Guild Wars 2

When I say “stats”, I mean things like Berserker, Cleric, Soldier, etc. I was in Verdant Brink one day to try to get Daily foraging done, when I was absolutely slaughtered by a dart-shooting frog. Chatting with people in the map after that painful death, I was told that Berserker isn’t the best for HoT, since it’s meant for pure damage and not survivability. When I then went to ask in map chat what was the suggested stat to go with for HoT survival, no one gave an answer. So, that’s why I am posting here, now.

Any advice on this? And is there a stat that can work with any class, for surviving and getting through the HoT maps?

Thanks!

Moyayuki.3619:

When I say “stats”, I mean things like Berserker, Cleric, Soldier, etc. I was in Verdant Brink one day to try to get Daily foraging done, when I was absolutely slaughtered by a dart-shooting frog. Chatting with people in the map after that painful death, I was told that Berserker isn’t the best for HoT, since it’s meant for pure damage and not survivability. When I then went to ask in map chat what was the suggested stat to go with for HoT survival, no one gave an answer. So, that’s why I am posting here, now.

Any advice on this? And is there a stat that can work with any class, for surviving and getting through the HoT maps?

Thanks!

I play cloth zerker ele so stats don’t really matter (13k hp), but i do switch to defensive utilities while i’m in there and have to pay attention with my dodges etc.

vesica tempestas.1563:

Moyayuki.3619:

When I say “stats”, I mean things like Berserker, Cleric, Soldier, etc. I was in Verdant Brink one day to try to get Daily foraging done, when I was absolutely slaughtered by a dart-shooting frog. Chatting with people in the map after that painful death, I was told that Berserker isn’t the best for HoT, since it’s meant for pure damage and not survivability. When I then went to ask in map chat what was the suggested stat to go with for HoT survival, no one gave an answer. So, that’s why I am posting here, now.

Any advice on this? And is there a stat that can work with any class, for surviving and getting through the HoT maps?

Thanks!

I play cloth zerker ele so stats don’t really matter (13k hp), but i do switch to defensive utilities while i’m in there and have to pay attention with my dodges etc.

But what would be the defensive stats that would help with surviving the HoT maps and mobs? That’s what I’m trying to get out of people because no one has given me a straight answer.

I’ve been Knight Necro since forever. Never got downed on HoT maps before and I’m proud of that. My traits are defensive too. I mostly played tank in oldschool MMOs… Old habits die hard. Anyway, Knight is awesome. Or a mix of Knight and other stats. Toughness is underestimated.

What profession are you playing, and traits are you currently running? Are you using a power build, condi build, or hybrid build? This would help in giving suggestions as to what and how to add defensive stats to what you normally do while changing as little as possible.

~EW

I use whatever stats come with the armor I looted, or the recipes I looted, and I don’t die often in Heart of Thorns maps. Thus, I’m not sure how much it matters.

Mea.5491:

I’ve been Knight Necro since forever. Never got downed on HoT maps before and I’m proud of that. My traits are defensive too. I mostly played tank in oldschool MMOs… Old habits die hard. Anyway, Knight is awesome. Or a mix of Knight and other stats. Toughness is underestimated.

Doesn’t a high Toughness level make mobs target you more often? I remember hearing that somewhere.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

What profession are you playing, and traits are you currently running? Are you using a power build, condi build, or hybrid build? This would help in giving suggestions as to what and how to add defensive stats to what you normally do while changing as little as possible.

~EW

My current level 80 who I’ve been using to run Dailies is an Engineer/Scrapper. If I remember correctly, he has either Beserker armor, or condi stats. He uses dual-wielding pistols, but I also will use Flamethrower and Elixir Gun when necessary.

I also would plan on running other characters through HoT when I get there, so that includes one of every class.

Berzerker (or vipers, depends) is best if you use your inherent defensive skills to not get killed. There will be very few sets of stats that will prevent deaths like the one you describe, you still need to use your knowledge of the various mobs and react according to their hostile actions to you. You’re not really asking the right question because it’s vague. It depends on you and your class.

I feel your pain. I generally have little issue with survivability, even in full zerk, however … I did come across this one alley I’ve dubbed the pocket raptor alley. Must be near a god darn hundred across the hundred feet. Running straight through them can take my health quite low from such minor pests.

