Guild Wars 2

I don’t know if I am a typical “non dungeon” player but mostly I have enjoyed Guild Wars for the leveling experience. Recently I have been interested in running dungeons for the achievements, challenge and gold but have never run even one after I came to the forums and read about bad experiences people have. Now that the Living Story is in a dungeon it looks like I need to get over my worries and give it a try.

My two biggest worries in descending order of importance:
- I don’t want to get yelled at, swore at, kicked out or made to feel stupid or slow because I am new to dungeons.
- I don’t want to judged by my build or equipment choices unless it is constructive criticism.

I can’t seem to find a guild that I can run story and explorable mode dungeons with a friendly group. Everyone in the two guilds I am in is a 3500 point+ achievement type who runs high FotM. I don’t even understand what they are talking about most of the time on guild chat.

So if I am going to pug this with the LFG tool what is the safest profession/spec/equipment I can pick to have the least chance of being yelled at by total strangers? I have read the strategy guides and watched videos for all the dungeons, but it won’t really come together for me until I try it. I am well acquainted dodging and evading (I did level a mesmer without crafting), but will lack some of the experience to know the “tells” of one-hit animations. Other than zergs for living story’s and WvW I have not really had to “synergize” with other classes. I have the following level 80’s to work with (all with exotics, mostly zerker gear): warrior (berserker), necromancer (hybrid but power based not condition), guardian 1 (berserker), guardian 2 (support:boons, boon duration, condition removal, heals, low dps) and mesmer (berserker). I have all the other classes in levels 70+ but not yet to 80 or geared.

Any suggestions would be appreciated. I would be willing to respec/regear any of my chars if it will help with easing the transition into running dungeons. Specific utilities to pick would also be helpful, especially if it is something people will “expect” a non-idiot to do, like maybe a certain banner for the warrior, or a projectile reflection utility, etc.

Thanks in advance!

Try this if you don’t want to run a dungeon blindfolded due to lack of experience:
http://gw2dungeons.net/
As for builds:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/We-Got-Warrior-Builds-Post-10-17-Patch

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/We-Got-Guardian-Builds

http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/?fQAQRBIhhu1IjW6elmxG9eCA6Ru46cMjjXm+w6A-jAyAYrBRTRgpMgUBgkXR0YLuFRjVXjpcJiqBA-e

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/professions/mesmer/Guide-PvE-Dungeons-Phantasm-build-s

Small tip from my side, be honest about being new to a dungeon.

If you use gw2lfg, mention in the notes that you are new to the dungeon in question.

I have no problems explaining tactics, skill requirements etc if the person explained that he/she are new to the dungeon, but I get very frustrated if a person keeps dying but do not ask any question or listen to instructions.

Most people wont join your group if you advertise you are new in the lfg. So I would leave that out. However when you join the group, you should tell them you are new but willing to listen to any intructions. Most people will let you stay in the group as long as you are competent and willing to listen to instructions.

Yeah, be honest about not having done it before. Sometimes groups in the LFG tool will say ‘Newcomers welcome’. These won’t be speed runs but it’s a good place to start to learn the mechanics.

All the characters you have listed will be welcome to most groups- just carry some spare weapons in case you need range etc. Be willing to swap out your 7-0 skills mid dungeon. For example CM has a lot of projectiles, so wall of reflection on a guardian is amazing- but its not needed for the last boss on one of the paths, so swap it for something more useful to you.

Read up on the paths a little before you go in as well so you know what the next bit is-if you’re not sure if the group is going to skip mobs or not, ask. Ask Questions. Ask everything!
Good luck dungeoning

OP what timezone do you play in?

OP: I faced the same concerns you did about two weeks ago when I needed to start running dungeons to complete a legendary. I’ll share some observations from my experiences.

I agree with the recommendation to let the group know that you’re new to the dungeon. Do this until you feel comfortable that you know (a) the mechanics of the fights, and (b) where to go from encounter to encounter. Honestly, it will only take you a few runs of a path before you’ll understand it well enough.

Bad groups do happen, and mean players do exist. So what? If a run ends badly, move on and try again. If you made mistakes, learn from them and move on to the next try. If you have a bad experience with a particular player, don’t run with them again. This is all just pixels and flashing lights … no one actually dies.

Final tip: often the player who yells, complains, or criticizes is actually compensating for their own inexperience or their own mistakes. Players who call out other players for minor errors are frequently deflecting attention from their own misplay. The guys who who yell are much less pro than they pretend, in my experience.

