Guild Wars 2

At level 40, I left the pve zones and never went back. The only dungeon I’ve ever done was a single run in CM. I don’t know where any of the other dungeons are or how to do them.

So, what would be the best way for me to get these dungeons over as quickly and painlessly as possible?

Look for a group doing speed runs of AC (in plains of ashford), I managed to do all 3 paths in 50 minutes last night. do that for 2 days and you are set.

The dungeons that are accessible to you are shown on your world map as giant doors. You’ll normally get a mail from your herald explaining the locations as well. If you enjoy figuring things out on your own and experiencing a dungeon without knowing anything about it, then try find similar people. This is will take longer but I find this way to be personally enjoyable. I’m not the type of gamer that likes being spoiled or told what to do. I enjoy figuring it out and using on the fly teamwork.

However, if you really don’t care and just want to be efficient then I suggest you watch videos and read about each dungeon path beforehand. Then find a group that speed clears them. Rinse and repeat. The above poster had the right idea for this method.

Thanks for the tips. Ended up doing CM/AC and getting most of the runs done. Wasn’t as bad as I expected it to be. Bit of karma/money as well as progress on the monthly. Might even pick up an exotic from the tokens.

One question though – is it normal for people to die? I’m used to games where dying is generally a sign of you doing something wrong, but during these dungeon runs, it didn’t seem like anyone cared. Even when a group wiped, no one got angry or anything, just rezzed up and went back at it. Seems like people really handle dying well in this game.

Dying a few times is normal, especially if you’re new to dungeons. Even as an experienced player, sometimes you make a mistake or two and die. In the end, so long as your death toll is minimal, your end reward still makes up for your repair (especially in AC with the money drop from the champion and boss + end reward).

Lol I love your last sentence “Seems like people really handle dying well in this game.”

haha that’s a great way of putting it. and bravo for doing well for what it seems to be a first time dungeon experience! they’re pretty fun and i really enjoy them. the gold, loot and now extra karma are all just bonuses (though i am thinking of putting together a dungeon set just for looks / kicks)

so Zudet you mentioned AC 3 paths, 2 days.. i.e. we only need 6 runs total for the monthly achievement?? or did i miss something entirely

Dying only bothers me if I can’t repair. I hate the little damaged equipment sign, but the repair cost itself is unnoticeable. In other games there’s often XP debt on death, but there’s nothing like that here so… you might as well just un-die and try again, yes.

Exp penalties are among the most annoying. Good thing this game doesn’t have any. There is enough penalty with the two or so silver you have to pay for each damaged exotic equipment piece at level 80.

I haven’t done the explorables on the other dungeons, but the explorables on AC are fairly quick.

Anyone know if story mode runs count towards the monthly achievement, or only explorable modes?

I think you only need to do 5 dungeons to complete the monthlies? I’m not sure.

How many dungeons do you need for the monthly?

Basically you ought to get yourself a group that can communicate, preferably verbally, but so long as you all can get your points across and have a clear leader to call out targets and plan routes through things you ought to be good. People complain about dungeons a lot in this game but they are the vocal minority, the dungeons are not that bad explorable or story, only on occasion are certain parts truly difficult and it’s usually due to massive health bars. If one plan isn’t working it’s best to try something different, and if all else fails you can slam into a wall over and over and win. Again though most important thing to consider is your team, your ability to communicate, and the roles your party is playing. While everyone can do everything you do need people doing different things. One of the best groups I have running in dungeons with me is two tanky and hard hitting guys to get stuck in, three ranged, one support/heal based, others dps and control or heals. We’ve easily gotten through things with that sort of basic set up.

Post level 55, I’d really recommend Twilight Arbor (the “up” path to start with). I pug all three paths of this dungeon regularly, and in my opinion at least, it’s one of the most fun dungeons in the game. I haven’t failed a single pug run at this since the early days of the game.

If you can make it to 75 quickly, doing path one of citadel of flames is incredibly easy. If not try doing some story mode AC, CM and eventually SE.

Once you know what mobs you have to kill in TA and which you can run though it takes maybe an hour and thirty minutes to run all. The catacombs is shorter but sometimes hard if the burrows wont die quickly since necromancers and others have a hard time hitting them sometimes. Cad manor can also be done easily as well. Those are the three easiest i think.