Guild Wars 2

So many times I’ve seen people say “Stack here” for a boss. So many times this seems to not go as well as expected. I mean ok, I can see some of the reasoning behind it, but it just seems like a poor idea to me.

Reasons to stack:
—Boss/enemies aren’t running around
—You know where the AOEs are happening
—Everyone in one place means speedy revives

Reasons not to stack:
—Since they’re usually stacked against a wall, you don’t always see when the AOEs are coming.
—Attacks usually hit EVERYONE at once.
—Most often, if one person gets downed, almost everyone else gets downed at the same time.

At least that’s how I see it. Seems like you’re putting too much risk on a tactic and I just don’t like it. Often times when people say “Stack here” I stay separate from the stack and plink at the guy with my rifle. And several times when that happened, the rest of the team died, leaving me to revive most of them at once with my Banner elite, or TRY to finish off the enemies.

What do you guys think about Stacking?

If you kill mobs before they kill you, stack. If mobs kill you first, don’t stack.

Sometimes, stacking help to bunch enemies up at the start. You do not need to stay stacked throughout the encounter.

It’s really situational.

I’ve seen it work fantastically in some places, and horribly others.

I’ve also seen it fail in one place with a certain group makeup, while succeeding in another.

Due to this, I’ll never be the one to suggest stacking, but I don’t mind going along with someone else’s plan if they have a particular instance they think it’s effective. And, if we wipe due to that – well, at least I’m not the one getting yelled at.

Most of the time you stack to LoS or because its a safe spot. Other than that I dont see any other reason to do it, because most of the time bosses or even elite mobs have cleave, thus resulting in everyone taking damage.

another reason to stack: Ease of overlapping support / combo fields.

If the party stacks, then everyone is in range of shouts, everyone is at close range to hit combo fields, etc, etc…..

As an example, if you stack a SB Thief and a Ranger in a spot, along with the rest of your party, the SB Thief spamming Cluster Bomb inside the ranger’s healing spring is both a damage source, and is triggering a party wide heal.

CB has a high arc and takes forever to hit a target at long range, but if you pull the party in close, you can hit the combo field several times in rapid succession.

If an Ele lays down a fire combo field, that SB thief can also spam out party wide might via the same blast finisher.

When stacked on Alpha, the members of my static group work hard to give a quick warning before setting up a combo field so we can capatilize on it. Works wonders

To add to that, stacking if you have a Guardian with a Hammer on your team means your whole team gets permanent protection from just that Guardian alone.

Its situational here, my team uses stacking in CoE and heavily in CM, its easier when you have someone curing conditions and dropping heals. And as person above me said, perma-prot with a guard hammer

By not stacking when the group asks you to, you’re making the party tactic fail. You survive, because you got your party killed. See: Subject Alpha. Once you truly know the bosses and their abilities, stacking gets you further faster.

Only with a proper team, aka 100% team protection uptime and at least 70% projectile reflection uptime.
Also helps to have an Ele tossing Rain/Geyser and people blasting in for AoE heal finishers.

The problem is Guardians with that build are pretty rare, most are GS glass cannon so ask for their build before attempting this.

I think Subject Alpha is the common use of that tactic, and that’s mostly just because Alpha doesn’t technically have a standard melee attack.

I guess there might be some other fights you could get away with it on. But for every one of those there’s a boss that’ll split it’s face with a grin six meters wide the moment you and your snack sized morsel friends stack together for it’s dining convenience.
So, bear that in mind.

Red Falcon.8257:

Only with a proper team, aka 100% team protection uptime and at least 70% projectile reflection uptime.
Also helps to have an Ele tossing Rain/Geyser and people blasting in for AoE heal finishers.

The problem is Guardians with that build are pretty rare, most are GS glass cannon so ask for their build before attempting this.

Eh, most guardians are tanks wannabes, not GC. Standard build is 0/0/30/30/10 or 0/5/30/30/5. I can’t see how’s that glass at all.

Chessrook.8643:

So many times I’ve seen people say “Stack here” for a boss. So many times this seems to not go as well as expected. I mean ok, I can see some of the reasoning behind it, but it just seems like a poor idea to me.

Reasons to stack:
—Boss/enemies aren’t running around
—You know where the AOEs are happening
—Everyone in one place means speedy revives

Reasons not to stack:
—Since they’re usually stacked against a wall, you don’t always see when the AOEs are coming.
—Attacks usually hit EVERYONE at once.
—Most often, if one person gets downed, almost everyone else gets downed at the same time.

At least that’s how I see it. Seems like you’re putting too much risk on a tactic and I just don’t like it. Often times when people say “Stack here” I stay separate from the stack and plink at the guy with my rifle. And several times when that happened, the rest of the team died, leaving me to revive most of them at once with my Banner elite, or TRY to finish off the enemies.

What do you guys think about Stacking?

Your the sole reason stacking fails. Yes, you. Dont say you res, you wouldnt of had to res if you stacked. The whole thing is about LOS. If you dont LOS, they AOE you, hence hitting team. You kite, they dont but they wouldnt of had to if you LOS’d. So yea, your killing your team. Happens all the time in CoE before the lasers. 1 Guy sticks out, they ice AOE and own everyone. If you stack and LOS, they wont ice aoe until wayyyy later and then everything dies.

As said before, it is very situational. For example, in CoE stacking on Alpha gets the job done quick and safe, where on the Balthazar priest (Arah path 4) may not be a good idea. Also, you can use combos effectively when stacking.

If your group know why they’re stacking and what skills become stronger that way, then go for it. Stacking for no good reason will probably get you all killed.

A lot of guild wars is played with personal survival skills, probably you can’t rely on another player using a specific skill unless you talk to them or have seen them play before. Good groups will talk to each other and put together tactics where they maximize their skills and if that’s through stacking then that’s ok.

^^^ what Stooperdale said. if you’re wanting to stack, let people know why. most cases than not, if people see their health dwindle a little, they’ll run or start kiting. and thus, defeats the purpose of stacking in the first place.

Stacking is a gimmick used as a sort of safety net for groups with poor communication and teamwork. The only time I ever stack is in phase 1 of the Lupicus fight just so we can focus the grubs.

skinnyb.5920:

Stacking is a gimmick used as a sort of safety net for groups with poor communication and teamwork. The only time I ever stack is in phase 1 of the Lupicus fight just so we can focus the grubs.

Being closer to your team is always better and more beneficial than being off by yourself.