“I’m waiting for the staff to get off their lunch
break. I feel like they should be back by now..”
break. I feel like they should be back by now..”
HoT PVE: Worth it?
Only you can answer that. I like it and am having fun in core and in HoT areas. There are others that hate it and they only stepped into it for about 30 mins or less. Then there are others that hate it and never bought it or played it and never will because “it blows”.
1) To me yes. And the changes mean you can now pick up and play at your leisure and still be rewarded. Except maybe Dragon STand map. That you need to get into a populated map and hang through for at least an hour-90 mins to get the whole chain done. The other maps you can achieve stuff w/o necs having run through to the final boss. The maps are different though. They are larger due to the verticality and at first very maze like and unusual to navigate. They reward exploring, but many have been daunted by their intricacies. I’m not one of them, but I do understand those who hate them.
2) It’s grindy to get stuff. It’s been reduced a lot with the more recent patch and vendor items are much easier to get with tokens. Making a legendary precursor is a mix of heavy farming and in some cases, really good fun quasi-quest like collections
3) Mostly mechanics. DOn’t stand and tank n spank certain mobs or groups of mobs and generally it’s fine. Not every fight is winnable, but it will make you use your class a lot more than core Tyria does.
4) I don’t raid as the lfg requirements tend to be very strict as to what they want. Guilds tend to be more forgiving, so I would advise joining a friendly one if you intend to raid.
5) Open world not so much, it does require you to know how to play your class, but that’s it. Pretty much any build can work, but you may have to be a bit adaptable at times. There are no open world build requirements, but raids I am informed are very specific.
HoT open world is rarely more difficult than when pre-nerf Orr or Southson. Mechanics wise, you will have had a preview from Silverwastes, but they generally hit hard, but have lower health pools to compensate. Probably the biggest barrier are the hero points to progress your elite specs, many of which are guarded by hard hitting champs. However, the maps are generally populated by enough people to be able to get past these.
Getting away from the pvp/wvw scene since it just…. anyways. As for pve in HoT, I’ve looked at videos in the past and recent and just trying to get a general idea of what it has to offer. With that a few questions for those who hopefully know it best.
1. Is the pve in HoT something that is enjoyable? By this I mean is it something you can pick up for an hour or 2 after work or on a day off and not feel lost or bored?
2. Is it repetitive grinding to high ends or do things get shaken up a bit depending on what you are looking to do, such as building a legendary via the precursor quests?
3. I understand that some professions have an easier time than others in the new zones so I’m assuming there are some challenges. However, are these challenges based on enemy mechanics or just rapid scaling to where everything can “1 shot” you and has x10 health?
4. As with every game, entering something late is not going to be easy to adapt but I have a fairly quick ability to learn. Are raids going to be “semi” friendly to join or are people “know it or gtfo” kind of mentality? I ask this having no active guild atm.
5. Similar to question 4 and 3, does HoT content demand specific builds in raids/world events or are they flexible based on player skill? Similar experience I’ve had in the past with fractals with people demanding build x only to watch them die over and over and ultimately giving 0 dps while they run back or get revived. I’d rather just know what I’m there for and run it on my terms, does HoT content demand something else?
Look forward to answers.
“Enjoyable” is subjective. I say yes. Compared to the core maps, I much prefer to spend my time in HoT maps for open world PvE. Others strongly disagree.
Playing for an hour or two is certainly doable as the event cycles run on a similar time frame. However, if you expect to quickly and effortlessly learn your way around these environments, there are several reasons you may be disappointed.
Fully exploring these maps is intended to be done roughly in sequence, gated by masteries. For the first map, jump mushrooms and updrafts are enough to get you to pretty much anywhere you want to go. The second map adds exalted lore. But the third map is far more difficult to navigate and having nuhoch wallows and itzel poison lore on top of all the others is important. By the last map you will want to have leyline gliding.
You also need to know that these maps are maze-like. Exploring them is not straightforward. The map is of limited use in many places. It will show you hero points and other points of interest, but getting to them rarely involves following a straight line! In the case of tangled depths, spending a few hours exploring the map is nowhere near enough time to familiarize yourself with it.
But if you like a real exploration challenge and don’t mind taking your time playing through the maps, then I think it can be quite enjoyable.
