Guild Wars 2

Ive cleared the content in every class. I feel like its a refreshing experience, to have to antecipate attacks and you know, time your dodges etc.. Maybe a bit more casual game will suit your style better. GL!

IPhyton.2348:

Ive cleared the content in every class. I feel like its a refreshing experience, to have to antecipate attacks and you know, time your dodges etc.. Maybe a bit more casual game will suit your style better. GL!

Yop – I’d love to see you anticipate something when you’re in the middle of 20+ mordrem and suddenly the guy behind you get’s the focus so – without even a warning target symbol over your head – you stand in the paths of 3+ sniper tracks.

There’s two possible outcomes of this – (a) you still live – which means you run a tank build and thus rely on others to actually kill things while being nice to the monsters in scaling them up or (b) you’re down which means you ran a zerker or hybrid build (anything not full toughness + vit + whatever).

Situations like this – or when you’re the focus of a 4 husks that WILL snare you – are not a l2p issue (unless you regard going pew, pew from max distance as a l2p lesson), nor are they anticipatable … they’re pure luck or the lack thereof And that is not really a challenge in my opinion. Changing mechanics, compositions so that you don’t really know in advance what is going to happen and have to adjust (along with the other players) … THAT’s challenging. Just giving the mobs a million HP and a ton of almost-no-cooldown cc skills is … meh.

You seem to think this is a you against 3 monsters situation … go Silverwastes and solo def a fort and you know what I am talking about. A spawn with 4 healers + 4 terragriffs and 2 husks is almost unbeatable solo.

IndigoSundown.5419:

PopeUrban.2578:

HtFde.3856:

PopeUrban.2578:

Thought experiment:

What would you have done to make the pve content in these maps challenging, without actually giving the mobs the abilities you find annoying?

Given the GW2 conbat system the only things I can think of are more telegraphed OHKO abilities, or turning them all in to massive HP sponges. I don’t know if I can think of too many ways to add challenge that aren’t “force you to evade, have cleanses, and position properly” given the way GW2’s combat works.

Any ideas?

Um, NOT spawning 10+ mobs when there’s only one player around? Limiting the duration of the effect for normal mobs, adding duration for vets, more for elites and champs and make them spawn when x players are around? Cooldown of said skills dependent on number of players?

Better scaling then? Makes sense I guess. I’m also not thrilled with normal mobs with break bars TBH. Feels like those should be limited to vet+ mobs. It completely screws over any build that tends to rely on cc for defense and kills some build diversity. I always thought CC was a more fun way to mitigate damage than invulns/blocks/etc.

The above x 1k. It certainly feels like event scaling needs work, and normal mobs should not have break bars.

I am more or less OK with certain mobs having breakbars (Hammer Mordrem take a single 1s CC at a right time to stun them for 5s).

Bristlebacks though? You need so much more CC, it is often better to damage those ones down…

It seems like kind of a tightrope situation. Most of the time that extra bit of toughness/vitality helps you survive, but then you lose a bit of the ability to quickly kill things. This is how it should be imo. Granted there are places where you are going to be challenged quite alot, but part of it is finding the sweet spot gear-wise.

I will echo what some have said about breakbars. Limit that kitten to champions.

Any of these situations being described are clearly over exaggerated. You only get those numbers with more players – complain about lazy players not the content. Example – pods, if everyone wasn’t a selfish bugger and just tagged as they ran, all would melt but they don’t, they will stand and retry to open 5 times rather than kill 1 rolling devil. When I do hero challenge runs for people, I ask all to autoattack when running, all the mobs die and no one is caught in a train and killed. This is a people problem, not a game problem. The devs may well be able to make changes to assist in making other players less impactful on your game but imo that will just dumb down the cooperative element (like the current gerant )

People cried about melee being good in dungeons/fractals and they made this one of the most anti-melee expansions with some mobs.

The Wyvern is a perfect example, as is that Vine boss that surrounds himself in a puddle of death-venom that heals him if anyone is on melee range.

The people telling you L2P are probably the ones camping ranged weapons in their zerg or running useless PVT gear being carried by zerkers with ranged weapons.

TLDR equip a ranged weapon and profit, zerg content is trash and not really balanced so just use other people as meat shields.

Just gotta peel them.

The mobs in the new maps follow you quite a long distance, so take advantage of that. Also you can glide; just jump off a cliff if it proves too much for you.

Most deaths I see come from people (and myself) trying to run past or ignore mobs like in Central Tyria. You still can, but you better time those dodges. Or use stealth and ignore most of the map.

Its definitely a L2P issue or a get new gear issue. People think they can just zerk faceroll everything like the old content then cry when they can’t. I stroll around HoT with ease, can kill packs of whatever, elites, nearly all champs by myself. Invest in some defensive gear/traits it does wonders. If you really can’t be bothered, you can skip most of it like people have said, with proper dodges/stealth/teleports/gliding/speedshrooms/etc to get to the safety of the herd and do events if thats more your thing.

L2P. Seriously. I keep seeing people bring up dying from 20+ mobs and I have a really simple and basic solution passed down from generation to generation of veteran MMO gamers. You ready? k here we go im gonna tell u the secret prepare your kittens k here it is U rdy k here we go k:

How about not aggroing 20+ mordrem and 5 elite snipers at the same time to begin with. You are not meant to survive 5+ elite mobs. Ever. If you actually attempt to walk towards 5 elite mobs and expect to not get completely wrecked then you lack the most basic, fundamental survival skills and natural selection will take its course on your poor character.

I have never aggroed this amount of mobs by accident or just by casually walking through HoT. Ever. If you see a couple of elite mobs in your way:
A: Dodge. Walk by. Stealth. Use 1 CC break. (yeah…you can do this. Its not a joke.)
B: Walk AROUND them O.o
C: Find another path.

