Guild Wars 2

Hi all;

I enjoyed GW2 and purchased HoT. I’m not having fun with HoT. The fun I had exploring in GW2 does not exist in HoT. The multiple layers of elevation render the map useless. Venturing alone to explore is impossible as everything kicks your @ss in seconds.
The only option I have is to upgrade my weapons and armour and here lies the problem.
Now my game consist mainly of farming resources and crafting. With the scarcity of farming key crafting materials needed, combined with the ludicrous quantity of the same key farming material required and the quota imposed on us for how many key ascended items we can create in a day makes for hours and hours and hours of gameplay lost. After three weeks of gathering and using my cheapest option (balancing forging vs crafting) it still took me 2 hours to craft one ascended item.
THIS IS BS

So fellow players, is this what I am to expect with this game? I would appreciate your help and honesty because Im not gonna get honesty from the programmers of this game.

ty all

Ascended gear was meant to take months to acquire for a minor stat boost. If you think it’s going to suddenly make HoT easier, it’s not going to make a difference. Weapons and accessories are the biggest benefit and much easier to acquire, whereas armor is harder and only around a 5% difference. If you’re actually trying to farm specific materials, the game wasn’t meant to be played like that. Simply play the game and buy what you need off the trading post.

Ascended accessories can be casually acquired in season 3; episode 3 being the easiest. Some ascended weapons can be acquired from playing HoT’s follow up story, which requires finishing HoT’s final story.

I’m able to get by with exotic gear. No ascended needed.

You might need to consider different stats on your armor and changing up your play style a bit in order to survive better. Caution is also warranted. Try not to take on too many enemies at one time by yourself. Having said that, some of my characters do much better than others, regardless of my play style. These new areas are meant to be end game quality and difficult. Learning how to survive and elite skills, such as gliding,
help a lot. The more you know, the better you become. Don’t let the fact that nearly EVERYTHING there WANTS to kill you, or do generally very bad, no good things to you, get you down.

The level 80 boost that comes with HoT provides a set of exotic Soldier’s gear, which generally gives better health and defense with Power for damage.

What character types are you taking to the new HoT areas? Maybe I can help a bit. Feel free to look my up in game sometime.

Equipment isn’t the key factor that makes HoT (and later content) easier to master. You need an efficient build and to train your player skill more than in the core campaign.

I remember entering HoT for the first time — I wouldn’t touch it for another six or seven months. Then, after I had played more frequently and improved my own skill at the game, I managed a lot better. By now, I regard the HoT maps easy to navigate and enemies just as easy to fight on my own, some with caution, of course. It really just takes getting used to.

mooseface.3025:

After three weeks of gathering and using my cheapest option (balancing forging vs crafting) it still took me 2 hours to craft one ascended item.

I think you haven’t figured out the most efficient way to craft ascended gear yet. Farming all ingredients yourself for three weeks and then taking 2 hours to craft an item is not how it’s done, not at all… Did you consider buying the ingredients on the Trading Post? And how does crafting it took you 2 hours? If I have all the ingredients, I craft it within 10 minutes (slacking). It takes less than 2 hours to max a craft from 0 to 500.

I think game mechanics are not to blame here.

Step 1: make 1-2 runs of Tarir meta per day. Or any other HoT map – I just like Tarir more since it’s very compact.
Step 2: loot everything that isn’t nailed. Then loot nails too.
Step 3: salvage EVERYTHING.
Step 4: put all the materials you don’t immediately need on TP, slightly undercutting current sellers.
Step 5: buy materials you need with gold, by posting price slightly above current buyers. If you don’t feel like waiting 24 ours per ascended material – buy them too.
Step 6: ???
Step 7: PROFIT

mooseface.3025:

Hi all;

I enjoyed GW2 and purchased HoT. I’m not having fun with HoT. The fun I had exploring in GW2 does not exist in HoT. The multiple layers of elevation render the map useless. Venturing alone to explore is impossible as everything kicks your @ss in seconds.
The only option I have is to upgrade my weapons and armour and here lies the problem.
Now my game consist mainly of farming resources and crafting. With the scarcity of farming key crafting materials needed, combined with the ludicrous quantity of the same key farming material required and the quota imposed on us for how many key ascended items we can create in a day makes for hours and hours and hours of gameplay lost. After three weeks of gathering and using my cheapest option (balancing forging vs crafting) it still took me 2 hours to craft one ascended item.
THIS IS BS

So fellow players, is this what I am to expect with this game? I would appreciate your help and honesty because Im not gonna get honesty from the programmers of this game.

ty all

There is so much wrong here, where to start…

1.) if it takes you 2 hours to craft an item you already have materials for, you are doing it wrong. Also ascended crafting was and still is one of the most expensive ways to get ascended gear. Which leads us to:

2.) if you think that upgrading to ascended will make HoT easier on you, it very likely will not. HoT can perfectly fine be played on exotic items and even rare or masterwork on some classes if your build is good. Don’t worry though, many before you have had the same thought: I died thus I must be lacking the gear. They too were mostly wrong.