What I’ve noticed a lot in HoT, is it helps to equip any stun breaks/condi clears as there are a lot of cripple I have to shake off when running around. Armor stats are meh, for defense you have toughness… and vitality. And … well … ummmm… that is all. Huigher vitality pools help with condition heavy HoT maps.

Moyayuki.3619:

vesica tempestas.1563:

Moyayuki.3619:

When I say “stats”, I mean things like Berserker, Cleric, Soldier, etc. I was in Verdant Brink one day to try to get Daily foraging done, when I was absolutely slaughtered by a dart-shooting frog. Chatting with people in the map after that painful death, I was told that Berserker isn’t the best for HoT, since it’s meant for pure damage and not survivability. When I then went to ask in map chat what was the suggested stat to go with for HoT survival, no one gave an answer. So, that’s why I am posting here, now.

Any advice on this? And is there a stat that can work with any class, for surviving and getting through the HoT maps?

Thanks!

I play cloth zerker ele so stats don’t really matter (13k hp), but i do switch to defensive utilities while i’m in there and have to pay attention with my dodges etc.

But what would be the defensive stats that would help with surviving the HoT maps and mobs? That’s what I’m trying to get out of people because no one has given me a straight answer.

i go high dmg, but then utilities and skills to avoid dmg, for e.g magentic aura to reflect, chill to help kite them, some heals, and be really careful about wasting dodges and accidently pulling more mobs thanb you can handle, then its high burst to bring the mob down.

Just run Soldier’s or Dire gear to survive while learning the new maps, but as other have pointed out, defensive skills and knowledge of enemies are much more important. Unlike in core Tyria, there’s pretty much no way you’d survive if you run in blindly and aggro a whole bunch of frogs/mushrooms/raptors/etc. Dodges, CC clears, stun breaks and stability are mandatory.

As you get more familiar, you’ll eventually swap back to zerk.

I’ve been going Dire/Rabid well before Hot and it works if you’re going condion primarily followed with toughness to survive a few hits and some free vitality to help out. If you have the cash then try trailblazers which works like rabid/dire but throws in condition duration.

Moyayuki.3619:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

What profession are you playing, and traits are you currently running? Are you using a power build, condi build, or hybrid build? This would help in giving suggestions as to what and how to add defensive stats to what you normally do while changing as little as possible.

~EW

My current level 80 who I’ve been using to run Dailies is an Engineer/Scrapper. If I remember correctly, he has either Beserker armor, or condi stats. He uses dual-wielding pistols, but I also will use Flamethrower and Elixir Gun when necessary.

I also would plan on running other characters through HoT when I get there, so that includes one of every class.

Okies, I’m not very good with the engineer, so take whatever I’m about to say with that grain of salt.

It looks like you’re mostly a condi build with those weapons, even though you say your using berserker stats…. maybe you’re running a hybrid?

…so, before I get into Toughness, there’s the little caveat about it. I love toughness, however since so many people don’t run with it, if you increase your toughness you’ll be the primary target in many group events. When you’re soloing this is obviously not a problem. So, if you’re gunna run any amount of toughness, you’re going to need to take a hit… and that means a total armor class in the 2.8k or higher…. Others may disagree, but this is coming from my own experience meandering about HoT. My personal preference is a total AC around 3k.

Toughness: Consider adding in Dire armor into your mix… namely legs, chest, and weapons. This will give you a handy amount of toughness and vitality w/o sacrificing your condi damage.

Vitality: If you feel pretty adept at dodging and moving in combat in general, then instead look to Carrion armor and weapons and/or Chrysocola jewelry. This will give you the vitality to take a hit or two, but your hybrid damage will stay higher.

More than stats, I have found in HoT that AoE damage is paramount. Relying more on your flamethrower might actually be more beneficial in a lot of circumstances over the P/P.

It’s a huge investment, but I recently finished a full set of Celestial armor for my Warrior. Yeah, he doesn’t excel in any one area. But, I’ve yet to have much issue roaming solo in HoT. The stat spread works really well, since many of my builds can utilize all the stats. Your build sounds like it can also utilize most/all of the stats for celestial, so it’s something you might wish to consider. It’s an expensive set to make, so make that decision very cautiously. In that vein, you can also consider grabbing celestial ascended jewelry if you’ve got the laurels. This will also help give you more toughness/vitality/hp without sacrificing a lot of your dps.

