Guild Wars 2

12-10-12: Edited to include Kholer and Troll.

Here’s a collection of Ascalonian Catacombs videos made since December 8, 2012, showcasing solo Mesmer kills of Queen Spider, Cave Troll, and Lieutenant Kholer (Including his adds, in his room, the way that nature intended). The details of the builds are on the Youtube pages. Thanks to Wethospu for suggesting alternate 2x speed conversion videos. I’m getting an error when I try to embed multiple videos, so only the links for Cave Troll and Queen Spider are shown.

The Kholer fight was definitely the trickiest, for obvious reasons. I ran an illusion-based build, with Feedback for the Ranger, and also the Fern Mastiff for extra distraction. The point of this build was to keep clones and Phantasmal Berserker active at all times, so they could provide distraction and keep cripples on the Mesmer and Kholer, while giving myself a speed buff. Eliminating the Ranger was the most difficult part.

The Cave Troll took nearly as long, due to its regeneration. The trick was to avoid melee range and the AoE while eliminating its regeneration, which can go as high as 25 stacks. I used Mind Stab to remove the regeneration.

Queen Spider was the sloppiest fight, and I would have changed many things with my build if I were to do it again. A Phantasm/no shatter build seems very promising.

I’d like to thank the designers and developers, like you Robert, who spend so much time creating and implementing these fights. Soloing these bosses is in no way practical at all, yet provides a really fun, fresh challenge. It has given me an additional goal and focus while playing.

Lieutenant Kholer with adds:

2x speed: http://youtu.be/dQ-HUnXuw8w

Cave Troll:

http://youtu.be/sPjDaXFrL8c

2x speed: http://youtu.be/Up-e-ONUjTo

Queen Spider:

http://youtu.be/DnHPdxJP518

2x speed: http://youtu.be/YwiCgnLhTk0

The only thing more awesome than the Mesmer profession is an awesome player pwning a boss on one. Great vid!

You are lvl 80 with max equip in a lvl 35 dungeon. Should I be impressed?

Now do it at proper level 35 with level 35 equips and i’ll be impressed.

Good job!
How about you guys soloing it in any way you can. No questions asked. Only then you might get the right to judge this guy.

would have been faster with onehanded sword. also.. why didn’t you use at least feedback for initial stage to clear spiderlings. they shoot themselves soo fast.

performance – below average.

Agree and just to add: i will never get the reason because those kind of “solo” videos are out. Spit into face of devs showing them how poor is their design, show how idiot his class is, so devs patch it underpowering the class (loads of whiners) , overpower a dungeon, or he truly dream we call him a pro and knee on his feet when we meet him? The last clearly is the funniest and probably the main reason

Sad that people can’t share an accomplishment without elitists or trolls tearing them apart.

Well done OP, good luck with kholer.

Lucas Ashrock.8675:

—
or he truly dream we call him a pro and knee on his feet when we meet him? The last clearly is the funniest and probably the main reason

That’s what people actually do to me (maybe not knee part). It’s bit funny!

Nice to see people trying to challenge themselves. Go teach Kholer a lesson or a two!

You could’ve had a lot less trouble had you switched to feedback and mirror for the trash spiders in the opening (and perhaps bringing out a weapon other than the greatsword). Other than that, congrats on soloing the spider queen.

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Good solo vid. It’s just a good display of phantasm/clone control, proper kiting, and build knowledge.

I don’t take it so much as being spit at that a boss can be solo’d, and the boss isn’t poorly designed considering I watch the spider queen wreck 5 man groups. It’s the same with Lupicus being solo’d by a warrior – it just goes to show that knowing the game, knowing your character, and playing well will take you far.
There are buffs I could give to the spider queen, and I’m sure there’s nerfs we can do to the mesmer – but none of which would be a result of this video. Spider Queen is a solid enough encounter for the lowest level dungeon, and OP is just good at playing the game.
I’d be very interested in seeing Kholer Solo’d! Good luck!

Well, i truly hope you will heavily underpower those mesmers able to solo a content designed to be done for 5 players, done with some “smart usage”. I remember gw1 55 uw solofarm was a smart usage too, didn’t end well on company’s view.

