Guild Wars 2

Incoming MORE NERFs to already solo friendly content all because some folks want to faceroll everything.

Nevermind Your:
*Build
*Boss Mechanics

Everyone are given the same tools, some of us just can execute them better than others.

Djinn.9245:

Ashen.2907:

Djinn.9245:

Ariurotl.3718:

I’m not being an ELITIST here, I’m a pretty poor player, but I have to disagree. None of the bosses caused me much trouble other than Caudecus (due to the camera and awful AoE bloodstone-throwing mechanics) and Aerin (because screw all this Zephyrite jumping nonsense). If I can beat them, then almost anyone can.

So, you say you are a pretty poor player but you thought the bosses were fine. What do you think this says to the people who are having trouble? And “If I can beat them, then almost anyone can” – so those who report difficulty are liars?

Ariurotl.3718:

I hate to say L2P, but what are you gonna do?

P.S. Don’t deck your chars in Berserker gear if you have trouble. Toughness and Vitality are the best friends for bad players such as you and I.

I play the stories with a Warrior with Soldier armor and traited with regeneration and a few condi-cleanse. I did not complete any boss stories unless my friends happened to do them with me. I recruited their help to finish HoT so I could do a Legendary.

Answers like this are simply not helpful. What if I was in a college group and said I found Calculus difficult? I doubt anyone would have trouble understanding that some people are better at Math than others. I don’t know why people have SO MUCH difficulty understanding that the same can be true of anything.

You mean answers like (paraphrased), " I too am bad at math. I suggest studying hard. Here are some suggestions of things that helped me improve my scores in the subject. Perhaps they can help you too." ?

I was talking about being inherently better at something. Sorry you didn’t understand, I’ll try to be more specific in the future. I’m not going to “study” for a game – I play for enjoyment, not to do homework.

Of course some people are just better at some things than others. The person you quoted said so, admitted that he was one of the people who were on the not better end of the scale, and offered advice regarding techniques that had helped him.

Your analogy was about calculus, which requires study.

Learning to overcome challenges is part of becoming better at most games as far as I am aware. I would not be surprised to discover that you, for example, are better at the game now than you were in the first five minutes of play.

The only story I had problems with is mordremoth. And I think living world season 2 where you had to rescue people from vines. But only when I was Daredevil. My other characters I had fine. Story wise everything is good that u can solo. You should look up your class build. That will help tremendously. And pick the right traits.

Djinn.9245:

atheria.2837:

Dante.1763:

I…i want to know what bosses you are having trouble with?

The only one ive so far needed help with is the final battle with mordremoth due to their stupid prison idea which i kittening hate. Im also running a full vipers/sinister, so i have no defense. Theyve also nerfed them a bit already, both the core story(which has been nerfed really hard) and HoT.

There is only one toon I’ve been able to go from beginning to end with little help but I still needed help at the end.

Other than that one toon, there’s no way I can do most of it without help. LFG is a joke for this kind of thing so one ends up begging in maps – I’ve done it and I’ve helped dozens and dozens who have no one else to play with either and would have preferred to finish the story ‘alone’ to feel accomplished, but nooooooo.

Yep, it shouldn’t be so hard to participate in the GW2 Story.

People who answer this type of thread that “Anet can’t keep making the game easier” – I’m not sure that anyone in these threads is asking for the entire game to be easier. What I see, and what I personally wish, is that the STORY bosses were easier. I play GW2 for the story and it boggles my mind that Anet, who goes to the trouble of creating this rich story, is OK with a large percentage of their players never fully experiencing it.

Yep, I’m absolutely talking about the story which is one of the main reaasons I play any game.

If the story is faceroll (and in many cases if you made it easy enough for some people complaining, it would be too easy for me), means that I couldn’t take the story seriously and I was lose my reason to play the game. Or at least my main reason. I want to feel challenged by what I’m doing because if beating a boss is dead easy then there’s no real purpose to it.