I’ll stop there, but I hope some of that has been helpful. I purposefully avoided any suggestion of HoT stats since most require spending a lot of time in HoT before you can acquire them, hehe.

~EW

Generally speaking, I find you can go anywhere with zerker (have to pay attention and know your build) or soldier’s (have to pay a lot less attention).

Zerker ends up being better when you want to kill stuff.

Every stat combo has some use (even if some are niche only) — those two need the least effort on the part of the player to make them work in the greatest number of situations.

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Not sure how, the question seems to be “what is best to survive a dart-shooting frog whilst foraging”.

Moyayuki.3619:

I was in Verdant Brink one day to try to get Daily foraging done, when I was absolutely slaughtered by a dart-shooting frog.

Would high toughness have saved you between gathers, would high vitality have saved you? Would it be better to say “you should forage on a minion necro” and then “forage on a vipers necro” rather than a warrior or “play what you want but trait that auto-blocking shield thing”.

I suspect you can’t really passive tank with impunity but there must be a build that qualifies for the “most survivable in PvE award”.

Two things really – those dart shooting frogs are really tough if you aren’t prepared. You’ll need to bring some way to reflect projectiles to help with them.

I’m confused about your post though. You say you are running Berserker stats, but using condi weapons (Pistol). That’s the first problem! Choose either a power build (using Rifle or Hammer if you have Scrapper) or a Condi build Pistols and swap your stats to Sinister or Viper. It’s going to be much easier for you to go Power since you’ve already got the armour.

Next thing is to change your build a kittenange your utility skills to be more defensive, and swap your trait lines for things like Alchemy, Inventions etc. This will reduce your damage potential slightly, but improve your survivability a lot.

Moyayuki.3619:

Doesn’t a high Toughness level make mobs target you more often? I remember hearing that somewhere.

I heard that too! But when I’m in groups, I don’t get targeted more often than others. Aggro seems random to me. :o

Mea.5491:

Moyayuki.3619:

Doesn’t a high Toughness level make mobs target you more often? I remember hearing that somewhere.

I heard that too! But when I’m in groups, I don’t get targeted more often than others. Aggro seems random to me. :o

DPS and proximity definitely contributes to aggro. The wiki says it’s unconfirmed that toughness contributes to aggro. In my own n=1 experience, though, it does. I rarely build for dps, and in my higher toughness builds I get targeted by more mobs in group events and champs then other players. They make a bee line right for me, despite my sucky damage.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aggro

~EW

Best stats are those you can only get through raiding, Vipers tinekts etc,a nd if u want to roam? tough you ahve to farm raids for gear.

Trepidation Lost.3469:

Best stats are those you can only get through raiding, Vipers tinekts etc,a nd if u want to roam? tough you ahve to farm raids for gear.

That’s not useful advice if someone is trying to figure out how to better stay alive in HoT. You’re putting the cart before the horse.

~EW

General Health.9678:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Not sure how, the question seems to be “what is best to survive a dart-shooting frog whilst foraging”.

I think if anything, class and playstyle have WAY more to do with that question than the stats on your gear does.

tomwcb.9713:

those dart shooting frogs are really tough if you aren’t prepared. You’ll need to bring some way to reflect projectiles to help with them.

hmm… that’s one way. You can also use teleports to keep close to them, minions/illusions/elementals to distract them, stealth and dodge to close in on them. I find that staying close is safest (for me). I dodge through them and attack from behind while they’re stuck in their shooting animation.

The best stats, or the gear prefix that offers the highest possible performance, is glass cannon gear. Viper, Sinister, Assassin, Berserker. Going lightly into defensive stats usually means very little, because the big attacks from enemies to enough damage that getting 700 points of toughness doesn’t mean much.

But, if you absolutely must have some defensive stats, there is a passable set. Marauder gear only does about 10% less damage than berserker, but the vitality it gives can help the low HP classes survive an extra hit or two.

Preferably though, you’d just switch to more defensive tactics, utilities, and traits. Because changing those is free.

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Not sure how, the question seems to be “what is best to survive a dart-shooting frog whilst foraging”.

I think if anything, class and playstyle have WAY more to do with that question than the stats on your gear does.