Berner.7289:

OP: I faced the same concerns you did about two weeks ago when I needed to start running dungeons to complete a legendary. I’ll share some observations from my experiences.

I agree with the recommendation to let the group know that you’re new to the dungeon. Do this until you feel comfortable that you know (a) the mechanics of the fights, and (b) where to go from encounter to encounter. Honestly, it will only take you a few runs of a path before you’ll understand it well enough.

Bad groups do happen, and mean players do exist. So what? If a run ends badly, move on and try again. If you made mistakes, learn from them and move on to the next try. If you have a bad experience with a particular player, don’t run with them again. This is all just pixels and flashing lights … no one actually dies.

Final tip: often the player who yells, complains, or criticizes is actually compensating for their own inexperience or their own mistakes. Players who call out other players for minor errors are frequently deflecting attention from their own misplay. The guys who who yell are much less pro than they pretend, in my experience.

This ^
Thats exatly what i think. What i see is that those rude players normally are terrible in the game that can’t pull their own weight, so they throw their frustration on the others of the group. If you have one or two skilled players in your group you can complete almost any dungeon, no matter how bad the other members are.

So if you join a group that have at least one nice and skilled player to show the way you will have no trouble into finishing that. Having a decent build and being willing to listen to instructions makes everything much easier.

You worry too much. Dungeons are not as scary and difficult as some claim. Don’t fall into their “you must be max level in full exotic and watch youtube spoilers” crap.

Don’t be afraid to join “story” groups, they are usually new as well. Don’t be afraid to start your own groups either, it’s what you are intended to do. Put a “first timer” description and let other people find you. Kick all the people that can’t fit with the group.

For most dungeon, your typical PvE setup should do fine. Stability skills and condition removal are very useful to have, especially if you can apply the effects to the whole party.

Casmurro.9046:

Berner.7289:

OP: I faced the same concerns you did about two weeks ago when I needed to start running dungeons to complete a legendary. I’ll share some observations from my experiences.

I agree with the recommendation to let the group know that you’re new to the dungeon. Do this until you feel comfortable that you know (a) the mechanics of the fights, and (b) where to go from encounter to encounter. Honestly, it will only take you a few runs of a path before you’ll understand it well enough.

Bad groups do happen, and mean players do exist. So what? If a run ends badly, move on and try again. If you made mistakes, learn from them and move on to the next try. If you have a bad experience with a particular player, don’t run with them again. This is all just pixels and flashing lights … no one actually dies.

Final tip: often the player who yells, complains, or criticizes is actually compensating for their own inexperience or their own mistakes. Players who call out other players for minor errors are frequently deflecting attention from their own misplay. The guys who who yell are much less pro than they pretend, in my experience.

This ^
Thats exatly what i think. What i see is that those rude players normally are terrible in the game that can’t pull their own weight, so they throw their frustration on the others of the group. If you have one or two skilled players in your group you can complete almost any dungeon, no matter how bad the other members are.

So if you join a group that have at least one nice and skilled player to show the way you will have no trouble into finishing that. Having a decent build and being willing to listen to instructions makes everything much easier.

Quoted for truth.

The best way to have a good dungeon experience from the get-go is to use some sort of voice chat program (Teamspeak, Ventrilo, Mumble, Skype, Speaker phone, etc…) with your guildies.

Don’t have reliable/helpful guildies? Then whisper whoever is posting guild recruitment messages in Lion’s Arch to find out if they enjoy teaching “new” players the ropes.

Also, I can not emphasize enough how important it is to be open to feedback from all sources. I have learned things from watching a brand new player interact with the game during their first hour and I have been playing since the beta.

Thanks everyone for the thoughtful responses. The forum won’t let me respond to the people who sent me PM’s offering to run dungeons with me. Says I have to wait a day or more, but I am thankful for the offers. I think running with a group with teamspeak is a super great idea since typing out instructions and questions/answers is tough. I guess I will need to look harder for a guild that matches my needs.

I like you reached level 80 and did not attempt dungeons. Mainly because it was hard to find a group that would take me in. Now that they have added LFG i have started to do them. For themost part everyone i randomly join has been very nice and friendly. I watched everything they did and tried to keep up. Dont be scared of not having the right build or being new at dungeons.

I’m also new to the game, and I’m wondering if you have to be 80 to even do dungeons? I’ve seen something called Fractals, saying they scale to level, but all the groups I see want 80’s only.

Not sure how updated it is, but look at the stickied post about dungeon help in this very forum.

New to dungeons and want to learn?