Guild Wars 2

There are several threads about people getting kicked from dungeon parties, and the LFG. This guide is to help those wanting to get into dungeons but have a hard time finding a group using the LFG tool, and getting kicked.

Understanding why you are getting kicked
There are few things more frustrating than trying to join a dungeon run for the first time, finding a group on the LFG, joining, and getting immeditely kicked. The reason for this is most players are looking to do fast and efficient speed runs. They are looking for certain professions, or players with a higher AP (achievment points) as it shows that they have played the game and should know their profession and the basics of combat, and have a certain expectation of the players that join.

What to do about it:
Don’t join a “speed run, zerk only, exp only, Xk AP required” LFG. These players have every right to create and expect a certain type of player in there groups. If you don’t meet the requirements, don’t join.

If you are new to dungeons check out the stickies and these threads: here and here . These resources are great for just just starting out and learning how to run the dungeons.

Start your own group.
Create a LFG stating that you are new and want to learn. This is help bring players willing to teach, as well as others who have limited experience.

Know your profession.
Contrary to popular belief, any profession can complete any dungeon. The problem people have is people not knowing how to play their profession. Look up the guides, and builds/ideas in the profession sub-forums. Dulfy has some great class guides to help you get the most out of your profession.

Learn the dungeon.
There are plenty of walk through guides for each dungeon path. Watch these ahead of time. Learn how to fight the bosses. Know the encounters and special mechanics in the dungeon. Doing this will help you to be an asset and not a liability in any dungeon run.

Communicate.
Ask questions if you are unsure. Let the party know what you are bringing. (i.e. warrior banners) Let them know you are new. Lack of communication has wiped more parties than anything. It helps to bring everybody on the same page, and lets each member know what is expected of them. It’s much easier to work within the “role” assigned to you, rather than running around not knowing what you are supposed to be doing.

Understanding stacking
Many players have taken to “stacking” on certain encounters/boss in dungeons. The main reason for this is boon/buff sharing. While in a tight formation it is easier to share boons and combo fields. It also limits (in some cases) what attacks the enemy can do. It also provides a much greater opportunity for “cleaves” (hitting multiple enemies at once) and AoE damage/support.

In some cases, when a single player leaves/does not enter the stack, it can dramatically change the way enemies behave, which can cause a party wipe. It best to determine where/if the group is going to stack (some bosses stacking really doesn’t matter) BEFORE the encounter.

Gearing up/builds
It’s commonly accepted that the best gear for running dungeons is Beserker (Power, Precision, Ferocity). The provides the most damage output, or DPS. The more damage you can do, the faster the bad guys die, and the less chance they have to kill you. Of course this then leads to having to know the enounters, the boss tells, when to dodge, and how to survive. For players just starting out, it might be better to choose a set of armor that allows for a bit more survivability until you get used to the dungeons. It all depends on how comfortable you are with your abilities, and profession.

Weapons
The best weapons for dungeons depend on the profession. It is generally accepted that the weapons chosen offer a good “burst” damage, cleave, or the ability to provide some offensive group buffs. Although if going to be stacking, avoid using long range weapons as you can do more damage with a melee weapon.

Builds/traits
In each of the profession sub-forums, there are some dungeon peoples that people have put together that may give you some ideas. While it is generally accepted that most people choose a trait line and traits that maximize their damage output. There are also some variations that can provide a bit more utility and group buffs, as well as providing some survivability.

Do’s and Don’ts
Some other tips while running dungeons that will help you keep from getting kicked.

Watch your fears.
Its extremely frustrating to have that group of enemies that you’ve carefully lured into the corner to die suddenly flee from the group. Try to avoid using fears in those situations.

Don’t go “Leeroy Jenkins” into a situation.
Most party wipes are generally caused by someone not following the plan, not stacking as agreed upon, and just running headlong into the frey. Doing this will likely cause you to be kicked before you have a chance to rez.

Bring your A game.
Don’t expect the rest of the party to carry you. Know what is expected of you and do it as best as you can.

Unless you ask ahead of time, and everyone agrees, don’t watch the cut scenes. Those wanting to do the dungeon fast have already seen them and just want to get on with it. Don’t make the party wait for you because you want to watch the cool cinematic. (Everyone should at least once. They are pretty cool)

In the dungeon game, DPS (Damage Per Second) is king. Do what you can to bring the most DPS you can get out of your profession. Those experienced in dungeons want a quick run. Bringing a regen guardian in cleric gear isn’t going to do that. Those builds and gear types do have a place, but not in an experienced speed run group. It will only hurt the efforts of the party.

Most importantly. Have fun. It is going to be a learning experience, and you’ll meet some really cool people along the way. Just remember when starting out, ASK QUESTIONS about things you don’t know. People don’t mind a noob. People mind a noob that won’t ask questions or try to learn.

Good luck and have fun!!

Im not even sure If I should say this but " I think we both know that the people that need to see this aren’t here"
Not to dismiss your work but its sorta like saying

Stacking might is good. Using fear is bad*. Its sort of redundant in this forum, but I guess some lurker will see this and learn… /slap self

DonQuack.9025:

Im not even sure If I should say this but " I think we both know that the people that need to see this aren’t here"
Not to dismiss your work but its sorta like saying

Stacking might is good. Using fear is bad*. Its sort of redundant in this forum, but I guess some lurker will see this and learn… /slap self

Yeah, but I find there are a bunch of posts about noobs getting kicked from dungeons and come here to whine about it. If they are coming here, hopefully they’ll see this and take some of these things into consideration.

