Guild Wars 2

Today, I was doing the personal story Confessor’s stronghold.

I had 3 Legendary companion with me, Rytlock, Canach, Marjory.

The mob attacking me was a Veteran Justiciar Adrienne which strangely has a health pool of more than Lich King or Deathwing! and 5~6 other normal mobs which respawn right after killing them.

I am a ranger with a bear which is a tanking pet.

While I was fighting this guy and other mobs that constantly keep shooting at me. my 3 legendary companion were standing right there and my pet get busy with grass.

In any normal situation, my pet keeps the mobs away from me while I pick them up one by one and occasionally heal the pet (because I can’t do it more than once in every 1:20 minutes?).

Anyway no matter what I did, all the mobs were attacking me instead of my pet and those other 3 Legendary companions where standing there watching me get beaten and may be making jokes like, “Oooh, that is gonna hurt!”, “That hit him right between legs!”, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Funny thing those legendary companions from what I saw in the past have worst dps ever and health pool less than a rabbit. If the Legendary sand giant had their DPS or health, I would be killing him every 50 minutes.

I would love to know what is the point of having those 3 in there if they are not going to help me at all?

Ok, they are required for story telling and bla bla bla! at least don’t make them legendary so I don’t rely on them!

And, why all the mobs in personal story unlike open world attack player instead of their pet. isn’t purpose of having pet diverting the attack to them?

By the way, if you are no a ranger and never had a ranger, let me tell you that, even in full zerk ascended armor, without their pet, ranger DPS is as low as chickens in Queensdale.

hmm op in your picture, you’re using signet of the hunt and a shortbow. No matter why you think your dps is low then (shortbow is a condi weapon and you seem to be in a zerk armor).

I finished it too, after dying well may be 200 times?!! but I would be happy if they were meatshields, but they aren’t even that!

didn’t move, didn’t pull aggro and didn’t even get attacked!

In that video they are actually attacking and moving around! in mine they just stood there and did absolutely nothing!!

and by the way, in that video, I only see 3 mobs other than veteran, in mine I have 5~6 mobs at each time! I had to fight all the mobs myself. my pet wasn’t a help either, keep moving to a mob and standing there, like it didn’t exists and mob would run to me and pet was standing there.

I assume this is one the bugs that haven’t fixed yet!

I just ignored the mobs, and used the mechanics to finish the instance on my main, a Ranger. I think I used that scaled porcupine-y pet.

NPC’s are part of the story which is why they are there. They’re not going to be made strong enough to be able to carry players through the instance and trivialize the content.

I’m not sure what was going on but what you experienced definitely isn’t normal. I did that storyline on my ranger earlier today and my pet and all 3 companions were attacking the enemies.

Adrianne will focus on you no matter what’s going on, but the 3 NPCs kept the other enemies away, and my pet was attacking her.

What happened when you used F1 or F2 to direct your pet to attack?

bobsort.4097:

Today, I was doing the personal story Confessor’s stronghold.

I had 3 Legendary companion with me, Rytlock, Canach, Marjory.

The mob attacking me was a Veteran Justiciar Adrienne which strangely has a health pool of more than Lich King or Deathwing! and 5~6 other normal mobs which respawn right after killing them.

I am a ranger with a bear which is a tanking pet.

While I was fighting this guy and other mobs that constantly keep shooting at me. my 3 legendary companion were standing right there and my pet get busy with grass.

In any normal situation, my pet keeps the mobs away from me while I pick them up one by one and occasionally heal the pet (because I can’t do it more than once in every 1:20 minutes?).

Anyway no matter what I did, all the mobs were attacking me instead of my pet and those other 3 Legendary companions where standing there watching me get beaten and may be making jokes like, “Oooh, that is gonna hurt!”, “That hit him right between legs!”, “Fight! Fight! Fight!”

Funny thing those legendary companions from what I saw in the past have worst dps ever and health pool less than a rabbit. If the Legendary sand giant had their DPS or health, I would be killing him every 50 minutes.

I would love to know what is the point of having those 3 in there if they are not going to help me at all?

Ok, they are required for story telling and bla bla bla! at least don’t make them legendary so I don’t rely on them!

And, why all the mobs in personal story unlike open world attack player instead of their pet. isn’t purpose of having pet diverting the attack to them?

By the way, if you are no a ranger and never had a ranger, let me tell you that, even in full zerk ascended armor, without their pet, ranger DPS is as low as chickens in Queensdale.

Yeah, I was doing the chak pit master achievement last night and got a real kick out of Braham dying within the first 30 seconds. Way to lend a hand, bud!

The purpose… hummm probably to show us why they desperatly need us as the pact commander. Simply NPC allies used to much drugs, don’t wear any armor and have no clue how to actively use their profession abilities. In the end when they are with you, you need to think of them as if they are mini pet that will inevitably aggro thing that they can’t handle.