Some people over exaggerate the difficulty of this content so much here its not even funny. Doing anything solo (That is ABLE or intended to be done solo) is 100% possible. Basic navigation is 300% possible. The only thing that may an issue with HoT is how group dependent the a lot of open world content is. I can understand that. But any complaint that has to do with the difficulty of the content in this game is a L2P issue. Point blank. Personally my only issue with HoT is that they didn’t add enough new maps and the kittening contested waypoints…

Funny, I just killed a Veteran Vinetooth, Veteran Brizzleback, 2 Mordrem Punisher and 1 Mordrem Sniper at once. It got close in the end, was very fun and I felt amazing after pulling it of. If you don’t like what you bought, that’s on you. I for my part am having an amazing time taking on as many foes as I can at once. No PvE snoozefest anymore.

Ya I’m not too keen on all the movement cc skills the mobs have nor the over zealous use of breakbars. But at same time it keeps me awake unlike cursed shore where I used to fall asleep at keyboard on my double axe 5 signet warrior that was ripping mobs to shreds super fast. No joke, I would fall asleep.

They made HoT challenging because the players require to be challenged. Expect more crazy skill monsters in the future.

HOWEVER, I think breakbars are super cheap. They should consider giving some mobs stun breaks instead of plastering breakbars on everything.

If you are having trouble with HoT mobs, you need to adjust your play style. It’s really quite simple. Learning enemy attacks and knowing when to keep your distance is crucial, and you will definitely be doing that more than in Core Tyria.

HtFde.3856:

IPhyton.2348:

Ive cleared the content in every class. I feel like its a refreshing experience, to have to antecipate attacks and you know, time your dodges etc.. Maybe a bit more casual game will suit your style better. GL!

Yop – I’d love to see you anticipate something when you’re in the middle of 20+ mordrem and suddenly the guy behind you get’s the focus so – without even a warning target symbol over your head – you stand in the paths of 3+ sniper tracks.

There’s two possible outcomes of this – (a) you still live – which means you run a tank build and thus rely on others to actually kill things while being nice to the monsters in scaling them up or (b) you’re down which means you ran a zerker or hybrid build (anything not full toughness + vit + whatever).

Situations like this – or when you’re the focus of a 4 husks that WILL snare you – are not a l2p issue (unless you regard going pew, pew from max distance as a l2p lesson), nor are they anticipatable … they’re pure luck or the lack thereof And that is not really a challenge in my opinion. Changing mechanics, compositions so that you don’t really know in advance what is going to happen and have to adjust (along with the other players) … THAT’s challenging. Just giving the mobs a million HP and a ton of almost-no-cooldown cc skills is … meh.

You seem to think this is a you against 3 monsters situation … go Silverwastes and solo def a fort and you know what I am talking about. A spawn with 4 healers + 4 terragriffs and 2 husks is almost unbeatable solo.

Husks snare you when doing a stomp attack (its not luck..), this snare is a slow attack along the floor so is even easier to see from range (don’t even need to use a dodge to avoid it then), you can remove immob or chain evade/invuln/block skills.

Snipers are interuptbait and VERY quick to kill.

Solo defending forts is easy – in your example just slaughter the menders instantly and focus on kiting while taking down the terragryphs (using interupts on any of the ranged ones which channel the roots that come out the floor) and you can just ignore the husks by being far away from them until yo feel like hitting them.

Just learn what your class has access to (interupts are good btw).

Coulter.2315:

HtFde.3856:

IPhyton.2348:

Ive cleared the content in every class. I feel like its a refreshing experience, to have to antecipate attacks and you know, time your dodges etc.. Maybe a bit more casual game will suit your style better. GL!

Yop – I’d love to see you anticipate something when you’re in the middle of 20+ mordrem and suddenly the guy behind you get’s the focus so – without even a warning target symbol over your head – you stand in the paths of 3+ sniper tracks.

There’s two possible outcomes of this – (a) you still live – which means you run a tank build and thus rely on others to actually kill things while being nice to the monsters in scaling them up or (b) you’re down which means you ran a zerker or hybrid build (anything not full toughness + vit + whatever).

Situations like this – or when you’re the focus of a 4 husks that WILL snare you – are not a l2p issue (unless you regard going pew, pew from max distance as a l2p lesson), nor are they anticipatable … they’re pure luck or the lack thereof And that is not really a challenge in my opinion. Changing mechanics, compositions so that you don’t really know in advance what is going to happen and have to adjust (along with the other players) … THAT’s challenging. Just giving the mobs a million HP and a ton of almost-no-cooldown cc skills is … meh.

You seem to think this is a you against 3 monsters situation … go Silverwastes and solo def a fort and you know what I am talking about. A spawn with 4 healers + 4 terragriffs and 2 husks is almost unbeatable solo.

Husks snare you when doing a stomp attack (its not luck..), this snare is a slow attack along the floor so is even easier to see from range (don’t even need to use a dodge to avoid it then), you can remove immob or chain evade/invuln/block skills.

Snipers are interuptbait and VERY quick to kill.

Solo defending forts is easy – in your example just slaughter the menders instantly and focus on kiting while taking down the terragryphs (using interupts on any of the ranged ones which channel the roots that come out the floor) and you can just ignore the husks by being far away from them until yo feel like hitting them.

Just learn what your class has access to (interupts are good btw).

Invite me and show me … and … in case you never actually did it but just theorize here … those monsters rush into the middle of the fort so there is not really an option to “avoid” or “ignore” any of those, they all come to the party – and, there’s this one NPC that’s not supposed to die which kind of limits your options.

Edit: Don’t forget – while you might get the spawn from one side drawn out there’s another spawn at the other side of the fort that will have breached the door by the time you have finished with your spawn and they’ll be inside hacking at the NPC.

Interrupts are fine but not every class has access to AoE interrupts with low cooldown.

Your reply reads as most other replies do: How easy it is to avoid one type of monster because they telegraph their attacks, etc. It fails, however, to take into account what happens when you have a group of them around you because you can’t tell me that you can see in a 360° angle and have enough endurance to always dodge when something behind you does something.