3.) As mentioned in 2, go for exotic gear. Once you’ve completed the HoT storyline for the first time, finish the Caladbolg quest (which starts after you finish the HoT questline) for some very cheap ascended weapons. Then use the Living World Season 3 maps for some very easy farmable ascended trinkets (amulett, rings, asccessoires and backpiece. different maps offer different items). Keep armor exotikittenil you are 110% sure you know what stat combo you are getting and playing.

4.) check the lfg frequently for events happening in the HoT map you are in. Might as well join a full map and run with other people if you can’t traverse the map alone in the beginning.

Final comment: HoT is not the braindead “I can run whatever I want and have 0 idea of how my class works” open world content you are used to from vanilla GW2. Having semi fast reflexes, not taking every attack enemys through at you and using sustain utility skills if needed is the name of the game for the HoT maps.

Most of this is pure learn to play and getting that full ascended gear will do you less good then spending maybe 30 minutes reading up on some guides or how your class works.

I’m going to agree with those that mentioned improving your play skills. The first time I went into VB I was running around like a little kid trying to not get spanked. I hated going there.

Now I roam solo around VB, AB even TD with exotics and no real attention paid to my build. I make stupid mistakes and get myself into trouble occasionally, but now it’s fun.

What I did, and it may work for you, was to go back to the core area and practice taking down mobs as quickly and efficiently as possible while taking little or no damage. I didn’t skip mobs, even the easy ones. It didn’t take long for me to go from spamming keys to planning my attacks, paying attention to skill cool down and dodging only when needed. I’d even (and still do) take pot shots at group champions to see how long I could survive.

For me, reading class guides didn’t seem to help. I think I learned more from trying to figure out why I died than what I needed to do to survive. Repeatedly dying is not a bad thing as long as you learn why you are dying.

I didn’t do all of this specifically to be able to survive in HoT, it was just something to do. While I’m no veteran, I am now very confident in my play skill. I still consider myself a casual player, I don’t spend much time on my build, I rarely change my runes and sigils. But I enjoy the harder content now.

I main a ranger, but it doesn’t matter the class as long as you are confident playing it.

Hope that helps.

-DedTreeJig

Quick Addendum: Not that it matters, but I also don’t craft at all. I think I made a backpack and a bag once.

mooseface.3025:

Hi all;

I enjoyed GW2 and purchased HoT. I’m not having fun with HoT. The fun I had exploring in GW2 does not exist in HoT. The multiple layers of elevation render the map useless. Venturing alone to explore is impossible as everything kicks your @ss in seconds.
The only option I have is to upgrade my weapons and armour and here lies the problem.
Now my game consist mainly of farming resources and crafting. With the scarcity of farming key crafting materials needed, combined with the ludicrous quantity of the same key farming material required and the quota imposed on us for how many key ascended items we can create in a day makes for hours and hours and hours of gameplay lost. After three weeks of gathering and using my cheapest option (balancing forging vs crafting) it still took me 2 hours to craft one ascended item.
THIS IS BS

So fellow players, is this what I am to expect with this game? I would appreciate your help and honesty because Im not gonna get honesty from the programmers of this game.

ty all

Its actually not that bad….. its just that most people are jarred by the major tonal shift in difficulty. There are only 3 things you really need to survive HOT maps.
- Knowing how to manage dodges and blocks
- Access to CCs for the break bars (which Especs give in spades)
- Learning each mob’s counter tactic

All of this can be done with Exotic gear, but having a full Asc trinket set makes the DPS side of things a bit easier. After a days of getting familiar with each mob’s behaviors and attacks, navigating maps aren’t too difficult. Once you get access to Jumping mushrooms and adv gliding, you can bypass 70% of them with very little effort.

Once you have the Especs fully unlocked, and familiarized with proper builds, HOT fights are only difficult when you try to take on too many Vets at the same time. Champs will always be a problem… but thats fully intended.

If you need help with Especs, look for VB HP or Event trains on the weekend. Mastery unlocks should also be a priority for Itzel 1 (Jumping Mushrooms) and Gliding 2 (Updraft), as those are your baseline mobility options. Just realize that you won’t be soloing HOT areas until you get fully familiar with how the mechanics in the region works…. so its its best follow Commanders/Squads doing map meta events for the Exp needed to fill masteries.

Trust me…. it only looks daunting, because you’re not used to mobs that can fight back. Now that build comprehension with Especs is a lot higher, HOT zones are pretty trivial to navigate. The only thing that consistently gives everyone trouble are the Chak Hives.