I hear the collections are grindy and I guess they are. But I guess I don’t see how that’s any different than previously available activities. I think it comes down to whether or not you enjoy playing on these maps. If not, then it’s a grind. If so, then it probably doesn’t feel so grind-y.
The monsters have normal health totals, but hit hard and there are more of them. True “1-shot” death is not really a big thing outside of boss fights. However, many of the monsters in the jungle don’t mess around. They will likely kill you when you initially encounter them, but they all have weaknesses you can exploit. This does tend to require at least some structure in terms of build options. And certain enemies may give you headaches on certain classes.
For example, you will almost certainly need access to a reliable stun-break on your bar at all times as well as a ranged weapon set (although you can still rely primarily on melee if that’s your preference). Elite specs tend to be helpful, if not mandatory. But that is class-dependent.
Raids do tend to strongly encourage certain builds for the advantages they provide when learning new bosses. Once you’ve learned it, I imagine these restrictions loosen up a bit.
Whether or not a guild will expect you to know the encounters depends on the type of guild. I wouldn’t recommend trying to join pickup groups initially unless they say it’s a learning run or are otherwise willing to accept inexperienced players. Learning is better done with a guild, I think.
1. Is the pve in HoT something that is enjoyable? By this I mean is it something you can pick up for an hour or 2 after work or on a day off and not feel lost or bored?
There is definitely a familiarization curve if you have already learned where to go and what to do there. Completing a meta cycle can definitely be done in an hour or two, but if you cannot get into whichever map(s) people are taxiing to you aren’t likely to be able to complete them.
2. Is it repetitive grinding to high ends or do things get shaken up a bit depending on what you are looking to do, such as building a legendary via the precursor quests?
HoT is lousy with different zone currencies and things to buy with them, collections, etc. Some collection items are heavily dependent on RNG luck, a concept that seldom visits me. Grindy? Probably, but MMO’s are marathons, not sprints.
3. I understand that some professions have an easier time than others in the new zones so I’m assuming there are some challenges. However, are these challenges based on enemy mechanics or just rapid scaling to where everything can “1 shot” you and has x10 health?
Standing still, pressing 1 and alt-tabbing to Netflix is contraindicated in most events. Some mobs have mechanics it pays to anticipate (once you’ve learned them) and be ready to counter. Other mobs are weak-sauce . I doubt there is a weaker mob anywhere in the game than the tiger, and mobs that have been carried over from core are the same (boars, jungle raptors, etc.). Some group events have a minimum range of players needed to complete them, others can be done with 1-2 players. To me, this means that scaling is set by event, rather than across the region. ANet has done a pretty good job (imo) in limiting the health of mobs that hit hard (i.e., glass cannons), but not so good on lighter-hitting mobs and scaled mobs, who can often be massive bags of HP (or possibly, heavy on Armor).
4. As with every game, entering something late is not going to be easy to adapt but I have a fairly quick ability to learn. Are raids going to be “semi” friendly to join or are people “know it or gtfo” kind of mentality? I ask this having no active guild atm.
Pugging raids is more likely than not going to result in demands for both specific builds and prior knowledge. As in every MMO I’ve played, the best way to come late to harder, instanced content is to find other players in the same boat — which takes some luck. You might get lucky with a PuG, but I would not depend on it.
5. Similar to question 4 and 3, does HoT content demand specific builds in raids/world events or are they flexible based on player skill? Similar experience I’ve had in the past with fractals with people demanding build x only to watch them die over and over and ultimately giving 0 dps while they run back or get revived. I’d rather just know what I’m there for and run it on my terms, does HoT content demand something else?
You’re not going to find players in open world meta events demanding specific builds. At best, such random groups will do better on certain events if there are “enough” people who understand CC as it relates to mob break bars and are built to provide that CC. As usual, though, quantity can trump quality in such events, though the map meta events generally require some splitting of zergs to complete multiple objectives simultaneously. As to raids… some players demanded roles prior to HoT. ANet already had a concept for roles being support, control and damage. Raids added aggro management to control, and some boss encounters require a tank and healer. PuG groups are likely to require specific builds (see response to #4).
Look forward to answers.
See italics for responses, and good luck. One certainly can enjoy HoT, but as with the game in general and in truth most MMO’s there are issues.