The only thing I can think of that would solve the problem is having some sort of easy mode that provides the story with no achievements or options of trying to get those achievements.

What people are saying in other posts is I want to do this myself and be heroic. But mae it really easy for me, so I can be heroic in my turn. Of course, the easier it is for those people the less heroic I would feel.

My biggest problem is bugs where supposedly helpful NPC’s do not help and just stand there doing nothing while 10 mobs are on you. So a fight that would be 1+3 vs 10 becomes 1 vs 10. And even if the AI on NPC’s is lacking, they still are something that acts as a distraction. There were some story missions, especially in LS3 where the NPC’s did bugger all and I was getting killed so often that I just got fed up and left it. If I want stress, I’ll go to work. I do not need it from my entertainment

No, they are really not hard. Hard is Demon’s Souls, Devil May Cry where you lose your progress or you have to redo the whole boss fight. You even can return to battle in GW2. What the heck you doing wrong if you even can’t do it?

I came back to GW2 in the POF preview weekend and was a frustrating affair – all in the first story missions

First, that boss individual (Balthazar avatar?) exit the map through one direction expecting the player to follow him. But if you followed him you would just exit the story instance. When that pop-up triggered I wasn’t even sure what I am supposed to do. The answer was ofc :P to close it and exit the map through the opposite direction (why???)

Second, the fight that followed was too much for my skills – all the added enemies coming to me in waves + the hits from that boss guy meant I just quickly died. So I just quit the game.

At this point, I am intrigued by the new setting, new elites and the mounts but I am not sure I should buy the expansion. Also, I am not sure if this exp story is only intended for the active players (that are really good at the game) so most returning casual players should just forget it and move on.

My biggest problem with some of the story events is how vague some can be on how to do them and when the story instance has a long lead up followed by a big fight which you can’t always get on the first go round. If the player doesn’t have time to finish the fight it forces the player to do the lead up story part all over again. Usually there isn’t any indication on how long it’s going to be before you start it.

The end of HoT is that way. I still haven’t gotten around to finishing that one because I found it too annoying the first time through. I really wish killing the dragon mouth in the Dragon Stand meta had been the ending of HoT. They could have done some story lead up to it before a reoccurring open world meta chain starts. It kind of feels like that’s what they intended yet changed their mind. It could have had the group chasing down champs, rescuing NPCs from the pods and a bunch of taunting from Mordremoth with an cinematic of the death of Trahern as a suicide to save Tyria.

I find all Story missions, including all living world stories too difficult too, that is the problem with game with no difficulty level to set. The game will be too difficult for some and too easy for others.
What is also particularly annoying is that often you don’t have a clue of what to do.
I love this game for the open world part, but hate the story part.
Often you have to run all the time or die/resurrect many many times because the boss instant kill you. No fun at all.
In my case I have done all the story once, but will never do it with other characters because of the broken difficulty balance.

Hupsel.1920:

Hey guys

Loving the game as always, looking forward to the expansion. I am finally playing through Living World season 3 and there is a lot of content there, so congrats and thanks for that! There is one problem, though, which has plagued many missions in Guild Wars 2.

Story missions, especially those with bosses, are way too hard or unfair for solo players.

Yeah, yeah, this is a MMO and blablabla but I bet there are tons of players out there that queue alone and try the story missions. It sucks that a lot of bosses can destroy you so fast. I think that some of them would be okay for 2-3 players but in solo play you just hit your head against the wall, respawn and go at it again. The design is so bad that it doesn´t matter if you die – you can respawn, the boss has the same health as before then you just continue fighting it, dying and repeating.

I think some mobs could be scaled down for single player play and a lot of bosses could do less damage – maybe even as far as 40-50% less damage.

Thanks!

Sorry, but I only play Story solo and I’ve never had issues with the bosses. Some of them are tough, but they’re beatable. I can definitely see some, maybe even many, builds having issues with some of the bosses. If you made a glass cannon and wonder why you’re getting crushed, that’s why.