I still don’t know how. If I’m literally gathering when a frog attacks me, it doesn’t matter if I normally play bunker engineer or flag waving taunt master in a raid.

If the question was how to kill dart-shooting frogs then neither of you have said how to do that, just that a certain playstyle and class would be better.

Personally I run round on zerker everything but I am tempted to make something that isn’t zerker yet again with the free level 80 boost and all the currently useless wanderer/commander/etc gear in my bank. As it would change my playstyle I’d want something I could learn on, a training wheels set of gear I suppose. If what the boost gives you is enough maybe I’ll make something with that.

Im very tight fisted regarding armour – what I did was have 4 zerker armor items then fill out the other two with either Knights or Soldiers depending on which stats weer considered better defensive stats for that class – then I had a mix of zerker and defensive trinkets, if I fely godly like I did with my Necro, I went with mainly zerker trinkets – this is of course if you are doing a Power build NOT Conditions.

Tbh though you need to get good at well timed dodging and ALWAYS have access to an aoe, and some sort of defensive retreat ( Mesmer blink for eg) there are a couple of places in Auric basin when not 1, not 2 but 3 full teams of pocket Raptors can attack you – my Ele has died there several times because I didn’t IMMEDIATELY start aoe’ing them down.

Hmm, this probably won’t very useful to the OP, but as a power reaper, I use ascended berserker everything (well, I don’t have the ascended aquabreather yet). Yeah, I’m a bit crazy.

However, I tend to use minions a lot, so the mobs focus on those while I do my necromancer/reaper things on the mobs. I’m hardly ever getting killed, and if I AM killed, it’s usually because I aggroed too many mobs at once.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

DPS and proximity definitely contributes to aggro. The wiki says it’s unconfirmed that toughness contributes to aggro. In my own n=1 experience, though, it does. I rarely build for dps, and in my higher toughness builds I get targeted by more mobs in group events and champs then other players. They make a bee line right for me, despite my sucky damage.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Aggro

~EW

That’s good to know, thanks for the info. The only time I notice aggro on me is when I run in circles at the Blighting Tower (DS) and suddenly I have 20+ mobs on me. It makes me giggle when others die in matter of seconds and I barely go under 50% HP (Shroud helps a lot, though). :P

General Health.9678:

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Not sure how, the question seems to be “what is best to survive a dart-shooting frog whilst foraging”.

I think if anything, class and playstyle have WAY more to do with that question than the stats on your gear does.

I still don’t know how. If I’m literally gathering when a frog attacks me, it doesn’t matter if I normally play bunker engineer or flag waving taunt master in a raid.

Exactly … that’s not a gear, stats or setup issue. Gathering with a frog attacking you is a playstyle issue. That’s a risk-taking playstyle.

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Ardenwolfe.8590:

The answer depends on your class and your playstyle.

Not sure how, the question seems to be “what is best to survive a dart-shooting frog whilst foraging”.

I think if anything, class and playstyle have WAY more to do with that question than the stats on your gear does.

I still don’t know how. If I’m literally gathering when a frog attacks me, it doesn’t matter if I normally play bunker engineer or flag waving taunt master in a raid.

Exactly … that’s not a gear, stats or setup issue. Gathering with a frog attacking you is a playstyle issue. That’s a risk-taking playstyle.

I’ll clarify what happened in my situation:

Went over to a harvesting node, pressed “F”. Never saw the frog, it seemed to jump out of nowhere and attacked me as I was harvesting. I attacked back immediately but got slaughtered.

I did not blindly harvest, and keep harvesting even while being attacked, not counter-attacking at all. But the fact that I died so fast shows that something about my gear, even though it is level 80 stuff, is not good enough to survive HoT.

That’s fair enough, but stats would not have addressed your situation, unless you decided to take stats so focused on defensive traits, that you would have effectively kitten your damage for the majority of the other encounters.

I don’t wish to tell you how to play or what stats to use, but this is simply a matter of being aware of the mobs in the specific places they populate the maps; they don’t just appear out of no where and now you know that place has killer frogs, you know to flush them out before you begin your harvests.

You can turn on the enemy labels that float above thier heads in your options, could help you notice frogs/raptors etc. Frogs can stealth, but will only do so when you aggro them

Obtena.7952:

now you know that place has killer frogs, you know to flush them out before you begin your harvests.

