Guild Wars 2

Yes, there has been a patch that completely changed the way we used to run this dungeon. But despite all the rage and hate, I think Anet did an awesome job overall.
Path 1:
Hodgins is now useful. Think about it: why in hell would a group of 5 players risk their hard earned money on repair costs for scepter pieces that will help in no way when beating the end boss? No more “don’t bother rezzing Hodgins”, because this time around you’ll need his fire rings to defend your group against the waves of gravelings and scavengers.
Path 2:
Again, this group of players now has a purpose in following Detha and help her build the traps. The old mortars (which did ~10 dmg when you’d hit for 500+) are gone and replaced by a new mechanic that is needed to kill the Ghost Eater. I found this mechanic to be most entertaining and it sure broke the “tank&spank” feeling that most bosses still have.
Path 3:
Now we know why we have to be turned into ghosts: to get the help of the Warmaster who actually serves his own purpose. Now this fight is hard ~ I mean way harder than before, but again, once you get the idea, it’s really not that bad.

Overall:
The Spider Queen has been buffed and now offers a challenge. I understand it does suck for some to finally learn to dodge and heal and remove condition after all these months, but player skills and teamwork are now more important than “full zerk warriors”. If there was one suggestion I could make to Anet, it’d be to remove the “Bonus Event” label now that it has to be killed no matter what.
Kholer got help, which is ok and makes this fight more entertaining. Unfortunately I do see most groups now skipping him by default and that’s a shame, but yes he can be killed.

Changes in this fashion, at least concerning end bosses, should be welcome as they adds focus on which path you take ~ which NPC you wish to help, and why your group thinks this is a good idea to follow said NPC. It’s no longer a “talk to the npc, let it do its thing and get on with it”. Concerning Path 3 of the new AC, you will probably need to heal that Warmaster, because you will need him.

Oh, and on the subject of leveling an alt by running AC over and over again, it is still possible, maybe not at the moment as players are now learning the new mechanics and will want 80s, but no matter what high level you are, you’ll still be downleveled at 35 ~ something most tend to forget. Yes 80s have better gear, but that too is descaled.

I’m a fan of this AC update, good job Anet ! I just wish there was more love for the Ascalonian Catacombs

P.S.: Remember your pugs on the Lovers in Story on the first few weeks of GW2… Now every level 30, noobs and pros alike kill them eyes closed. Learn the fights, learn your profession, and within a month no one will care about the old AC anymore.

Now, granted I’ve not actually ventured into the depth of the newly revamped catacombs, but if it’s as what you’ve said, well done Anet. I love how you described it as “serving a purpose” now. Particularly true about the old detha traps!

Completely agree. The new mechanics are awesome. Not sure why the gave the baby gravelings knockdown though. It’s worse than orr was :P

Don’t really care about the new mechanics but it sure is fun to read all the complaint threads.

The last boss in AC3 is harder than before? Not that the old rendition was that hard, but now he feels like a joke. Just fight near the Warmaster and stack on him when the time comes. Heck, for ranged classes, they can just afk next to the Warmaster the entire fight.

Indeed the biggest advantage it the HP of bosses they are challenging, but they don’t have such insane health pools like those on HoTW for example… really like that change.

Same goes for trash. It’s challenging but does not boring with their current HP pools.

Like the new Spider and Kholer, well done I like fighting them, and I see pugs doing them as well!

One thing I dislike is the knockdown/knockback almost every mob has… not fun to be on 12+ second knockdown on Howling King without any possibility to get up while all utility on cooldown (all 3 stunbreakers). You lay down and wait for your death for even 10-15 seconds while can’t do NOTHING but watch… it’s not fun, it’s annoying.

Also Last boss on p3 is annoying as hell he knockbacks melee with every hit – why ? It’s a hidden message – don’t go melee if You are not spec’d very bunker-like – it’s not fun it’s annoying I get up, get hit, fly, lay down, get up, get hit, fly… while the ranged part of my party is having a blast fun time! And I’m the pushing bag while they have all the fun

LF1M Pushover full Power/Toughness/Vit for the boss to play with while we take all the fun and kill it!

Quam.7218:

Indeed the biggest advantage it the HP of bosses they are challenging, but they don’t have such insane health pools like those on HoTW for example… really like that change.

Same goes for trash. It’s challenging but does not boring with their current HP pools.

Like the new Spider and Kholer, well done I like fighting them, and I see pugs doing them as well!

One thing I dislike is the knockdown/knockback almost every mob has… not fun to be on 12+ second knockdown on Howling King without any possibility to get up while all utility on cooldown (all 3 stunbreakers). You lay down and wait for your death for even 10-15 seconds while can’t do NOTHING but watch… it’s not fun, it’s annoying.

Also Last boss on p3 is annoying as hell he knockbacks melee with every hit – why ? It’s a hidden message – don’t go melee if You are not spec’d very bunker-like – it’s not fun it’s annoying I get up, get hit, fly, lay down, get up, get hit, fly… while the ranged part of my party is having a blast fun time! And I’m the pushing bag while they have all the fun

LF1M Pushover full Power/Toughness/Vit for the boss to play with while we take all the fun and kill it!

