Guild Wars 2

… enemy spam

Just trying to do the personal story is ungodly painful trying to read dialog and getting ganked by 20 veterans, I honestly find nothing fun or redeeming about this expansion.

I understand completely. I am chiefly a solo PVE’r, so many aspects of HoT and the following Living Story maps are really frustrating for me as well. I basically had to force myself to get through HoT, even though I constantly felt like rage-quitting (not only because of the maps and the difficulty, but the story decisions as well).

Best advice is to kill things as you go along and not run through them. Raptors will eat you alive if you try. If you pull too many things you will die. Take it easy and learn each enemy and you will live.

Where are those 20 veterans?

Yargesh.4965:

Best advice is to kill things as you go along and not run through them. Raptors will eat you alive if you try. If you pull too many things you will die. Take it easy and learn each enemy and you will live.

I don’t think you understand the complaint.

Apparently not, I also have never seen 20 veteran mobs anywhere in this game I need to solo no matter which map.

Ah I see, we are discussing alternative facts then.

fake facts kinda like fake news?

Even if op was telling facts. Gw2 was advertised as a high social experience meaning requiring of high social conduct. Complaining about hot being nothing but group events is like complaining that a steakhouse is serving nothing but steak.

Yargesh.4965:

Ah I see, we are discussing alternative facts then.

I don’t get your point? Just because the game might be easy for you doesn’t mean that it’s easy for everyone. I for one also struggle with the Living Story mobs and bosses, and I play solo because I don’t have the time to get a group together (plus I prefer solo play since I can go at my own pace).

No where did I say it was easy. I said it took time and a willingness to learn. I don’t actively search out groups and play solo but I also never pass up a chance to do an event because other people are doing it as well.

The thing is, when you exaggerate about the difficulty to that degree, you turn off people because everyone knows it’s not true and trying to offer suggestions to help with that is a moot point because it’s impossible to know the truth without knowing specific maps and locations on maps.

I personally didn’t have any issues once I realized that some enemies you just have to fight or hope you get lucky on and don’t die before you lose aggro. And my character is in Berserker/Assassins gear…

No, there’s nothing in story that requires group work or need a group to do the contents.
Anet make sure everything is tone to at most Veteran level enemies’ of difficulty.

If you stop using absolutely atrocious build, and maybe start using 1~2 trait lines that has some defensive capability, you’d have a much easier time in HoT maps.

I have all 9 classes unlocked everything , including HoT hero points, story and most of the maps.

Aomine.5012:

No, there’s nothing in story that requires group work or need a group to do the contents.
Anet make sure everything is tone to at most Veteran level enemies’ of difficulty.

If you stop using absolutely atrocious build, and maybe start using 1~2 trait lines that has some defensive capability, you’d have a much easier time in HoT maps.

How do you know whether or not they are using an “atrocious build”?

TopBadge.3569:

… enemy spam

Just trying to do the personal story is ungodly painful trying to read dialog and getting ganked by 20 veterans, I honestly find nothing fun or redeeming about this expansion.

I’m sorry you didn’t find HoT fun.

I also had a lot of trouble when I first started HoT. It was some time after launch and the maps were relatively unfilled. I was unprepared for the skills used by the mobs, the speed and type of attacks, and the amount of damage & conditions.

Instead of trying to keep going (and getting frustrated repeatedly), I tried to adjust my playstyle and builds to deal with the new challenges. I now find it easy to traverse most of the maps (most of the time) and handle the HoT story.

If you just came to have a rant, I’ll leave you to it. If instead, you’d like to hear about some alternative approaches that can help you complete the content (and make it a lot more fun), let us know. There are lots of people happy to offer advice in measured doses and more than a few that would be willing to take you on a tour.

TopBadge, if you’re on a US server and you want help with HoT, I’ll be able to show you how to get around and survive it. It’s definitely not easy but it can be a lot easier and quite a few people I took through and showed the ropes to like it a lot more.

The three things you need to understand going through HOT is mob selection (which foes to go after in which order), your own profession, and how to deal with break bars. Beyond that, it’s not as bad as a lot of people make it out.

That is to say, sometimes having a guide can make this a lot easier.

