst down everything you can touch
First boss burst him down, hilariously easy
Bridge part, skip it
Actoyles part, burst and run
Molten rocks part, learn how to play that cross the street video game
Braizer: you really don’t need a tutorial for this >.>
Last boss, learn how to dodge.

Congratulation you are now a expert on CoF p1

To those who know how to do it, it’s easy.

Thereon.3495:

Ignore the part of the guide states what class you should be and play it with whatever class you want. Running Path 1 with a mixture of classes will only add a minute or two onto your run which wont matter unless youre grinding the dungeon. In which case id suggest ANET buff the dungeon to stop people grinding it.

Ok, first of all it’ll add more than 1 or 2 minutes.

Second of all, you should try reading the thread title.

which wont matter unless youre grinding the dungeon

Thread title:

“CoF Path FARMING beginners guide”

See that? FARMING, as in grinding the dungeon.

Add embers for more dps.

When groups start dictating which professions are allowed to participate in a dungeon path, then it becomes more like a “Meta” than a Guide or Tutorial. In my opinion, Metas are bad and can lead the mob-like mentality of PUGs to think in a near 1-dimensional type of way to complete content. It brings back times when Domain of Anguish was new and PUGs only allowed Warriors, Monks, Necromancers, and Elementalists. If you were something else (like me who was a Ritualist at the time), then no one wanted you unless there was someone out there that wanted to look outside the box, which was quite rare. I guess I should be lucky that I managed to beat Mallyx as a Ritualist at the time since there was one person out there willing to expand the Meta and experiment with different builds. Honestly, I just find it quite annoying when I listen to people on my Mumble server talking about how they’re so freakin’ B-A just because they can run path 1 so many times on one hour— it makes me sick.

The point really is that one shouldn’t feel forced (as in, not actually forced) to level up a profession that they don’t want to play just to run certain content. If I’m not mistaken, GW2 was designed to be run without requiring a certain dedicated profession to complete the content. Meaning, I don’t have to wait on a dedicated healer, dedicated tank, dedicated ranged DPS, dedicated melee DPS, dedicated buff-bot, dedicated this and that. The roles amongst members should dynamically change based on the content in question.

Besides that— seeing that this is a “farming guide”, I could probably see CoF Path 1 getting nerfed at some point due to the path being ridiculously simple to run for the level of player it is designed for. It would definitely need to be overhauled just to make it at least moderately challenging, even for zerker groups.

Scootabuser.4915:

LieutenantGoogle.7326:

Heres my CoF p1 guide.
First turrets, just burst down everything you can touch
First boss burst him down, hilariously easy
Bridge part, skip it
Actoyles part, burst and run
Molten rocks part, learn how to play that cross the street video game
Braizer: you really don’t need a tutorial for this >.>
Last boss, learn how to dodge.

Congratulation you are now a expert on CoF p1

To those who know how to do it, it’s easy.

Yes, that is true
But Cof p1 is easy to a point of comedy.
Any and I mean ANY one who has any idea how a rpg works will pick up on this exploratory mode in 2-3 runs maximum.

Except maybe for the last boss.

Scootabuser.4915:

Oglaf.1074:

Poor Elementalists, Necromancers , Rangers, Engineers, and Guardians who came here based on the thread’s title.

We actually timed ourselves and the difference between running Mesmer/Warrior/Warrior/Thief, and M/W/W/T/T; was about 45 seconds longer.

The 5th person makes very little difference unless your going for time trials. ;D

Theres a pretty random factor in timing speed runs for p1 that causes discrepancies with the final boss. Sometimes you’re lucky to not get crystals summoned for a good 60% of the fight, along with knockdown. Other times he’ll chain a series of attacks thats not optimal for dps’ing. Itll vary here and there as well as how well the mesmer can utilize reflects. A really good mesmer will alternate iWarden with feedback to get the most out of not getting knocked down + a spike of burst damage on the boss.

But yes, I personally could care less of whats in my group as long as we’re getting 1 food = 3 runs. My optimal premade group gets 4 runs per 1 food, but i don’t expect my pug’s to think in the same lines of maximizing efficiency as much as I do.

CoF path 1 is super easy, that’s why it’s farmed. And yes a lot of people got all their exotics and experience from P1 CoF and couldn’t do another dungeon to save their life.

There a niche in gaming incorrectly known as min/maxing. It’s the goal to try to make something as efficient as possible for no other reason then the challenge. Being able to cut 5 seconds off a run time for 20 silver using Embers ect… It’s not done for profit or because it’s logical, it’s just done for fun.

