Guild Wars 2

super excited last night for the new updates, i scan read through the patch notes, changes to dungeons, and AC having the biggest list.

I’m open to change, and, in all honesty, AC was way too easy, FOR level 80s in full exotics. It was also easy to run on my alts.

All in all, AC was not a challenging dungeon if you knew what to do and how to get it done. a comprehension of game mechanics, and boss encounters was a must for survival. Being the lowest level dungeon, it attracted players with hugely varying experience levels.

No one knew, at first, how to run this, everyone had to learn, even those elitists (i find myself being elitist sometimes also, asking only for level 80s at times, wanting an easy run without having to explain what to do)

That being said, AC was easy, if you knew what to do. the new REVAMPED AC is much harder, but not impossible. I ran it at first with my guildies, 5 lvl 80s full exotics, we wiped 4 times on spider queen and they quickely gave up. I then proceeded to inform people in map chat, on how hard it was.

Most just told me to take my shame and leave, its not that bad. Being open to change, and to try again, i ran with some pugs. We managed (after an hour) to do path 1. But we were not a full group of 80s in exotics, they were all below or just around level 50 except for myself (i was playing my guardian, altruistic healing ofc)

Once you are reminded of the game mechanics: condition removal, dodging, healing, kiting, and communication is KEY to being successful.

a full team of lvl 35s, would find this impossible, but with atleast one 80 to carry the group in terms of tanking most of the time. it is POSSIBLE.

After my first attempt of AC with my guildies, i was ready to give up on AC, never to go there again, unless it was scaled back. After the second try, with pugs, my hope was restored. This dungeon is still possible, but a lot harder and demanding.

I encourage those who have given up, to try this dungeon again, dont give up on it just because it is hard

Doing a run right now. So far:

• You can NOT skip queen spider
• Hatchlings do more damage and have higher HP
• Queen Spider has different AoE that hits harder

• Normal Gravelings know knockback with their leap. they don’t just cripple
• The hall after the spider has a Champion Graveling Stalker that burrows and knocks down on hit. If it hits, it turns invisible. Same with other stalkers

• Kholer spawns adds. Yes…adds. it appears to spawn adds every 25% he loses.

• Troll fires lightning bolts that daze and also has ground-based projectiles from his jump attack

Path 1

• The hatchlings from burrows have increased health and damage.
• Howling king howls MUCH more often, but with less damage
• summons a scavenger HORDE.
• FIRES LAZERS

Path 2

• Final Boss is invincible. Utilize the “ghost buster guns” to lift oozes, then pull the oozes towards traps to charge them. Once charged, lure the boss to the trap and he will be vulnerable
• the boss will destroy the trap sometimes. And the trap will lose charge if it’s untouched for a while. (thanks noobftw)
  Path 3

• Final Boss. Ground based targeting attacks. The rock dropping shout got a HUGE buff. It only lasts about half of the original time, but has about 5 times as many circles that have a VERY large radius

TIPS

• Bring stun breaks
• Use ranged attacks when necessary, burst damage the bosses when you can
• If you chose to fight Kholer, PAY ATTENTION TO KHOLER. Even when fighting his adds, save a dodge for his pull.
• Coordinate and focus on targets
  *For Queen Spider: Has a cone shaped web of immobilization with short range. (Thanks Dark Magi)

PROS:

• AC got a lot more challenging
• Path 2 boss was great!
• Bosses have less health
• It was pretty fun for an experienced dungeon player

CONS

• AC got a lot more challenging. This is no longer a level 35 dungeon
• Path 1 boss’s scavenger horde is very hard to deal with even with a good group.
• Almost everything that is not a hatchling has knock down or knockback

Gonna edit this with more as I do the paths

That’s seriously their answer? Adds?

So much for revamping the boss fights to make them more interesting.

Adds aren’t interesting. They’re annoying.

And lolz, people pulled him down the stairs BECAUSE of his adds.

Now skipping him won’t become common. It’s gonna become tradition. lol

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

Oreoz.2573:

That’s seriously their answer? Adds?

So much for revamping the boss fights to make them more interesting.

Adds aren’t interesting. They’re annoying.

And lolz, people pulled him down the stairs BECAUSE of his adds.

Now skipping him won’t become common. It’s gonna become tradition. lol

This post needs to stapled to the desk of every person who touches dungeons at ANet.

I bet he drops something really good now

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

see everyone ditch AC beyond storymode will be the next step then? except for achievement hunters

GoZero.9708:

Oreoz.2573:

That’s seriously their answer? Adds?

