Guild Wars 2

Over all I’ve had a great time in GW2 and in it’s dungeons. I thought I’d try to offer some constructive feedback.

Things that I’ve like about dungeons:

The feeling of completing a path for the first time. It feels like I accomplished something.

The loot drop rates in HotW and the money from AC bosses. I’m always up for any path of these two even if I don’t need the tokens.

Unique mechanics. I absolutely adored the final “fight” in CoF story mode. That was really great. We all had a good laugh figuring it out. Easily my favorite dungeon moment. I’m also partial to using the spike traps with Deatha and the rocket reflectors in CM.

Naked moments such as the boulders in CoF and lasers in CoE.

Finding two hidden rooms in AC.

Things I haven’t liked about dungeons:

It was hard to find groups for story modes on later half of the dungeons. CoF, CoE, HotW were really hard to find. Still looking for groups will to try certain notorious explore mode paths.

I can only see how strong a mob is by clicking and targeting them. In a messy fight it’s hard to tell how many bronze, silver and golds are up. I don’t like when trash mobs and silver mobs use the same models.

DPS/composition checks at the end of paths. If you are going you are going to make a fight rely on a ton of DPS make it the first boss. Don’t let us get to the end before realizing we didn’t bring enough straight DPS or a class with certain skills. If we need poison to beat the Effigy in CoF path 1 let us know that up front so we can bring it in with us… Or better provide some sort of mechanic that allows us to apply it.

The words, “bonus event” cause an audible sigh on our VoIP. They don’t feel like bonuses. They feel like penalties.

I don’t like when there are parts that absolutely require 5 people. I don’t mind soft limits on how many people you need but dislike when I have to sync the lighting of 5 torches or the turning off of 5 security systems, or standing in 4 braziers while one person breaks the door lock thing. Those are hard barriers to how many people are required. If someone takes a break or leaves we are required to wait or replace them to continue no matter how good the remaining 4 are.

I don’t like kite/dying as a strategy to win events. Magg blowing up the door has caused silly things to happen in my PUG groups and it’s not fun. There are events in AC that are very similar (protect someone or something) but no one does that kite train there.

I don’t like how far back some waypoints can be. It can make falling off an edge make you feel like a burden on the team. Couple this with a maze like dungeon (people get seriously lost in CM all the time) or respawning mobs and using waypoints becomes un-fun.

AOE circles don’t reflect how threatening things are. If I see a red circle I don’t know if I should dodge. It might one shot me it might just be a scratch but I can’t tell by the circle. This is a big issue in story mode because you’re new and don’t know the fights. Also an issue in messy fights since you might have painful and painless circles on the ground at the same time. It’s also an issue in WvW.

Weak NPCs… is Logan really a Purple class NPC? He doesn’t seem like it at all. I also feel like that hound in CM should be sent to stop what ever elder dragon shows up next as it’s way stronger than 5 of Tyria’s best. It just feels a bit game breaking to have a hound be that strong or a member of destiny’s edge that weak. I’m not suggesting you nerf the hound but maybe give him a back story as to why he’s that strong. Potion? radiation? something?

Hidden rooms in AC not having at least a little chest or something in them. Though, I do love the turkeys.

Things I dislike
-Bad loot from chests. It’d be nice if chest loot would improve the further you go into a dungeon. Example: First chest has mostly blues, much like the current way chests reward players. This is to prevent players from just farming the first chest over again instead of finishing the dungeon path. The 2nd chest would give players mostly greens with a fair chance for a rare. The final chest would give players greens, 1 gold and then a random chance for an exotic, a few rare crafting materials or a lodestone / cores.

-Uninteresting boss fights. While some bosses are fun and cool, there’s a lot of boss monsters that are plain boring, with little challenge and variety to them. They’re just boring time sinks to slow down the party with their massive HP bar.

-Missing waypoints. Some dungeons could do with a few more waypoints, for example up>forward path in Twilight Arbor before the path with the deadly bees. I think Honor of the Waves could do with an extra 1 or 2 waypoints for each path as well.

-Trash mobs too easily skipped. What’s the point in having these trash mobs when they are:
First – Too easily skipped.
Second – Too unrewarding.
I know ArenaNet doesn’t want people to run dungeons in 10 minutes or so, which is why I wonder why they made trash mobs so unrewarding and easily skippable. Like increase the chance for better loot from chests with every trash mob killed and set more walls in place that only open up after killing certain amount of trash mobs.

-Locked dungeons. Remove event requirements for opening up dungeons. Or get them permanently fixed so they actually work: ARAH

/agree on everything.

Hehe, good idea with the Hounds. Alternatively you could send Champion Rinsen Chicken to defeat dragon. It should do well.

I agree with you, and would like to add something about trash mobs being too easily skipped. I have never played an MMO aside from GW2 where in an instance you can just keep running and the mobs will leash. This is just bad design. Instead of punishing players for speed running, why not make it so they have to actually fight the trash mobs? Players will always take the path of least resistance. Would you like to: a) Waste time fighting these worthless mobs, or b) Not do that? The answer isn’t putting up more gates/barriers/etc, but just making it so mobs in dungeons don’t de-aggro. It’s as simple as that. Then we can stop this punishment of players who run the dungeon quickly and efficiently. I mean, currently in AC, there are very very few trash mobs that you have to actually fight, and a couple bosses you can completely skip as well. Often, people actually yell at you for fighting them.

I thought of a couple more.

I really liked the loot from the Mad King chest. I realized that I get very excited about finding Black Lion Keys, harvesting tools, dye and boosters. I didn’t even get a skin and I still loved that chest.

I also really like running someone through a story mode for the first time. Or figuring out a path the first time with a PUG group.

The thing I enjoy the most in dungeon are mini games that require team members to co-operate and coordinate closely. For example COF path 3 where we need to light up 5 torches in a very short window frame, or where you need to pass the flame balls and light up 3 flame. It was challenging but when we succeeded, we all screamed “yay”. Or in Arah when we have to toss the light ball across the room. They are awesome and innovative ideas and I would love to see them more in the game.