HoT for me is the best content in the game. I play all over, in most game modes, but there’s nothing better than going back into HoT maps to experience the great synergy of playing around other people in interesting fights. I’d say if PoF isn’t on about the same level (which I’d guess it’s probably going to be) then many will leave the game. We certainly don’t neeed any more faceroll content – there’s a whole core world of that to play in.

Hawken.7932:

HoT for me is the best content in the game. I play all over, in most game modes, but there’s nothing better than going back into HoT maps to experience the great synergy of playing around other people in interesting fights. I’d say if PoF isn’t on about the same level (which I’d guess it’s probably going to be) then many will leave the game. We certainly don’t neeed any more faceroll content – there’s a whole core world of that to play in.

i see PoF being at least similiar to the newer zones added by LW3. Not overly challenging if you know your class etc, but if you want to just run it could get you into trouble.

TopBadge.3569:

… enemy spam

Just trying to do the personal story is ungodly painful trying to read dialog and getting ganked by 20 veterans, I honestly find nothing fun or redeeming about this expansion.

Well many many have solo’d the main story and found it a doddle. Ask yourself this, am i using a utility buff? am i using food? (less than the cost of using portal) that could reduce all dmg by 10% and increase your own damage right there. Now, do you use condy removal and some protection? etc etc. to avoid those 20 veterans why don’t you just find a spot where there is not 20 veterans? there’s a safe spot every 10 yards all over the map.

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

I have an I3 5th gen computer with 16gb RAM and Nvidia GTS-450 graphic card which gives me about 50 FPS in most core maps and drops below 30 in all HoT maps except lake Doric (may be because of amount of faces that are visible in LoD vertically?)

I have trouble in VB map with frogs on my guardian with exotic gear, I can’t even drop those frogs HP to half before I die.

I have same trouble with my warrior again in exotic gear killing rolling thingies.

I have trouble with my ranger in full ascended to do story steps of Flash point and one path ends. but not even slight trouble solo vet mobs in VB even two or 3 of them.

I have trouble in Tangled depth on my Necro in exotic but no trouble solo holding the camps in VB.

I have trouble with pocket raptors on all my toons except engineer that has no trouble torching them down and that same engineer can’t stand hammer hit of mordemorth guardians and mesmers.

Your claim is very subjective.

bobsort.4097:

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

I have an I3 5th gen computer with 16gb RAM and Nvidia GTS-450 graphic card which gives me about 50 FPS in most core maps and drops below 30 in all HoT maps except lake Doric (may be because of amount of faces that are visible in LoD vertically?)

I have trouble in VB map with frogs on my guardian with exotic gear, I can’t even drop those frogs HP to half before I die.

I have same trouble with my warrior again in exotic gear killing rolling thingies.

I have trouble with my ranger in full ascended to do story steps of Flash point and one path ends. but not even slight trouble solo vet mobs in VB even two or 3 of them.

I have trouble in Tangled depth on my Necro in exotic but no trouble solo holding the camps in VB.

I have trouble with pocket raptors on all my toons except engineer that has no trouble torching them down and that same engineer can’t stand hammer hit of mordemorth guardians and mesmers.

Your claim is very subjective.

Framerate has nothing to do with computer for the most part, but is instead a product of your Character Model Limit setting—always use lowest, even when you have everything else set to highest, and turn nameplates on.

If the other settings are slowing it down, you need to lower them, as they’re all about your GPU and the 450 probably can’t handle it. It was a budget card when it came out and that was years before Guild Wars 2’s release date.

Its normal for system requirements to go up with expansions.

All of the mobs in HoT require both defensive gear and CC. You can get away without defensive stats if you’re very good, but not CC, you must fill your build with it. Rolling dogs especially can only be stopped by CC AoE. For example on Ranger skill “traps cripple” trait and you can handle five enemies at a time just by dropping traps on them which will deplete their breakbars.

Most of your problems seem to be caused not by ping or a low FPS but lack of defense, crowd control and AoE in your builds.

Like, you mention Necro, which is currently invulnerable in PvE due to trait synergy (blind inflicts chill which inflicts bleed) and blinds from greatsword #4 and the darkness well. This is how much of a difference builds make.