You can argue that those situations are group content (although the events themselves are not marked as such) and that is ok – alkthough it would – or rather will – become a problem like Orr sooner or later. About 90% of the time I log into the game in a HoT map I am on an “empty” map – no commander, no apple and – in case of AB – just the 3 standard waypoints available. Sometimes you see a group of 2 do HP, some people run around and gather materials but noone does the metas.

They’ll really have to cut down on some mechanisms for low populated areas to make them playable without a large group of players (or redesign how players can get to maps – I’m still extremely fond of the GW1 way of being able to choose which map to go to)

There’s a part of me that is considering writing a guide for HoT. Not just for a map event, but HoT in general. It would be titled: How to survive in a H.O.T. climate, and the first section would be: Crap Happens, and how to handle loss. Then I would go over each enemy, what to watch out for, and how to beat them.

What is holding me back from writing such a guide is the fact that I’m not sure anyone would really benefit from it. The type of person who would go to the forums and complain for… is it months now? Yeah, the the type of person who would go to the forums and complain that the maps are too hard for months because they apparently always get jumped by a bazillion impossible enemies… they aren’t the kind of person who can be helped by a text guide on the web. They fight learning. In order to teach them anything you’d basically have to grind up books into a fine paste and hide it in their ketchup.

Harper.4173:

I’ve done HoT too – it’s a L2P issue.
If other players can manage and you can’t – it’s always a l2p issue.

No. You can ALWAYS find another players who can manage it as long as it’s not literally impossible. I’ve seen every single boss in dark souls beaten on Ng+7 without taking a hit. What you’re saying is that we should tune game balance to the highest degree and just let everybody else L2P. You know kitten well though that’s not fun for anyone.
Personally the only things i complain about are the veteran frogs that can poison you, stealth, shadow step away, and can crit for around 5k. With that said i think a better solution than nerfing the content would be to promote a bit of build diversity… might be nice if every class had more than just one elite spec to choose from, because let’s be honest there’s probably like one build per class that actually works well enough to compete and doesn’t use elite spec.

CynicalFred.9135:

What you’re saying is that we should tune game balance to the highest degree and just let everybody else L2P.

Pushing your dodge button isn’t even 1/10th of the ‘highest degree’.

This is a l2p issue. Group events can be done with 5 people easily. If you cant solo group events learn to make a group or learn to go do something else. Don’t try to melee everything learn to pickoff the most deadly foes first. Even when doing area defense pull the mobs out of the area if you can kill them quick enough. This will help complete some events faster.

.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

There’s a part of me that is considering writing a guide for HoT. Not just for a map event, but HoT in general. It would be titled: How to survive in a H.O.T. climate, and the first section would be: Crap Happens, and how to handle loss. Then I would go over each enemy, what to watch out for, and how to beat them.

What is holding me back from writing such a guide is the fact that I’m not sure anyone would really benefit from it. The type of person who would go to the forums and complain for… is it months now? Yeah, the the type of person who would go to the forums and complain that the maps are too hard for months because they apparently always get jumped by a bazillion impossible enemies… they aren’t the kind of person who can be helped by a text guide on the web. They fight learning. In order to teach them anything you’d basically have to grind up books into a fine paste and hide it in their ketchup.

That book would – for most players – be worthless – and I’d suggest buying a “how to read book” first (for yourself). The problem is not surviving in HoT (at least for most players) but to have fun in HoT.

As things stand (from my point of view) there’s two scenarios in HoT I end up:

(a) The map is populated, metas are being done and you just follow one of the lamps. Skill required? None! If you die you get rezzed by the zerg after the fight and as long as you managed to get a few hits in you’ll even get a reward.

(b) The map is empty, no lamp on the map, no mata done. You can now either taxi out or hope that RL is not interrupting, fire up your own lamp and try to get things organized. You do not stand much of a chance (in AB or TD) to get something done all by yourself – VB you can drive most metas to the point where a legendary appears (or you have to plant the bombs) so you can make some progress all by yourself.

The question now is … is this fun? I have full map completition on every class, have all masteries (but raid) unlocked so I’d say it’s not really a l2p issue … the issue is that the maps suck.

Well, the problem is that “fun” is a quality judgement. it is wholly personal, and thus it can’t really be fixed for you. If you don’t find something fun, try changing your mindset. Often times, approaching something with the wrong mindset will leave you having a bad time where you could’ve had a good one. Likewise “Point of View” is a fallback to assert something without solid evidence or even sound reasoning. The whole reason why people are arguing with you is because of your “Point of View” doesn’t make sense, and simply calling it your view is no justification whatsoever.

A)Its called positioning, situational awareness, and having the proper skills that would let you survive and withdraw from such a situation. If you charge into a gigantic whirling vegetable death machine over and over again in spite of lacking the kind of invulnerability skills that would let you do this, then that’s kind of your fault. Maybe you’re not having fun because you’re not doing it right?

B) The thing with most maps is that they have plenty to do that doesn’t revolve around zerging a meta. Adventures give daily rewards, hero points give daily rewards, there’s plenty to gather, there’s chests littered about the maps that give currency specific rewards, and if you spend the currency on keys then there are map specific loot boxes to grab. It is very possible to solo push events in TD, VB, and AB, and while not all events can be completed by yourself, the lion’s share can.

HtFde.3856:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

There’s a part of me that is considering writing a guide for HoT. Not just for a map event, but HoT in general. It would be titled: How to survive in a H.O.T. climate, and the first section would be: Crap Happens, and how to handle loss. Then I would go over each enemy, what to watch out for, and how to beat them.

What is holding me back from writing such a guide is the fact that I’m not sure anyone would really benefit from it. The type of person who would go to the forums and complain for… is it months now? Yeah, the the type of person who would go to the forums and complain that the maps are too hard for months because they apparently always get jumped by a bazillion impossible enemies… they aren’t the kind of person who can be helped by a text guide on the web. They fight learning. In order to teach them anything you’d basically have to grind up books into a fine paste and hide it in their ketchup.

