Guild Wars 2

I have been trying to think through why I do not enjoy dungeons, world events, boss fights etc. in this game like I always have in past games. In the end best I can figure out is the base mechanics around bosses, events etc. The mechanic of “you will die simply run back” type of design. I will try to explain through various examples best I can

Lets look at the recent Southsun month of events. The non stop little fights with waves of mobs (good idea and fun in many ways). I play a mostly bunker build guardian, 1700 tough, 19,000 health. If I was to fight a veteran karka, I could dodge once or twice, use retribution once and can survive a bit until the players kill it. What actually happens is 10+ veterans pop in the wave of mobs and if you are targeted, instant dead, simply no option. If you play a melee and the veterans charge, instant dead, no option. Knocked down by the veterans, instant dead, no options. If you are up front when the mobs spawn, instant dead, no option and with culling you will likely die without even seeing the mobs that attack you

Cursed shores events. Pretty similar but with some extra twists. First the events do not scale here to the amount of people and you will often get far more veteran etc then the players there can handle. Then you get the extra option of things like the champion chicken who will kill anyone in the area doing 24k + damage before you even realize it has spawned, Massive damage in 1 second is death for the sake of death
Recently I happened to be in the zone and joined in to fight the boss in front of Arah (sorry name eludes me). Fight was going along fine, occasional dead player, usually quickly rezzed, until the boss got to 10% health. At 10% the boss instantly killed anyone that was in melee range, boom half the group dead, then proceeded to one by one pick a player, and that player died to his various attacks, no chance to escape. Basic design, have enough players to rez around unpreventable deaths

Recent guild bounty hunt. One of the mobs was the boss where you go around click on suspicious rats to uncover him. I happened to be the one, clicked on suspicious rat, boss pops with his rats, instantly dead. No choice, the guild had to spread out looking for him, and there is no way to know what rat will spawn the boss, so basic design is, click on rat, die, run back

It is this basic mechanic of “die and run back” that has left me frustrated. I realize there is not much of a death penalty etc. but truth is I hate dying, and I hate dying way more when it is instant and unavoidable

Overall this is just a vent, but I do find myself simply not wanting to do any event in the game anymore

I agree that instant death that can not be avoided through skilled play continues to be a problem in the game. It has always risen to its zenith around efforts to make combat more “interesting”. I can appreciate that satisfying combat includes challenge as a component, but it’s really a game balance issue that simply hasn’t found it’s sweet spot.

Yeah, I don’t enjoy dying either. I accept it as the price of my own error, but it’s frustrating when it’s enshrined as a game mechanic.

Something tells me you aren’t using your cooldowns or dodging at the right times. It could be some problems with your build. I don’t know, You didn’t post details and I haven’t seen you actually play in these situations so it’s hard to make a diagnosis. But since you claim to be playing bunker guardian, I find it hard to believe you are having trouble just staying alive if you know what you are doing. I run around on my berserker ele and manage to stay alive, and that’s some squishy meat right there.

Edit: To clarify, why don’t you give us your build and gear. List your trait choices, weapons, utilities, etc. In regards to being 1-shotted, I’ve never been 1-shotted without some type of animation on the mob telegraphing the incoming attack. If I don’t see it, it’s either because I wasn’t paying attention, or the game was truly lagging. Although the latter is rare for me. You have to watch for those cues to dodge. Don’t just use it on a whim. It’s tricky business but that’s the challenge.

In response to Xenon. Just to clarify a bit I don’t have trouble surviving normal game play, multiple mobs, WvW etc. My guardian is quite tough and while I am only an average player, I am not to bad when it comes to dodging, using my abilities etc.
I am talking mechanics like southsun and a dozen plus verteran karkas spawn. You can not dodge a dozen veteran karkas, nor the bouncing electrical strike of a dozen veteran (dam if I can remember the name, the floating mobs)
I have been hit for 24k by the veteran chicken in cursed shore in 1 shot. That’s 1700 toughness and 19,000 health (a lot of health for a guardian) by a mob that doesn’t even show due to culling. These are the type of mechanics I am talking about
I use a pretty standard 0,5,30,30,5 build, exotics and all ascended jewelery