So much for revamping the boss fights to make them more interesting.

Adds aren’t interesting. They’re annoying.

And lolz, people pulled him down the stairs BECAUSE of his adds.

Now skipping him won’t become common. It’s gonna become tradition. lol

This post needs to stapled to the desk of every person who touches dungeons at ANet.

Not the desk. The forehead. Hands. Wife’s/Husband’s forehead. Mirror. Cat. Dog. Everywhere so they don’t ever forget.

Just to reply based on my experience in path 2;

It dosn’t seem to be a simple “add more adds”.
If the first word you read is ADD, then decide upon the quality of the new figths based on that, good for you.

So far, my experience seems to be that it has gotten easier and faster. Granted we did it with a rather decently skilled group, but no mobs or bosses were of any threat. Figuring out how to handle the boss at the end was a fresh take on the fights.

Oreoz.2573:

Now skipping him won’t become common. It’s gonna become tradition. lol

Funny, so far I have almost always been voting for killing Kohler, but depending on the annoyance level of the new fight with forced adds, I might join the skipping crowd quite soon.

I found kholer to actually be quite easier and his little whippy skill not to be a one hit ko anymore..

but path 2 on the other hand, the ending boss fight is just terrible and takes much longer than the others. definite avoidance for speed runs.

Gonna tackle this mysteriously evil path 2 after daily.

Any tips?

Vorch.2985:

Gonna tackle this mysteriously evil path 2 after daily.

Any tips?

watch ghostbusters. take notes.

Vorch.2985:

Gonna tackle this mysteriously evil path 2 after daily.

Any tips?

Coordinate.

One person lifts, person pulls. Move.

You’ll get it.

Unless your group fails the simple art of comunicating, if so you are in for frustration

ShaeMtal.9473:

Just to reply based on my experience in path 2;

It dosn’t seem to be a simple “add more adds”.
If the first word you read is ADD, then decide upon the quality of the new figths based on that, good for you.

So far, my experience seems to be that it has gotten easier and faster. Granted we did it with a rather decently skilled group, but no mobs or bosses were of any threat. Figuring out how to handle the boss at the end was a fresh take on the fights.

Well when the terms “rebuilt” and “revamped” are thrown around I expect much more than adds or a larger AoE or a laser.

The dungeon is hardly more interesting. I won’t use it to judge any future dungeon changes because that would be stupid but these fights are no more entertaining then they were before.

I really enjoyed path 2! It wasn’t that much harder than before. And you’re right, you need to coordinate: we had 2 people lifting and 3 people pulling.

It won’t be as fast, but it was definitely more fun.

Oreoz.2573:

ShaeMtal.9473:

Just to reply based on my experience in path 2;

It dosn’t seem to be a simple “add more adds”.
If the first word you read is ADD, then decide upon the quality of the new figths based on that, good for you.

So far, my experience seems to be that it has gotten easier and faster. Granted we did it with a rather decently skilled group, but no mobs or bosses were of any threat. Figuring out how to handle the boss at the end was a fresh take on the fights.

Well when the terms “rebuilt” and “revamped” are thrown around I expect much more than adds or a larger AoE or a laser.

The dungeon is hardly more interesting. I won’t use it to judge any future dungeon changes because that would be stupid but these fights are no more entertaining then they were before.

Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.

Vorch.2985:

I really enjoyed path 2! It wasn’t that much harder than before. And you’re right, you need to coordinate: we had 2 people lifting and 3 people pulling.

It won’t be as fast, but it was definitely more fun.

Oreoz.2573:

ShaeMtal.9473:

Just to reply based on my experience in path 2;

It dosn’t seem to be a simple “add more adds”.
If the first word you read is ADD, then decide upon the quality of the new figths based on that, good for you.

So far, my experience seems to be that it has gotten easier and faster. Granted we did it with a rather decently skilled group, but no mobs or bosses were of any threat. Figuring out how to handle the boss at the end was a fresh take on the fights.

Well when the terms “rebuilt” and “revamped” are thrown around I expect much more than adds or a larger AoE or a laser.

The dungeon is hardly more interesting. I won’t use it to judge any future dungeon changes because that would be stupid but these fights are no more entertaining then they were before.

Don’t knock it til you’ve tried it.

Good to hear you impression matched mine

One thing that should be noted about AC and it being in the curent state is that its the first dungeon, and the first explorable. I hardly expected the revamp to totaly redo the entire dungeon and how it works, adding pink unicorns sneezing a hail of exploding strawberries that need to be baked into a cake fed to the boss..