That book would – for most players – be worthless – and I’d suggest buying a “how to read book” first (for yourself). The problem is not surviving in HoT (at least for most players) but to have fun in HoT.

As things stand (from my point of view) there’s two scenarios in HoT I end up:

(a) The map is populated, metas are being done and you just follow one of the lamps. Skill required? None! If you die you get rezzed by the zerg after the fight and as long as you managed to get a few hits in you’ll even get a reward.

(b) The map is empty, no lamp on the map, no mata done. You can now either taxi out or hope that RL is not interrupting, fire up your own lamp and try to get things organized. You do not stand much of a chance (in AB or TD) to get something done all by yourself – VB you can drive most metas to the point where a legendary appears (or you have to plant the bombs) so you can make some progress all by yourself.

The question now is … is this fun? I have full map completition on every class, have all masteries (but raid) unlocked so I’d say it’s not really a l2p issue … the issue is that the maps suck.

Help me understand how any of this was different than before HoT. You can even say that the former case happened ALL the time on every map in Core Tyria. Yet people wanted more things to challenge the almighty zergs hence is what we have in HoT. Large groups of people are still failing Gerent and Mouth though at a far less capacity than previously.

Furthermore, you haven’t given any of us an indicator of what would be fun for you if neither underpopulated or overpopulated maps are going to entertain you…

HtFde.3856:

It fails, however, to take into account what happens when you have a group of them around you because you can’t tell me that you can see in a 360° angle and have enough endurance to always dodge when something behind you does something.

I don’t let them stand behind me, I use the terrain to control them bottlenecking – you are aware they are just AI right?

You just have decided that people don’t develop strategies to overcome things…

What class do you play maybe I can help?

Coulter.2315:

HtFde.3856:

It fails, however, to take into account what happens when you have a group of them around you because you can’t tell me that you can see in a 360° angle and have enough endurance to always dodge when something behind you does something.

I don’t let them stand behind me, I use the terrain to control them bottlenecking – you are aware they are just AI right?

You just have decided that people don’t develop strategies to overcome things…

What class do you play maybe I can help?

Let’s get back to my Silver Waste example as this is something you can easily replicate. Empty courtroom where the second side spawn is at the NPC … use the terrain? Ah yes … well, the only thing that uses the terrain ist those mordrem spin-thingies that can use their tentacle attack without LoS at an incredible distance and, of course, the homing projectiles from the terragriffs … and you’re a tad out of options because you have got to get those guys down before the NPC kicks the bucket.

Not getting them behind you … I suggest doing the … is it Westwatch? … start event in AB where you have to get the mirror pieces by throwing mushroom at the big vine while mordrem, grunts and a couple of vines concentrate on you. The first part is actually doable (preferably with a high life class) but the next part spawns a vet which has to be made vulerable by throwing mushrooms at him, then attacking him all the while dodging tormentor projectiles and grunts. And if you go like … kill them first, THEN go for the boss … they respawn within 5 seconds. And once you got over THAT phase you have the joy to plant mushrooms while a ton of those rush you, throw spores at you, etc. Endless fun and, of course, you’re 100% aware all the time where every enemy is and what skill he uses so that you can react appropriately …

Or maybe … you don’t do this event but … then noone does it and you’re stuck on a map that isn’t progressing. So you’re actually just wasting time.

And THAT is my issue with the new maps … outside of HoT (except VB) you can do a LOT of events all by yourself. In HoT almost all events are designed for group play. And given my 90% chance of ending up on an empty map in HoT there’s not enough players around to populate all maps equally. This situation is made worse by people using taxis and over-population one map while depleting other maps to the point where they can no longer be played.

The solution would be to work on the downscaling (it’s fine for groups of 3- 15) but it’s not really working for 1-2 players and past 15 players many events become too easy.

As for which class I play … I don’t have a main, I play them all and that allows me to see the difference between the difficulty a reaper has (very, very low) to what an elementalist has to go through, since in most cases your ele will be forced to use a staff and staff damage requires use of fire 5 – a skill that you will have to interrupt most of the time, because you have to dodge something.

And before you assume anything … I have full map completition for all professions, so it’s not a l2p issue … it’s a “not fun” thing coupled with “rewards hardly worth the effort put in”. Doing 2h of HoT (any map) or doing 2h of Silverwastes (moving between red and indigo) is a huge difference in loot/materials and it allows for a variety of build with every class whereas HoT sort of locks you to ranged as soon as mushrooms are around and you do not play high life/heavy armor.

HtFde.3856:

Not getting them behind you … I suggest doing the … is it Westwatch? … start event in AB where you have to get the mirror pieces by throwing mushroom at the big vine while mordrem, grunts and a couple of vines concentrate on you. The first part is actually doable (preferably with a high life class) but the next part spawns a vet which has to be made vulerable by throwing mushrooms at him, then attacking him all the while dodging tormentor projectiles and grunts. And if you go like … kill them first, THEN go for the boss … they respawn within 5 seconds. And once you got over THAT phase you have the joy to plant mushrooms while a ton of those rush you, throw spores at you, etc. Endless fun and, of course, you’re 100% aware all the time where every enemy is and what skill he uses so that you can react appropriately …

Or maybe … you don’t do this event but … then noone does it and you’re stuck on a map that isn’t progressing. So you’re actually just wasting time.

I’m working on getting my Provisioner tokens for Legendary Armour so actually solo this event quite a bit (its the easiest and least time consuming event solo). If its too hard for you maybe you need to re-evaluate your skillbar, I use plenty of CC and burst to overpower the Mordrem before they threaten me.

