Guild Wars 2

Yes im probably a terrible player blah blah blah but HoT is just not the Guild Wars 2 i have been playing for the last 3yrs. I don’t solo play all the time in fact i spend the majority playing with my gf but even as a pair the games just too frustrating and difficult. Im still on the first map and have only half the WPs open as it takes forever to get anywhere with everything aggroing every few seconds and getting 1shot by champions or snipers/poison. The games still just made for zergs,sure occasaionally we bump into a large group doing stuff which we’ll follow and join in but its the same events that don’t lead to other places all the time . Bought the game for the new Elite skills which it looks like i simply wont be able to open with the huge grind for masteries and insane amount of HP needed that no one is about to do in the areas. I leveled 1 char to 80 questing got map completion in the original and that gave me half the points. The other i lvlled crafting or tomes/Eotm so they have no points. Why wasn’t this made clear when they created the expac so people could try running HP in the old world before it launched? My gear i swapped from zerker to rabid for a bit more toughness and went MM build to help which it does to an extent but running around on your own or 2 of you to find around every corner 5 -6mobs and 2 vets has got old fast. The old world you could play as you wanted enjoy it at your own pace. It was a casual game no hardcore stuff which is we i came here in the first place,where you could explore huge landscapes . This new place is claustrophobic on rails stupidly overpacked with mobs and frustrating to navigate and even have a clue where to go. Want to go that way? Oh you cant because you haven’t opened up mushrooms or gliding or whatever grrr.I feel genuinely like they have kicked their old players in the teeth ripped up the so called manifesto and just said we dont care about the original GW2 anymore. Frustrated and disapointed with the direction the game is moving in,and sadly im looking at other games to play. Bottom line is i’m not hardcore and play to have fun casually which is what GW2 advertised themselves as,not to be frustrated and peed off. I have the horrible feeling that from the direction the games headed and the map chat which seems to have taken a real nosedive the Warcraft “leet” “Git gud skrub” crowd has moved over here in large number since the F2P . Sad times.

To be fair, “old GW2” was dated, extremely easy (after many nerfs), and didn’t really offer much exploration anyway with all the waypointing going on.

I can still go to newbie zones and almost one shot mobs despite downscaling, and even the mobs in Orr can’t seem to take any HP from me.

That said, don’t run the new maps in glass builds, and if there’s two of you that should be enough. Me and my partner have no trouble wiping out huge groups of mobs on the new maps as long as we are careful about what we are doing. No, its not casual gameplay, but they told everyone it wouldn’t be to begin with.

This is end-game content that everyone has asked for. The only disappointing thing is how much it took away from the core game and how finicky all of the new content is in regards to ping times, lag and frame rates.

If you’re really having trouble just get a guild.

I can’t say that and expect from you to accept my opinion , but old Tyria was not even making you try to dodge, ever.

• 0 effort
• No meaning of your build
• No challenge unless some1 made a challenge like “i want to mine 5 nodes” pardon me?
• Player decisions didn’t matter
• Enemy were and they still are easy, the only real NPC enemy is Sniper Mordremoth, love it!
  GW2 Core was the worst gaming experience in PvE that i’ve sad simply due to content that was made on Level 0. How hard is to kill first mob, that hard was end content. ZERO.

Sorry mate, nothing personal, but how can people enjoy that kind of content where nothing matters?

EDIT: I forgot to mention mastery, you only have to work for them once, after you visit maguuma for the 2nd time, it’s so kitten easy, that you need no effort and it actually becomes very casual content. U’ll see, just give it a time ^^

Firelysm.4967:

GW2 Core was the worst gaming experience in PvE that i’ve sad simply due to content that was made on Level 0. How hard is to kill first mob, that hard was end content. ZERO.

It was basically the players of GW2 Core who bought HoT. Is it really surprising that the HoT players want content that was more similar to the GW2 Core one?

Paragraphs are brilliant………..