My wife plays from Australia on 300-600ping and 20 FPS and she whines a bit but for the most part she manages to overcome anything!

bobsort.4097:

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

So you want the devs to create a game that is perfectly playable with a ping as high as 700? And you don’t find that unreasonable?

bobsort.4097:

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

I have an I3 5th gen computer with 16gb RAM and Nvidia GTS-450 graphic card which gives me about 50 FPS in most core maps and drops below 30 in all HoT maps except lake Doric (may be because of amount of faces that are visible in LoD vertically?)

I have trouble in VB map with frogs on my guardian with exotic gear, I can’t even drop those frogs HP to half before I die.

I have same trouble with my warrior again in exotic gear killing rolling thingies.

I have trouble with my ranger in full ascended to do story steps of Flash point and one path ends. but not even slight trouble solo vet mobs in VB even two or 3 of them.

I have trouble in Tangled depth on my Necro in exotic but no trouble solo holding the camps in VB.

I have trouble with pocket raptors on all my toons except engineer that has no trouble torching them down and that same engineer can’t stand hammer hit of mordemorth guardians and mesmers.

Your claim is very subjective.

I’ve played this game quite a bit with 300 ping, but not 600. I have no problem with any area of HoT. That said, I don’t believe any company should make software for the lowest common denominator and it’s not reasonable to expect them too.

The core zones are dead easy and quite boring to me now. I feel sympathy that your ping is so bad, but that shouldn’t change game design decisions.

bobsort.4097:

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

I have an I3 5th gen computer with 16gb RAM and Nvidia GTS-450 graphic card which gives me about 50 FPS in most core maps and drops below 30 in all HoT maps except lake Doric (may be because of amount of faces that are visible in LoD vertically?)

I have trouble in VB map with frogs on my guardian with exotic gear, I can’t even drop those frogs HP to half before I die.

I have same trouble with my warrior again in exotic gear killing rolling thingies.

I have trouble with my ranger in full ascended to do story steps of Flash point and one path ends. but not even slight trouble solo vet mobs in VB even two or 3 of them.

I have trouble in Tangled depth on my Necro in exotic but no trouble solo holding the camps in VB.

I have trouble with pocket raptors on all my toons except engineer that has no trouble torching them down and that same engineer can’t stand hammer hit of mordemorth guardians and mesmers.

Your claim is very subjective.

So you want game design balanced around your atrocious ping and questionable fps? Be realistic. You have issues that are outside of GW2.

20 veteran gank? What game are you playing?

Obtena.7952:

20 veteran gank? What game are you playing?

I believe what OP meant is that the game story difficulty is liked being ganked by 20 veterans, so do not take those words literally.

Tbh, sometimes I felt the same too, dying over and over again, till I gave up, hoping maybe I will have better luck next time IF I try again.

I know many here are GW or MMO elitists who spent thousands of hours over the years playing games. So to you guys nothing in the game is difficult.

I’ve also played HoT and experienced the mob spam. I just kill all the mobs I see. Don’t forget you have to MOVE & DODGE. These mobs are more reactive and more powerful to reflect the more powerful area. You need to be active and fight. The days of standing still and pressing 1 are over once you enter the HoT area.

Mil.3562:

Obtena.7952:

20 veteran gank? What game are you playing?

I believe what OP meant is that the game story difficulty is liked being ganked by 20 veterans, so do not take those words literally.

Tbh, sometimes I felt the same too, dying over and over again, till I gave up, hoping maybe I will have better luck next time IF I try again.

I know many here are GW or MMO elitists who spent thousands of hours over the years playing games. So to you guys nothing in the game is difficult.

Um, I think that’s not really an accurate statement. Definitely people felt the step up in difficultly that HoT delivered. It’s simply a question of how you deal with it. I’m willing to say without a doubt that if you have a grasp of the defensive tools and traits a class possesses, along with a basic understanding of the stats gear gives and what the weapon skills do, most if not all of the open world part of HoT, including story, can be soloed.

In otherwords, this isn’t about experience playing MMO’s, it’s about solving problems that RPG’s have been providing players since the beginning of the genre, even before they were on computers.