It’s basic, but the dungeon felt smoother than the old version and a lot of the fights were faster. Good for learning dungeons id say

The revamped AC was a lot more fun then it used to be. I hope they revamp the rest of the dungeons like this!

Path 1 and Path 2 are amazing, about to do P3 now. Only problem I have is the massive lag when fighting lots of gravelings.

Great job Anet, love the new ghost eater and howling, gonna do rumblus now. Kohler change is cool too.

Laz0rs .. I LOLed.

That wasn´t a joke?

I actually really liked AC. It seemed the least busted and stupid out of all the dungeons in this game. No clue why they changed it. It’s just like CoF p2, put in more adds and call it a more engaging, challenging fight. In reality, it gates certain professions because of the class imbalance. A team of warriors and guardians is always going to have an easier fight in this game because the depth is so homogenized, the skill system lacking any real skill, and no trinity system to design encounters around. All that matters is that guardians have the best support options in this game, but they aren’t direct healers. So rather than a healer class being pivotal to team compositions and providing a clear cut strategy and structural viability to more diverse team comps…we have the guardian, the warrior, the mesmer…the PvE trinity in GW2. The point of this is that ArenaNet has built an incredibly shallow skill and combat system in comparison to GW1 in this game. One that they have no clue how to design for correctly because theres no real innate structure to design it around, just class imbalance.

Why would u incorporate ghostbusters into a dungeon that needed to be nerfed… Are your designers high or what? Not only did u keep scavengers impossible but you didnt nerf em and took out breeers which was easiest mob to kill… This is rediculous and ill never do ac again…

AC was fine, in fact, they should have made the rest of the dungeons more in line with it. No idea why they busted it. They just have no idea how to design good encounters in this game. The shallow class and skill systems and reliance on zerg doesnt really help either. Just like CoF p2, fix a broken mechanic by adding an overtuned mob spawn event that shows no skill, just button mashing dps race zerg.

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

I would like this actually….

I ran AC path 2 right after the patch and never finished. It takes a lot more coordination now, and I’m finding it harder to believe that a random group of 35s new to the game would have fun in this dungeon.

bigtankstarsp.3581:

Why would u incorporate ghostbusters into a dungeon that needed to be nerfed… Are your designers high or what? Not only did u keep scavengers impossible but you didnt nerf em and took out breeers which was easiest mob to kill… This is rediculous and ill never do ac again…

UM…I haven’t ran AC yet after the patch, but what about AC needed to be nerfed initially? Even with killing Kohler, you could do all 3 paths in just over an hour…

I found the dungeon a lot more fun, but I do have to agree with Spirit Guy. No way is a new group of level 35-40 going to be able to tackle that unless they are pretty kitten epic.

It’s like cadecus manor now.

Accepts low lvls but 3 shots em every monster.

Make the first dungeon in the game harder.
Make the last dungeon in the game easier.

Makes sense.
(It doesn’t.)

Zookeeper.2513:

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

I would like this actually….

Ditto. Only nubs skip Kholer. He’s so incredibly easy, there’s no reason to skip him, either.

Frankly this came as a shock to me. Nothing in AC needed “revamping”. We went in with 3 people on skype and 2 pugs. It took as much time on ghost eater as it did to GET to ghost eater.

I mean, yes it’s a nice change, but jesus h christ guys, you prolonged the dungeon that was long enough already. The reward you get is not nearly enough for the amount of work you are asking players to do, and last but certainly not least, if new people are doing this, they will be discouraged from doing dungeons most probably.

Arenanet…stahp..

Emperor.1360:

Dresden.1736:

Zookeeper.2513:

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

I would like this actually….

Ditto. Only nubs skip Kholer. He’s so incredibly easy, there’s no reason to skip him, either.

This. Kholer is insanely easy. Unskilled players skip him all of the time, and he should be mandatory to complete the dungeon.

Actually skipping kholer is more to do with not wanting to waste time on a non mandatory fight. Nothing to do with skill. He gives nothing of value.

Make him mandatory i say. Why give people the option? He’s not a chance encounter like the troll.

RageQuit.5687:

Emperor.1360:

Dresden.1736:

Zookeeper.2513:

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

I would like this actually….

Ditto. Only nubs skip Kholer. He’s so incredibly easy, there’s no reason to skip him, either.