I’m curious to see kholer too GJ bro

we have at least an elementalist who can do Kholer

Seems you have a lot of underpower work to do, ele too, Robert

Guardians can solo Kholer with pretty much any build, they just need to play well.

And there’s a warrior who soloed Lupicus, should they nerf them as well? Might as well nerf all professions so that the giant HP bars that the bossess have will take even longer to empty.

don’t nerf mesmer please it has been nerfed enough.. atleast nerf thief too so they cannot 2 hit us in wvw..

Brilliant showcase of the awesome combat system in GW2. With enough skill behind the keyboard this SHOULD be possible in an MMO. GJ.

Would be nice if it was possible for every classes though.

I saw this thread so I simply had to try if I suck much or can do it too
Queen is pretty simple if you manage to deal with little spiders at start.
Kholer was harder, basically every little mistake can kill you, but it is very dynamic and impressive fight, +1 to devs for this boss

https://dviw3bl0enbyw.cloudfront.net/uploads/forum_attachment/file/29284/gw435.jpg

Thanks for the encouragement folks! Of course hindsight always shows how many improvements can be made on kills. I would have had a much different setup if I were to do it again, just from my own observations. As far as Kholer goes, I can solo him, but I’m trying to get a video including the add kills, while fighting in his room. Last time I drew Ranger/Monk, which is a really nasty combo since the Ranger is CCing me while getting heals from the Monk. At one point I had the ranger to 5% when I was downed, but I didn’t want to finish him, because I wanted all the kills in one shot. Pulling Kholer out of the room makes me feel naughty, like ‘Santa won’t bring me presents’ naughty.

I saw a ranger get a trash mob down to 1/2 health once. They could probably use a few swings from the ole’ nerf bat while it’s warmed up.

Based on my experiences videos seem a lot more active with 2x speed while still being clear to watch (I used Windows Movie Maker for this).
Like that Lupicus solo video, watching 15 mins that at normal speed is just so boring.

stof.9341:

Would be nice if it was possible for every classes though.

It probably is.

There are a ton of bosses that can be solo’d, simply because their mechanics are pretty easy and all you need is properly timed dodges to avoid their big move.

GL is very impressive because he has much more complex mechanics and a set of different moves in each phase that can easily down you, probably 90% of the other bosses aren’t that impressive.

every class can solo kholer, he does not hit very hard with his normal attacks and has a single telegraphed move to avoid. warriors and guardians with enough vitality can do it without even dodging the “big” attack.

Renegade.6325:

Guardians can solo Kholer with pretty much any build, they just need to play well.

Yep you just use scepter and mace and keep him from you because he will pwn your face off if he’s melee.

The only time I see him kill is when players don’t dodge at his throw animation or he is in melee range.

He’s the best fight in AC imo.

The Mexican Cookie.3690:

Sad that people can’t share an accomplishment without elitists or trolls tearing them apart.

Well done OP, good luck with kholer.

It just proves how bad the panda Pokemon expansion is because we all know where these dps meter watching ,eating popcorn during a raid while watching everyone else do the work players come from :-)

Everyone’s elite when they have macros and add ons.

I have already defeated Kholer with my ranger, and it was the most impressive fight I have ever had. However, I NEVER though of making a video for it. Why? Because immediately we will get nerfed and the bosses will be improved somehow.

i believe that each boss should somehow be soloed if the player has excellent knowledge of his skills and builds, and I hope the developers dont take that away from the players, since, as a fair game, the most skilled players should be allowed to do amazing things on their own.

Robert, if you can create amazing fights like the kholer one from AC into all the other dungeons, that would be great! and remember, is not a One hit kill boss with a billion HP that makes the challenge, but what he does and its techniques.

The Mexican Cookie.3690:

Sad that people can’t share an accomplishment without elitists or trolls tearing them apart.

Well done OP, good luck with kholer.

Maybe we have different definitions of “tearing apart” but it seems you are giving too much credit to those sad people’s abilities. Especially posts in the form of “because one player did X the devs are now going to do Y”.

