Guild Wars 2

Greetings. I am coming back to this game from a couple of years ago. It seems the problem that was then is still there now. That being that no matter what class or skills or weapons I use I constantly keep dying to normal mobs in maguuma or trash mobs in dungeons.

I am not complaining I just wish to know if there is something I am missing. I am playing revenant. Trying both S/A or Hammer but seem to constantly die all the time. It is rather frustrating cine I cannot pin point the cause at all. I am not standing in the red circles or any traps.

Any and all help would be most appreciated.

1) Try using equipment that gives toughness or vitality. Toughness is an armour bonus, vitality is a health bonus, both will help you survive more damage.

2) Make sure you’ve got some type of condition removal: either passive (a trait or signet that removes them periodically) or active (a skill you activate to remove them), especially if you choose toughness over vitality because conditions ignore armour.

3) Do you know how to dodge? Not just which button to push but when to use it in order to get the best use from it? That’s vital in this game because even with a ‘tank’ build you’re going to need active defense to stay alive and that’s your number 1 option.

4) Do you move during combat? Not just avoiding red circles but to avoid attacks and kite enemies. That also makes a huge difference. It is possible for some characters to survive in some situations while just standing in 1 spot, but it’s relatively rare compared to other games. (Don’t forget you can move while attacking too, so it’s not like you have to stop what you’re doing to avoid enemies.)

If by “Maguuma” you mean “Maguuma Jungle”, then I don’t think I can offer much help.

However, if you mean “Heart of Maguuma”, as in the four Heart of Thorns (HoT) maps, then there’s no solution. Sadly, those areas are just too overpowering. ANet made some minor changes to correct this problem, but nowhere near enough. So, you have to work on perfecting your characters instead:

Get all ascended gear (plus runes, infusions, and sigils), and know how to dodge and how to run away. And, never attempt to take on two mobs at once while solo. If two aggro on you, immediately turn and run away, preferably using an area-effect chill or cripple to slow them down. (Exception: if there’s another player nearby helping, keep fighting unless it’s three mobs.)

Eventually, you’ll get good enough to recognize too-powerful mobs (of which there are far too many). Then, you can avoid them.

Also, try starting one of the five Living Story Season 3 maps. They’re a tad easier than the four main HoT maps. And (with the exception of the fifth map, Draconic Mons), the mapping is orders of magnitude more playable.

Do not work to get Ascended gear as a means to survive in HoT. If you can’t get around decently in exotics you’re not going to survive much better in Ascended, the stat difference is just not that big.

Do however look over runes and sigils, I find that I often forget to get those set up properly. Look over your traits too, picking out some defensive ones.

Danikat.8537:

1) 4) Do you move during combat? Not just avoiding red circles but to avoid attacks and kite enemies. That also makes a huge difference. It is possible for some characters to survive in some situations while just standing in 1 spot, but it’s relatively rare compared to other games. (Don’t forget you can move while attacking too, so it’s not like you have to stop what you’re doing to avoid enemies.)

I think this is a really important one. Hitting from the back or sides is supposed to do more damage (not sure if it does), but it keeps you out of the way of most of their attacks. When kiting make sure you pay attention to skills that plant you. In melee this is even more important. There’s an option called “Melee Attack Assist”, when it’s enabled it prevents you from walking through your enemy. I have this disabled so I can dodge through them right before an attack and immediately hit them from behind.

Daddicus.6128:

If by “Maguuma” you mean “Maguuma Jungle”, then I don’t think I can offer much help.

However, if you mean “Heart of Maguuma”, as in the four Heart of Thorns (HoT) maps, then there’s no solution. Sadly, those areas are just too overpowering. ANet made some minor changes to correct this problem, but nowhere near enough. So, you have to work on perfecting your characters instead:

Get all ascended gear (plus runes, infusions, and sigils), and know how to dodge and how to run away. And, never attempt to take on two mobs at once while solo. If two aggro on you, immediately turn and run away, preferably using an area-effect chill or cripple to slow them down. (Exception: if there’s another player nearby helping, keep fighting unless it’s three mobs.)

Eventually, you’ll get good enough to recognize too-powerful mobs (of which there are far too many). Then, you can avoid them.

Also, try starting one of the five Living Story Season 3 maps. They’re a tad easier than the four main HoT maps. And (with the exception of the fifth map, Draconic Mons), the mapping is orders of magnitude more playable.

Or you could just build tankier? People always seem surprised that if you deviate from “zerk or go home” you can live longer even if you aren’t a total pro. For instance, try something similar to the PvP build for ele and it’s hilarious how difficult it is for enemies to kill a class that is considered in contention for the “squishiest” class of all.

Stats and traits really matter in this game. Try something different if what you’re doing isn’t working.

DeadTreeJig.6714:

Danikat.8537:

1) 4) Do you move during combat? Not just avoiding red circles but to avoid attacks and kite enemies. That also makes a huge difference. It is possible for some characters to survive in some situations while just standing in 1 spot, but it’s relatively rare compared to other games. (Don’t forget you can move while attacking too, so it’s not like you have to stop what you’re doing to avoid enemies.)