If you’re looking for specific advise, we’d have to have to know what class you play. I would highly recommend taking a tankier class for mastery unlocks, as that makes everything easier for your less durable classes later on. Guardians are always solid choice, and a Valkyrie Reaper build can survive anything the Modrem can throw at it. Squishier classes have a higher reliance on dodge and evasion; but if you’re proficient with Mesmers, those have a lot of diversionary tactics that will be useful in surviving. Thieves are also good if you’ve done at some PvP/WvW, as the burst and disengage tactics are highly effective. A well speced Bomb-gineer handles the place well too. Ele has lower margin for error, but they can deal with trash mobs efficiently. I wouldn’t recommend Revanent though….. their builds work very differently from other classes, and you don’t want to that learning curve piled on top of the learning curve for the HOT maps.

I’d also recommend looking into some of the WvW builds for each class, and model your builds on damage focused front liner setups. WvW demands a measure of durability, so those translate well for first time HOT players to give a little extra room for error.

Some sound advice above and I echo the fact that ascended will make zero difference to surviving in HoT. Ascended is mostly for fractals and poss raids now, but otherwise provides little advantage to open world play.

In my opinion deciding when to fight and when to avoid was the main thing I learned in HoT. Some fights are needed, so I commit and complete them, some miight be usefull, and I check risk vs rewards, and some are just plain dumb.. SO I skip’m or pass’m, avoid ’m ,stealth by ’m or any other solution I can think off.. My best friend in HoT maps became swiftness.. Whatever you do if you need to go somewhere 25% is basi, and 33% is preferable.

I finished elite specs on mesmer and thief before some of my more favorite classes, mostly cause the stealth/invisibility tends to be OP.

I ran 1 or 2 trinkets with toughenss on my most squishy classes or changed some traits to bunker ’m up.

Glass staff ele with a fire/lightning/arcane build is helpless in HoT, this said changing it in fire water earth was effective, and later fire water tempest proved a very worthwhile decision. I started using a speed buff, a cleanse/stunbreaker and I had a look at PvP and WvW builds to see where their sustain came from.

Then i got gliding 2 and most things faded into the background. after 3 mastery points I could navigate most places. Not being on the ground tends to make you pretty survivable…

I’m mastery level 186 now and have 22 characters with elite specs unlocked. and honestly I do not see why I had so many problems before.

The fact HoT mobs were nerfed 2 times (in beta and a couple of weeks after release might be of influence)

Oh and ascneded makes no difference. Just losing the mind set: “everything has to be done full glass in as little hits as possible” tends to be enough.

Just get to know your way around the HoT zones, makes life easyer.. im only in this game for 14 months now and managed to craft 6 full ascended characters .

At first i was struggling my way around in VB, AB or Tangled Depths.. im just a casual player so if i can do it you can too.
Get the mastery’s and tinker around with builds and gear a bit, put some toughness stats in if you have to (damage DPS isn’t everything) choose how you want it.. for example i can easily survive now on my squishy mesmer in any of these zones.

About the materials to craft ascended, 7 months i have chopped and mined for about 2-3 hours a day – 5 days a week average.. this is what got me enough gold to craft all sets and weapons for my characters.

You have to buy some materials from TP to craft.. its inevitable

I have full ascended in 3 armor sets which I pass around to my characters. I will echo the others in saying that it will make little difference in HoT. I basically no longer play because of HoT. I have several rangers and went to HoT zones on them for the OP ranger pets there. The part of the process that was always most fun was leaving HoT for vanilla GW2. Can’t stand the place. Maybe the next expansion will build on the strengths and big ideas of vanilla. Anet lost their way with the Lost Souls release (aka Lost Shores) and following; I hope they can find their way back.

Just get ascended accessories and a ascended weapon.
Worth to mention, aim for your prefered weapon first.

I agree HoT is a kitten, but the living story maps are better; the mobs will still pack a punch but they’re less annoying.

To traverse HoT maps you need to learn your class. Core GW2 makes it wrong by letting you cut your way through everything ignoring all mechanics.

First time I entered HoT was with a Daredevil, I was getting my butt handed to me by pocket raptors, snipers and rolling devils, and even rage quitted, ignoring HoT for half a year. Once you learn what your skills do on the enemies, time them, and knowing which battles to pick, it gets easier. I’ve finished the story and explored the maps with 4 characters (warrior, revenant, thief, necro) and it’s not that bad.

I still think Anet dropped the ball with the expansion…

mooseface.3025:

OP

Two things:

- crafting is a mess. It has been for quite some time. it is incredibly expensive to gather the mats, and takes time to craft the items. And that’s provided you already leveled your crafting skills.

- however, you don’t need ascended gear for the new maps. I have 8 toons, only one in ascended, and they all went through HOT without any ascended (well, maybe a weapon here, a trinket there). Some of them went through HOT without any trinket at all, as they were new toons and i just wanted the hero points to fully unlock the elite spec. It’s just a matter of knowing which fights to pick. You can’t expect to solo all the hero challenges, you need the help of a punchbag eeer, i mean, friend, for many of them (and still, in my last run, i soloed many challenges that i thought were impossible to solo, with my new ranger, with no trinkets and no sigils…

TLDR: crafting is a mess indeed, but you don’t need it. Rise up and shine!