You can’t run round with your hindsight on all the time, it takes time to build that up. I think a perfectly acceptable playstyle on all characters is to walk up to some flax when there’s nothing around you and start to harvest it. When the frog attacks you, then how could you have known? It could be a patrolling frog. It could be one that was previously killed and has just respawned. It could be on its way to an event that has just started. You can’t know why it was there or guarantee it will be there next time. As nodes move around you also can’t know every inch of every map all the time. And what if it’s not frogs. What if it’s raptors or smokescales or mordrem cavaliers or mushroom chargers. There’s a bunch of annoying stuff that can jump you whilst you’re mid-action that roots you for a second, doesn’t have to be gathering.

The level 80 boost gives you a set of soldiers iirc. Would I survive that frog/whatever better and have a chance to kill it before it killed me in the free gear as opposed to berserkers? Would I be even better off with something else? Does gear not matter and it’s all about traits actually or still somehow about playstyle? I mean I have to have some gear right.. and there must be a better option than some other option.

General Health.9678:

Obtena.7952:

now you know that place has killer frogs, you know to flush them out before you begin your harvests.

You can’t run round with your hindsight on all the time, it takes time to build that up.

Maybe not, but equipping yourself with more defensive gear for those few moments you don’t have it ‘on’ isn’t a practical option in GW2 either. As I’ve said, these aren’t issues of gear or traits. It’s fantasy to think if I wear THIS, I’m good against magically appearing killer frogs. Defensive stats just AREN’T that effective. You’re primary and most effective defenses are not related to stats. It’s actually BAD advice for anyone to recommend using defensive stats for the situation the OP is talking about, unless of course he’s willing to swap in and out constantly into his more offensive gear for his more familiar encounters, which I doubt.

The question “What is good stats for HoT?” is just as bad a question as “What is good stats for Core?”. The answer is dependent HIGHLY on the player. The BEST stats are still zerkers and Vipers gear because the fundamental PVE approach in this game isn’t different between Core and HoT. The real question is how MUCH do you have to stray from that gear to enable yourself to use your ACTIVE defenses like dodging, etc…

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Obtena.7952:

now you know that place has killer frogs, you know to flush them out before you begin your harvests.

You can’t run round with your hindsight on all the time, it takes time to build that up.

Maybe not, but equipping yourself with more defensive gear for those few moments you don’t have it ‘on’ isn’t a practical option in GW2 either. As I’ve said, these aren’t issues of gear or traits. It’s fantasy to think if I wear THIS, I’m good against magically appearing killer frogs. Defensive stats just AREN’T that effective. You’re primary and most effective defenses are not related to stats. It’s actually BAD advice for anyone to recommend using defensive stats for the situation the OP is talking about, unless of course he’s willing to swap in and out constantly into his more offensive gear for his more familiar encounters, which I doubt.

The question “What is good stats for HoT?” is just as bad a question as “What is good stats for Core?”. The answer is dependent HIGHLY on the player. The BEST stats are still zerkers and Vipers gear because the fundamental PVE approach in this game isn’t different between Core and HoT. The real question is how MUCH do you have to stray from that gear to enable yourself to use your ACTIVE defenses like dodging, etc…

I, the OP, was under the impression that there was no such thing as “bad questions”, only “bad answers”. So far, no one has given me any answer that really lets me know how to survive in HoT without resorting to skill and weapon combos I rarely enjoy using. My character is a sponge in HoT, plain and simple, and it realy turns me away from continuing Living Story in there, or even exploring the maps.

(PS: I am a girl. Not the first time someone assumed I was a guy in these forums. Never thought my username sounded masculine.)

If you want the cheesiest answer, go for nomads. You could be blind and walk most the map without dying on that one.

Realistically, try some of the new four stat armours that give you power vita toughness and something.

I think trailblazers is great for scraper.

Well I think we established we can’t dodge the frog that appears whilst we were foraging. So what would have helped us survive and even retaliate? A larger HP pool I’m guessing it the answer to this so Marauders over Soldiers? So you get some ferocity to retaliate with if you survive.

Moyayuki.3619:

Obtena.7952:

General Health.9678:

Obtena.7952:

now you know that place has killer frogs, you know to flush them out before you begin your harvests.

You can’t run round with your hindsight on all the time, it takes time to build that up.

