Guild Wars 2

First of all, I should say that I’m very much a casual, solo player. I’m happy enough to lend a hand with world events, but dungeons, raids and the like aren’t for me. I don’t play for long stretches of time, just a couple of hours here and there.

Now, looking at a lot of the posts on this forum, I should be exactly the kind of player who loathes the expansion pack … but I don’t. It has issues, certainly. While challenge can be a good thing, there are some enemies who feel more cheap than challenging.

I do hope that we see some tweaks and balances as time progresses, but even the cheap enemies aren’t enough to stop me enjoying the game. I figured I’d make a thread covering why I’m personally happy with the expansion and for other people to say which bits of it they liked too.

First of all, I like the metroidvania kind of feel to the new maps when you first enter them. Initially they’re overwhelming and I tended to die a lot. Then you unlock your glider and navigation gets easier. You experiment with the elite builds and enemies become easier to handle. Bit by bit, you chip away at the jungle, uncovering new ways to navigate and fight.

On the subject of gliders, the ability to glide in central Tyria was a lovely surprise. I hadn’t kept up with the news much, so when my lvl 40 engineer suddenly popped open a glider I was delighted. It’s made leveling alts that bit more interesting.

I also enjoy the choice I now have. If I fancy a nice, easygoing bit of gameplay, I can spend some time in Central Tyria. Sometimes that’s all I want to do. However, if I want something more tricky, something that’s going to require some faster reflexes, I can head into the jungle.

Finally, I was impressed with how the jungle looks and feels, particularly when you first see one of the various dinosaur creatures. Admittedly, the mushrooms and some of the frogs can take a long walk off a short pier but otherwise I’m happy with the new enemies.

Again, I’m by no means a hardcore player. I’ve no doubt some of the better players out there can spot more problems than I. However, to be completely honest … a lot of the issues I’ve seen raised aren’t things that bother me personally. How about you? Anything about HoT that put a smile on your face?

I have a very similar experience. I can’t say I disliked HoT at first, I just wasn’t in love with it it much. But as I got better, and unlocked the masteries I somehow started liking it a lot, even though it has its flaws (lose of reward on DC, too much CC and damage on mushrooms, etc…). My Thursday experience in Verdant Brink meta that I have attempted after several months long break (since raid release) was very pleasant. When HoT came out, I was trying to get to tier 4 night dozens of times and I never succeeded. So I told myself I will wait until people unlock masteries and learn the event mechanics. And I was right to do so! I joined a semi organised map (2 comms, lots and lots of mentors) and we actually protected almost every camp and when we killed all 5 bosses we were tier 4 (my first time ever) and got like 8 minutes left!!!! I got my precious armor box and I sticked around for a second round and got to tier 4 night with like 6 minutes left it was amazing. I think after ArenaNet polishes HoT in their Q2 update, everything will be even smoother and more fun.

Well, I like the gliding part, in all maps. Also some of the elite specs are fun.

And what else… no, thats it.

I have said this before and will say it again – as a semi-hardcore player (as in, someone who doesn’t play that much and does mostly what I feel like is fun, but I still try my best to learn the ins and outs of the game) I love the new maps. I love running around them and doing random stuff, I really like how every event chain tells its own little story that fits into the theme of the entire map, and I think all of the maps are an absolutely sight to behold, especially Auric Basin.