Guild Wars 2

started doing this run a bit. (all public games)

warrior/gs/using banners+shakeitoff – half berserker armor / half AC gear (all i have atm)

running 10/0/30/30/0

Sometimes it goes super smooth and I am never close to dying. but I have been finding myself dying at the stage of killing the acolytes sometimes (often when flamethrower follows me/too many mobs get on me)

and sometimes I die in the gate area. Always when 4-7 mobs get on me and gate dps is a bit slow. (doesnt it start 3 per area? what makes more come?)

Any tips on these areas? I read all the time about people full serker gear stomping through this, but even with a defensive build I still die more than Id like.

I find I survive with healshouts, but banners seem more beneficial to the group.

any tips? Obviously I could wear tankier gear, but I’m already not super high dps to begin with

You die probably because you arn’t full dps. Usually 1 “F1” button with axe, or GS 4,5,3 is enough to kill the acolyte in 1 second and run.

The gate part is a bit tricky. Most of the time people die because of bleeding. Usually shake it off or mending is enough. If you are really in trouble because all other people’s mob run to you pop a fire elemental powder or ogre pet. That usually solve the problem.

I lol’d at your build. You use GS and have neither GS trait.

This is why I dont PUG COF. Most people think being a Warrior is enough.

THIS is a better build for COF and outside COF. Swap Frenzy out for Strength/Disc is the group needs it.

Of course, use powerful flame legion potions.

Try using endure pain to run past the mobs and down once you have killed one acolyte + the gs 3. Same in gate but with frenzy- it might make up for the lack of dps and let you kill them before they kill you.
The reason you may get more mobs is either more toughness on you than in those around you (I have often ended up without mobs in mine because the next door guardian attracts all) or mesmers using gs 5 and decoy in the next bubble (I am sure other classes can do something similar but I don’t know what that is)
And yes, look at the gs traits if you use mainly gs. But I would not advise full berserker gear unless you want to run in speed parties exclusively – it is painful being full berserker in a PVT group. It would be better to have some pieces in both pvt and berserker so you can switch accordingly – you can get those slowly from doing the dungeons.

I prefer to take the gate on PUGs because they’re usually way slow. But if I’m not in the gate, I usually pop signet of rage anyway on the brazier, then just circle around the center with axe 2 and auto, popping mace 5 if I need a breather. I think using HB there can be a little risky because if one of the flame legion is behind you they’ll be stacking bleeds without dying from the HB hits.

But yeah as others have said, in a berserker COF group more toughness will make you a target.

thank you for the advice,

yea i am very new to the game so still doin bad stuff i guess lol

Ok so an update.

I have went with a lot of the advice going DPS instead. Works a ton better on the acolytes/thegateroom. Never dropping on those anymore.

I am now using the build suggested above of

20/25/0/10/15

with GS and Axe/Mace

skills FGJ, On my Mark, Shake it Off (they had suggested frenzy but I already feel I was dying too much and to conditions often)

I now have a full set of serker and a full set of Knight’s

While my DPS increased a ton and being able to survive parts I had issue with previously, im having new issues now.

I play in strictly random public games (never have joined a full serker crew mainly due to still feeling inexperienced)

I now die often on the first boss and the final boss.

Is it because we are not high enough DPS and not killing it fast enough? Often I feel like I am taking the aggro of the group and Im dying on the first boss generally when his buddy comes over to help and will get hit with pretty big damage + conditions.

I am just kind of wondering if it is a problem with me playing bad (im admittedly a pretty bad dodger) or if this build/gear does not work well with pugs?

I even tried full knight’s and mixes of knight/serker but these issues happen a lot. To where I am dropping on the first boss pretty often and almost every time ill drop at least once on the final boss.

Kinda just wondering how much of this is me playing bad and how much is lack of a proper group and looking for any tips that can help me stop dropping while keeping up DPS.

Could be that you aren’t getting good support from the group and that’s why you’re dying, likely you aren’t dodging enough and taking big hits that a zerk war can’t afford to continuously take.

Running 20/25/0/10/15 will give you good damage, but almost no latent survivability.
This means you have to rely on skill and effective dodges to stay alive, as most good warriors do.

Keep running and practicing until it feels more natural, it takes time but you’ll get there.

any tips on what to dodge on the last boss? hes the one who gets me the most

How are you dying to the last boss? When he pulls his hand back he’s about to cast the stun bolts. When he sets the big circle he will do aoe burning in 2 seconds, so dodge shortly before it goes off.

Alternatively, switch to balanced stance while running to last boss.

On the first boss yes. In a fast group it will die before the ad becomes a serious issue. for the last boss I will go ranged to wait on cds if needed when not getting buffs from party. Crystals to rally (in some cases it is faster than running away to heal) and I also use gs 3/4/5 to get breathers. I am also bad at dodging and really bad at interrupting 100b

Yeah, in fast groups, the first boss dies before the add even gets a chance to attack. If this isn’t the case, I’m guessing your party is lacking Time Warp (or just lacking dps in general)? If so, Frenzy might still be the better choice, but that’s up to you. As for the last boss, it’s a case of needing to learn his tells. When he drops on all fours, you need to start watching out for crystals falling from the ceiling. When he arcs his back it’s about time to dodge the big fire aoe (especially important, as he does double damage to burning targets). When he throws a hand up, then drops to all fours, that’s his knockdown, which is reflectable. These are the big attacks that you need to dodge (assuming your party doesn’t reflect the knockdown).

thank you for the tips I appreciate it

theD.6187:

Ok so an update.

I have went with a lot of the advice going DPS instead. Works a ton better on the acolytes/thegateroom. Never dropping on those anymore.

I am now using the build suggested above of

20/25/0/10/15

with GS and Axe/Mace

skills FGJ, On my Mark, Shake it Off (they had suggested frenzy but I already feel I was dying too much and to conditions often)

I now have a full set of serker and a full set of Knight’s

While my DPS increased a ton and being able to survive parts I had issue with previously, im having new issues now.

I play in strictly random public games (never have joined a full serker crew mainly due to still feeling inexperienced)

I now die often on the first boss and the final boss.

Is it because we are not high enough DPS and not killing it fast enough? Often I feel like I am taking the aggro of the group and Im dying on the first boss generally when his buddy comes over to help and will get hit with pretty big damage + conditions.

I am just kind of wondering if it is a problem with me playing bad (im admittedly a pretty bad dodger) or if this build/gear does not work well with pugs?

I even tried full knight’s and mixes of knight/serker but these issues happen a lot. To where I am dropping on the first boss pretty often and almost every time ill drop at least once on the final boss.

Kinda just wondering how much of this is me playing bad and how much is lack of a proper group and looking for any tips that can help me stop dropping while keeping up DPS.

People die at the first boss alot, it happens to everyone. If he targets you he can kill you with full DPS gear well before you kill him even in an experienced speed run group but you should never really full die and make sure to whirlwind as much as possible to be dodging. Also at the last boss, that’s all about dodging. You can get hammered by crystals a few too many times on occasion and get yourself killed that way, but other than that once you know his attacks well and can dodge them you will find yourself dying 90% less.