Obtena.7952:

Mil.3562:

Obtena.7952:

20 veteran gank? What game are you playing?

I believe what OP meant is that the game story difficulty is liked being ganked by 20 veterans, so do not take those words literally.

Tbh, sometimes I felt the same too, dying over and over again, till I gave up, hoping maybe I will have better luck next time IF I try again.

I know many here are GW or MMO elitists who spent thousands of hours over the years playing games. So to you guys nothing in the game is difficult.

Um, I think that’s not really an accurate statement. Definitely people felt the step up in difficultly that HoT delivered. It’s simply a question of how you deal with it. I’m willing to say without a doubt that if you have a grasp of the defensive tools and traits a class possesses, along with a basic understanding of the stats gear gives and what the weapon skills do, most if not all of the open world part of HoT, including story, can be soloed.

In otherwords, this isn’t about experience playing MMO’s, it’s about solving problems that RPG’s have been providing players since the beginning of the genre, even before they were on computers.

In addition to this, knowing your enemy and what to kill first is very important. Focus on stuff you can’t kite, that does high damage, most of that stuff dies pretty quickly.

bobsort.4097:

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

My ping is about 400 in great days and 560 in normal days and sometimes raises to 700. on 700 Core maps are still playable but not HoT or maps stories.

I have an I3 5th gen computer with 16gb RAM and Nvidia GTS-450 graphic card which gives me about 50 FPS in most core maps and drops below 30 in all HoT maps except lake Doric (may be because of amount of faces that are visible in LoD vertically?)

I have trouble in VB map with frogs on my guardian with exotic gear, I can’t even drop those frogs HP to half before I die.

I have same trouble with my warrior again in exotic gear killing rolling thingies.

I have trouble with my ranger in full ascended to do story steps of Flash point and one path ends. but not even slight trouble solo vet mobs in VB even two or 3 of them.

I have trouble in Tangled depth on my Necro in exotic but no trouble solo holding the camps in VB.

I have trouble with pocket raptors on all my toons except engineer that has no trouble torching them down and that same engineer can’t stand hammer hit of mordemorth guardians and mesmers.

Your claim is very subjective.

If your computer isn’t having serious lag problems, and you cant solo most of that content, then the question about my computer is a nonissue, the issue is either the skill of the player, their build, level, gear, etc.

If your computer is lagging, nothing you can do about it except upgrade the computer.

Point being, there was complaining in here that HoT is nothing but group events, as the title of the thread itself expresses, and I was pointing out that, all other factors being equal, that is not the case. So, no, it isn’t at all subjective, with the sole exception of what computer you are using, but that has nothing to do with the content and difficulty level of HoT.

You can perfectly/easily solo the story. If you have problems I suggest you gear up properly and learn the game mechanics.

Going to chime in here again: I have been working on the newest LS chapters and finally got through the Ember Bay bit. Boy, oh boy…the Mursaat fortress literally did have 20 Veterans ganking up on me! The rest of the map was pretty tame, with only the occasional Vet here-and-there to add a challenge…but pretty much every single Jade Armor (I forget the name of those enemies), packed into a small area, was a Veteran.

This therefore means that the OP’s original statement isn’t exaggeration, though I will admit that many enemies in the original HoT maps (Verdant Brink to Dragon’s Stand) hit like they are Vets.

This complaint is not without merit.

I think HoT map and SOME story sections should probably do a better job scaling to smaller groups/solo players.

The LWS3 maps do an infinitely better job. They learned quite a bit by the time they’d designed those.

Merit or no, the hyperbole does not help.

Moyayuki.3619:

Going to chime in here again: I have been working on the newest LS chapters and finally got through the Ember Bay bit. Boy, oh boy…the Mursaat fortress literally did have 20 Veterans ganking up on me! The rest of the map was pretty tame, with only the occasional Vet here-and-there to add a challenge…but pretty much every single Jade Armor (I forget the name of those enemies), packed into a small area, was a Veteran.

This therefore means that the OP’s original statement isn’t exaggeration, though I will admit that many enemies in the original HoT maps (Verdant Brink to Dragon’s Stand) hit like they are Vets.