In short, they are indeed legendary but, more accuratly, they are legendarily useless :
- they do no damage
- they barely use any skill except skill. For example majory is supposed to be a necromancer but she never ever used the shroud. Rythlock is a revenant but at best he will use Unrelenting assault while still doing less damage than a ranger pet. Canach can spend 10 minute against a chaak that any player even in full cleric gear would kill in 2 hit.
- They can’t take a hit. It’s like they are in berserker gear with the health pool of an elementalist but the damage of a wet noodle.

There are very few story instance were NPC are really usefull. They are usually very badly balanced.

Dadnir.5038:

The purpose… hummm probably to show us why they desperatly need us as the pact commander. Simply NPC allies used to much drugs, don’t wear any armor and have no clue how to actively use their profession abilities. In the end when they are with you, you need to think of them as if they are mini pet that will inevitably aggro thing that they can’t handle.

In short, they are indeed legendary but, more accuratly, they are legendarily useless :
- they do no damage
- they barely use any skill except skill. For example majory is supposed to be a necromancer but she never ever used the shroud. Rythlock is a revenant but at best he will use Unrelenting assault while still doing less damage than a ranger pet. Canach can spend 10 minute against a chaak that any player even in full cleric gear would kill in 2 hit.
- They can’t take a hit. It’s like they are in berserker gear with the health pool of an elementalist but the damage of a wet noodle.

There are very few story instance were NPC are really usefull. They are usually very badly balanced.

They are not meant to compensate for lower player skill. A buff would just increase the likelihood of players simply letting the NPC’s do the work for them.

The only thing your companions are (sometimes) good for is ressing you. Otherwise you have to rely on your own skills.

As pointed out in posts above, you should have a look at your build. If you are zerk, you are better off with LB/S+A. If you are condi, A+T has better condi than SB. SB is a better pvp weapon because of the evades, which you don’t need as much of in pve.

And a bear is fine for tanking but the bristleback hits much, much harder and more consistently. For my druid, I always pick DPS pets over tanking… they all seem to survive just fine ever since Anet introduced the damage reduction to non-targeted pets and minions.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

Well . . . I’m also a ranger, and I mowed through her and every other mob in that instance without an issue. Perhaps, you are unaware of the specific mechanic used to defeat her?

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/lwd/SPOILER-Justiciar-Adrienne-s-bloodstone-shield/first

That said, yes . . . the companions are nothing more than glorified meatshields.

Also keep in mind, if you’re a ‘zerker’, certain pets cannot hold aggro if you don’t use specific traits and/or skills. I use Nature Magic, Beastmastery, and Druid. At no time does my pet lose aggro. I used to use Smokescale, but now I use tiger.

To the point, my pet was killing the mob so fast and holding aggro, I had to put him on passive so I could get that cheering achievement done.

Again, it depends on your traits and gear choice. On that note, the bear is perhaps the worse DPS pet outside of wyvern. Might want to switch up and do some reading on the ranger boards.

Good luck.

If you read the OP carefully, he says that the mobs weren’t attacking the NPCs and the NPCs weren’t doing anything, therefore they weren’t even “meatshields”. And he also says:

bobsort.4097:

I am a ranger with a bear which is a tanking pet.

While I was fighting this guy and other mobs that constantly keep shooting at me. my 3 legendary companion were standing right there and my pet get busy with grass.

In any normal situation, my pet keeps the mobs away from me while I pick them up one by one and occasionally heal the pet (because I can’t do it more than once in every 1:20 minutes?).

Anyway no matter what I did, all the mobs were attacking me instead of my pet

Sounds like the OP’s instance was bugged so that not only were the NPCs not at all helpful but even the pet was not helpful. If you have a Ranger build that heavily involves the pet and the pet isn’t doing anything at all (even attracting the notice of the mobs), then I’m not surprised he was having trouble.

I’ve been in many Story instances where it’s like the NPCs aren’t even there except for their comments and its definitely not fun.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

When exactly are the companions ever helpful? That’s the point of me calling them ‘glorified meatshields.’ The key word is ‘glorified.’ Also, please note, I tried to help the OP. Even posted links to assist.

Yes, no doubt, his instance bugged. He said as much after I posted the video. I read it. No need to point it out again.

It sounds like you felt I attacked you but that was not my point. I was simply stating that not only were his Guild-mates not doing anything but his pet wasn’t either. “Meatshield” normally involves something you can use as a shield, so perhaps I misunderstood what you meant by that term. And they often do participate in fights.

for tank pet F1 ignores my command no matter how many time I press it. it keeps attacking an imaginary target, (invisible?) until I switch pet which is not available very often specially when my other pet (dps) does not survive very long!

Djinn.9245:

If you read the OP carefully, he says that the mobs weren’t attacking the NPCs and the NPCs weren’t doing anything, therefore they weren’t even “meatshields”.

