Guild Wars 2

I’ve been seeing a lot of whining about how ANET should remove “exploits” and “make adds unskippable” because it is cheapening their efforts. So i just wanted to throw out this post to put things into perspective.

Please, for a second, consider the three following “concepts”:

Player Freedom
Player Ingenuity
Player Versatility

There are many different groups of player archetypes forming now in this game…we have the whiners…the elitist bunch (one guy bragged recently of being responsible for leading the “first generation of pugs with up and coming talents”. Lol. We have the pros that keep the best info to themselves…we have the nice guys n gals that like to pass on their wisdom..the list goes on.

My point is, with all these different groups, where do we draw the line on what constitutes a “legit” run?

Let us take a few examples from path 3, the most popular path in arah.

On startup, before the 1st boss, some like to pull the 10+ scrub mobs and kill them all…some see no need to and thus cling to the right and start the 1st boss.

Just after the 1st boss on the way to the 2nd boss…some like killing everything..some like sneaking up on to the ledge just before the door guarded by 2 risen either side..killing those and stealthing running past the rest…some put themselves through the full “gauntlet” so that, as long as 2 or 3 make it through, they can pick off risen from the other side and get the whole squad through.

Do you go left at the giant or you go right through the champion spiders before the 2nd boss? I personally as a thief aggro all the spiders and lure them out after me while my team runs by unharmed to start the 2nd boss. I join them shortly after. Illegit run? Or just an interesting use of the aggro system?

Hot potato section (2nd longer part) – why not start the run halfway by using a thief/necro shadow step/return. Crafty use of skill? Or illegit skipping?

Room leading to giganticus, clear the whole room to make it easier for the dead to run back to gig fight? Or sneak over the ledge on the left and stealthily dispatching carving a thin path to the boss door, making it tricky for members to run back carelessly? Illegit?

Post gig fight? Send a guardian/thief/necro/anyone using minions to distract risen in order to unlock final wp for the rest of the team to warp through to? Or fight the whole way and incur pointless repair costs? Worth the trouble?

Making use of “secret items” placed by Anet themselves (Spy-kits, teleportation guns, elemental powder) in the dungeon? Anet placed these things here for a reason. Remember the 3 concepts i put out there at the start of this essay.

I believe that as long as you are not using any illegal exploits, there is no problem. The fun in dungeons comes from changing up your approach based on the pool of skills available to you. If not everyone is able to do things your way, use a different approach.

What do you guys think? Id like to hear your opinions.

There is no limit to where you draw the line, until every single mob in the instance is killed there will always be someone that is not satisfied. There will never be a “right” way unless Anet publishes this information directly.

However, there are some very big differences between blatant exploits and fighting optional content. It is quite obvious when something is not intended, aka waypoint kiting, wall jumping some extremely remote area or even standing in a location where mob’s pathing is bugged to the point where they won’t attack.

You forgot the fight of first 2 bosses from the big spike flower next to their spawn point. The warrior will be struck not attacking , both bosses can be pwned ranged from that spot.

And when aggroing spiders, the jump on the mountain next to the 2nd boss, all spiders and any eventually adds aggroed will reset, if boss begins his fight, he resets.
When everything is calm, if someone is dead near the boss is rezzed, if someone is dead too much near spiders, he run back to the 2nd boss area again, running to the mountain again. I can provide pictures of those spots easily if needed, so they can be fixed.

Just so you know, i don’t lead any generation. I’m just a player who don’t kick someone because new to a dungeon , acting as “i’m a pro, shush noobs and watch” attitude, instead i explain to a newbie every single fight, even the tiniest add. Everyone who met me, confirm it

Only problem is that usually skipping is much easier, faster and you don’t really lose any loot than when fighting.
I’m all for stealthy approach but I think if enemy aggroes then it aggroes. They are there to kill you, not just “oh he run to mountain 5 meters away, can’t be bothered”. If you wanted to lose aggro you needed to really outrun them (cripple, immobilize, swiftness) or disappear.