I would point out that tormentors are pretty worthless as foes – don’t waste dodges on their attacks.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

Coulter.2315:

HtFde.3856:

Not getting them behind you … I suggest doing the … is it Westwatch? … start event in AB where you have to get the mirror pieces by throwing mushroom at the big vine while mordrem, grunts and a couple of vines concentrate on you. The first part is actually doable (preferably with a high life class) but the next part spawns a vet which has to be made vulerable by throwing mushrooms at him, then attacking him all the while dodging tormentor projectiles and grunts. And if you go like … kill them first, THEN go for the boss … they respawn within 5 seconds. And once you got over THAT phase you have the joy to plant mushrooms while a ton of those rush you, throw spores at you, etc. Endless fun and, of course, you’re 100% aware all the time where every enemy is and what skill he uses so that you can react appropriately …

Or maybe … you don’t do this event but … then noone does it and you’re stuck on a map that isn’t progressing. So you’re actually just wasting time.

I’m working on getting my Provisioner tokens for Legendary Armour so actually solo this event quite a bit (its the easiest and least time consuming event solo). If its too hard for you maybe you need to re-evaluate your skillbar, I use plenty of CC and burst to overpower the Mordrem before they threaten me.

I would point out that tormentors are pretty worthless as foes – don’t waste dodges on their attacks.

Well, unless you spec for water getting rid of ever accumulating torment is an issue (especially with about 13k health) and some classes have a surprisingly low amount of cc in their kitten nal. It’s the differecne between the reaper going “Rise Up” and dashing in, leaving bodies in his wake and the ele or thief going – uh-oh … DH isn’t all that bad either because your heal trap has a pretty short cooldown and it will (even when not specced for heal) usually replenish your globe to almost 100%.

As for cc-ing the mushrooms at the end so you can plant them … that’s again quite a different story for a perma freeze reaper or a condi based engineer (mesmer + wells also works a charm) and, say, a ranger or an ele who has slow casting spells that freeze (i.e. if you anticipate the path wrong it’s going to miss) or the good trusty static field on staff but that has a lengthy cooldown to it. Going melee on those shrooms (with an ele) I found to be unhealty because sooner or later you will get knocked down and if that happens to be when a vine unloads and you’re not able to switch to water immediately you’re dead although d/d would be my first choice for bar breaking in that situation. Frost bow 5 is great but it is s..l..o..w… and not as “on demand” as is required in this situation.

ive got modest exotic gear as an elementalist with health around 16k and I have absolutely no problems appart from soling champs. As with any mmorpg its about balancing your defensive and skills to match your own personal abilities, and not being ‘dps greedy’ as i would call it.

vesica tempestas.1563:

ive got modest exotic gear as an elementalist with health around 16k and I have absolutely no problems appart from soling champs. As with any mmorpg its about balancing your defensive and skills to match your own personal abilities, and not being ‘dps greedy’ as i would call it.

That’s a bit of a contradiction … “have no problems but for champs” … there’s only four I cannot handle solo … the mushroom in AB, the chak at chak WP in AB, the vampire in VB and the frog thing at the WP from VB to AB.

I have no problems as well – as long as I don’t do content where I will get into problems. So “I have no problems” is a nice statement, though it is highly subjective and depends on what content you play, who you are with when you do it, and what content you don’t do when you’re not surrounded by meatshields.

As soon as I run with a small group I have no problems going D/D in HoT because stuff isn’t focusing on me. There’s been days when I didn’t get hit once in like 60 minutes (especially in small groups it pays off to NOT wear toughness items). Things became a bit more interesting, though, when you’re the only point of interest for a group of bored monsters.

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

There’s a part of me that is considering writing a guide for HoT. Not just for a map event, but HoT in general. It would be titled: How to survive in a H.O.T. climate, and the first section would be: Crap Happens, and how to handle loss. Then I would go over each enemy, what to watch out for, and how to beat them.

What is holding me back from writing such a guide is the fact that I’m not sure anyone would really benefit from it. The type of person who would go to the forums and complain for… is it months now? Yeah, the the type of person who would go to the forums and complain that the maps are too hard for months because they apparently always get jumped by a bazillion impossible enemies… they aren’t the kind of person who can be helped by a text guide on the web. They fight learning. In order to teach them anything you’d basically have to grind up books into a fine paste and hide it in their ketchup.

I’d read it. I like reading up on the enemies in games I play and getting some insights on them. It may not be worth writing it for just one person, although I’m sure there are others who would enjoy it too – but you might also consider writing it for your own satisfaction or the noble goal of adding to the pool of knowledge.

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

What I’ve noticed about a lot of players that make these claims is that a) they try to play HoT like they would a core Tyria map i.e. run into a giant pack of mobs and try to do full blast AoE, then wonder why they are dead or b) they are completely unfamiliar with the utility/weapon skills outside of the handful of skills in their comfort zone.

Some players are completely oblivious to the fact their characters even have stun breaks or stability skills. Sometimes people will flat out refuse to even consider using a different weapon. “Hey you know if you ran <weapon> you would have <useful skill>” “I don’t want to run <weapon>, I want to play MY way!”. “Ok then, never mind. Continue to die and complain I suppose.”

Maybe it’s time to stop playing HoT in the exact same build you’ve been playing core Tyria, take a look at the other weapons your class can use and their other utilities, and start playing more cautiously.

I dunno. It just bothers me I guess how many people try to claim the content is so difficult because of all of the CC, when it really does seem like its L2P. Time to start slotting defensive utilities and give up on glass cannon-ing.

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

Tspatula.9086:

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

Pretty much my reaction.

The CC is pretty excessive, and I’ve noted it even in core Tyria in some locations. 5-second knockdowns, chain dazes, chain blinds, etc in core, and then you come to Magus Falls where several mobs have 4000-range dash-knockdowns.

This wouldn’t be a problem, normally, but it happens with every attack. Every 3 seconds or so, another disabling attack, and almost always with a break bar, so no counter-CC. If it were PvP, players would be up a kittening wall about game balance.