Exactly my point! It was bugged, and I was trying to be polite and don’t curse every employee of the a.net for the bug that caused me to die enough so my armor turn all red before even reaching last boss. exit and restart wasn’t an option and I’m sure people don’t need me to explain why!

onevstheworld.2419:

If you are zerk, you are better off with LB/S+A. If you are condi, A+T has better condi than SB. SB is a better pvp weapon because of the evades, which you don’t need as much of in pve.

I’m having trouble understanding your formulas. What “Acceleration + Time” has to do with weight in “lb” divide by “Speed+ Acceleration”? how you get “Speed Boost”, is it a utility buff? Could you please use usual x and y as variables and a,b,c as constants, like y=ax+b?

Dadnir.5038:

they are legendarily useless :
- they do no damage
- They can’t take a hit.
- It’s like they are in berserker gear with the health pool of an elementalist but the damage of a wet noodle.

My point. Legendary has some respect! when I see one, I look around me to see if there are at least 10 other players in area willing to attack them. put them in town clothes and give them foam sword and make them normal NPCs and I’ll be happy to defend them!

Ayrilana.1396:

They are not meant to compensate for lower player skill. A buff would just increase the likelihood of players simply letting the NPC’s do the work for them.

Ayrilana.1396:

NPC’s are part of the story which is why they are there. They’re not going to be made strong enough to be able to carry players through the instance and trivialize the content.

Ayrilana, stop it! do you think I’m enjoying doing those stories?! I’m forced to do them otherwise I won’t get backpack, item, Mastery points, etc. which I need to be able to jump high in open world! or open a chest or grab an stupid mushroom! or walk in an area that they put poison! People are forced to do things they don’t like to do! a.net forget about their primary goal where players can play their own way! Now I have to do stuff that I hate to the bone to get that mastery points that I need to unlock getting shards for XP that I was getting before HoT.

If there was a slight chance that I could be carried by NPCs, I would take it! it is not like story have very impressive loot! I can loot same amount of item by killing centaurs in Queensdale for 10 minutes!

Longbow/Sword+Axe, Axe + Torch, Shortbow. Not variables or constants; abbreviations.

I didn’t have any issue with the Chapter on my Ranger. You might consider changing pets, if they are dying too easily. I didn’t even notice there were NPCs, except when one rezzed me once the very first time. You may have a corrupted file(s), so you might try a -repair of the client, as well.

Also, neither you, nor anyone else, ever got Spirit Shards for filling an XP bar prior to the release of Heart of Thorns.

Good luck.

i have no issues with my ranger, the normal behavior of companions is try res u. marjorie always came resurrect me. I noticed that it’s something to do with the distance between the npc and me.

and im kinda into hibrid builds, not the meta ones. my ranger uses rampager armor, the pet was tiger, the Tiger is very aggressive, test it..

Ahhh yes, the companions..
I think they are known as being legendary because they are awesome when it comes to;

-getting stuck behind a tree
-dying after getting hit by a normal chicken
-not helping you in fights
-delivering cool one-liners against dead enemies after not having lift a finger during the combat.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

After ten days, is there a reason you feel the need to rant at Ayrilana? Everything she stated was true, on point, and professional.

Saying that the NPCs are not there to compensate for lack of skill is nasty at best.

Ardenwolfe.8590:

But not inaccurate.

But definitely rant-worthy. Not sure why you were surprised.

Though the OP’s question has been posted a while ago, here are my 2 cents:
- I finished that story step on 10 alts and have experienced the NPCs not pitching in during that fight in various levels of severity (however not the ‘all 3 just being bored’, which I believe in combination with the inactive pet really sucks).
- Rytlock seemed to bug out most of the times (standing there, just waving his sword in a ‘I am really bored’-animation).
- Canach had a high tendency to be completely useless as well (basically ducking on the floor while not even being noticed by any of the mobs)
- Marjory was for me the most reliable (hey, thanks)
- Funnily, for my last toon I had been so annoyed by that behaviour that I asked a fellow guildie to tag along (who had experienced the same problem) – and guess what? All 3 NPCs joined in the fight.
No, they never do much damage, but they are good as a distraction for the add-ons while you fight Adrienne. When they bug out, it’s as if they are not there at all. They literally just stand there/duck. They don’t draw any aggro from mobs even if they are (like in the screenshot posted by OP) standing right next to them. So they basically just block your way.
I’d call it a bug – no idea what causes it, since it seems to occur randomly and affecting a variable number of the NPCs. Yes, the fight is still feasible even on your own. It just takes a lot of time without being particularly exciting. (Advice: take another human along with you to shorten the pain)

wait, there were legendary-classed people in Destriny’s Edge? I always thought they were ambient critters

bobsort.4097:

By the way, if you are no a ranger and never had a ranger, let me tell you that, even in full zerk ascended armor, without their pet, ranger DPS is as low as chickens in Queensdale.

The screenshot shows a shortbow. The shortbow is a condi weapon not a power weapon. If you use a longbow you no longer hit like a wet noodle in your ascended zerk gear. ;-)