Maybe invest in a better build that’s more rounded.

Im fine with them making the base story easier if they add a challenge mode version. Else why should my experience be devalued by fighting wet noodles?

GW2’s difficulty is fairly unrealistic… when compared to other MMOs.

Most MMOs balance their solo content for the majority, making the difficulty similar to Queensdale. Any difficulty is usually faked using vertical progression, where you simply need to obtain better gear to go back to trivializing the content. GW2 however was always intended to be more challenging, as ArenaNet has always been for the gamers, but the problem with continuously increasing the difficulty without an alternative is that they’ll lose players because of it. GW2 does offer an alternative however, which is grouping, but the problem with that is that most people want to play solo.

Because ArenaNet already allows groups to trivialize the content, there’s no reason not to make it easier for everyone. The simple solution is to make it easier depending on how many times you’ve died, such as giving you a 10% damage reduction every 3 deaths. Then they could do achievements for not dying solo.

Healix.5819:

GW2’s difficulty is fairly unrealistic… when compared to other MMOs.

Most MMOs balance their solo content for the majority, making the difficulty similar to Queensdale. Any difficulty is usually faked using vertical progression, where you simply need to obtain better gear to go back to trivializing the content. GW2 however was always intended to be more challenging, as ArenaNet has always been for the gamers, but the problem with continuously increasing the difficulty without an alternative is that they’ll lose players because of it. GW2 does offer an alternative however, which is grouping, but the problem with that is that most people want to play solo.

Because ArenaNet already allows groups to trivialize the content, there’s no reason not to make it easier for everyone. The simple solution is to make it easier depending on how many times you’ve died, such as giving you a 10% damage reduction every 3 deaths. Then they could do achievements for not dying solo.

Okay I really like this idea. This allows those of us who are better to get something and those of us who can’t do it to at least complete the story. I can definitely see benefit in this.

Moyayuki.3619:

It would certainly be nice if the strength of enemies in story instances could scale depending on whether you are alone or in a party. I don’t like group play, so I end up doing everything by myself, and have also struggled with many mobs and bosses. Sure, I end up succeeding in the end, but only after extreme frustration. This happens no matter what class or build I play.

But it actually did scale well.
The story difficulty is all intended to be solo by one person.

I have all 9 classes, and all of them cleared the story of HoT without any trouble.
So class is not the issue here.
All of them are either Zerk, mix of Maurader and Zerk, or Sinister, none of them run defensive set. Trait-line and utility slots can solve the survivability aspect of your class, so start changing them .

Ariurotl.3718:

I’m not being an ELITIST here, I’m a pretty poor player, but I have to disagree. None of the bosses caused me much trouble other than Caudecus (due to the camera and awful AoE bloodstone-throwing mechanics) and Aerin (because screw all this Zephyrite jumping nonsense). If I can beat them, then almost anyone can.

I hate to say L2P, but what are you gonna do?

P.S. Don’t deck your chars in Berserker gear if you have trouble. Toughness and Vitality are the best friends for bad players such as you and I.

Nah, you don’t need any toughness in pve ever.
I do agree as thief and ele, adding around 3k~4k more hp to avoid being OHKO is a good idea though, but trait-line and utility can solve all the survivability issue of any class.
And yes, I did use all 9 classes and soloed the whole HoT story.

GW1 had two diffulty settings, Normal Mode and Hard Mode.
This was possible becos every map was an instance.

Since (most) Story missions are also an instance, an idea is to make a Normal and Hard Mode (for instanced Story parts).
Players who like more challenge can do the Hard Mode version then.

It is not a big deal.
Everybody can start and finish a specific episode.

If we are talking about achievements, here you have many options:

-character selection ( some are better than others. Depends the episode )
-consumable items and full customization equipment ( if you have problems, cause for an instance you die, you can chose to incrase your vitality ).
-Bring more players in ( Cleary an exploit, but if you only care about achiements i see no problems ).

dagrdagaz.4913:

GW1 had two diffulty settings, Normal Mode and Hard Mode.
This was possible becos every map was an instance.