I can solo the Fire Shaman in the Iron Marches on my thief, does that count too? :P

Robert Hrouda.1327:

Aden Celeste.3650:

I have already defeated Kholer with my ranger, and it was the most impressive fight I have ever had. However, I NEVER though of making a video for it. Why? Because immediately we will get nerfed and the bosses will be improved somehow.

Well, not so much. You have to watch their play and what they are doing – not the specific skills they are using. If a player can just spam a skill standing still in front of lupicus and not really display any game mechanic knowledge, then that’s probably something we’re going to look into, as it would seem pretty unbalanced IMO. If a player is dodg rolling, swapping weapons, utilizing utilities, and reacts really well, then there’s nothing really we would do to stop that. If a video displays all the qualities of highly skilled players, then we’re more proud than anything. At least I’m a bit proud that is :p

From when your company turned to promote solofarm and unbalanced classes? gw1 solo farm was amazing, not always easy to manage, requiring attention on the amount of adds aggroed, perfect management of skills, was amazing but destroyed by devs on sight at a barely minimal guide or video “how to farm boss X” . Until next expansion’s skills allowed it again. Still, your company didn’t appear to be so much in the mood to allow solofarm.
If it’s a cool thing and intented, overpower every class to be able to do the same fight, dodging, swapping blah blah
Or just, as it would be expected by a regular balanced game, underpower those strange classes able to solo a 5 men content. Period.

Kholer can solo my Ranger, i think he needs a nerf

Or, as we was used on gw1, Robert, overpower every solo video boss on youtube with a special skill to interrupt/ make the solo fight impossible. Wasn’t so hard during gw1, is it now and you promote it?

There is a big difference between the solo farms from GW1 and having the ability to solo a boss in a GW2 dungeon. In the latter case it’s 100% about doing it just to prove you can. The time spent vs. reward is so much worse doing it solo than it would be with a fast, effective full group that there would be absolutely no reason for a dev to look at it as problematic. It wont hurt the economy for someone to walk into a dungeon by himself and walk out 30 minutes later with his shiny 3 new tears and 1.25 silver and small vial of karma.

The point wasn’t the solo fight per se. You don’t get shared loot alone like gw1, solofarm had a purpose: be rich.
The poins is unbalanced classes. some can, some cannot. Regardless of how many time you can dodge, switch blah blah. Balance every class to solo, if Robert is having fun to see other solo video , or make the boss enough strong to not allow it at all for everyone. Simple, isn’t it.

This DoA solo was NOT done for speed or loot, but to show what can be done with the game. You’d get way more loot from running group DoA clears in that time. It’s not always about farming, sometimes it’s about the prestige…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKB7oVuBCR8

Lucas Ashrock.8675:

The poins is unbalanced classes. some can, some cannot. Regardless of how many time you can dodge, switch blah blah.

Proof that any professions can’t solo a boss that HAS been solo-ed by other professions?Or is this just baseless conjecture about a “problem” that doesn’t exist yet.

Some professions may be more efficient at accomplishing it (i.e. more quickly) but I see no evidence to show that any profession can not.

To be completely honest, that solo on the Queen Spider was rather lackluster in terms of understanding how the mesmer profession works.

That elementalist soloing Kohler however (or especially that warrior soloing Lupicus) shows those players definitely know how their profession works. If other players had the same knowledge of their professions, I stand by that they should be equally capable at soloing the same bosses.

Atrophied.8725:

This DoA solo was NOT done for speed or loot, but to show what can be done with the game. You’d get way more loot from running group DoA clears in that time. It’s not always about farming, sometimes it’s about the prestige…
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iKB7oVuBCR8

It’s a prestige when every class can do it , and it’s a matter of player’s skills.

Lucas Ashrock.8675:

Lucas Ashrock.8675:

The poins is unbalanced classes. some can, some cannot. Regardless of how many time you can dodge, switch blah blah.

Proof that any professions can’t solo a boss that HAS been solo-ed by other professions?Or is this just baseless conjecture about a “problem” that doesn’t exist yet.