I’ve played the mursaat fortress probably more times than most, since I’ve completed that zone and story on more than 30 characters. I’m not sure it’s possible to get 20 of those vets to attack you. I can tell you where they all patrol and how long their leashes are. If I tried, I probably couldn’t round up 20 of them, even if it feels like that to you.

There may be an area or two where you can get 8. Of course that would assume that you’re not killing as you go and you run into stuff training a bunch of guys with you.

I seriously doubt you ever counted 20. I’ll test it and see if I can get 20 vets beating on me, but I find it highly unlikely.

lorddarkflare.9186:

This complaint is not without merit.

I think HoT map and SOME story sections should probably do a better job scaling to smaller groups/solo players.

The LWS3 maps do an infinitely better job. They learned quite a bit by the time they’d designed those.

Merit or no, the hyperbole does not help.

They did give you like 3 npc meat shield on the more difficult part.

Moyayuki.3619:

Going to chime in here again: I have been working on the newest LS chapters and finally got through the Ember Bay bit. Boy, oh boy…the Mursaat fortress literally did have 20 Veterans ganking up on me! The rest of the map was pretty tame, with only the occasional Vet here-and-there to add a challenge…but pretty much every single Jade Armor (I forget the name of those enemies), packed into a small area, was a Veteran.

This therefore means that the OP’s original statement isn’t exaggeration, though I will admit that many enemies in the original HoT maps (Verdant Brink to Dragon’s Stand) hit like they are Vets.

If one purposefully chooses to aggro as many foes as possible, chooses not to kill them as one goes, allowing them to build up into a train of pursuing one, and then struges when they finally pin one down…that isnt the game’s fault.

If I pour twenty packets of sugar into my coffee its not Starbucks’ fault that it is too sweet.

bobsort.4097:

Morfedel.4165:

I never had a problem soloing the story all the way except the very last mission. I’m not seeing the problem.

Would you please elaborate more on this? What is your ping, latency, computer hardware, class, armor, weapons, skill configuration?

….

Your claim is very subjective.

For those who didn’t have time to read my post before attacking it, I simplified it for you.

Step 1: Make sure you are in oranges and not yellow or greens (the supposed veteran players I have seen run around in greens and want to say this game is hard)
Step 2: Unbound your Dodge key
Step 3: Sprinkle a tad bit of toughness gear (soldier or knights for power, dire, rabid, trailblazer for condi
Step 4: Know your class (You can’t simply press 1 anymore, you actually have to be active)
Step 5: Actually use CC
Step 6: Actually use utilities/defensive traits

This is not complicated people, what kind of MMOs have you been playing all of your life?

Yeah, it’s really really not good for solo players.

The fights are great for solo players. Finally a use for our interrupts, CC, target prioritization, a reason to dodge and move.

Too bad about the actual map design.

Ashen.2907:

The fights are great for solo players. Finally a use for our interrupts, CC, target prioritization, a reason to dodge and move.

Too bad about the actual map design.

Depends on your class. Something that gets talked about surprisingly little is how much variance there is in ability to solo easily from class to class. Personally, I think a lot of story bosses are just hellacious playing solo. Like I have almost rage quit the game on a few occasions, and I know I’m at least average in terms of play skill.

Einlanzer.1627:

Ashen.2907:

The fights are great for solo players. Finally a use for our interrupts, CC, target prioritization, a reason to dodge and move.

Too bad about the actual map design.

Depends on your class. Something that gets talked about surprisingly little is how much variance there is in ability to solo easily from class to class. Personally, I think a lot of story bosses are just hellacious playing solo. Like I have almost rage quit the game on a few occasions, and I know I’m at least average in terms of play skill.

I don’t think that its class as much as it is build, but yes build does make a huge difference.

You may think your average but like most human beings your probabely overestimating your ability

Einlanzer.1627:

Ashen.2907:

The fights are great for solo players. Finally a use for our interrupts, CC, target prioritization, a reason to dodge and move.

Too bad about the actual map design.

Depends on your class. Something that gets talked about surprisingly little is how much variance there is in ability to solo easily from class to class. Personally, I think a lot of story bosses are just hellacious playing solo. Like I have almost rage quit the game on a few occasions, and I know I’m at least average in terms of play skill.