Of course you are going to have a large population of new players not coming to the forums, but if I can help those few, then I consider it a job well done.

Chances are most of the new players who are getting kicked are not going on forums but instead just won’t touch dungeons ever again.

Cute…but that is not how its working in game based on my experience. Lets assume you are a new player in gw2 max lvl and full exotic gear and you are trying to get into dungeons and this is what WILL happen:

1. the profession you play will greatly influence your ability to find a party. If you don’t play a fotm profession this will be your number 1 obstacle to overcome every time you want to do something.

2. Now that you finally got into a party ( no speed run or exp run or anything like that cause you obviously have no idea what to do in the dungeon so that is not for you) ,u can apply plan A or plan B.
Plan A is when you salute your party members and you tell them that you are new and you don’t know what to do and if they can explain you any major mechanic that you need to be aware off so you won’t get instantly killed….but that is not gonna happen. You may try to apply this plan multiple times but there are very high chances that you gonna see the same result. Since this won’t work there is always the plan B in which you pretend to know everything and you try to copy what others do in the fight although you have no idea if what others do is good or bad but still doesn’t matter cause this won’t work either and actually it gets you more hate then the plan A.

There are resource sites like gw2dungeons but reading a lot of stuffs about 1 thing is not even close to experience, in fact it can actually get you more confused by the sheer amount on information on something that you don’t even know how it looks like. But then you have the guilds…oh the good lovely guilds. Getting random invited ( even more when you also receive a copy-paste whisper) is ALWAYS a bad thing, you are better of alone in that regard. Getting into a guild that you could learn something from…hahaha you are very far from what they are looking for so don’t even try unless you want to get completely ignored or made fun off.

New players are getting punished for the simple fact that they are new and obviously lack the skills and knowledge of veteran players, and there is not much you personally can do about it. Its a thing that doesn’t aim only popular games, it affects everything and its tied to this new generation of players, games were simply much better and had better quality when not everyone had a pc or internet.

My dungeon experience was awful and i considered that its not worth the frustration and didn’t bothered anymore, it just adds fuel to hate but this in the present is normal and no matter how many guides you make its not gonna work. It may help 1-2 players but overall things won’t change.

I wonder how people managed to finish dungeons when game launched. No veterans for help. No guides to look up. Somehow we still managed.

Mokambo.3649:

If you don’t play a fotm profession this will be your number 1 obstacle to overcome every time you want to do something.

This doesn’t help. On my mesmer, which I only play with a reflect build in CM and SE where I sometimes outright carry, I see a lot of groups who could definitely use more reflects saying “warrior or ele only”. I bet some of those are near-wiped by a pair of elite dredge bombers on the corner of a fence.

There are resource sites like gw2dungeons but reading a lot of stuffs about 1 thing is not even close to experience, in fact it can actually get you more confused by the sheer amount on information on something that you don’t even know how it looks like.

Yep, you have to have done the dungeon a couple of times before gw2dungeons really makes sense. Best thing I found was watching Banter Bill’s realistic PUG guides on youtube and doing one path at a time, to minimise the information overload.

But then you have the guilds…oh the good lovely guilds. Getting random invited ( even more when you also receive a copy-paste whisper) is ALWAYS a bad thing, you are better of alone in that regard.

I can attest to this from recent personal experience. Dodged subject alpha 4 times before I ran out of endurance and died, he was still up, the axe/shield warrior in WvW armour made snide remarks about how he was still alive, I quit the party and since you can’t quit on guildies I had to quit the guild too. Pity, I liked those guys, I should have stuck to guild chat and pugging.

Getting into a guild that you could learn something from…hahaha you are very far from what they are looking for so don’t even try unless you want to get completely ignored or made fun off.

Wouldn’t even know where to look.

New players are getting punished for the simple fact that they are new and obviously lack the skills and knowledge of veteran players, and there is not much you personally can do about it.

Not sure if entirely true. But it certainly is a problem.

I’ll put in a plug for the dungeon guides by Banter Bill on youtube. These are how average or above average PUGs actually do dungeons, i.e. the sort of groups you hope to get into when you’re new.

Also, a plug for level 80 dungeon potions and second rank food (plate of steak and asparagus, minotaur steaks). They are very cheap compared to the dungeon rewards and make life a lot easier. Even if you’re the only person in your AC run using them, you won’t regret it.

Wethospu.6437:

I wonder how people managed to finish dungeons when game launched. No veterans for help. No guides to look up. Somehow we still managed.

the dungeon running community as a whole was very different in their expectations. Zerk parties were rare, and didnt run most paths.
just avoiding cof was enough to avoid most speed groups.

Lfg didnt exactly exist, so it represented a smaller part of the whole. (it was an offsite tool, not everyone used)

People had often shouted to find members, which ended up being people from your server/community. Thus making kicks less common as you were likely to see these people again and again. Kicks were generally a last resort, instead of the first option.

Basically most of the people dissatisfied, wouldnt be disatisfied with how it used to be, because a general party, usually was a general party, without too many expectations other than the group would try to work together to beat the dungeon.

The real problem is that now general non specific groups are rarer, and half the people still expect people to be doing speedrun type tactics, just not as good at it, or slightly sub optimal builds.

Essentially whats left of the dungeon running players is not something that a new/non meta player is going to be able to experience in a positive way

DonQuack.9025:

Im not even sure If I should say this but " I think we both know that the people that need to see this aren’t here"
Not to dismiss your work but its sorta like saying

Stacking might is good. Using fear is bad*. Its sort of redundant in this forum, but I guess some lurker will see this and learn… /slap self

Since the game just had a lot of new players entering who knows nada on the workings of dungeons, I assume if anyone had the thought to look things up, the dungeon forums would be the first place for them to visit. Sometimes as veterans we are unable to see how newer players fail to meet up to our understanding or expectations when they do not have readily available resources to them.