Since (most) Story missions are also an instance, an idea is to make a Normal and Hard Mode (for instanced Story parts).
Players who like more challenge can do the Hard Mode version then.

There already are two modes on SOME story instances. After completing the instance in normal mode, the challenge mote things come available that allow you to start hard mode of that fight. System is rare so far, but I suppose they could add these to more fights.

dagrdagaz.4913:

GW1 had two diffulty settings, Normal Mode and Hard Mode.
This was possible becos every map was an instance.

Since (most) Story missions are also an instance, an idea is to make a Normal and Hard Mode (for instanced Story parts).
Players who like more challenge can do the Hard Mode version then.

Hard Mode already exist when fight against Mordromoth.
Hard mode literally requires a team if you really want to beat any of the champions before the Mordromoth fight.

The fight you do it solo is the “Easy Mode” that is intended to be soloed.

Vayne.8563:

But mae it really easy for me, so I can be heroic in my turn.

I think you should re-read – I have read that people want to experience it, not that they want to be heroic.

Plus it isn’t heroic to single-handedly slay a dragon, it’s just stupid.

Shirlias.8104:

It is not a big deal.
Everybody can start and finish a specific episode.

This is not true. I was not able to finish most of the boss fights of the Stories. That is what we’re talking about here.

Djinn.9245:

Shirlias.8104:

It is not a big deal.
Everybody can start and finish a specific episode.

This is not true. I was not able to finish most of the boss fights of the Stories. That is what we’re talking about here.

You should provide your class, your build, and your gears so people can give you advice as to how you can improve.

Most people can solo story instance because they’re intended to be soloed.

Djinn.9245:

Plus it isn’t heroic to single-handedly slay a dragon, it’s just stupid.

Um this statement just feels wrong to me. A lot of mythology involving Dragons has Heroes singlehandedly slaying them. Saint George springs to mind.

Aomine.5012:

Most people can solo story instance

Are you sure about this? How do you know?

AdaephonDelat.3890:

Djinn.9245:

Plus it isn’t heroic to single-handedly slay a dragon, it’s just stupid.

Um this statement just feels wrong to me. A lot of mythology involving Dragons has Heroes singlehandedly slaying them. Saint George springs to mind.

I’m talking GW2 dragons which are forces of nature, not mortal beasts like medieval dragons. GW2 dragons have plagued the entire world for centuries, they have driven entire civilizations from their homes. Yet even though they have defeated these entire civilizations, we can defeat them solo? As I said – stupid.

Djinn.9245:

AdaephonDelat.3890:

Djinn.9245:

Plus it isn’t heroic to single-handedly slay a dragon, it’s just stupid.

Um this statement just feels wrong to me. A lot of mythology involving Dragons has Heroes singlehandedly slaying them. Saint George springs to mind.

I’m talking GW2 dragons which are forces of nature, not mortal beasts like medieval dragons. GW2 dragons have plagued the entire world for centuries, they have driven entire civilizations from their homes. Yet even though they have defeated these entire civilizations, we can defeat them solo? As I said – stupid.

Ok you’ll have to forgive me as I honestly can’t remember the HoT story and I’ve not finished LW3 yet (I’ve just got to Draconis Mons) but from what I remember about Zhaitan it wasn’t a solo effort.

You had munchkins (read: Pact members) running here, there and everywhere reducing his power and weakening it to the extent that you can stab it, allowing you to then rock up and do the aforementioned stabbing. Admittedly the stabbing came in the form of a hefty cannon on the side of an air ship, but stabbing nonetheless.

Either way this is a digression from the main topic of which I have nothing to really add.

Djinn.9245:

I was not able to finish most of the boss fights of the Stories. That is what we’re talking about here.

The question is what was the problem? What kept you from finishing the boss fights? What’s your profession? Your build? Your gear?