HOT was clearly designed to add challenging end-game content, which GW2 clearly lacked. It’s not designed for casuals.

I was once, in my WoW days, exceptionally hardcore — raiding, competitive PvP, the works.

I’m not that way anymore. I play games to get away from ‘hardcore’, given my real-world hardcore challenges. Wasting effort on a game doesn’t interest me. So now I’m a casual, a carebear, a whatever hardcores like to say. And I’ll admit that the expansion is too hardcore for my taste. Doesn’t mean it’s bad it’s just not my cup of tea now.

The old content isn’t dead by any means. Shatterer, for example, is very busy and full and it’s one of the most boring encounters in the game. I just played the casual parts of the game and don’t get stressed about the hardcore stuff. The expansion did come with interesting new stuff for casuals.

HOT was clearly designed to add challenging end-game content, which GW2 clearly lacked. It’s not designed for casuals.
^
Which is what the majority clamored for.

It took all of six hours to get gliding and mushrooms. The horror…

HoT is not hardcore, if you consider amount of time playing casual or the STYLE of play as being casual. If you PLAY CASUALLY then HoT is not any different than Core Tyria, and don’t say someone that plays 3 – 5 hours a night is not casual…I might only do 2 or 3 events in those 3 – 5 hours, that’s casual, and that is the true definition of casual. These other definitions that people use are just substitutes for just plain laziness.

There is not a single area in VB(Verdant Brink) that you can’t reach solo, and I do mean solo without dying, but you can’t do it at walking speed, you need to at least have some form of permanent speed boost, which almost all(if not all) character classes have at their disposal, you can then run by every mob in the map, even the occasional Champ that has spawned.

It should be way easier playing with your gf, there are 2 of you, nothing should be that difficult with the exception of a few HP and MP(especially those that require some of the higher level of Masteries to reach), but just keep doing the events and eventually you’ll have those Masteries before you know it(it helps to use XP boosts to double the Exp gain and learn them faster).

I have gotten four of my lvl 80’s elite specs unlocked without going passed 50% completion of the second map. I have done this almost completely on my own, solo. This includes hero points that spawn champs. Last night I unlocked my scrapper by soloing a group event hero point. I do not consider myself hardcore at all. I do not follow meta builds or anyone’s build but what I come up with. My daredevil is a bit of a glass cannon and I can still solo all of the first map. The new content is not every player’s cup o’ tea. Many players have not only beaten the story already, but completed all the maps as well. I have yet to fully explore two of them. Take your time learning the new areas and mechanics of the new enemies, this is key. Do not be afraid to make changes to your play style. In HoT the whole jungle is against you, it wouldn’t be fair otherwise!

Sytherek.7689:

HOT was clearly designed to add challenging end-game content, which GW2 clearly lacked. It’s not designed for casuals.

I’m fine with the addition of challenge. However, adding an XPac that is only aimed at the "more challenge’ demographic means that anyone in the “fine as it was” demographic is being expected to play only the (very) old content. Tying subsequent content updates to the XPac is a clear indicator that the XPac is supposed to be for the "everyone’ demographic.

While I preferred vanilla GW2 when its difficulty level was higher (like in the original BWE’s), I have to wonder why the various nerfs to vanilla content were done in the first place. If the “fine as it was” demographic is too small to merit consideration, why was it catered to?

There’s also the question, “Where in the GW2 player skill continuum does Anet believe HoT maps are tuned?” The more inclusive it is, the better for Anet. Unfortunately, when it comes to challenge, there is no including everyone, unless ANet is willing to provide separate challenge levels via different content.

IndigoSundown.5419:

Sytherek.7689:

HOT was clearly designed to add challenging end-game content, which GW2 clearly lacked. It’s not designed for casuals.

I’m fine with the addition of challenge. However, adding an XPac that is only aimed at the "more challenge’ demographic means that anyone in the “fine as it was” demographic is being expected to play only the (very) old content. Tying subsequent content updates to the XPac is a clear indicator that the XPac is supposed to be for the "everyone’ demographic.