To OP, great job on the guide, I hope this guide gets stickied or placed somewhere easily accessible to newer players instead of being lost in the dungeon forum archive.

Zerk or go home

phys.7689:

Wethospu.6437:

I wonder how people managed to finish dungeons when game launched. No veterans for help. No guides to look up. Somehow we still managed.

the dungeon running community as a whole was very different in their expectations. Zerk parties were rare, and didnt run most paths.
just avoiding cof was enough to avoid most speed groups.

Lfg didnt exactly exist, so it represented a smaller part of the whole. (it was an offsite tool, not everyone used)

People had often shouted to find members, which ended up being people from your server/community. Thus making kicks less common as you were likely to see these people again and again. Kicks were generally a last resort, instead of the first option.

Basically most of the people dissatisfied, wouldnt be disatisfied with how it used to be, because a general party, usually was a general party, without too many expectations other than the group would try to work together to beat the dungeon.

The real problem is that now general non specific groups are rarer, and half the people still expect people to be doing speedrun type tactics, just not as good at it, or slightly sub optimal builds.

Essentially whats left of the dungeon running players is not something that a new/non meta player is going to be able to experience in a positive way

I’m not sure if I would label spending like 2 hours wiping on Subject Alpha “a positive way”. Or having to give up on a dungeon like AC exp because we couldn’t beat Kholer.

Wethospu.6437:

phys.7689:

Wethospu.6437:

I wonder how people managed to finish dungeons when game launched. No veterans for help. No guides to look up. Somehow we still managed.

the dungeon running community as a whole was very different in their expectations. Zerk parties were rare, and didnt run most paths.
just avoiding cof was enough to avoid most speed groups.

Lfg didnt exactly exist, so it represented a smaller part of the whole. (it was an offsite tool, not everyone used)

People had often shouted to find members, which ended up being people from your server/community. Thus making kicks less common as you were likely to see these people again and again. Kicks were generally a last resort, instead of the first option.

Basically most of the people dissatisfied, wouldnt be disatisfied with how it used to be, because a general party, usually was a general party, without too many expectations other than the group would try to work together to beat the dungeon.

The real problem is that now general non specific groups are rarer, and half the people still expect people to be doing speedrun type tactics, just not as good at it, or slightly sub optimal builds.

Essentially whats left of the dungeon running players is not something that a new/non meta player is going to be able to experience in a positive way

I’m not sure if I would label spending like 2 hours wiping on Subject Alpha “a positive way”. Or having to give up on a dungeon like AC exp because we couldn’t beat Kholer.

I think its better to be able to play, than to be kicked or not be able to find anyone who will accept you at all.

Its ok to fail and learn while playing for a lot of guys. Im sure your path to learning the game was full of multiple deaths, different strategies that failed, and your experiences seeing how/why people would fail at various things.

That path no longer exists. In some ways its good, maybe in other ways its bad, but regardless, if you aint attempting to speed run(even p1 groups generally attempting some version of a speed run), there is substantially less options.

I think we can both agree that people who played the game at start had a very different experience with dungeons no matter how you slice it.

stephoa: Thank you!! I hope that new players do see this and try to learn something. At the very least it’s some good advice that may help someone.

Phys: I agree. Dungeon running has changed dramatically since the days before the LFG and before anyone really knew or understood what they were doing. It’s a completely different game now as far as running dungeons.

Mokambo: Sorry to hear that you’ve had a bad experience in dungeons. However, this guide is to help minimize those things from happening to others.

But to comment on your points:
1) Profession choice does appear to be an obstacle main because parties are unwilling to adapt. Not because certain professions are bad. I’ve successfully run dungeons with my ranger and necro. The 2 professions that are not considered “meta”. I’ve soloed dungeons with my ranger. The problem is that some veterens got caught up in the “meta” and that you cannot run a dungeon with X profession without realizing why. The old school veterens (from the days of launch) I feel have a better understanding of whats going on, and are seeking the most efficient runs possible, mainly because they’ve run those dungeons hundreds of times. The others only exlude because they were taught that its not meta, and will critically hamper their efforts. (Which of course isn’t entirely true. Having a necro in the party isn’t going to cause it to wipe, or a ranger isn’t going to dramatically increase the length of the run to the point where other party members are not going to be able to do anything else in game.) The truth is that you can have a successful dungeon run , in a reasonable amount of time with any profession, as long as the player knows what they are doing.

2) Plan A: Always a good idea. However, some people are not willing to teach, and thats fine. But even an inexperienced player should at least have a general overview of the dungeon they are trying to do. There are plenty of resources available, that do apply to “noobs” without overwhelming them. Also bear in mind that some LFGs only say Px. Those, while not having specific requirements, are almost always looking for experienced players, and efficient runs. Starting out, look for groups that say “any welcome” or something to that effect. Or start your own.
Plan B: NEVER A GOOD IDEA. EVER.
Its things like this that give pugs a bad name. Players not knowing what they are doing, and too afraid to ask. This then leads to new players picking up bad habits, which give certain professions a bad rap, and results in more frequent kicks from groups. If you don’t know, speak up. Period. If you get kicked for speaking up, then that dungeon group wasn’t for you. And you’d be better off spending your time with someone else. If you are in a guild that doesn’t have someone to teach dungeons, find another guild that will. Put a “willing to learn” LFG up. But in the end it’s up to the player to take the initiative and learn. There are tons of people willing to teach, and answer questions. You just need to seek them out. But don’t ever pretend to know what you are doing, thats just not cool. And if you do find someone willing to teach you, be sure to show your gratitude with a gift. It’s not expected, nor required, but it goes along way.