(edited by IndigoSundown.5419)
I hear the collections are grindy and I guess they are.
On this one, it pays to unlock all the legendary collections early on as these will fill up automatically during the course of play. You’ll fight a creature or pick a plant and voila! you have another collection item. With these and other collections you’ll eventually have to do something specific to get the last few items but you’d be surprised how much can happen just by playing.
Thank you for all the responses. Just looking for something to kill time that isn’t going to be stressful. Pvp pretty much killed this for me but I’ll give pve a try, just wish there was some friendliness towards purchasing HoT on a BWE account.
Anyone got a U.S guild that does pve and guild related events like GM?
“I’m waiting for the staff to get off their lunch
break. I feel like they should be back by now..”
break. I feel like they should be back by now..”
You’d be better off asking in-game when you play or do what I used to do, hit up world bosses and see whose guilds you start recognising. The one I’m in is global, we have people playing all day and guild missions that start at three different timezones but we might not be doing things you want to do. I’d keep an eye out and join whoever starts becoming a familiar sight.
Blame Abaddon, he loves your tears.
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
pve, raid, pvp, fractal, dungeon, world clearing, legendary questing.. Zapped!
1) It’s subjective and I will tell you yes and no. Raid is enjoyable as hell, but can’t be picked up 1-2 without feelling lost at first. As for the new maps, I will say the first 2 maps with no problems. But for the 3rd and 4th map you will probably have some difficulty at first. The 3rd map is pretty light on the content, so most people just do the big boss each 2 hours so you need to get into the map at the right time. The 4th map is on a 2 hours rotation and it only work when it’s a full map. So you need to get into the map like in the first 10-15min or forget about it.
2) Well there is a finite amount of content so like any PvE content it will eventually be repetitive. Does it become grindy fast or not for you is subjective. But you usually need material from all 4 maps so you can do a bit of each map if you like them all and it won’t feel grindy that much. But if you decide to focus on one map then it will probably feel grindy pretty fast. The good thing is that each maps have several events chain so you can complete each map (1-2 hours) between 3 and 6 times without viewing the same event twice. So I would say that you have about 20-30 hours of new content in the 4 maps. After that you will start to repeat things, but how grindy it will feel will depend how you play them and what you want.
3) Both. I mean as an elementalist a lot of stuff will 2 shots you and if you fight a veteran alone you won’t be able to kill him in 2 seconds. That say, these enemies have a lot of good mechanics that you can counter when you know it. These are some of the more interesting enemies to fight. If you liked the enemies from silverwaste, they kind of did the same thing in the HoT maps, but with more diversity.
4) Raid are really hard. People can take 5-15 hours of practice before their first kill and a group is as weak as their weakess players. So ya people won’t accept new players or this will most likely cost them the fight and waste hours of their time for nothing. That said if you are a good players, have good build, good gear and play more than 1 profession you will only need to find groups to pratice. You can write that in your LFG but try to do that Monday or Tuesday next after the reset. Not as much people raid later in the week. There is training guild that exist (look for a post in the raid subforum) that will be your best bet. Or in the ideal world you can find a raiding guild that will accept you and show you the fights. Raiding guild always bleed players over time and smart one always try to find new players as replacements. If you are good players with good build raiding guild will want to train you, these kind of player are rare these days. But be prepare to wipe a LOT. Like I said, most people will take between 5 and 15 hours before they do their first kill and it’s not because you killed him once that you will succeed everytimes again that boss.
5) In Open world do whatever you want. Some event need specific skill like CC, but other than that it’s free. Raid is another story. You do have some room for build I mean people did the raid half naked, in team of 10 guardians, with weird build, etc. But those are usually great team that know the fight. For most people, they will ask you a good build and good gear for mainly 2 reasons.
- Give them the best chance they can. The fight can easily fail, having 10 people with good build and good composition will give the group a better chance even if it won’t make up for a bad team with not enough knowledge of the fight.
- Respect for others. It’s a rule in my guild group at least. We fight as a team and we need to respect each other and part of that is to try our best. I paid for good foods and took the time to make a good build, I expect the same from everybody.
But to be honest, I rarely see gear check in raid. But people will remark if you bring something weird into a fight. I mean if you are doing slothazor as a guardian and don’t bring reflect, people will call you out. If you do VG and you pull the agro off the tank because you have a lot of toughness, people will call you out.