This also devalues Stability as a boon, because the uptime on it isn’t designed to last long enough, and the cooldowns are excessive on most classes. Add the fact that charging attacks hit several times on their path, and a stack of Stability is crushed in one pass.

That said, I’ve come to live with most of HoT’s critters. Snipers no longer bother me, as long as I’m attentive. Most other mobs are reasonable.
It’s the friggin’ dinosaurs that irk the crap out of me. Charging dinos and rolly-rolly arrowheads are stupidly simplistic, irritatingly boring, and a wad of fake difficulty.
Anti-range frogs are so close to being a great encounter, except the part that makes them interesting is cheesy as kitten. I’d rather they have an actual stamina bar to have to dodge like players do, so Weakness becomes a soft counter to their dodges. Instead, they just sit there at range doing damage with no consequence or cost. Bad design.

But I’ve digressed. Anyway, yes CC is excessive, at points. Some of it is battle awareness, some of it is lazy, inappropriate game design.

HoT maps are challenging, and at times overly annoying due to it. It is a LTP issue cause you have to adapt to them or you will fail.

If you are having issues surviving the maps you need to rethink what you are doing.

Also note, HoT was NOT designed to be solo’d, I dont care what anyone says. So if you are trying to take on 5 snipers alone, you will probably fail unless you are running a heavily based CC build with some survival setup.

sirsquishy.8531:

HoT maps are challenging, and at times overly annoying due to it. It is a LTP issue cause you have to adapt to them or you will fail.

If you are having issues surviving the maps you need to rethink what you are doing.

Also note, HoT was NOT designed to be solo’d, I dont care what anyone says. So if you are trying to take on 5 snipers alone, you will probably fail unless you are running a heavily based CC build with some survival setup.

I don’t absolutely disagree with you and it’s definitely not a survival issue, it’s more like each mob was designed independently, fine. But the actual spawning mechanisms don’t really account for overlapping encounter types, or multiple spawns of vets or elites. Like at one point I am on my way back to the main group in DS, I’ve already made past some other mobs, I have no dodge available there are 2 husks and one of those large rolly polly dinosaurs (all vets), I get 3 sec imobe from one of the husks, then I get feared by the dino, then the second husk immobe, then the wave attack form the dino and that is pretty much it. This is really not that uncommon, I survive about 80-90% of these situations, but the rate at which they occur just sometimes takes the fun out of the game. It’s more like work to get to a place on a map where I might participate in an event or a meta where I MIGHT get a green and a blue and I am certainly not getting anything from those annoying mobs if I stop to kill them. Maybe it’s the fact that the fun quotient when I work my way to where ever I manage to be going, somehow isn’t compensating for the effort. And it’s not like these mobs have low HP… With the exception of smokescales and snipers…

Tspatula.9086:

But the actual spawning mechanisms don’t really account for overlapping encounter types, or multiple spawns of vets or elites.

This.
I don’t mind most “difficult” enemies that HoT has. I didn’t mind Orr’s population density. What I mind is HoT’s difficulty combined with Orr’s population density.

I can’t fight one mob to the full extent without dragging several others into it. Not so bad if the game’s intended to be a “group” endevour, but that would mean ANet designed Magus Falls maps to be “group” content in utter defiance of how players normally group up, when, and why.

With the exception of smokescales and snipers…

Which works fine, until gods help you if an Elite one shows up. Excessive damage and a giant meatwall of HP.

The PvE is still gonna be boring even with changes like this. Doesn’t matter.

This thread amuses me.

For 3 years, Arena Net breeds a community of face rolling zergers by giving content as challenging as kicking over a city made of legos.

Then in an attempt to please the community screaming for more content, they add ascended gear, hinge it on fractals and alienate the entire community, creating the largest divide between elitists and casual players.

Once the core game is farmable and people are on their 15th alt and can complete nearly everything while playing blindfolded and using their toes on the keys, Arena Net hype trains…. errr, announces HoT and enrages the Frankenstein monster they’ve created with it’s content.

And to top it off, releases a raid supposedly balanced around running it with ascended gear and makes the line between elitists and casuals as big as the grand canyon.

EDIT – It’s not a learn to play issue. It’s a learn to develop content issue on the side of the A.net.

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

You people are kittening hilarious… “HELP I HAVE TOO MUCH CC ON ME AND KEEP DYING!!” answers: “take some of these skills” idiot: “I refuse to lose so much dps by taking them”

You couldn’t make it up…

Btw you just need to remove ONE immob or ONE stun if you time it right, every class also has access to dodges (btw they are like defensive CDs that recharge super quick and can EVEN stop you needing to take more than one stun break or condi cleanse WOW).

I cannot believe you people are soooooo desperate to fail and get Anet to change things you are willing to ignore all the skills you can take to help you out your own hole.

Lol, have you even set foot in the new maps? Something tells me no. But hey, maybe you. can tell me your secret to getting multiple mobs to synchronize their cc’s so I can use one cleanse for all of them. That for sure is a skill I need to learn. Teach me please.

I just got HoT in late December. My warrior was only 5 HC’s from maxing out Berserker, so I figured I’d grab a few. It’s night in VB. The path to the HC that’s on the southern edge of the map near the salvage pit is infested with Mordrem and Shrooms. I try running through, and of course am CC’d and die. I return, this time with Dolyak Signet backed up by Balanced Stance. 15 stacks of CC in total. Not quite enough, but the one CC just before I got out of range was not enough to get me killed. How many professions can get 15 Stab, though?

Yes, yes, I get that it’s night and I’m “supposed” to be defending Rally Points, or venturing forth with a group. Well, I tried several times that day to log in when it wasn’t night. Funny, three out of three, night. So, I was impatient.

I go back and forth with the whole CC thing on mobs. I think some CC is fine. I think the biggest problems happen when a player is focused by mob groups meant for several players. When that happens, no amount of Stab, stun break, dodge, block, etc. is enough. The thing is, that can happen even when there are other players around. So, I can see the issues.