I think this is a really important one. Hitting from the back or sides is supposed to do more damage (not sure if it does), but it keeps you out of the way of most of their attacks. When kiting make sure you pay attention to skills that plant you. In melee this is even more important. There’s an option called “Melee Attack Assist”, when it’s enabled it prevents you from walking through your enemy. I have this disabled so I can dodge through them right before an attack and immediately hit them from behind.

Hitting from the side or back only matters for specific skills and/or trait combinations. It was like that in GW1. In the case of being attacked the only thing I can think of is mordrem wolves who will do more damage to you from behind.

If you want to learn how to improve in combat and make builds then you can check out this guide:

https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/GW2-Combat-system-101-Guide/page/6#post6647080

You’re welcome. =)

Since OP is a Revanent, I can make one kind of easy suggestion for stupidly survivable power build for general purpose PvE.

http://metabattle.com/wiki/Build:Herald_-_Frontline_Sustain

It calls for Mauraders gear, but you can substitute a mixture of Berserkers, Valkyrie, and Assassins to get a similar spread of stats. The extra vitality is whats important, and you want to get it at least up to 20k (its 24k with Asc Maurader). Sigil choice is open, but Bloodlust/Strength combo is meant to make up the lower power total.

Ironically, the rest of the build doesn’t matter as much. The majority of your surviablity comes from the extra HP, mixed with the minor traits of Dev/Ret/Her… so you’re pretty much free to select all offensive majors if you want. For legends you run Glint + any other legend based on situation. The main reason to run Glint is the Healing skill to invert damage (using dense AOE fields to heal yourself), and passively stack might/swiftness as you navigate. You can also run any weapon set you want, but do recommend keeping either Hammer or Staff for the CCs. This build is phenomenal for Map meta, and only really dies when you get badly stun locked.

The down side is that your burst damage is pretty low (compared to meta builds), but your sustain damage is good enough to deal with most fights until you hit 4:1 odds. At that power scale, staff DPS is pretty much on par with sword, unless you trait swords; but the sheer utility of the staff makes its hard to replace as the melee weapon of choice.

Second downside is this build won’t fly in Raids due to the toughness from the runes. But since Rev doesn’t fit well into the raid meta right now, you’re better off bringing another class or having a separate armor set for raids.

As a side suggestion…. if you haven’t taken your alts through HOT’s story line, each pass gives you a choice for a box of HOT stat exotic gear. I started taking all my alts through the story so I can do the Caladbalg collection, and been collecting Vipers boxes as I go. Gonna use those for a Viper armor set for a condi build, once I decide which class to use for it.

Daddicus.6128:

However, if you mean “Heart of Maguuma”, as in the four Heart of Thorns (HoT) maps, then there’s no solution. Sadly, those areas are just too overpowering. ANet made some minor changes to correct this problem, but nowhere near enough. So, you have to work on perfecting your characters instead:

This passive aggressive complaining about anet is not useful. If you don’t have the experience in the game to offer advice, don’t give it. I have absolutely no trouble surviving in full glass on all 9 professions in HoT, as do tens of thousands of other players. Furthermore, if the OP (or you) wants, we can explain how to do it.

I think a lot of it has to do with understanding the mechanics of what you’re up against. It’s true, using gear with more toughness and vitality will give you more time to react to your enemy, but it also means that it takes longer to finish them off. This is a good way to take time to learn the mechanics of enemies that you struggle with, along with taking traits and utility skills aimed more toward survival, though. Then you can ease your way into more offensive builds once you’re comfortable fighting whatever you’re up against.

I know it’s a bit of a vague answer but if you need more help or have any questions then feel free to message me in-game too. Good luck!

AliamRationem.5172:

Or you could just build tankier? People always seem surprised that if you deviate from “zerk or go home” you can live longer even if you aren’t a total pro. For instance, try something similar to the PvP build for ele and it’s hilarious how difficult it is for enemies to kill a class that is considered in contention for the “squishiest” class of all.

Stats and traits really matter in this game. Try something different if what you’re doing isn’t working.

I agree. (I didn’t specify WHAT gear to get, just that it be the best.)

I actually despise berserker gear. While it’s good for running around against wandering monsters, it’s a severe hindrance to one’s allies when fighting a large mob or most bosses. They’re always having to revive berserkers, who are usually the first to go down in protracted battles.

Kako.1930:

I think a lot of it has to do with understanding the mechanics of what you’re up against. It’s true, using gear with more toughness and vitality will give you more time to react to your enemy, but it also means that it takes longer to finish them off. This is a good way to take time to learn the mechanics of enemies that you struggle with, along with taking traits and utility skills aimed more toward survival, though. Then you can ease your way into more offensive builds once you’re comfortable fighting whatever you’re up against.

I know it’s a bit of a vague answer but if you need more help or have any questions then feel free to message me in-game too. Good luck!

There is also the need to properly prioritize what to kill first.