Guild Wars 2

ive always been a pretty hardcore raider in wow, and i came to this game after i saw reviews.. now people are telling me, forget what you know when it comes to pve and dungeons..
ive done a few just normal dungeons, and i have very good gear, but it just seems like i get rofflestomped if i even go near a dungeon mob.. boss fights are crazy , it almost seems like i should be changing my signets to run speed to run back to the fight after dying.. its pretty discouraging .
is this intended? it almost seems like aggro just goes to the closest person, and if thats the case why is melee so squishy ?

any tips, suggestions are appreciated.

im a lvl 80 warrior, usually GS/LB for weapons.

Regardless of what people say to discourage you (“There’s no strategy” “It’s just graveyard zerging” etc) they’re wrong. It is a team effort through and through. No one on your team should be specced for pure damage. Everyone should have ways of dealing with aggro: cripples, chills, immobilize, warding, stun breaks, properly timed dodges, etc. Everyone should have ways to mitigate damage, and everyone should be communicating, even if its as simple as calling targets on high priority enemies.

The key to succeeding in dungeons is knowledge. The first time my group faced a lone knightmare court knight we got stomped. This one trash mob murdered 4 people in a blink of an eye. But we came back, swapped some skills and traits, used our CC and conditions and slaughtered him. Dungeons at the beginning are rough, but once you learn them they become simple.

Know your teams capabilities. For instance, in one dungeon we had a mob who built up might up to 25 stacks throughout the fight. He’d 1 shot anyone when fully buffed. I just asked our necro to focus on constantly removing his boons, them bam, simple fight.

In addition to the above, ressing downed players is generally top priority, unless it gets you killed yourself. If the team does resses whenever possible you’ll die a lot less, and keeps morale up.

thanks for the tip , ill have to alter my spec i suppose :P get more toughness

Outside of the dungeon
Do whatever you like, the game will not punish you for any choice and whatever you decide to do will end in rewards and victory. The game is made in such a way that it can adapt to any of your choices.

Inside of the Dungeon
Learn the strategy for each boss, each mob, learn which strategies work and which don’t. Do not assume that just by going “full damage” you earned the right to outdamage everything in your way in such a manner that it dies first. Do not assume that “because I like melee” it is going to work on a boss. The game is made in such a way that you need to adapt to a situation.

Any dungoen can be done without dying, it might just take a while until you get there and sometimes the game can be nasty.

dungeons are challenging, but the frustration comes when you don’t know what you’re trying to do. this game gives clues, but often they’re vague if not misleading. but what’s fun to me about guild wars is that “solving” the puzzle of the dungeon fight is only half of it: even if you have a strongly viable strategy, there is always the matter of execution, which only comes with practice and experience.

if i had to offer general dungeon tips, they’d be this:

1.) always consult the internet before resigning yourself to a suicide chain (especially when repairs become a major expense). you should never HAVE to suicide chain.
2.) disarm the kitten traps, man
3.) agree on a kill order. the actual kill order itself is not as important as everyone having the same on. trash mobs are strong, and you need to gain a numbers advantage as soon as possible. call targets!
4.) discuss role assignments with PUGS groups. always be that guy to remind lower level players that they need to switch away from their pve-friendly DPS setup. everyone needs damage mitigation, everyone benefits from team support.
5.) location, location, location. when you’re in a fight, pay attention to where the damage is happening, what the “safer” ranges are, and where your playstyle wants you to be. if you’ve discussed roles, you know which teammates will provide you with the most synergy if you’re standing close to them.
6.) join a guild as soon as possible, and get running dungeons with a reliable group of players. this changes the game dramatically, since you can engage in a more specific team-focused strategy, instead of the more robust designs necessary for playing with a group of strangers.

edit: on aggro, since i know that was a big deal in wow:

you’re right, anet’s indicated that the largest factor in aggro is your proximity to the monster. that’s because in gw, as opposed to tank-based mmo’s, you want to spread the damage around your entire team. obviously some will be better at taking damages than others, but no one is going to be able to take sustained, focused fire from most trash mobs, let alone a boss (who, indeed, are going to kill you with one hit with alarming regularity). the threat mechanic still takes current damage output, past damage output, and armor into account, so there are other ways to try and hold a bosses attention. but the point is, you probably don’t want it for long.