Djinn.9245:

Vayne.8563:

But mae it really easy for me, so I can be heroic in my turn.

I think you should re-read – I have read that people want to experience it, not that they want to be heroic.

Plus it isn’t heroic to single-handedly slay a dragon, it’s just stupid.

I’m not single handedly slaying a dragon. I’m inside the dragon’s mind, while an entire army (mentioned in the story itself) is outside fighting it’s body.

Yes, being inside the mind is heroic. It’s almost like a version of Frodo tryng to destroy the ring, while Aragorn and Faramir and company are outside the gates of Mordor distracting Sauron, keeping it’s attention on them. If it was good enough for Tolkien it should be good enough for Guild Wars 2.

Or have you not done Dragon Stand?

Sorry to most of you, but I have to agree with the OP. Yes, I’ve managed to do the LS stories mostly solo, and yes, I’ve gotten through the core story solo (after it was revamped). But I haven’t been able to solo the final for HoT. And even bringing in another person didn’t help because she got so frustrated she quit on me.
Also, if the story instances are supposed to be solo-able no matter what, then the dungeon side-stories to the core story-line should also have an ‘easy’ or ‘solo’ mode – but even entering them through the “story” option still requires the 5 player minimum to complete. As someone who plays for the story, I find it very frustrating to be locked out of content just because I happen to be on my own. And yes, I know they’re dungeons, but they’re also designed to complement the story, so they should still have an option to get through them without needing a full group just like the final core instance does. Note, I said “option”. I’m not saying that there shouldn’t be hard modes for the players that prefer that. I’m just saying that if the story content is built around the player’s solo interaction with the relevant NPCs, then it should be complete-able that way.
Onto the next argument…. Yes, I have a guild. But 98% of the time, my guild-mates aren’t around because they’ve all gotten too frustrated or too busy or whatever, so I end up playing solo. And yes, there’s always the LFG option… but while I have very rarely ended up with some really great assistance that way, I have had far more experiences with very bad players. And by that I mean attitude, not ability. So I tend to be VERY hesitant about trying to group up with strangers.
Finally, just to be clear, for the record, I’m an experienced player who’s been with GW since the very beginning of GW1, and I also play other MMOs. My primary is a Ranger, because I like the pets, but I have at least one of every class and have tried just about every build. So please don’t assume/suggest I’m a newb or someone who just needs to change builds, learn how to play their character, etc. That said, I also don’t assume I know everything, so constructive advice on particular tips and tricks to make soloing more survivable is always welcome.

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

I’ve done the first two HoT missions with only the items given from 1 to 80 level up rewards and no traits on a Revenant; which is a class I don’t particularly like and don’t really understand either.
I thought no trait made it way too tedious for me. I’ll keep the same trash equipment but actually use traits when/if I continue this little adventure.

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

Please do. But be sure to video it with full narration and post it to YouTube, etc., so everyone can see how you did it…..

Haishao.6851:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

I’ve done the first two HoT missions with only the items given from 1 to 80 level up rewards and no traits on a Revenant; which is a class I don’t particularly like and don’t really understand either.
I thought no trait made it way too tedious for me. I’ll keep the same trash equipment but actually use traits when/if I continue this little adventure.

It’ll be tedious for sure but it would show that it was completely doable regardless as to armor and build. I think some players just want an infantile mode of sorts. I’ve seen similar complaints all during LS2 as well. I kind of want to watch them play just to see what they’re doing wrong and if they’re not just exaggerating.

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

Just because some people can run 100 meters under 10 seconds does not mean everyone can. Or should, considering this is a game that is suppose to be about having fun, and not about misery and suffering.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

FogLeg.9354:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

Just because some people can run 100 meters under 10 seconds does not mean everyone can. Or should, considering this is a game that is suppose to be about having fun, and not about misery and suffering.

Just request Anet to make a mote for an infantile mode where the enemies hit with a wet noodle. That mission is only difficult for a subset of players and chances are they’re the same ones struggling with the rest of the game.

