Guild Wars 2

So I have been going through various explorable and story mode variants of the dungeons, and have been noticing a HUGE disparity between the way these are built and handled.

And these 4 questions are what I come to when it comes to doing these dungeons. So I will use an example and apply it to a dungeon.

Feel free to add your own opinions as well (keep it clean)

The example I will be using is Sorrow’s Embrace (story):

1.) Is it fun? For the most part yes, this dungeon in particular is actually very fun, and it tends to have the fun/challenge balanced well (except for a certain boss).

2.) Is it easy? No, but it was not exactly hard either, the same methods are used in other dungeons but some little things change between them and can completely alter a battle. This is what actually makes it more enjoyable.

For example: The dredge army you fight that has Silvers mixed with several non-elite enemies, this is done in a few dungeons, and the one I will be contrasting to is the Caudacus Manor explorable.

The SE variant of this battle has a large open room with a ramp leading to the mob, as well as ledges around the edges that players can use to their advantage, allowing you to kite, and use different ground elevations to your advantage = good

The CM variant has the same amount of enemies (approx) with roughly the same amount of split groups, but the main difference is the space you fight, for this encounter you are more or less stuck in a tiny hallway, mobs on one side, and a choke point in the other, leaving very little to use when engaging making the entire fight either very boring, or frustrating = bad.

Is it hard? No, but a few speed bumps definitely make it less enjoyable at times (i’m looking at you tri-golem boss battle) For the most part it requires good movement and strategy to safely get through the mobs as you progress through the dungeon, but it definitely gives you the sense of progression instead of a sense of hitting a wall.

Is it challenging? Yes, for 90% of this dungeon it is a challenge (not to be confused with easy and hard) A challenge is a good balance between difficulty and enjoyment, the final boss is a good example for this, if you make a mistake, you get punished, if you playing right, you succeed (like it should be)

But unfortunately this does not apply to alot of bosses, and it makes me doubt some of the things they have been saying in the past like “we won’t give an enemy insane damage and huge health, we will make it stronger but have new abilities to challenge you”

This does not apply, they are simply huge health 2-shot machines for the most part, in-fact, I don’t think I have ever encountered a mob that dynamically scales to who is fighting it, it merely gains health and damage…I may definitely be wrong, but I have yet to notice it.

Another boss worth a mention (if it wasnt bugged) is the Frost Corrupted Warrior in the Crucible of Eternity dungeon (explorable) Instead of being an insta-kill machine, it was actually a well designed and enjoyable boss battle (when the towers + charge actually triggered)

I wish more bosses worked in a more strategic and thought out fashion instead of, hurling massive amounts of damage at you, and can you mash buttons to take one down fast enough.

Steroid bosses = no fun
Unique mechanic bosses = fun

cmon Anet! :p

Did CoF SM for the first time the other day.

Overall fun place, and I gotta say, props to whoever designed the last boss. Man that was one of the better fights of any SM or EM I’ve done in some time.

Disconnected.9253:

Did CoF SM for the first time the other day.

Overall fun place, and I gotta say, props to whoever designed the last boss. Man that was one of the better fights of any SM or EM I’ve done in some time.

Iirc, that was the one with the lava boulders and the transformations? Yes, this is definitely an example of a fun boss encounter, that still was challenging, this is the type of thing I want to see more of in the future.

The first encounter you come across though (the guy with enchanted weapons) is the complete opposite, this is what I want to see LESS of.

Zietlogik.6208:

Disconnected.9253:

Did CoF SM for the first time the other day.

Overall fun place, and I gotta say, props to whoever designed the last boss. Man that was one of the better fights of any SM or EM I’ve done in some time.

Iirc, that was the one with the lava boulders and the transformations? Yes, this is definitely an example of a fun boss encounter, that still was challenging, this is the type of thing I want to see more of in the future.

yea, I died once (didn’t know wtf I was doing at all, got punted off the ledge…), but after figuring out the whole throwing the fire core thingies part, I was having quite a blast (pun intended). 10/10

An example of a very poorly designed boss that could have been made 10x better:
The nightmare tree in TA exp UP path (last boss). The aoes are a oneshot, the turret seed thingies have too much hp, and THE BLOODY THING DOESN’T TRIGGER MY STAFF MARKS!! WTF?? So the solution as it were (certainly not intended) is to stand there at max range (1200) and spam your auto attack, which for me happens to hit for diddly squat. Also ignore his aoe since it doesn’t hit you at this range.
Worst fight ever. 0/10

An example of an overly easy fight: First guy in AC SM. Such an obvious, easily dodgeable attack (yet I still see people go down all the time… sigh) and absolutely nothing else. Also the cat guy in TA. I actually like the idea, but the rest of the fight is just too easy; he hits like a pillow and dogs don’t do much other than attack you in cat form. Make them buff him or something so you can’t be near as long as a dog is up… or something.

An example of an unnecessarily hard, annoying (not fun) boss: Kohler in AC EM. could really use a more obvioius telegraph or audio cue due to all the spell effect clusterkitten or giant Norn warriors blocking my FoV… Otherwise if my stun break is on cd, I’m kittened. He does absolutely nothing interesting otherwise, is not challenging except for this one, poorly designed (imo) ability.

I find them very boring and the ones I farmed were SO EASY (all TA, some CoF, all AC, some of arah) and Hotw was super easy but long…

Are they fun? No. Are there too many instant-kill mechanics? Yes. Are the waypoints too far away when you’re an Elementalist.

Yes.

ThiBash.5634:

Are they fun? No. Are there too many instant-kill mechanics? Yes. Are the waypoints too far away when you’re an Elementalist.

Yes.

wat… ele has one of the highest uptimes on swiftness of any prof :S

I do agree that not enough encounters are actually ‘fun’, difficulty aside. The last CoF boss was a refreshing change from the prototype “dodge X move” mechanics.

The problem isn’t the swiftness, the problem’s that elementalists die more often unless they’re perfect at dodging.

Others can take a hit without going down. Elementalists can’t.

hmmm I think juggling earth attune and vapor form you shouldn’t be getting downed that often. Your team needs to get you up in the odd time you do.

Also, run a staff build and stay far away from harm in the first place. daggers is a death sentence in dungeons (unless maybe S/D, but I prefer staff personally)