As for the party composition, the whole reason 4 warriors got so popular was because of the 25 stacks of might. Most people are incapable of hitting 25 stacks of might without 4 warriors because they don’t know about certain abilities such as the Signet of Inspiration from the Mesmer. 4 Warriors is a newbie way of doing it for people who aren’t aware of other abilities. Thieves consistently get I believe it was 500 more dps then warriors (that stat was taken with warriors have 10 stacks of might and 10 stacks of vulnerability and the thief having none though so in reality a 25 might high vuln group, the thief will be doing MUCH more)

Do you have any numbers or solid evidence that a thief can be a strong replacement for a warrior? Would be cool to see. I’ve always thought that a buffed-thief could out-DPS a buffed-warrior, however I don’t have numbers or math to back it up.

Warrior GS (10/30/0/0/30) – Berserker’s Power, Forceful Greatsword, Heightened Focus, Rending Strikes
Auto = 564, 564, 726 = 745/s
HB = 3544 total, 592 net, 168/s
Bladetrail = 1210 total, 465 net, 36/s
Rush = 1371 total, 626 net, 37/s
DPS = 968 base, 2877 overall

Note: Forceful Greatsword maintains 10 stacks of might pretty easily, and Rending Strikes usually maintains 8-10. I’ve just assumed 10 stacks of might and 10 stacks of vulnerability in this case.
Note 2: Warrior maintains 100% fury uptime really easily. I’ve factored this in as well.
Note 3: Whirlwind Attack has been given a very high number because that is its maximum potential damage output (which if your Mesmer pushes mobs against walls you get)

Thief dagger: (25/30/0/0/15) – Dagger Training, Exposed Weakness, First Strikes, Executioner, Side Strike, Flanking Strikes, Signet Use
Estimated initiative gain: Base = .75/sec, Opportunist = .24/sec, Signet Use = .17/sec, Infiltrator’s Signet = .1/sec, Kleptomaniac = .8/sec, total = 2.06/sec
Auto = 442, 670, 670 = 912/s
HS = 788, 1182, 1576
C&D = 1182 (PvE version)
BS = 946, 1892

Backstab spam:
Initiative use: 6i/4s = maintainable
Rotation = Auto chain x1, C&D, Backstab = 1824 + 1182 + 1892 = 4898
1225 base, 2879 > 50%, 3455 < 50%

Heartseeker spam:
Initiative Use: 3i/s = usable 69% of the time
Heartseeker = [788, 1182, 1576] x .69 = 543, 815, 1087
1370 base, 3863 < 25%

Overall: Backstab spam > 50% = 2879, Backstab spam between 25% and 50% = 3455, Heartseeker spam < 25% = 3863 —> Average = 3019/sec

Source http://www.guildwars2guru.com/topic/70080-guardian-effective-dps-tests/

As you can see 4 thieves would not be that great because you would lack the might and fury uptime. But with about 2 warriors and a smart Mesmer you can easily turn your Thieves into the highest DPS and burst class.

And that doesn’t even factor in Thieves guild and ambush trap.

I smell a nerf coming along. Reminds me of the old CM story farming. Now look at it, you’ll be lucky to find a group. This is why we can’t have nice things.

I find pistol whip does even more. Especially since you don’t have to dodge with it, so while the warrior is dodging to avoid the knockdown from the effigy, you’re doing damage to the effigy and evade the attack since you evade all attacks during pistol whip’s animation.

Ari Kagura.9182:

When groups start dictating which professions are allowed to participate in a dungeon path, then it becomes more like a “Meta” than a Guide or Tutorial. In my opinion, Metas are bad and can lead the mob-like mentality of PUGs to think in a near 1-dimensional type of way to complete content. It brings back times when Domain of Anguish was new and PUGs only allowed Warriors, Monks, Necromancers, and Elementalists. If you were something else (like me who was a Ritualist at the time), then no one wanted you unless there was someone out there that wanted to look outside the box, which was quite rare. I guess I should be lucky that I managed to beat Mallyx as a Ritualist at the time since there was one person out there willing to expand the Meta and experiment with different builds. Honestly, I just find it quite annoying when I listen to people on my Mumble server talking about how they’re so freakin’ B-A just because they can run path 1 so many times on one hour— it makes me sick.

The point really is that one shouldn’t feel forced (as in, not actually forced) to level up a profession that they don’t want to play just to run certain content. If I’m not mistaken, GW2 was designed to be run without requiring a certain dedicated profession to complete the content. Meaning, I don’t have to wait on a dedicated healer, dedicated tank, dedicated ranged DPS, dedicated melee DPS, dedicated buff-bot, dedicated this and that. The roles amongst members should dynamically change based on the content in question.