FogLeg.9354:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

Just because some people can run 100 meters under 10 seconds does not mean everyone can. Or should, considering this is a game that is suppose to be about having fun, and not about misery and suffering.

There’s no time limit to complete missions. You can do it at your own pace using the method you want and whatever help you require. You can even pay someone else to do it for you.
Why did you sign up for the race if you refuse to even try running it?

“supposed to be about having fun”
Are you denying everyone else’s fun?
If playing games inflicted such misery and suffering to me, I would simply not play games.

Well…

We are not talking about be able to run 100 meters under 10 seconds. We had a calculus example here before. This is more about something like do you drive a car? Was easy the first time? How long you tried before you was able to drive alone? How about a bicycle? Do you play güitar? Sing? Paint? Was easy the first time? Choose something you like and ask your self. This is not about doing as profesional, is about doing something in the way you like it, in the way you feel confortable.

If you want to move this to the “A++ in Calculus”, to the “100 meters under 10 seconds” field we need to change this post to something like “Challenge Mode is to unfair for solo players” because I can’t find any other paralelism. Yes, dificult is relative, that was clearly stated before but, if you think Story is hard as run in Olympics or been a math genious, I dont know what to tell you.

This post is about learn, about the fight, about your class, about yourself. How you can improve your self. From the OP’s last post, I can see s/he is trying, following the advices and is back to the bicycle. Are we able to do the same?

For the record, I wasn’t able to do Mordremoth by soloing. Was not about the difficulty, or boring or… was the “rift on the air” bug. I tried 3 times soloing and the 3 times had the same bug. After that, I just LFG-Guildies 11 times and done. I don’t need to know if that is fixed now, just saying what I found long time ago the day I tried.

Good luck.

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

To show how soloable it is. The same way that you could show that anyone could do dungeons way back when without needing exotic gear. You handicap yourself to the point where it’s obviously soloable with regular gear and builds.

Let me interrupt the bickering for a moment with a reply to the OP. I’m an average player (guessing here since they haven’t released the chart yet), and a mostly solo player.

I can understand where the OP is coming from to a degree. Some of the instanced boss fights were difficult for me. Not impossible, though at times it felt that way, but difficult. Maybe challenging would be the right word. What I think makes some of them really difficult is how the solution to beating the boss is not obvious, not remotely obvious. Unless you read the walkthrough first or someone tells you, the struggle is staying alive long enough to figure out what the trick/gimick is to beat the boss. I’m all for having to learn the boss in order to defeat it, but some of the tricks just too obscure.

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

To show how soloable it is. The same way that you could show that anyone could do dungeons way back when without needing exotic gear. You handicap yourself to the point where it’s obviously soloable with regular gear and builds.

And the people who think it’s too hard will learn nothing, because they will assume that you are just a better player than they are. Your video would just prove their point in their own minds. If all you would be doing it for was to prove them wrong in your own mind, or blow your own horn, that’s fine. If you’re trying to prove something to those complaining, it won’t work.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

To show how soloable it is. The same way that you could show that anyone could do dungeons way back when without needing exotic gear. You handicap yourself to the point where it’s obviously soloable with regular gear and builds.

And the people who think it’s too hard will learn nothing, because they will assume that you are just a better player than they are. Your video would just prove their point in their own minds. If all you would be doing it for was to prove them wrong in your own mind, or blow your own horn, that’s fine. If you’re trying to prove something to those complaining, it won’t work.

You’re probably right that it’d be ineffective.

I just feel that content should n’t be nerfed so that to the lowest denominator. Now if the main issue is like what the poster above you said was theirs, perhaps Anet could implement something where an NPC gives hints if you don’t make progress after awhile or something. At least that way you would sit fighting a boss for 20+ min without any progress and getting frustrated if you couldn’t figure out the mechanic.

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

To show how soloable it is. The same way that you could show that anyone could do dungeons way back when without needing exotic gear. You handicap yourself to the point where it’s obviously soloable with regular gear and builds.