Wethospu.6437:

I wonder how people managed to finish dungeons when game launched. No veterans for help. No guides to look up. Somehow we still managed.

Basically this… Some people just don’t want to read. Some people just don’t have motivation to do things better. Some people just want to run around. Some people just want to role play. Some people want to play how they want regardless of their teammates. Some people just want to play with like minded players. Some people just want to finish content in a timely manner. Some people just want to be the very best that no one ever was.

sooo….first: i came back to gw2 about 7-8months ago i dont remember after a long break because i was bored with gw2 after the first 2-3 months. So i had the "newbie"thing on myself. but i had luck and a old friend took me everywhere and explained what is going on – and hell i was confused. (manly because everything was done with fgs which got nerfed shortly after and everything changed a lot i pugruns)

the friend told me to play ele or warrior. because it would be “easier” …yeah… not. phalanx warrior is easy but expensive to hold up the might. and ele and mightstacking… well a sience in my eyes xD

i tried many classes because i started 2 y ago with mesmer. now i have 14 characters and stayed with thief.

i died more than i can tell without being ashamed. mostly because i did not dodge in the right moment.

noooww i got used to the meta and know most dungeons like my handbag.

my personal expierence was : be honest if you pug. if you are 80 and zerk in a zerk group they will tell you what to do. as long as you are not a bearbow. but for that there are plenty of information here.

i found many people to play with while beeing honest with them that i dont know what im doing. mostly they went with me if they got spare time and helped me learn. (lfg system – usually pugs that just went there because their guild was away)

just some things:

1. learn the short words. like sr xD

2. cathograph the map find your class you like and READ what your skills do. read traitguides and learn what they DO. DONT just put a guide in and move on without knowing what it will do to your skills.

3. ask people you meet and like how they play and ask if they go storydungoens with you learning. usually on 80 you can do that easy dou. really! xD

4. find your way of learning. watching yt videos was absolute useless for me. doing it and just run behind my group and ASKASKASK helped me more.

5. ASK ASK ASK . i always hated people that knew nothing and did not asked a thing. always seemed like they dont want to learn.

6. every one does stuff a little different. but some stacking points are the same. if you dont stack the mobs WONT move right and you will get blamed. one mistake? no problem. but more … well….nope.
most gamers are not patient.

7. if you are told there will be stealth…. cuddle with your thief. im always tempted to put people on a leash.

8. if you ask and nobody answers try to wispher them.

9. if you dont know the way tell them. someone will run with you usually.

10. dont snowflake around if the new group does something different than others. just deal with it and ask if you dont understand. we get a lot critic for using pleanty of stealth. just because we expierenced its easier to get everyone to the boss with stealth than without.

sorry for some things other said previously. and my crap english . and i wrote it on a phone. spelling errors will be 1.50€ grammarerrors 2.30€

i have forgotten something for sure but no idea what.

ps. i needed months to get where i need what stealthskill. i always ask my friend “here it was sr riiight?”

well and i have 8.300 ap just because of gw1 & i did every archievment which i could. JP for example

I’m sorry if my post may seem like trolling, but I cannot help to say that every time I see this topic, I’m immediately thinking about the How not to be seen sketch from Monty Python.

And it’s not very far-fetched. Kick (dungeon) = boom (sketch)

Silmar Alech.4305:

I’m sorry if my post may seem like trolling, but I cannot help to say that every time I see this topic, I’m immediately thinking about the How not to be seen sketch from Monty Python.

And it’s not very far-fetched. Kick (dungeon) = boom (sketch)

Thats awesome! haven’t seen that one in awhile.

“How to NOT get kicked – guaranteed!”

Don’t PUG.

Recently I’ve been making an experience.

I have 2 accounts, one with 14k+ AP and with almost 1.5k+ AP and I pug on both.

About my 14k+ AP account:

PROS:

- I have the achievement points required to enter any party.

- I have all the classes to enter any party and know how to play them decently (some better others worse but I play at a decent level on the worse ones).
Example:
They need a warrior, I have one.
They need a guardian, I have one.
Etc.

-I have all my classes equipped and pretty xD

- I never been kicked because im a bad player (been kicked like 2 or 3 times in the end of dungeons by people that were in the same guild).

- Pugs never said I played bad (without counting when I was learning xD)

CONS:

-Cant remember.

About my 1.5k+ AP:

PROS:

- I have all the things to do again, what for me its kinda fun.

CONS:

- I dont have the achievement points required to enter any party therefore I dont enter the partys that ask for 5k+AP cause I respect them. (Even though i do have a 14k+ AP account)
I do, however, whisper the person in the party asking if i can enter and explain its a 2nd account.
Some answer, some dont.

- EVEN when I enter party’s that dont ask for the AP requirement I get kicked when i enter-.-

- Today I went a a Full Run CM, I said I knew my stuff. (REMEMBER: I never got kicked in my 14k+ account)

We were at P2 path, the part were we needed to kill those mobs to get to Briggete.

Before that I said I had stuff in my oven and it was only 1sc, I ran to see my nutella croissants and ran again to the pc, it took like 10sc.
They went ahead and were killing the mobs before Briggete and they die. (NOTE: I was not there)

One guy, after that, said that he asked for exp people.
After that my pc freeze and I had to restart and since I have a Disk SSD it took me less than 1min to restart my pc and enter gw2 again.