CC is kind of necessary in the PvE game design. If there is no reason to use the avoidance and CC counter mechanics, people will not use them. At that point, the only real threat comes from missing a block/dodge on a massive hit. Do we want more of that, instead?

Tspatula.9086:

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

You people are kittening hilarious… “HELP I HAVE TOO MUCH CC ON ME AND KEEP DYING!!” answers: “take some of these skills” idiot: “I refuse to lose so much dps by taking them”

You couldn’t make it up…

Btw you just need to remove ONE immob or ONE stun if you time it right, every class also has access to dodges (btw they are like defensive CDs that recharge super quick and can EVEN stop you needing to take more than one stun break or condi cleanse WOW).

I cannot believe you people are soooooo desperate to fail and get Anet to change things you are willing to ignore all the skills you can take to help you out your own hole.

Lol, have you even set foot in the new maps? Something tells me no. But hey, maybe you. can tell me your secret to getting multiple mobs to synchronize their cc’s so I can use one cleanse for all of them. That for sure is a skill I need to learn. Teach me please.

Mob 1 casts the CC (lets say it hits cause you’re having trouble not believing people can dodge), mob 2 begins to cast its CC (oh no!! a CC lock is inc!) YOU USE YOUR REMOVAL AND DODGE! (hey you basicly just dealt with 2 CCs with 1 skill) OR!!!! (clever bit) if both were immobs you can even let it hit THEN use your removal (tbh I have played all the content without any condi removal but not for everyone).

Btw the reason the mobs are syncronised it because I have pulled them at the same time, if they are out of sync I use a CC of my own (shock horror we have those :o) to then force them onto the same timer (they both recover at the same time and let you aoe rupt them together until they die). You can even pull lots of things to a corner or run back the way you came in order to group them up. They are AI … TRY to act like a human and you’ll hopefully outsmart them.

I haven’t even mentioned blinds (also a good thing to use). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has weapon skills which provide avoidance (also good). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has CC (also good).

I am shocked at how completely clueless you are at playing the game and then you have the LAUGHABLE comeback that I haven’t even been in the new maps – just PRICELESS…

As for anyone saying “you lose DPS” please tell me what the hell you’re doing with your weapon skills to be so dependent on utilities for DPS? (I would point out my examples are actually DPS increases due to hitting multiple foes together) Also are you running around in Magis?

I hope some of this can help you at least consider methods of fighting other than pushing 1 repeatedly and trying to put banners up for yourself.

IndigoSundown.5419:

I just got HoT in late December. My warrior was only 5 HC’s from maxing out Berserker, so I figured I’d grab a few. It’s night in VB. The path to the HC that’s on the southern edge of the map near the salvage pit is infested with Mordrem and Shrooms. I try running through, and of course am CC’d and die. I return, this time with Dolyak Signet backed up by Balanced Stance. 15 stacks of CC in total. Not quite enough, but the one CC just before I got out of range was not enough to get me killed. How many professions can get 15 Stab, though?

Yes, yes, I get that it’s night and I’m “supposed” to be defending Rally Points, or venturing forth with a group. Well, I tried several times that day to log in when it wasn’t night. Funny, three out of three, night. So, I was impatient.

I go back and forth with the whole CC thing on mobs. I think some CC is fine. I think the biggest problems happen when a player is focused by mob groups meant for several players. When that happens, no amount of Stab, stun break, dodge, block, etc. is enough. The thing is, that can happen even when there are other players around. So, I can see the issues.

CC is kind of necessary in the PvE game design. If there is no reason to use the avoidance and CC counter mechanics, people will not use them. At that point, the only real threat comes from missing a block/dodge on a massive hit. Do we want more of that, instead?

You managed to get stopped moving as a warrior? With a greatsword? You know you can just detarget things and use 3 and 5 to zoom right past anything right? You also have access to autoproc stab/invuln (which stunbreaks for you too, don’t even need to push a button) AND condi immunity. I don’t understand how you had trouble running from A to B. Also try using dodge and GS3 when you think you’ll get knocked and NOT reach for stab as your first (and aparently ONLY in your mind) line of defense.

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

You people are kittening hilarious… “HELP I HAVE TOO MUCH CC ON ME AND KEEP DYING!!” answers: “take some of these skills” idiot: “I refuse to lose so much dps by taking them”

You couldn’t make it up…

Btw you just need to remove ONE immob or ONE stun if you time it right, every class also has access to dodges (btw they are like defensive CDs that recharge super quick and can EVEN stop you needing to take more than one stun break or condi cleanse WOW).

I cannot believe you people are soooooo desperate to fail and get Anet to change things you are willing to ignore all the skills you can take to help you out your own hole.

Lol, have you even set foot in the new maps? Something tells me no. But hey, maybe you. can tell me your secret to getting multiple mobs to synchronize their cc’s so I can use one cleanse for all of them. That for sure is a skill I need to learn. Teach me please.

Mob 1 casts the CC (lets say it hits cause you’re having trouble not believing people can dodge), mob 2 begins to cast its CC (oh no!! a CC lock is inc!) YOU USE YOUR REMOVAL AND DODGE! (hey you basicly just dealt with 2 CCs with 1 skill) OR!!!! (clever bit) if both were immobs you can even let it hit THEN use your removal (tbh I have played all the content without any condi removal but not for everyone).

Btw the reason the mobs are syncronised it because I have pulled them at the same time, if they are out of sync I use a CC of my own (shock horror we have those :o) to then force them onto the same timer (they both recover at the same time and let you aoe rupt them together until they die). You can even pull lots of things to a corner or run back the way you came in order to group them up. They are AI … TRY to act like a human and you’ll hopefully outsmart them.

I haven’t even mentioned blinds (also a good thing to use). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has weapon skills which provide avoidance (also good). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has CC (also good).