And the people who think it’s too hard will learn nothing, because they will assume that you are just a better player than they are. Your video would just prove their point in their own minds. If all you would be doing it for was to prove them wrong in your own mind, or blow your own horn, that’s fine. If you’re trying to prove something to those complaining, it won’t work.

You’re probably right that it’d be ineffective.

I just feel that content should be nerfed so that to the lowest denominator. Now if the main issue is like what the poster above you said was theirs, perhaps Anet could implement something where an NPC gives hints if you don’t make progress after awhile or something. At least that way you would sit fighting a boss for 20+ min without any progress and getting frustrated if you couldn’t figure out the mechanic.

I assume you meant “…shouldn’t be nerfed to the lowest common denominator.” in the first line.

I’m of two minds about ANet putting hints in the game. They tried that with some of the old world bosses. I’m not sure how effective that was, or if people who might have needed such were paying attention. My question would be, “Would enough people use the hints to make putting them in worthwhile?” If so, I’d like such hints not to be obtrusive for people who like figuring such things out.

The issue is that there are different types of people involved. Some like encounter mechanics and harder bosses. Others just want more of what they’re used to and like, which is showing up and kicking the NPC’s butt without changing build, struggling with mechanics, etc. The issue is exacerbated because much of the core game and Personal Story encourages just that type of gameplay.

For those who want the latter, maybe it’s enough that there be walk-throughs on the wiki or Youtube. The problem with that, of course, is that some really don’t want to use those resources. I doubt ANet is going to change existing story instances up. Who knows what we’ll see in PoF?

Hupsel.1920:

Hey guys

Loving the game as always, looking forward to the expansion. I am finally playing through Living World season 3 and there is a lot of content there, so congrats and thanks for that! There is one problem, though, which has plagued many missions in Guild Wars 2.

Story missions, especially those with bosses, are way too hard or unfair for solo players.

Yeah, yeah, this is a MMO and blablabla but I bet there are tons of players out there that queue alone and try the story missions. It sucks that a lot of bosses can destroy you so fast. I think that some of them would be okay for 2-3 players but in solo play you just hit your head against the wall, respawn and go at it again. The design is so bad that it doesn´t matter if you die – you can respawn, the boss has the same health as before then you just continue fighting it, dying and repeating.

I think some mobs could be scaled down for single player play and a lot of bosses could do less damage – maybe even as far as 40-50% less damage.

Thanks!

I do think that games benefit from having different challenge levels for different sets of players. There are players who have very busy lives that limits playtime. On the other hand, you have players who play constantly and base their self worth on beating game challenges. The base game tilted towards the former while Heart of Thorns tilts towards the latter.

I am interested in seeing how Arena Net handles Path of Fire. The new elites look fun and the new areas look nice. Is there content for both types of players, I am not sure.

Not to hijack the topic but since it does entail topic I will go ahead and ask it.

Did I miss something when starting Living World season 3 that in order to do the first 5 chapters I have to use gems for each one or I skip straight to chapter 6?

Exiled.5781:

Not to hijack the topic but since it does entail topic I will go ahead and ask it.

Did I miss something when starting Living World season 3 that in order to do the first 5 chapters I have to use gems for each one or I skip straight to chapter 6?

Episodes are free during their active months but then they must be bought with gems.
Currently Episode 6 is active so you got it unlocked for free.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

To show how soloable it is. The same way that you could show that anyone could do dungeons way back when without needing exotic gear. You handicap yourself to the point where it’s obviously soloable with regular gear and builds.

And the people who think it’s too hard will learn nothing, because they will assume that you are just a better player than they are. Your video would just prove their point in their own minds. If all you would be doing it for was to prove them wrong in your own mind, or blow your own horn, that’s fine. If you’re trying to prove something to those complaining, it won’t work.

You’re probably right that it’d be ineffective.