Besides that— seeing that this is a “farming guide”, I could probably see CoF Path 1 getting nerfed at some point due to the path being ridiculously simple to run for the level of player it is designed for. It would definitely need to be overhauled just to make it at least moderately challenging, even for zerker groups.

I agree with everything your saying. This is my way of exacerbating the situation so action is taken sooner. I’m making a lot of gold while doing it too

Threads like this make me so sad. To think that in the early days, before release, I was lead to believe that explorable mode dungeons might be lengthy, intriguing and satisfyingly tricky. I’ve been pondering making a thread to detail how dungeons could be made harder, and less button mashy, because I think the game really needs to be hauled back in.

There are two things I’d like to respond to here though:

Ioflux.4369:

Its funny and yet its true. Ive had friends I ran hundreds of cof runs with, but the moment i take them into coe/arah, they could not do anything but mash their DPS skills eating every single attack regardless of me telling them what to dodge. 10-15 runs later of coe/arah, they are still dying to the same stupid attacks. They’re pretty kitten efficient at running cof in full berserker, but they can’t handle taking that full berserker outside of cof.

Reality is that there are alot of really really really really bad players that use full zerker while the most efficient / fastest players also use full zerker. Baddies trying to be pro’s =/.

I can completely attest to this. Myself, and a group of friends, have a belief that only about 1% of “Zerker Warriors” are actually any good outside of this one dungeon path. In fact one of them has decided to start a blog to document the stupidity that goes on with such players. Time and time again I see ‘Zerker Warriors’ going into other dungeons, running head on at a boss, and flat out downing on impact, and having the audacity to tell everyone else how bad they are because they’re managing not to die

In addition to the above, most of these kind of players are just… not nice. Not the kind of people you would want to talk to either in the real world or in-game. Players obsessed with doing everything as fast as they possibly can and any person daring to slow them down is in for a world of abuse, if not just getting outright kicked. Goes without saying I don’t join these groups for this very reason, but you can’t always tell who you’re inviting for other instances until it’s too late.

Scootabuser.4915:

If you want this guide to include other classes the petition AN to buff their damage.

In my view, other professions’ damage is nice. I think that Warriors are the main desire for CoF because their damage output is too high, and it’s that that is being abused here. At least Thieves die quicker, so they seem better balanced I guess. I’ve called for Hundred Blades to be nerfed in PvE before, but Anet shut my thread as it’s not a “valid concern”, so I doubt this will ever happen.

I commend you for creating a group build. I think it’s overlooked in this game outside of high-level areas such as Fractals, but a five minute run is too extreme a time bonus for having the right group setup. Explorable mode dungeons should be more of a time investment than five minutes. Five minutes is a daily task, not this.

I find this very well written, great job Scootabuser!

I would like to add that if you plan to do this a lot on your mesmer, trait for glamour mastery/signets. Feedback/Null field can be useful in some situations, and it’d be good to have portal recharge more quickly so you can remove it from your bar!

Blacklight.2871:

I’m still holding out for the 5x Rangers version. That would make for interesting reading. Or maybe 5x Engineers. That would be cool too.

5x Necro?

Blacklight.2871:

I’m still holding out for the 5x Rangers version. That would make for interesting reading. Or maybe 5x Engineers. That would be cool too.

Already done, not the optimal party but can be done in 8min without much hassle. Ranged poison pets, zerk builds, rampage and quickening zephir, only longbows (shortbows in cof is for kittens). The running parts just use axe+warhorn+rampage as one. Sorry I don´t have videos because my videoboard kittens.

A 5x engi has only one problem a well balanced party. Not everyone can be zerk because you need some melee and engis are not really good at this. But changing a warrior for a engi on a run can be a good deal. When warriors are on cooldown or havin to autoattack the engi just bomb and CD the bosses to their death and with a GC build you can put a lot of damage whitout cooldown. The last boss an engi can poison bomb the boss mitigating his regen.

Updated the guide with more fun tricks to improve speed!

10G an hour? can someone explain how this is possible cause I probably was doing something wrong when I farmed it I got 5g at most not counting any lucky drops.

Some people are just mad because the op is saying “if you’re not a mesmer, warrior, or thief, you can’t do this, bye”. And yep, it’s true. Messed up? Probably. Do I care? Nope, I’m a guardian. I giggle a little bit whenever a squishy thief goes down 2 or 3 times, after 2 hits, on any dungeon boss while I rally him all at the same time taking hits from the boss like a champ.

But, that same thief probably has 10x more gold then me ;(.