Thaddeauz [xQCx]- QC GUILD
1. Is the pve in HoT something that is enjoyable? By this I mean is it something you can pick up for an hour or 2 after work or on a day off and not feel lost or bored?
Yes, it is absolutely something you can do after work for a couple of hours and make progress. That said, some words of caution:
Transitioning from pvp to pve is not going to be a smooth process, or at least it’s not for most. I’ve seen several pvp primaries wander into pve and wonder wtf they are supposed to do. Do not hesitate to ask for help, it is not always completely straight forward.
Fighting an npc is nothing like fighting another person. It is very likely that even with the bit of AI that HoT foes possess, you’re going to find combat boring. It is no where near as dynamic, but don’t let that alone turn you off to pve.
Now, if you’re not into exploring, or seeing the beauty of the world, or experiencing the story, then there may really be nothing in pve for you except fashion and achievement collecting. It all depends on what you’re looking for.
You’re going to feel lost in HoT the first time you wander in. Even pve mains felt lost with the new direction HoT took maps. It may be frustrating at first, but with a little bit of time and familiarity, it should get better.
2. Is it repetitive grinding to high ends or do things get shaken up a bit depending on what you are looking to do, such as building a legendary via the precursor quests?
You’re going to have a little bit of both. You’ll have specific tasks that take you all over the place (ie: achieve silver in a specific adventure, go do a specific jumping puzzle, go kill this boss for an item, go complete this fractal for an item, complete ‘x’ map for an item) as well as having some currency grinding for specific maps. The gen 2 legendary pre collections tell a better story than the gen 1 collections, as I understand it. I haven’t done a gen 2 yet so I can’t confirm.
3. I understand that some professions have an easier time than others in the new zones so I’m assuming there are some challenges. However, are these challenges based on enemy mechanics or just rapid scaling to where everything can “1 shot” you and has x10 health?
I think a lot of this depends on how well you know your class, and how used to active combat you are. If you stand still, yes there are several foes that are just going to flatten you. As a pvper I don’t think you’ll have too much of an issue with this, since in pvp, active defense and combat movement are kind of a must. (Watch out for the kitten mushrooms)
4. As with every game, entering something late is not going to be easy to adapt but I have a fairly quick ability to learn. Are raids going to be “semi” friendly to join or are people “know it or gtfo” kind of mentality? I ask this having no active guild atm.
I don’t raid personally, so I have mixed feedback on that. If you’re trying to pug them, its pretty much a toss up whether you’re going to get friendly people or kittens. My best suggestion, if you intend to raid, is to try to find a raiding guild that works for your schedule. I’d offer my guild, but we aren’t raiders yet, and I’m still trying to build an active member count (which, trying to do post HoT is not easy).
5. Similar to question 4 and 3, does HoT content demand specific builds in raids/world events or are they flexible based on player skill? Similar experience I’ve had in the past with fractals with people demanding build x only to watch them die over and over and ultimately giving 0 dps while they run back or get revived. I’d rather just know what I’m there for and run it on my terms, does HoT content demand something else?
I think fractals have chilled out a bit, unless you’re specifically running speed clears. The only requirement I’ve run into in fractal pugs is having enough agony resistance, which should be a no brainer.
Open world, just whatever works for you.
Raids, absolutely require specific builds and gear set ups. You can use metabattle for reference material. You can also check out the raid section of the forum, there are a few helpful threads, including one for training sessions if you’re interested.
Don’t look at me like that. Whatever you’ve heard, it’s probably not true.
I like HoT maps. Don’t play them if you want to facetank everything without thinking.
“Only problem with the Engineer is
that it makes every other class in the game boring to play.”
Hawks
that it makes every other class in the game boring to play.”
Hawks
1 – Yes, it is fun (for me at last), but I’m a “open world” person here on GW2. Yet for what I saw on the raid fights, they are really nice.