I just feel that content should be nerfed so that to the lowest denominator. Now if the main issue is like what the poster above you said was theirs, perhaps Anet could implement something where an NPC gives hints if you don’t make progress after awhile or something. At least that way you would sit fighting a boss for 20+ min without any progress and getting frustrated if you couldn’t figure out the mechanic.

I assume you meant “…shouldn’t be nerfed to the lowest common denominator.” in the first line.

I’m of two minds about ANet putting hints in the game. They tried that with some of the old world bosses. I’m not sure how effective that was, or if people who might have needed such were paying attention. My question would be, “Would enough people use the hints to make putting them in worthwhile?” If so, I’d like such hints not to be obtrusive for people who like figuring such things out.

The issue is that there are different types of people involved. Some like encounter mechanics and harder bosses. Others just want more of what they’re used to and like, which is showing up and kicking the NPC’s butt without changing build, struggling with mechanics, etc. The issue is exacerbated because much of the core game and Personal Story encourages just that type of gameplay.

For those who want the latter, maybe it’s enough that there be walk-throughs on the wiki or Youtube. The problem with that, of course, is that some really don’t want to use those resources. I doubt ANet is going to change existing story instances up. Who knows what we’ll see in PoF?

Yeah, I meant shouldn’t. Half-tempted to turn off auto-correct as it changes some typos to the dumbest of things.

Well I know that some of the complaints from LS3 could have been resolved with additional hints such as in the last instance of episode 1 involving the special action ability and again in that first instance of episode 6 with the puzzle. As for Caudecus, well… I doubt hints would help as the main issue is to avoid the red/orange circles.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

IndigoSundown.5419:

Ayrilana.1396:

Half tempted to solo the last instance of HoT without armor and no traits allocated just to prove a point on how soloable it is.

The two biggest barriers to completing such content are twitch skill and willingness to experiment to find something that works. You cannot teach twitch skill, but you can show people builds that work. Removing your build would simply be demonstrating your twitch. All you’d be doing was proving someone wrong on the internet. That would not be helpful.

Except twitch skill isn’t really needed for that instance. Content can only get dumbed down so much before it becomes a detriment to the other players. It should not be balanced around the lowest denominator.

So, what, it’s all about build, then? How is doing the instance without a build going to help?

Actually it’s neither build nore equipment that seems to be the problem most of the time, but experience and ability to figure out the fight mechanics.

I joined a couple of guildies for the final HoT mission a while back. From experience (as in: having spent more than enough time in that instance solo before) I took a chrono and switched her to a half-baked condi spec (I usually prefer power chrono), as I knew that build could literally bleed big Mordy to death, leaving me free to focus my attention on avoiding all the stuff that hurts.

Long story short: everybody wiped on the first flight phase, but Caithe would rez me (and only me) again and again, so I gave up trying to die and went on with things (fully expecting to go down somewhere before the end). It took half an hour or more, but my “damage without having to pay attention to damaging” condi build (put up illusions whenever there’s room and shatter when I have a moment to think of it) actually managed to take down the boss.

Am I a better player than the rest of my group? Most certainly not. My advantages were experience in the fight, having figured out some of the mechanics before, and bringing a (certainly not optimized) character that allowed me to pay attention to avoiding damage most of all (a build born out of prior experience with the fight, quickly thrown together from whatever equip I had at hand).

In hard fights (and the final HoT fight definitely falls in that category for me) I find that it pays most if I don’t go in trying to win straight away, but rather try to figure out one step (or one fight mechanic) after the other. If that means dying because what I tried didn’t work then that’s ok, as long as it helps me see what mistakes I should avoid next time.

If you’re having trouble with fights, you might try to bring a character/build that leaves room for mistakes, so you have more room to figure out what goes wrong. If you don’t win straight away, try to take the fight one step at a time. Most (if not all) of the time it’s simply fight mechanics you’re missing, and once you’ve got them figured out (which certainly is possible to do without Dulfy or YouTube if you want to) you’ll find that story fights (excluding dungeon and raid story of course ) really are soloable for everyone.