Stability is your friend. Though I suppose that’s easy for me as I main a warrior.

Heard some complains about AC and went there myself. Spider boss was a huge unexpected surprise but it can be done, its not as imposible as I heard. Didnt tried all paths only path 1 and once and ohh that was what the fire rings were used too?? And lol you dont need them, i just kited the hell of the boss + adds as all my party did and after the first wipe from surprise (we didnt expected that at all) we kill it on second try now knowing what will happen. I dont consider myself supper mesmer or anything but i think ppl overreacted on how hard it was.

And now on a lil diferent topic…. why the hell AC is that much harder than CoF?? Do any1 have any logical answer to that?? Why not make CoF first dungeon and keep AC as it is but now as a 70-75 lvl dungeon (of course scaling up stats on mobs to fit that lvl)

For everyone saying how much fun it is now, keep in mind that this is the first dungeon people get to do at level 35.

Maybe it is fun and challenging for a level 80 group with full exotics, but try doing it with a group of lvl 35’s who are wearing mostly green’s and blue’s and are likely doing it for the first time. Then compare it with a high level dungeon like CoF.

Doesn’t that seem like a problem?

AC got better, excpet for the knock down, if u cant dodge cuz ur bar is empty, they’ll bounce u around like a ping pong and you’ll die before u can even try and dodge cuz the knockdown comes one after the other after the other… the rest is pretty

well could of swore there was more people running ac dungeon. now that its revamped with a beefed up spider queen an her hatchling , it seems to be less more people entering this dungeon. lol just saying…..

Ventured into all three Ac paths yesterday for the first time – not fully knowing what to expect. There has been a lot of negative hype around the dungeon on these forums – BUT – in my opinion ANet really did make the dungeon better. Loved and can agree with everything that you said Syx.

Our PuG yesterday had no idea what to do in path two, wiped once and then figured it out! Rather awesome, though I won’t be running this dungeon that often as I simply have no (incentive) need to do so. Still, a great update in my opinion, adding some dimension and energy.

The chain knockdowns hasn’t been addressed. Sometimes I find it hard even on a mesmer. I blink away from one gravelings lunge attack only to blink into another that hits me before the butterflies even pop out of me. I even saw one targeting another teammate but target me as he was lunging. There was no way I could have dodged in time.

Fear is a very crippling mechanic for some classes. Warriors can shout but for mesmers, null field is disabled. Even running through it while feared does nothing to cleanse it. That seriously needs to be fixed.

Dolan.3071:

Quam.7218:

Indeed the biggest advantage it the HP of bosses they are challenging, but they don’t have such insane health pools like those on HoTW for example… really like that change.

Same goes for trash. It’s challenging but does not boring with their current HP pools.

Like the new Spider and Kholer, well done I like fighting them, and I see pugs doing them as well!

One thing I dislike is the knockdown/knockback almost every mob has… not fun to be on 12+ second knockdown on Howling King without any possibility to get up while all utility on cooldown (all 3 stunbreakers). You lay down and wait for your death for even 10-15 seconds while can’t do NOTHING but watch… it’s not fun, it’s annoying.

Also Last boss on p3 is annoying as hell he knockbacks melee with every hit – why ? It’s a hidden message – don’t go melee if You are not spec’d very bunker-like – it’s not fun it’s annoying I get up, get hit, fly, lay down, get up, get hit, fly… while the ranged part of my party is having a blast fun time! And I’m the pushing bag while they have all the fun

LF1M Pushover full Power/Toughness/Vit for the boss to play with while we take all the fun and kill it!

Stability is your friend. Though I suppose that’s easy for me as I main a warrior.

Indeed as a Necro I have none
(I don’t cout the traits)

i think it would be better if somebody post a video of a group of level 35 people with level 35 gears and finish this dungeon i mean maybe for 30 mins not like for many hours, that would be torture.. but i am already disappointed with the changes.. it is now meant for the level 80 with exotic gears i guess.. not with lowbies and casual players. i tested out my level 80 elem with full exotic toughness vit def gears with the spider queen, one poison field owns me for about 4 seconds. that’s too shabby over powered poison field!!!!! i think a level 35 player will only last .01 second for that.. maybe they over exaggerated the changes for just a beginner dungeon.. that’s no fun at all..

Yeah, ‘cause getting knocked down and tossed around like a volleyball while being unable to fight back is as much “fun” as being Mike Tyson’s punching bag.

Are they completely oblivious to customer complaints about the absurd amounts of trash mob cc in this game?

I think this is kitten ridiculous. First , all these ppl saying that AC explorable is fun now , who do you work for ? and who is paying you to agree with everything Anet does. Second , why did you buff the spider queen like you did , Anet ? if you go down , which will happen , your down healing skills have absolutely NO CHANCE of getting up . This is what i can expect from Anet these days ? There is no way a lvl 35 could do this , my groups are all lvl 80’s decked out in good gear and the poison is more than any of us can heal of remove with condition removal . Stop listening to the 5 ppl who always agree with you and listen to the thousands or more who don’t Our money feeds your families and pays your bills . Think on it.