To my surprise I enter gw2 WITHOUT a party.

So I never got kicked in my main account, In the 10sc I went to check on my croissants they die and I get kicked? o.o

On my main account, even if I dc I NEVER got kicked! Even if i say brb and take 10sc, I NEVER get kicked.

- Another CON, have to wait to get my ascend trinkets xD My main has loads of trinkets when I create a new character, this has none.

What do we get from here:

-Even if you are experience and have a 14k+AP account you will get kicked if you are in a 1.5k+AP account.

Doesn’t matter if you say your exp in your 1.5k AP account. Doesnt matter if you know more than the people that are in your party when you are at your 1.5k AP account. If something goes wrong its your fault unfortunately (when you are at your 1.5 AP account).

TL:DR: I have a 14k AP account and a 1.5k AP account. Never got kicked from the 14k but within a month I got kicked a lot because of my AP in the 1.5k AP account.
Doesnt matter if you play well, if you have low ap, you’re kitten.

Welcome to the happy, happy world of rangers and necromancers. Even engineers sort of get the same treatment. Few groups even want a mesmer if it’s not something like a harpy fractal or arah skips.

Zenith.7301:

Welcome to the happy, happy world of rangers and necromancers.

So sad :c

Imagine if i entered a party and was in my 1.5ka account WITH a necro or ranger?
They would kicked me faster xD

And I use a warrior in my 2nd account, forgot to say that.

I have never gotten instakicked out of a 50 fractal on my ele or guardian. Ever.

I got on my necro the other day, had to go through 5 insta kicks upon join before i got into a group that didn’t.

Hell, they didn’t even specify preferred classes, otherwise I would have switched or not joined. Then there’s people just hunting for excuses to remove you, like you aggroed something on arah when you didn’t, or they accuse you of fearing/cc’ing the slime when you haven’t even entered death shroud and are using a dagger so you didn’t sue staff fear.

You’ll also realize how much longer your wait times for filling a group are if you are an instance owner as a necro or ranger vs. a guard or ele or warrior.

My fractals i start on guard fill up almost instantly. I can go over 20 minutes of waiting before anyone joins my ranger/necro.

Whiteflower:

Thats not good. It goes to show that some people are just kittens.

Overall it seems like there is a special sub set of dungeon runners who believe that there is only 1 way to run a dungeon, and if its not done that way then they aren’t making as much gold/hour. Which is really sad. But i believe that belief is fostered by the “meta” guides, builds and websites. I think a majority of those types of players don’t fully understand why they are even doing it that way. They also have this idea that pugs are terrible players. I would be willing to bet that if one of the most highly skilled dungeon runner, who helped developed the meta, wrote the book on running dungeons and devised the tactics commonly used, were to join a dungeon party, they too would be kicked off they didn’t have 125k AP.

I have yet to run a dungeon, even with first timers, that took an extremely long time, or ever failed a dungeon with any class and party composition.

pdavis.8031:

Do’s and Don’ts
Some other tips while running dungeons that will help you keep from getting kicked.

Watch your fears.
Its extremely frustrating to have that group of enemies that you’ve carefully lured into the corner to die suddenly flee from the group. Try to avoid using fears in those situations.

Don’t go “Leeroy Jenkins” into a situation.
Most party wipes are generally caused by someone not following the plan, not stacking as agreed upon, and just running headlong into the frey. Doing this will likely cause you to be kicked before you have a chance to rez.

Bring your A game.
Don’t expect the rest of the party to carry you. Know what is expected of you and do it as best as you can.

Unless you ask ahead of time, and everyone agrees, don’t watch the cut scenes. Those wanting to do the dungeon fast have already seen them and just want to get on with it. Don’t make the party wait for you because you want to watch the cool cinematic. (Everyone should at least once. They are pretty cool)

In the dungeon game, DPS (Damage Per Second) is king. Do what you can to bring the most DPS you can get out of your profession. Those experienced in dungeons want a quick run. Bringing a regen guardian in cleric gear isn’t going to do that. Those builds and gear types do have a place, but not in an experienced speed run group. It will only hurt the efforts of the party.

Most importantly. Have fun. It is going to be a learning experience, and you’ll meet some really cool people along the way. Just remember when starting out, ASK QUESTIONS about things you don’t know. People don’t mind a noob. People mind a noob that won’t ask questions or try to learn.

Good luck and have fun!!

You forgot one more thing. Don’t join groups that has 3 or more guild members that is not in your guild.

You can be the one carrying the group and you would still be kicked. In pugs, I have to try very hard to get myself kicked. In guild groups, if you make one little joke, they’ll kick you without a second thought. Also, they may kick you to make room for their guildmates.

This is a guide to “not getting kicked.” Not learn how to play guide.

pdavis.8031:

I have yet to run a dungeon, even with first timers, that took an extremely long time, or ever failed a dungeon with any class and party composition.

How do you define “extremely long” and " failed". Also you are quite lucky.

I still have nightmares about launch

I have made some “will teach”, “new comers welcome” and so on for dungeon path. Somehow, it takes forever or sometime I don’t even get a full team to join.

However, the second I put up “fast run”, “80s only” and so on. My group fills out so fast and there is always one or two of them are new and have no idea what they are doing…

Gilgamesh.1025:

I have made some “will teach”, “new comers welcome” and so on for dungeon path. Somehow, it takes forever or sometime I don’t even get a full team to join.