This. Kholer is insanely easy. Unskilled players skip him all of the time, and he should be mandatory to complete the dungeon.

Actually skipping kholer is more to do with not wanting to waste time on a non mandatory fight. Nothing to do with skill. He gives nothing of value.

Make him mandatory i say. Why give people the option? He’s not a chance encounter like the troll.

A chest, waypoint, 3 tears, extra silver, and a bit of karma. Sounds pretty worth it for a fight that takes less than 5 minutes…

Lol ok after finishing it an hour and a half later that was the boss… I get rolled back no exp or tears… smh at u anet smh

Zookeeper.2513:

RageQuit.5687:

Emperor.1360:

Dresden.1736:

Zookeeper.2513:

Effect.6408:

Next they’ll make Kohler a mandatory fight.

I would like this actually….

Ditto. Only nubs skip Kholer. He’s so incredibly easy, there’s no reason to skip him, either.

This. Kholer is insanely easy. Unskilled players skip him all of the time, and he should be mandatory to complete the dungeon.

Actually skipping kholer is more to do with not wanting to waste time on a non mandatory fight. Nothing to do with skill. He gives nothing of value.

Make him mandatory i say. Why give people the option? He’s not a chance encounter like the troll.

A chest, waypoint, 3 tears, extra silver, and a bit of karma. Sounds pretty worth it for a fight that takes less than 5 minutes…

Not if you can skip doing that 5 minute fight and then slot in a 5-min cof speedrun in between, which now grants you 3 chests instead.

Queen Spider…

It simple mechanic it a cone shaped AoE that actually has a very short range. Practically soloed the thing after my group got caught in in.

As for the New P2 Ghost Eater…
Great fight and it is incredibly fun, thanks Anet I found a new reason to enjoy P2. The oozes make more sense to be in the fight now. If you don’t get them to a trap they heal him. There are times he seems to get stuck, use that time to charge traps. Really easy fight.

I do want to add this. People they made it so you can cast and move for a reason…

We were looking to skip Kohler and he aggroed when he tried. Anyone else?

I noticed that GHOST EATER heals now. But, is it normal that there’s a limited number of times you can use the traps? We got Ghost Eater to almost dead, but all of our traps remained fully charge and won’t remove his ghost form. We even resetted the fight and the traps remained unusable.

We had one trap bug on us and the other 2 worked fine.

I absolutely love this. Great job revamping the dungeons, Anet team. :]
Keep it comin’ for other dungeons!! <33 I’m happy that NPCs ACTUALLY be of help in final boss fight.

I don’t get how by changing the last bosses (and spider) makes this a radically new dungeon. Yeah, they got rid of those annoying scavengers, but every other aspect of the dungeon is exactly the same.

I would of focused more on making the Zhaitan fight actually cool and interesting…

Issues:
- We found stunbreakers/stability not working against trash (if you use shake it off/balanced stance whilst being thrown through the air nothing happens, you lay on the ground for 2-4secs)
- HUGE framerate drop with the zergs of gravelings. Even standing in the room that has the p2 end boss/p1 scepter gather event with no mobs in it = ~4fps. P1 boss is super fun @ 4fps as well.
- Queen spider hitbox/invuln issues. Pushing her against walls seems to cause her to wig out and go invuln, lots of misses/evades when “attempting” to melee.
-Eat corpse/consume flesh or whatever it is- doesn’t 2-3shot you anymore but STILL no clear animation that the graveling(s) are doing it, so you don’t know to stay away from them and end up taking damage.

Thoughts:
- Way too much CC. I spend more time kissing the dirt because I’m spent on stunbreakers/cond removal that just get chained against me anyway. It sure is fun breaking out of a stun only to get immediately thrown into the dirt again! Some sort of pve-only stun immunity is long overdue.
- Boss fights still favor ranged. Fair enough you want to curb the zerker warrior hundred blades zerg but come on. Is it really necessary for anything, at all, to autoattack me for 90% of my health? It just cheapens the entire experience of collecting all my awesome loots just to see me fall over and die when something so much as breaks wind in my general direction. (devs take note: still a better mechanic than zergs of mobs) I can wipe out generations of gravelings in a single aoe storm but big ole’ pappy graveling has an adamantium skeleton, shoots frikken lazers and should he ever trip and use his claws to break his fall- would probably hit tyria with extinction level force.

Criticism aside- fun factor is getting better with more difficult content. I really enjoyed figuring out how to beat shinies from these encounters, just… stop with the cheap kitten.