2 – Most grinds you can do together at the same time, so while you’re focusing on something you’re getting progression on other things. Focus on the easiest first, when you get into the hard ones, some will be already half way lol
3 – All professions have problems at the first time that you travel HoT maps. No masteries + don’t know what the new hostile NPCs do = you will die (way less than before QoL patch, but will die) . But with some masteries unlocked (gliding, bouncing mushrooms, updraft principally), plus leaning the NPCs patterns it will be fine not only for your main, but for any alt that you bring to the jungle. You said that you learn fast, so the NPCs will not be a problem lol
4 – If you played any other MMO with raids and did raiding, you know that pug life isn’t easy, the “elitism” exists and have reasons to exist. The same as always: get the right build, gear up, improve your rotation, check raid videos with your profession and build PoV.
5 – Like people already said, on open world anything works. Simple bring some CCs and remember that too much toughness = aggro and you will be fine. On raids simple check the best builds for your profession.
Great thread. I was also in need of this kind of information before buying the expansion. As per the comments so far, seems it’s well worth for some casual PvE.
the difference with pve in this game to the pve in other games is that there is no objective to complete in doing the pve in guild wars 2. you do it for the sake of doing it. (i would say gold, but once you have everything you need in this game, gold serves little purpose)
As quick as the Valkyries ride,
As true as Odin’s spear flies,
There is nowhere to hide.
As true as Odin’s spear flies,
There is nowhere to hide.
Nothing beats flying man, I mean it. Glide, updraft, jumping down hundred foot drops deploying the glider and skimming across the water, under the bridges. AB meta money maker? I mean, seriously opened a whole new look at the game for me.
I enjoy WvW most, but hands down I have enjoyed what I got for HoT. I don’t care about legendary precursor crafting, or collectible items, but I enjoy the new experience. It’s good to take some time off the WvW grind and play in autopilot for a bit.
Only thing I would suggest is to either get the Ultimate, for the HoT glider, or alternatively … get the standard and buy a glider you like when they are available because the basic one is ugly.
The PvE is okay, but the terrain is pretty amazing. You can find so many wormholes that take you in the opposite direction you thought you were going, only to land at some hero point or mastery point. Kinda neat. Overall worth it though.
Nothing beats flying man, I mean it. Glide, updraft, jumping down hundred foot drops deploying the glider and skimming across the water, under the bridges. AB meta money maker? I mean, seriously opened a whole new look at the game for me.
Indeed. Gliding makes me feel like Batman. I wish there was a glider that looked like a black bat-wing cape.
Getting away from the pvp/wvw scene since it just…. anyways. As for pve in HoT, I’ve looked at videos in the past and recent and just trying to get a general idea of what it has to offer. With that a few questions for those who hopefully know it best.
1. Is the pve in HoT something that is enjoyable? By this I mean is it something you can pick up for an hour or 2 after work or on a day off and not feel lost or bored?
Depends on the zone. Verdant Brink, Auric Basin(though this can be very slow if you are not running with a group), Tangled Depths are okay. Dragon’s Stand … well hopefully your work schedule matches its schedule.
2. Is it repetitive grinding to high ends or do things get shaken up a bit depending on what you are looking to do, such as building a legendary via the precursor quests?
Not really sure what you mean but the second collection of every legendary is pure grind for materials. Some of the other bits can be interesting if you try to make it interesting. There will also be plenty of time gated stuff if you don’t have a stockpile of ascended crafting materials.
3. I understand that some professions have an easier time than others in the new zones so I’m assuming there are some challenges. However, are these challenges based on enemy mechanics or just rapid scaling to where everything can “1 shot” you and has x10 health?
It mostly boils down to CC followed by burst or dumping all your CCs on something for the breakbar. Octovine in AB, Gerent in TD, the Blighting Towers and Mouth of Mordremoth fights have a bit more stuff. Nothing else comes to mind.
5. Similar to question 4 and 3, does HoT content demand specific builds in raids/world events or are they flexible based on player skill? Similar experience I’ve had in the past with fractals with people demanding build x only to watch them die over and over and ultimately giving 0 dps while they run back or get revived. I’d rather just know what I’m there for and run it on my terms, does HoT content demand something else?
Look forward to answers.
Yes and no. In HoT you want to have as many stunbreaks as well as your own CCs as possible and stability. You could do without going to extremes but I hope being a pinball from time to time. Personally I am not a fan of monsters design where the monster have only 2 attacks and at least 1 is a CC. There will also be times where you might know what needs to be done but if the other people around don’t care then it will just fail anyway because due to scaling you can dump every possible you can bring and still not do much to the CC bar.