However, the second I put up “fast run”, “80s only” and so on. My group fills out so fast and there is always one or two of them are new and have no idea what they are doing…

People want to do things fast and easily so they try to find people to carry them

Bold the whole communicate part :xx

I really like OP’s statements here, and maybe it’s just me, but i find most of these replies here to be a bit cynical. As a guild leader of a pretty experienced dungeon/fractal/pvx guild, I find most of what OP said to be true.

Sometimes we do end up pugging a couple spots for dungeons and MOST of us don’t mind taking on a low AP guy. Low AP doesn’t always mean the player doesn’t know what to do. But again, OP is right about communication, explain to the rest of the party that you are somewhat new to this particular dungeon, but also be willing to listen and ask questions at APPROPRIATE times (not in the middle of fighting a boss).

Also, if you are new, don’t join an ‘experienced only’ group on the LFG. Even if you are wearing full exotic and you ‘look’ like you aren’t new, veterans can tell in the first couple of minutes of a dungeon if the pug knows what to do or not do, and if they are dealing any proper DPS.

Lastly, if you want the safety of not being kicked, do join a pve/dungeon guild to get your dungeons going and try to jump at any instance you can to go with them. It will show initiative and that you are an active member. But again, the most important thing is to take the guilds advice on weapon, build, and stat choices. It may sound elitist, but if you are trying to learn, don’t question the ones that already know what to do. Having a veteran explain why those decisions are for the best is one thing, but having to justify every single thing can be annoying (probably because veterans had done so many times before).

Also, just to add to my previous post. As someone who taught MANY people how to dungeon, the most ideal way to teach new people to dungeon is to not have more than TWO new guys in a dungeon party. Assuming the other 3 members are knowledgeable and skilled enough, teaching 1 or 2 pugs/new guys a particular dungeon is not difficult.

I have found over my thousands of dungeon runs that having more than 2 new guys is not helpful for anyone. Having 3 new guys will mean the majority of the party doesn’t know what to do which will mean much slower dungeon than when there are only 2. Also, I found that having at most 2 new guys will mean they get much better personal assistance and learning experience.

:D I have joined lfg’s looking for teacher where I was the only experienced one.
Instead of following me they followed the yolo’r and died.
Then kicked me because I had to stop and type and delete it to keep up.

runeblade.7514:

You forgot one more thing. Don’t join groups that has 3 or more guild members that is not in your guild.

You can be the one carrying the group and you would still be kicked. In pugs, I have to try very hard to get myself kicked. In guild groups, if you make one little joke, they’ll kick you without a second thought. Also, they may kick you to make room for their guildmates.

This is a guide to “not getting kicked.” Not learn how to play guide.

While that may be true, I didn’t include it because sometimes running with another guild doesn’t result in a kick. In my experience I’ve never kicked anyone, or been kicked by a guild group. It also depends on the LFG. Even guild groups are more apt to kick if the new comer doesn’t know what they are doing. But I suppose it depends on the guild.

Also, when joining a guild group where you fear you may be kicked, try to get their names and guild names ASAP. Get your screen shot ready as soon as you join. You can report them if they start to be verbally abusive, but you can track down their guild leader. I’ve had to go to a guild leader several times because members of certain guilds were acting like kittens. I told the guild leader, and he took action. (i.e. lowered rank, removed guild benefits, and even kick out of guild.) Guild leaders in general tend to be more protective of the guild, especially of larger guilds, and of the guild reputation. It looks bad on the guild leaders and the guild when members are acting like jerks.

pdavis.8031:

runeblade.7514:

You forgot one more thing. Don’t join groups that has 3 or more guild members that is not in your guild.

You can be the one carrying the group and you would still be kicked. In pugs, I have to try very hard to get myself kicked. In guild groups, if you make one little joke, they’ll kick you without a second thought. Also, they may kick you to make room for their guildmates.

This is a guide to “not getting kicked.” Not learn how to play guide.

While that may be true, I didn’t include it because sometimes running with another guild doesn’t result in a kick. In my experience I’ve never kicked anyone, or been kicked by a guild group. It also depends on the LFG. Even guild groups are more apt to kick if the new comer doesn’t know what they are doing. But I suppose it depends on the guild.

Also, when joining a guild group where you fear you may be kicked, try to get their names and guild names ASAP. Get your screen shot ready as soon as you join. You can report them if they start to be verbally abusive, but you can track down their guild leader. I’ve had to go to a guild leader several times because members of certain guilds were acting like kittens. I told the guild leader, and he took action. (i.e. lowered rank, removed guild benefits, and even kick out of guild.) Guild leaders in general tend to be more protective of the guild, especially of larger guilds, and of the guild reputation. It looks bad on the guild leaders and the guild when members are acting like jerks.

Just because you didn’t kick anyone or didn’t get kicked doesn’t mean it never happens.

Also, when joining a guild group where you fear you may be kicked, try to get their names and guild names ASAP.

Doesn’t stop me from getting kicked and get me denied from rewards.

I don’t see any reason why “Don’t join guild groups that is not your own” is not up there on the guide.

understanding why you’re getting kicked
TLDR:
Read the lfgs.
Join the ones you actually fit into.
Cant find an LFG for you? make your own.
Think about the other 4 people in your team who have to endure your decisions.
Do your best and accept constructive criticism to improve.

runeblade:

Ok I’ll concede that not joining guild groups will increase your chances of not getting kicked. However I don’t want to scare off or preclude people from learning and using the LFG, which is why it’s not included. Some guild groups are good peoples, others not so much. But you are going to find good people, and kittens in every aspect of the game regardless of what you are doing.