I just wanted to thank you OP for the post. Nice writeup! +1

Thanks op for the writeup.
A few more points.
On p2, the boss will destroy the trap sometimes. And the trap will lose charge if it’s untouched for a while.
The knockback from the trash is buffed too much. You can’t go melee any more unless you have endless stability. On my d/d elem, with cantrip build, I am kissing dirt half of the time.
The spider queen is buffed and her AOE attack does 10k damage in 2 secs.

All this is too much for a level 35 dungeon. AC p2 used to be like COF p1, in a way I can take along any new guildies and ran it easily. Now AC p2 is definitely off the list. I guess COF p1 is bound to be reworked too. All these changes don’t make sense to me. Changing working mechanisms and ignoring the bugs is really beyond me.

For everyone who welcomes this change, congratz to you. Now you can claim this dungeon and soon you can claim this game too.

The knockback spam is the most obnoxious thing. They take it out of orr because it annoyed people to be used like pinballs, yet my toon gets knocked down and before he can get up and I’m out of stunbreakers another graveling knocks me back again.

Ditto for the stupid path 3 boss. You have 2 dodges, maybe even four in 5 seconds, yet the boss when aggroing on you will pretty much make melee a matter of being a pinball.

I don’t mind difficulty and punishing mechanics like lethal damage for failing a task. I do mind losing control of my character so kitten much and being subject to further loss of control WHILE I’m already out of control.

I agree, noobftw.

I love the changes. I hate that they are in the FIRST dungeon that people will be exposed to.

This would be, imo, the PERFECT Hardmode version of AC. It’s doable in a skilled pug, but it’s going to be a lot harder that standard dungeon fan-fare.

I’ll still do AC, but not nearly as much. Probably going to do more CM and HotW with CoF as my new “Farm mode” dungeon.

Went through Path 2, and the Ghost Eater is very interesting now. It could be better if he didn’t keep getting stuck when he goes back into his ghost form and has the oozes around him, being the reason it seems, thus sometimes getting him to the other traps a bit of a annoyance. Also I think the Breeders have less health now.

We completed all 3 paths of the New AC tonight. My thoughts:

• Colossus (P3 Boss) is obviously bugged. He does the rock drop without pause, and
  kills the protector way too easily.

• The knockbacks that have been put in place from various mobs (hatchlings, various bosses) are a little over the top. It’s difficult to melee now without being on your kitten a ton of the time. While I like my shortbow plinking everything all night long isn’t as fun as wading in with my melee weapons.

• My main reaction to these changes is “How would a level 35 group be able to handle this?” I personally feel like AC Explorable will decimate these groups now, and is that what you really want to present to up and coming players? Also, AC used to be a great place to gather newer, less experienced folks and have them learn the ropes of dungeoning. Now most of that time would be spent on the ground, either from a knockdown or just being downed by the damage. It’s not difficult for our experienced guild groups, but it was more fun and beneficial to take newer folks in there. Not so much anymore.

We completed all 3 paths of the New AC tonight. My thoughts:

• Colossus (P3 Boss) is obviously bugged. He does the rock drop without pause, and
  kills the protector way too easily.

• Being a Ghostbuster is pretty awesome. Fun, teamwork-oriented event.

• The knockbacks that have been put in place from various mobs (hatchlings, various bosses) are a little over the top. It’s difficult to melee now without being on your kitten a ton of the time. While I like my shortbow plinking everything all night long isn’t as fun as wading in with my melee weapons.

• My main reaction to these changes is “How would a level 35 group be able to handle this?” I personally feel like AC Explorable will decimate these groups now, and is that what you really want to present to up and coming players? Also, AC used to be a great place to gather newer, less experienced folks and have them learn the ropes of dungeoning. Now most of that time would be spent on the ground, either from a knockdown or just being downed by the damage. It’s not difficult for our experienced guild groups, but it was more fun and beneficial to take newer folks in there. Not so much anymore.

Vorch.2985:

• AC got a lot more challenging. This is no longer a level 35 dungeon

They should just make explorable modes level 80 only and get it over with. I doubt characters below 80 will be a sought after sight now, and inst-kicking will become a common sight.

I’m all for challenging dungeons (although I fail to see how “just chuck in some adds” equals an interesting challenge…), but there’s a certain degree of requirements coming through here and players under 80 wont have all their skills unlocked, so they’re not really reliable to pull themselves through these fights.

That said, I can’t wait to do the ghostbuster fight with my guild.