Some professions may be more efficient at accomplishing it (i.e. more quickly) but I see no evidence to show that any profession can not.

To be completely honest, that solo on the Queen Spider was rather lackluster in terms of understanding how the mesmer profession works.

That elementalist soloing Kohler however (or especially that warrior soloing Lupicus) shows those players definitely know how their profession works. If other players had the same knowledge of their professions, I stand by that they should be equally capable at soloing the same bosses.

I didn’t see a thief, a necro etc doing this solo fight alone “with smart usage of skills, dodge, blah blah”
I’ll try with my MM, why not. I’ll let you know.

Kholer by default can be solo’ed by every profession. His damage is pretty low except for his pull, which can be avoided by dodging perfectly. As such, even a naked untraited random profession with random weapons and skills will be able to solo him if and only if the player is skilled enough.

On the other hand he’s very difficult, up to impossible, for a team of new players.

To me this shows perfect game design.

marnick, go and try it with your untraited profession, you will fail hard. pretty low damage? seriously? I think you never tried it before and have no clue what you are talking about

Yup, failed attempt to say design is amazing and every class can do it, while we all know they don’t, ( much less naked) not a matter of a skilled player but balance and skills.

Well done OP, looking forward to seeing you take down Kholer on the mesmer.

When i levelled my guardian, i did a handful of AC’s full runs and even in the 70ies(and yes the rest of the team was between 50-late 70ies all in green/yellows), running with balanced yellows Kholer could take around 35-40% of my HPs with his auto attack. Yea a full exotic gear’ed, def spec’ed guardian can face-tank Kholer without any problems(dodging the pull), but then again a defensive spec’ed well played guardian can face-tank something like 98% of all content, only dodging the big/one-shot attacks.

I love the GW2 dungeons, no more wiping because the healer/tank cant be bothered to do their job. If you fail in GW2 its because you failed, a team well make everything go faster/smoother but in the end its down to you the player.

So keep the dungeons as they are, Robert Hrouda <3

Inspired by this thread I just tried it myself with my ranger and it wasn’t too difficult, actually. I tried Kholer too but I only managed to take out about a quarter of his health before he got me. I managed to avoid all of his pulls easily (I reserved shortbow #3 for this purpose) but it would still instagib my pet and then he would concentrate on me alone and I eventually ran out of juice.
I didn’t make a video but I made a couple of screenshots.

kohler pull is not a problem….
His standard attack is a huge problem for a D/D ele… >.> dunno how he managed to survive…..kohler is fast and close range really quick, is immune to all ele crowd control spells so kiting is impossible.

I usually die by his standard attack if i have to tank him for too long…..

Spider queen ie easier if tyou survive spiders…

Robert Hrouda.1327:

There are buffs I could give to the spider queen, and I’m sure there’s nerfs we can do to the mesmer – but none of which would be a result of this video

You’d better be careful with such statements, this can easily result in an excrement storm considering the latest mesmer “bugfixes”.

Spiky.8403:

marnick, go and try it with your untraited profession, you will fail hard. pretty low damage? seriously? I think you never tried it before and have no clue what you are talking about

Agreed if you melee kholer he’s going to pwn your face. I range him.

Uploaded the Kholer 2x video, just waiting on the original speed vid to finish, then I’ll post them. Funny thing was on the way to Kholer, the Cave Troll popped, so I actually made a video of a solo kill for it as well. It didn’t have the challenge factor like Kholer and his adds, but keeping that regeneration in check was a trick!

Drew.1865:

Agreed if you melee kholer he’s going to pwn your face. I range him.

Here is video of me soloing Kohler with guardian, using hammer
http://www.youtube.com/watch?feature=player_embedded&v=ib0JnigqvE4

Nice vids.

Robert, can you please implement a casting bar under opponent life bar, to see exactly when we need to escape/interrupt ect ,like in GW1 ?

For exemple we cant see in fight khoeler animation casting move,because of all effects of skills and combos spamm message + damage ect. (Its not as clear as in GW1,most of the time we cannot see exactly what damage we do,receive ect.)

Thanks you.