Use the LFG, join with others doing dungeons. It’s a fun and rewarding experience. You may just meet some really cool people. But if you are starting out, just make sure you’ve done your homework, and don’t expect anyone to carry you.

J Eberle.9312:

understanding why you’re getting kicked
TLDR:
Read the lfgs.
Join the ones you actually fit into.
Cant find an LFG for you? make your own.
Think about the other 4 people in your team who have to endure your decisions.
Do your best and accept constructive criticism to improve.

Thanks for that!

pdavis.8031:

runeblade:

Ok I’ll concede that not joining guild groups will increase your chances of not getting kicked. However I don’t want to scare off or preclude people from learning and using the LFG, which is why it’s not included. Some guild groups are good peoples, others not so much. But you are going to find good people, and kittens in every aspect of the game regardless of what you are doing.

Use the LFG, join with others doing dungeons. It’s a fun and rewarding experience. You may just meet some really cool people. But if you are starting out, just make sure you’ve done your homework, and don’t expect anyone to carry you.

Information is still information.

If you don’t want to scare off people, then include it. Leaving and finding another dungeon party takes about 10 seconds. Plus the newbies can waste time doing stuff while waiting. Getting kicked at the end of the run is the quickest way to not care about dungeons anymore. Its better off that the newbie leave early so he doesn’t waste his time because of toxic guild members.

I don’t know about you, but I rather waste 10 seconds finding another dungeon party than waste 40 minutes doing a dungeon path only to be kicked at the end.

runeblade.7514:

pdavis.8031:

runeblade:

Ok I’ll concede that not joining guild groups will increase your chances of not getting kicked. However I don’t want to scare off or preclude people from learning and using the LFG, which is why it’s not included. Some guild groups are good peoples, others not so much. But you are going to find good people, and kittens in every aspect of the game regardless of what you are doing.

Use the LFG, join with others doing dungeons. It’s a fun and rewarding experience. You may just meet some really cool people. But if you are starting out, just make sure you’ve done your homework, and don’t expect anyone to carry you.

Information is still information.

If you don’t want to scare off people, then include it. Leaving and finding another dungeon party takes about 10 seconds. Plus the newbies can waste time doing stuff while waiting. Getting kicked at the end of the run is the quickest way to not care about dungeons anymore. Its better off that the newbie leave early so he doesn’t waste his time because of toxic guild members.

I don’t know about you, but I rather waste 10 seconds finding another dungeon party than waste 40 minutes doing a dungeon path only to be kicked at the end.

i have no emperical numbers, but i find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in guilds would kick pug player they asked for, for no reason. Perhaps im just a crazy idealist

phys.7689:

runeblade.7514:

pdavis.8031:

runeblade:

Ok I’ll concede that not joining guild groups will increase your chances of not getting kicked. However I don’t want to scare off or preclude people from learning and using the LFG, which is why it’s not included. Some guild groups are good peoples, others not so much. But you are going to find good people, and kittens in every aspect of the game regardless of what you are doing.

Use the LFG, join with others doing dungeons. It’s a fun and rewarding experience. You may just meet some really cool people. But if you are starting out, just make sure you’ve done your homework, and don’t expect anyone to carry you.

Information is still information.

If you don’t want to scare off people, then include it. Leaving and finding another dungeon party takes about 10 seconds. Plus the newbies can waste time doing stuff while waiting. Getting kicked at the end of the run is the quickest way to not care about dungeons anymore. Its better off that the newbie leave early so he doesn’t waste his time because of toxic guild members.

I don’t know about you, but I rather waste 10 seconds finding another dungeon party than waste 40 minutes doing a dungeon path only to be kicked at the end.

i have no emperical numbers, but i find it hard to believe that the vast majority of people in guilds would kick pug player they asked for, for no reason. Perhaps im just a crazy idealist

I am a crazy idealist then too.

I agree that guild groups looking for another don’t just kick because. In some cases though, guilds have kicked to bring in another guildie at the end, but those people are kittens anyway. Plus in such cases we aren’t hearing the full story. We just hear the side of the one kicked to bring in their guildies. How do we know that said player was kicked because they were being a kitten? If they were kicked, how do we know that they did it just to bring in their guildie? There really isn’t a way to verify that, as you are no longer in the party, and can’t see who came in after you.

But does it happen? Sure. But I don’t think as often as some people make out.

pdavis.8031:

But does it happen? Sure. But I don’t think as often as some people make out.

That’s how I feel about it, too.

I’ve run dungeons with my guild, often having to pug the last spot. I can’t recall a single time we’ve kicked someone at all, let alone just to bring in another guildie.

I’ve also run dungeons without any of my guildies. I’ve rarely been kicked from a dungeon (I can count the number of times it’s happened on one hand, and I wouldn’t even need all five fingers to do so). I can’t think of any time where I’ve been kicked from a party that was made of people from the same guild, either.

Zenith.7301:

I have never gotten instakicked out of a 50 fractal on my ele or guardian. Ever.

I got on my necro the other day, had to go through 5 insta kicks upon join before i got into a group that didn’t.

Hell, they didn’t even specify preferred classes, otherwise I would have switched or not joined. Then there’s people just hunting for excuses to remove you, like you aggroed something on arah when you didn’t, or they accuse you of fearing/cc’ing the slime when you haven’t even entered death shroud and are using a dagger so you didn’t sue staff fear.

You’ll also realize how much longer your wait times for filling a group are if you are an instance owner as a necro or ranger vs. a guard or ele or warrior.