While I preferred vanilla GW2 when its difficulty level was higher (like in the original BWE’s), I have to wonder why the various nerfs to vanilla content were done in the first place. If the “fine as it was” demographic is too small to merit consideration, why was it catered to?

There’s also the question, “Where in the GW2 player skill continuum does Anet believe HoT maps are tuned?” The more inclusive it is, the better for Anet. Unfortunately, when it comes to challenge, there is no including everyone, unless ANet is willing to provide separate challenge levels via different content.

which is what i thought raids were, different content for a different demographic
and then i find HoT open world content is a TOTALLY different ballgame to core tyria
and i find myself wondering, did i spend 50 dollars on elite specs and rev?

HoT just requires you to know your class and dodge, you’ve had 3 years to get to grips with these things, play smart and well and you’re fine. If you’re having trouble try thinking what is killing you and what you should change to adapt to that problem – what attacks and attackers are dangerous and how you counter them?

Take interupts, blinds, invulns, blocks, condi removal, mobility and use them to deal with the enemies – you have the tools you just need to use them.

We probably all know how truly and fully annoying movement in HoT is without gliding and jumping, and it is still moronic when you can´t use updrafts. After you pass that point, the game experience undeniably gets much better. I don´t know from which well of ideas a concept like this springs up, and I keep asking myself if this is really the best way of inclusion for everyone who is willing to improve and experience the very good mobs, but unwilling to play super mario most of the time?

So the design of the HoT prevents me personaly from being there much longer than I must, after I have grinded my raids for my legendary armor and followed the personal story, I am probably not much in HoT anymore. There are some designs that I find highly debatable and rejectable, like for example the mastery point that is guarded by poison in the first map? I mean, huh? You have a point you can only reach while far into the masteries at the starting map? Tarir ist another example. Why put a cellar under Tarir that is far from the reach of the average player and part of the personal story? You could wander for days and not get that right if you don´t do the story. Or the myriad of stuff you have to do for the meta events. Couple this minor problems and quirks with low tresholds of endurance of players, and you can probably see where the future for HoT lies when the big run for it is over

Torolan.5816:

We probably all know how truly and fully annoying movement in HoT is without gliding and jumping, and it is still moronic when you can´t use updrafts. After you pass that point, the game experience undeniably gets much better. I don´t know from which well of ideas a concept like this springs up, and I keep asking myself if this is really the best way of inclusion for everyone who is willing to improve and experience the very good mobs, but unwilling to play super mario most of the time?

So the design of the HoT prevents me personaly from being there much longer than I must, after I have grinded my raids for my legendary armor and followed the personal story, I am probably not much in HoT anymore. There are some designs that I find highly debatable and rejectable, like for example the mastery point that is guarded by poison in the first map? I mean, huh? You have a point you can only reach while far into the masteries at the starting map? Tarir ist another example. Why put a cellar under Tarir that is far from the reach of the average player and part of the personal story? You could wander for days and not get that right if you don´t do the story. Or the myriad of stuff you have to do for the meta events. Couple this minor problems and quirks with low tresholds of endurance of players, and you can probably see where the future for HoT lies when the big run for it is over

It’s the super Mario Brothers and jumping games the ruin HoT for me. Regardless of my physical handicap, I’ve never enjoyed jumping games. Completely socks the fun out of the game.

But hey, ANET doesn’t make games for me. And I’ll vote wits my money and look for fun other places. It’s just a game.

Sorry OP.. but Heart of Thorns was always marketed as challenging new content..
go back and watch any presentation, trailer etc and you will see challenging new content mentioned.

This is what the core playerbase wanted/demanded and that is what we got

I feel sorry for op but I cant really complain. For me HoT is maybe a bit less challenging than I hoped for especially the personal story which was way too easy but despite all the bugs ive encountered ive had a very positive experience so far.