I am shocked at how completely clueless you are at playing the game and then you have the LAUGHABLE comeback that I haven’t even been in the new maps – just PRICELESS…

As for anyone saying “you lose DPS” please tell me what the hell you’re doing with your weapon skills to be so dependent on utilities for DPS? (I would point out my examples are actually DPS increases due to hitting multiple foes together) Also are you running around in Magis?

I hope some of this can help you at least consider methods of fighting other than pushing 1 repeatedly and trying to put banners up for yourself.

Awesome!! thanks a lot, gonna print this out and keep it next to my computer. I’m gonna get good, but it IS hard to move around and click my skills at the same time but I can do it pretty well.

Tspatula.9086:

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Coulter.2315:

Tspatula.9086:

Draknar.5748:

Anyandrell.6238:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

It is a learn to play issue. You’ve just given up and resolved yourself to failure, because you lack the creative capacity to figure out how to beat the enemies.

The solutions are there, and many times they are really obvious. You just have to be willing to look for them.

Absolutely. Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die.
Learn how to play.

“Immobe-immobe-knockback-immobe-torment-immobe-torment-die” — Condi remove, stability/block, dodge, stun break, condi remove, dodge, stun break, heal, run. But that’s me I guess.

Draknar do you run a Nike Warrior in WvW, just curious? Honestly, replies like yours make me wonder exactly what kinds of builds people run. 3 condi removals, 2 stun breaks, and a block/stab all within 10 or so seconds. Not all professions have access to that kind of rotation and quite frankly I can’t imagine sacrificing that much DPS in PvE even if I am running a profession that can be traited that way…

You people are kittening hilarious… “HELP I HAVE TOO MUCH CC ON ME AND KEEP DYING!!” answers: “take some of these skills” idiot: “I refuse to lose so much dps by taking them”

You couldn’t make it up…

Btw you just need to remove ONE immob or ONE stun if you time it right, every class also has access to dodges (btw they are like defensive CDs that recharge super quick and can EVEN stop you needing to take more than one stun break or condi cleanse WOW).

I cannot believe you people are soooooo desperate to fail and get Anet to change things you are willing to ignore all the skills you can take to help you out your own hole.

Lol, have you even set foot in the new maps? Something tells me no. But hey, maybe you. can tell me your secret to getting multiple mobs to synchronize their cc’s so I can use one cleanse for all of them. That for sure is a skill I need to learn. Teach me please.

Mob 1 casts the CC (lets say it hits cause you’re having trouble not believing people can dodge), mob 2 begins to cast its CC (oh no!! a CC lock is inc!) YOU USE YOUR REMOVAL AND DODGE! (hey you basicly just dealt with 2 CCs with 1 skill) OR!!!! (clever bit) if both were immobs you can even let it hit THEN use your removal (tbh I have played all the content without any condi removal but not for everyone).

Btw the reason the mobs are syncronised it because I have pulled them at the same time, if they are out of sync I use a CC of my own (shock horror we have those :o) to then force them onto the same timer (they both recover at the same time and let you aoe rupt them together until they die). You can even pull lots of things to a corner or run back the way you came in order to group them up. They are AI … TRY to act like a human and you’ll hopefully outsmart them.

I haven’t even mentioned blinds (also a good thing to use). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has weapon skills which provide avoidance (also good). EVERY SINGLE CLASS has CC (also good).

I am shocked at how completely clueless you are at playing the game and then you have the LAUGHABLE comeback that I haven’t even been in the new maps – just PRICELESS…

As for anyone saying “you lose DPS” please tell me what the hell you’re doing with your weapon skills to be so dependent on utilities for DPS? (I would point out my examples are actually DPS increases due to hitting multiple foes together) Also are you running around in Magis?

I hope some of this can help you at least consider methods of fighting other than pushing 1 repeatedly and trying to put banners up for yourself.

Awesome!! thanks a lot, gonna print this out and keep it next to my computer. I’m gonna get good, but it IS hard to move around and click my skills at the same time but I can do it pretty well.

I’m glad you have the drive to learn – good luck!

IndigoSundown.5419:

I just got HoT in late December. My warrior was only 5 HC’s from maxing out Berserker, so I figured I’d grab a few. It’s night in VB. The path to the HC that’s on the southern edge of the map near the salvage pit is infested with Mordrem and Shrooms. I try running through, and of course am CC’d and die. I return, this time with Dolyak Signet backed up by Balanced Stance. 15 stacks of CC in total. Not quite enough, but the one CC just before I got out of range was not enough to get me killed. How many professions can get 15 Stab, though?

Yes, yes, I get that it’s night and I’m “supposed” to be defending Rally Points, or venturing forth with a group. Well, I tried several times that day to log in when it wasn’t night. Funny, three out of three, night. So, I was impatient.

I go back and forth with the whole CC thing on mobs. I think some CC is fine. I think the biggest problems happen when a player is focused by mob groups meant for several players. When that happens, no amount of Stab, stun break, dodge, block, etc. is enough. The thing is, that can happen even when there are other players around. So, I can see the issues.

CC is kind of necessary in the PvE game design. If there is no reason to use the avoidance and CC counter mechanics, people will not use them. At that point, the only real threat comes from missing a block/dodge on a massive hit. Do we want more of that, instead?

My warrior’s heart aches for you. If I’m dissatisfied with HoT, it’s because I tried to main it on a Warrior first. So many mobs in the new content seem designed to tick off Warrior more than any other class.

I don’t tend to find it hard to evade enemy groups, though. Some of it comes in from being more support oriented and using warhorn to get around. Between the Swiftness boost and condi clears, I don’t tend to get stuck. Shake It Off also helps and seldom comes off my toolbar.

The rest comes from experience. You’ll learn to anticipate mob locations and wiggle your camera around a bit more to keep from getting blindsided. The mob density is higher than in core Tyria, so being more aware of enemy positions will be vital to getting around. (My poor Ctrl-pinky… Can haz toggle plz?)