My fractals i start on guard fill up almost instantly. I can go over 20 minutes of waiting before anyone joins my ranger/necro.

This is a problem of how easily replacable anyone is. If I kick someone, I get a new member within 30 seconds. I can just keep kicking until I get someone playing a class I want or playing how I want them to play.

It’s awful game design and somehow worse than other games automated dungeon finder systems.

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

Shiyo.3578:

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

PUGS are easily disposable. I have 400 ppl in my guild to make friends or group up with, that will take me a long time to become friend with even 1/10th of that. Why should we care about everybody in the game?

Thaddeus.4891:

Shiyo.3578:

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

PUGS are easily disposable. I have 400 ppl in my guild to make friends or group up with, that will take me a long time to become friend with even 1/10th of that. Why should we care about everybody in the game?

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

phys.7689:

Thaddeus.4891:

Shiyo.3578:

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

PUGS are easily disposable. I have 400 ppl in my guild to make friends or group up with, that will take me a long time to become friend with even 1/10th of that. Why should we care about everybody in the game?

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

Interesting…

I can see that in a trinity situation where you absolutely need X profession in order to clear a dungeon or do an event or it will fail, and you’ll have to wait a certain amount of time to be able to try again, where a pug wouldn’t be treated as disposable.

However in this environment, where you have a loose “trinity” and damage is desired far above support, you can afford to be more picky in who you take.

pdavis.8031:

phys.7689:

Thaddeus.4891:

Shiyo.3578:

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

PUGS are easily disposable. I have 400 ppl in my guild to make friends or group up with, that will take me a long time to become friend with even 1/10th of that. Why should we care about everybody in the game?

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

Interesting…

I can see that in a trinity situation where you absolutely need X profession in order to clear a dungeon or do an event or it will fail, and you’ll have to wait a certain amount of time to be able to try again, where a pug wouldn’t be treated as disposable.

However in this environment, where you have a loose “trinity” and damage is desired far above support, you can afford to be more picky in who you take.

if it was just about the trinity, people would be punting DD players like footballs in kicking practice

phys.7689:

pdavis.8031:

phys.7689:

Thaddeus.4891:

Shiyo.3578:

People are easily disposable and no one even tries to make friends or group up with the same people again, even if they’re good. Everyone might as well be NPC’s in dungeons and I doubt ANYONE would notice a difference or care at all.

PUGS are easily disposable. I have 400 ppl in my guild to make friends or group up with, that will take me a long time to become friend with even 1/10th of that. Why should we care about everybody in the game?

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

Interesting…

I can see that in a trinity situation where you absolutely need X profession in order to clear a dungeon or do an event or it will fail, and you’ll have to wait a certain amount of time to be able to try again, where a pug wouldn’t be treated as disposable.

However in this environment, where you have a loose “trinity” and damage is desired far above support, you can afford to be more picky in who you take.

if it was just about the trinity, people would be punting DD players like footballs in kicking practice

I don’t think it’s JUST about the trinity, but I would certainly think that in other games where pugs are more tolerated, and in some cases desirable, the trinity does play a role. There may be other reason certainly, but I can’t think of other reasons at the moment.

phys.7689:

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

I don’t think that different in other game. I don’t really care about other player when I play CoD. When I play CSGO I only care about the ppl that I always play with in my favourite server.

Now, when I was playing SWTOR is was a little bit different. When I was doing operation or the equivalent of ’’dungeons’’, then ya ppl were not disposable. Well dps players were disposable, tank and healer were precious because you often had to wait for a long time to get them. You also had to organized an order of killing (with different targets). So once you setup your group, you don’t want to get back to square one. But if ppl were not disposable in this situation, it come at a cost. Creating group was long and when something was wrong in the group it could screw you up pretty badly.

But did it was worth it? I don’t think so. Maybe I was less liberal with the kicking in SWTOR, but I wasn’t adding friends all over the place either. I was still playing mostly with my guild and most social interaction back then was pretty much similar to right now in GW2.

phys.7689:

yeah, maybe you are right, but thats actually a problem.
So one should look maybe and try to see why in other games, people feel less comfortable treating random pug players as disposable.

Tanks and healers are important. “Oh I should be nice to this tank/healer because he might leave or if I befriend them I’ll get instant queues!”. No such thing in this game, someone is bad, kick them, get someone else within 30 seconds. Takes 5 minutes to fill up a full group regardless of class/role.
I did 2 weeks of dungeons and I constantly added people and messaged them later if they wanted to run dungeons again and NO ONE ever replied. I made >>ZERO<< friends running dungeons over 2 weeks, most guilds don’t even do stuff together, so having a guild is pointless outside of wurm which takes like 20 minutes every day or few days. Only activity in GW2 that encourages grouping up together over and over, making friends and having a guild is WVW. Everything else is basically a single player RPG with NPC’s.

The game is also extremely easy so if someone isn’t doing their job properly, you kick them and 90% of the time you’ll get another player who can do their job perfectly. No challenges, no roles, just quick/easy access to content. Making a game like that completely kills the community aspect of it, as you can see.

No important classes, easy content, no challenges and EASE and quickness of replacing a team member. Even WOW raids suffer from this now, people are having problems doing guild runs now due to it’s new group finder system for raids, because you can just hop from group to group and clear content with complete strangers pretty effortlessly. No schedules, no progressing, just quick and easy access to content and gear.

Accessibility comes with a huge price to the community.

Shiyo.3578 does make a good point actually.

“Accessibility comes with a huge price to the community.”

I agree with this.