I have beaten every single story instance on every single class, solo. That includes personal story, living story season 2, HoT story and Living Story Season 3, except for the very last episode. I’ve done it on five classes so far. Four to go.

It’s not only possible on every class, but once you know the fights, it’s easy on every class, as long as you’re willing to change your build up, or your weapons, maybe take some food/utility buffs.

I’ve done pretty much all hte instances on a zerker ele. I’ve done them all on both condi and power rangers. I’ve even done them on both power and condi engies.

The real problem is that most people go in one time and they find it hard and they don’t know the fight, and so they struggle. Once you learn the fights, assuming you know your profession, it’s a lot easier.

The first try is always hardest though. If you don’t know how to beat a boss, the odds are it’s going to kill you.

Vayne.8563:

It’s not only possible on every class, but once you know the fights, it’s easy on every class, as long as you’re willing to change your build up, or your weapons, maybe take some food/utility buffs.

Only part I disagree with, mainly because easy is subjective.

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

It’s not only possible on every class, but once you know the fights, it’s easy on every class, as long as you’re willing to change your build up, or your weapons, maybe take some food/utility buffs.

Only part I disagree with, mainly because easy is subjective.

I’m not so sure it’s subjective. People who play the game well and know the fights do find it easy. Obviously people who can’t dodge, or have lag, or old machines won’t find it easy. But the truth is, none of this stuff is particularly difficult.

The hardest of all of it is probably the last chapter of the Lake Doric story but after a few repeats, even that becomes easy. It wasn’t easy the first time.

Now it’s possible that some people don’t realize they can set snap to ground target on, to throw the shards without actually aiming, because that makes it a lot easier to break the bar. All you really have to do is move, avoid circles, range and you’ll get it down.

Some people refuse to range and that would make it more challenging.

Mostly every fight has an easy solution. My ability usually runs into finding those solutions. Not every fight can be brute forced though.

Vayne.8563:

I have beaten every single story instance on every single class, solo.

Then you should know just how much easier some professions are. I’ve gone through HoT close to 30 times now with random professions and builds, wearing only what the story provides (empty zerker rares), as they’re all throwaway characters I delete after. The two extremes imo are elementalist and necromancer, where what will 1 shot a zerker ele, the necro won’t even notice.

Healix.5819:

Vayne.8563:

I have beaten every single story instance on every single class, solo.

Then you should know just how much easier some professions are. I’ve gone through HoT close to 30 times now with random professions and builds, wearing only what the story provides (empty zerker rares), as they’re all throwaway characters I delete after. The two extremes imo are elementalist and necromancer, where what will 1 shot a zerker ele, the necro won’t even notice.

I don’t find it particularly easier on a necro than I do on a ranger or mesmer. I’ve never found it particularly hard on an ele. Sometimes I find it harder on an engie though because I play the class less/worse.

How you play your profession is as important as what profession it is, along with the build.

Vayne.8563:

Ashen.2907:

Vayne.8563:

It’s not only possible on every class, but once you know the fights, it’s easy on every class, as long as you’re willing to change your build up, or your weapons, maybe take some food/utility buffs.

Only part I disagree with, mainly because easy is subjective.

I’m not so sure it’s subjective. People who play the game well and know the fights do find it easy. Obviously people who can’t dodge, or have lag, or old machines won’t find it easy. But the truth is, none of this stuff is particularly difficult.

The hardest of all of it is probably the last chapter of the Lake Doric story but after a few repeats, even that becomes easy. It wasn’t easy the first time.

Now it’s possible that some people don’t realize they can set snap to ground target on, to throw the shards without actually aiming, because that makes it a lot easier to break the bar. All you really have to do is move, avoid circles, range and you’ll get it down.

Some people refuse to range and that would make it more challenging.

Mostly every fight has an easy solution. My ability usually runs into finding those solutions. Not every fight can be brute forced though.

Since HoT launched there have been those complaining that the fights in HoT were hard.

If it is easy for some but hard for others then its pretty clear cut that the difficulty is subjective. Some of my guildies breeze through the content, others need help.