I am having little trouble with general enemies.. even on my Zerker Ranger

Map completion on some maps is a darn nightmare and I really hate the layout for Tangled depths.. which has me completely lost.. I can’t even function properly on that blasted map..

but general mobs.. champs etc.. nope.. no problem at all..
I am soloing most of the Hero Point challenges.. even on Zerker toons

and my godlike Minion Master is shrugging off hits from even some of the legendary bosses lol
even I was expecting a decent portion of enemies to pose a threat to her.. but alas.. nope

at this rate I’ll be one of the first people to effortlessly beat raids in full exotic gear if HoT mobs are any indication of the difficulty I can expect

Sounds to me like you and your girlfriend should find a casual guild to play with to learn the ropes. It’s really not that hard once you are shown certain things. The mindset that I must do this alone or alone with my girl friend is part of the issues here.

Why not use this as a springboard to expand yourself in the game. It’s not faceroll easy but it’s not necessarily as hard as you’re making it out to be. There are an awful lot of casual players in my guild who felt like you did for the first week, but we got most of them passed that phase.

DresdenAllblack.1249:

Which is what the majority clamored for.

Well, to be fair, it was probably certainly what most people posting in those types of threads were agreeing on, but for casual players, they probably didn’t bother saying anything, figuring since the game to that point was really focused on casual play, the posts for harder content would just go the way of the 2000+ post threads on mounts or other things that wouldn’t likely happen.

I’m struggling with the new content as well, but I can’t really complain about it per se. I’m mostly just sad, so I’ll do what I can and if it becomes too frustrating, I will just stop, I guess.

Making things difficult is good. However, I really wish they would have stuck to the SW vinewrath method of the meta events. Where someone could jump in and assist without a massive time sink/guild organization, but keep the difficulty.

Now, as a solo person, there is little to do in DS unless you preorganize, go in with a guild, etc. Tangled meta is even worse. Luckily, VB and AB are ‘somewhat’ friendly for folks wanting to jump into the fray without a huge time commitment or organization.

What frustrates me the most is Anet’s complete slap in the face to casuals though. Fractals, dungeons and WvW were not enough group content, they had to make open world into some exclusive group content as well. Guild changes killing small guilds, open world requiring large zergs, legendaries requiring fractals, dungeon nerfs, event participation nerfs, killing Wvw roaming, etc. They are just sucking the life of out this game for folks who like to pop in casually and have fun without a 3+ hour investment each gaming session.

Firelysm.4967:

I can’t say that and expect from you to accept my opinion , but old Tyria was not even making you try to dodge, ever.

• 0 effort
• No meaning of your build
• No challenge unless some1 made a challenge like “i want to mine 5 nodes” pardon me?
• Player decisions didn’t matter
• Enemy were and they still are easy, the only real NPC enemy is Sniper Mordremoth, love it!
  GW2 Core was the worst gaming experience in PvE that i’ve sad simply due to content that was made on Level 0. How hard is to kill first mob, that hard was end content. ZERO.

Sorry mate, nothing personal, but how can people enjoy that kind of content where nothing matters?

EDIT: I forgot to mention mastery, you only have to work for them once, after you visit maguuma for the 2nd time, it’s so kitten easy, that you need no effort and it actually becomes very casual content. U’ll see, just give it a time ^^

Yeah get one max level toon and then every toon gets insta power….

How can you say GW2 was too easy when after you get your masteries HoT is non-existant?

Alts and new characters have zip to do in HoT as once you hit level 80 in the core your done there is no need to go to HoT you have all the masteries and have already played the story. The game will grow stale incredibly fast masteries should require a much smaller grind and shouldn’t be account bound. People will quite beforehand because there bored because masteries force you grind the option of choice is removed. The people who do complete it will leave because they grind in 4 maps and they have no reason to return to these maps even for alts. Orr and other places are still crawling with Alts the same won’t be true for HoT. There is a difference between easy and nonexistant furthermore GW2 launched with dungeons and many world bosses. HoT will apparently have no such thing until an update and future patches will probably just be raids and will be the coffin for those who simply don’t like raids.