Maybe not, but equipping yourself with more defensive gear for those few moments you don’t have it ‘on’ isn’t a practical option in GW2 either. As I’ve said, these aren’t issues of gear or traits. It’s fantasy to think if I wear THIS, I’m good against magically appearing killer frogs. Defensive stats just AREN’T that effective. You’re primary and most effective defenses are not related to stats. It’s actually BAD advice for anyone to recommend using defensive stats for the situation the OP is talking about, unless of course he’s willing to swap in and out constantly into his more offensive gear for his more familiar encounters, which I doubt.

The question “What is good stats for HoT?” is just as bad a question as “What is good stats for Core?”. The answer is dependent HIGHLY on the player. The BEST stats are still zerkers and Vipers gear because the fundamental PVE approach in this game isn’t different between Core and HoT. The real question is how MUCH do you have to stray from that gear to enable yourself to use your ACTIVE defenses like dodging, etc…

I, the OP, was under the impression that there was no such thing as “bad questions”, only “bad answers”. So far, no one has given me any answer that really lets me know how to survive in HoT without resorting to skill and weapon combos I rarely enjoy using. My character is a sponge in HoT, plain and simple, and it realy turns me away from continuing Living Story in there, or even exploring the maps.

(PS: I am a girl. Not the first time someone assumed I was a guy in these forums. Never thought my username sounded masculine.)

OK, I meant it was a bad question to try to answer because basically, 1) no one knows how capable a player you are and 2) it doesn’t REALLY make sense in this game because of how the game is designed.

Bottomline: There is no substitute for using your active defenses to stay alive in HoT. You got jumped by a mob that you didn’t see while you were foraging. You stop foraging and dodge or heal or whatever you have … or you can decide to kitten your damage terribly and load up on nomads gear to maximize your stats to defensive and minimize your death risk foraging while frogs drop on you.

General Health.9678:

Well I think we established we can’t dodge the frog that appears whilst we were foraging. So what would have helped us survive and even retaliate? A larger HP pool I’m guessing it the answer to this so Marauders over Soldiers? So you get some ferocity to retaliate with if you survive.

No, we didn’t … because you can easily cancel foraging and get to business. Even if you outfit yourself with defensive gear, you’re significantly down in HP by the time you would be done foraging to start fighting … so he’s a deadman anyways.

I accept that because that isn’t how I play. I’d be dead in zerkers gear at that point. Is there really nothing I can stick on my level 80 boosted character that would actually be good and defensive?
Again the scenario is I walk up to a node, start gathering, rooted and jumped by a mob. Is there literally no difference in my gear type versus survivability? Am I pretty much dead guy walking at that point?

Honestly, I think the answer is really no because it’s not an even ‘swap’ in performance by changing stats from offensive to defensive.

Can you survive being jumped, rooted while gathering? There is probably some gear you could do that but why would any reasonable person outfit themselves for the low risk of encountering such a strong mob they didn’t see while foraging at the expense of their regular gaming experience? I just don’t think ‘stats’ is a sensible solution to that problem.

I see that as an acceptable statement. If what we’re saying is that the gear we get from the boost is fine as far as it goes but ulitmately nothing stops you being ganked.. then fine. I’m pretty sure that during a gather I can turn that around on my zerkers. And at that point my retaliation will determine the outcome. If I survived the first attack and can zerker back in response.. I stand a good chance of winning

Really, I think even if you put on the most tanky gear AND survived the ambush, you wouldn’t survive the fight. Now, that is my speculation since I haven’t actually tried that because for me, the best solution is to simply stop gathering, kill the mob, then resume gathering. Why? because that allows me to maintain the highest effective PVE setup at ALL times. Compromising on stats for a few isolated incidents of difficult mobs is not practical in this game, especially with all the intrinsic defenses we have as well as it being faster and more effective to change traits as opposed to changing stats.

My recommendation: keep the most offensive stats you can and rejig your traits if you need to survive specific encounters; it’s more effective and it’s free to do that.

Whatever your gear, you can also buff yourself with food. E.g. pact rations are easy to get and give a good survival boost.
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Pact_Ration

I don’t have the reflexes or know how to survive in pure zerk or vipers gear….. For my direct damage characters I go half assassins and half soldiers and have pretty good results. For my condition characters I usually go all carrion and they seem to survive pretty well.