Q:
Anyone who says Zerk is the average Joe build is an average Joe.
Melee in Heart of Thorns
A:
Eh, the danger factor isn’t that important. Melee is always going to be more dangerous, due to the way most mobs are designed. That’s just something that comes with the territory.
I’ve run into maybe two scenarios so far where I was severely kitten by not having a ranged weapon equipped. One is a Champ vine thing in one of the Auric Basin events (it places ground AoE for like a minute at a time, making it nearly impossible to attack in melee range).
Another was Legendary Vinetooth in Auric Basin. I imagine if you stun him, he’ll stay still a bit, but otherwise he moves around so much it’s nearly impossible to get hits on him without dying.
Oh and I guess some of the HP champs, if you’re solo or very few people, it can be hard to get hits in. Like the Mushroom King in AB.
But if you prep for those bosses in particular by equipping a ranged beforehand, you should be fine.
Or words to that effect.
A lot of champions are very melee unfriendly and it’s a good idea to bring a range weapon. You may not have to be ranged 100% of the time, but you’ll definitely want the option to back out of range.
There are a couple mushrooms like charging mushrooms, and stomping mushrooms, spearheads, and a lot of Champions you do not want to go in melee range with.
Plus a lot of events get scaled up and certain things can destroy you in melee rather fast such as teragriffs. I would say if you are really really good you would survive, but ranged is highly recommended
I’ve gone pure melee on my warrior since the xpac went live. Finished the story, got map completion on two maps, and have successfully participated in most of the major event chains across the new content.
There are some situations that will be easier/friendlier as ranged, and others where you’re left standing back for a few seconds unable to attack as a melee, but overall you should be able to stick to melee if you so choose.
Would be worth keeping a ranged weapon in your bag though.
Depending on the location of the wyvern and the burning ground the wvyerns can be pretty bad for melee.
I have a feeling that in general HoT is a bit unfriendly to melee. I think that this was done on purpose to somehow pull players away from the stacking on mob meta. You will be able to do fine as melee if you dodge and avoid properly but ranged have it easier when playing in new jungle zones.
I have a feeling that in general HoT is a bit unfriendly to melee. I think that this was done on purpose to somehow pull players away from the stacking on mob meta. You will be able to do fine as melee if you dodge and avoid properly but ranged have it easier when playing in new jungle zones.
Ranged always was the safest choice. That safety feels more pronounced when enemies are more punishing. I felt much the same when I started HoT, but then I started noticing stuff like the legendary wyvern’s wing knockback attack that melee can avoid entirely.
A lot of the champions and legendary monsters you encounter are quite ferocious. They’ll wreck you within melee range if you don’t know how to read them and react accordingly. With such mobs, I like to stay at range, and when their break bar hits 0, I like to swap to my sword and get in close while its safe for the max DPS while they’re broken.
It works fine for melee, just be sure to a lil bit tanky.
Melee works fine throughout; just expect to go down a lot if you’re using zerker stats. Build for some survivability and you’ll have more fun not licking the floor.