So HoT is and will be sad for a great deal of people if not now but in the future…

mulzi.8273:

Making things difficult is good. However, I really wish they would have stuck to the SW vinewrath method of the meta events. Where someone could jump in and assist without a massive time sink/guild organization, but keep the difficulty.

Now, as a solo person, there is little to do in DS unless you preorganize, go in with a guild, etc. Tangled meta is even worse. Luckily, VB and AB are ‘somewhat’ friendly for folks wanting to jump into the fray without a huge time commitment or organization.

What frustrates me the most is Anet’s complete slap in the face to casuals though. Fractals, dungeons and WvW were not enough group content, they had to make open world into some exclusive group content as well. Guild changes killing small guilds, open world requiring large zergs, legendaries requiring fractals, dungeon nerfs, event participation nerfs, killing Wvw roaming, etc. They are just sucking the life of out this game for folks who like to pop in casually and have fun without a 3+ hour investment each gaming session.

To my knowledge all open world large scale events have required groups of people
World bosses.. many of the games Group events.. living world stuff.. all maps that have a progression bar filled by completing events..
This isn’t new to Gw2

I play 99% of the time completely solo and I am not feeling any of the problems you are talking about here..
my best guess is that your character build and play style is simply inefficient in the new content..
and you are simply being too stubborn to adapt to the situation and the new content..
blaming the content instead of diving into your traits and gear to work out a way to beat the enemies..

there are many builds in Gw2 that are geared towards a specific thing and I’ve seen a lot of people complain in the past about how this uber popular build they got online is garbage because they can’t beat so and so..

the game does not work like that… finding a one build does everything setup is ridiculously hard to impossible..

my advice to you is simply this.. if you’re struggling then try a different build or gear set up..
sacrifice some dps for a lot of survivability..
toughness alone isnt going to help much.. throw some vitality in there as well
trust me I have 2 Necros.. one with just toughness and one with both toughness and vitality and the difference in tankyness is absurdly noticeable

I found that having auto-regen made all the difference in surviving HoT. A change in my mesmer’s build was like night and day, with just a few trait changes.

I don’t find the HoT content all that difficult, I find it annoying and not fun for the kind of gamer I am. Maybe in my 20s or 30, the pacing and content would have been fun. At 54 with a full life, HoT is mostly annoying and grindy.

Wow wall of text… cba to read it all.

But yeah… what did you expect. Anet said multiple times that HoT will have have more challenging content.

Challenging content meaning that it will be more difficult.
I feel like many people didn’t expect the challenging content to be challenging for some reason…

glenndevis.8327:

Wow wall of text… cba to read it all.

But yeah… what did you expect. Anet said multiple times that HoT will have have more challenging content.

Challenging content meaning that it will be more difficult.
I feel like many people didn’t expect the challenging content to be challenging for some reason…

maybe because 3 years of casual friendly content? maybe because the companies tag line is “play how you want”?

Hannelore.8153:

To be fair, “old GW2” was dated, extremely easy (after many nerfs), and didn’t really offer much exploration anyway with all the waypointing going on.

I can still go to newbie zones and almost one shot mobs despite downscaling, and even the mobs in Orr can’t seem to take any HP from me.

That said, don’t run the new maps in glass builds, and if there’s two of you that should be enough. Me and my wife have no trouble wiping out huge groups of mobs on the new maps as long as we are careful about what we are doing. No, its not casual gameplay, but they told everyone it wouldn’t be to begin with.

This is end-game content that everyone has asked for. The only disappointing thing is how much it took away from the core game and how finicky all of the new content is in regards to ping times, lag and frame rates.

If you’re really having trouble just get a guild.

I did not ask for this end-game content. Please speak for yourself.

End-game content can be a lot of things and not only events. I had hope for HoT to be more than just boring event farming.

casual.. i like the word.. isnt everyone casual who ddoe snot get payed for gaming?