Guild Wars 2

I find dungeons quite intimidating.

I read lots of stories in the forums about how everyone just wants to get through everything as fast as they can and with the best lvl 80 players they can find, and so I’ve managed to get to level 80 on my necromancer and to the end of my quest storyline without playing a single dungeon.

This being said, you can imagine my dismay to discover I need to complete the Arah dungeon storyline in order to complete the main quest.

I guess I’m intimidated because I don’t know how to go about joining a group in the first place, and I also doubt my ability and necromancer build as well. It all works really well for me in game but I don’t know how liked or disliked necromancers are in the dungeon world – and how best to play mine.

I also don’t know the maps of any of the dungeons, how to run them, the shortcuts, or what you even do in there haha. In short I’m really inexperienced and I’m worried that a group I join will be expecting more of me because I’m a level 80.

Anyway, I’m not too sure what I’m asking but any help or encouragement would be really appreciated. I’m certainly not a bad player and I would be a really good listener, and it would be nice to be able to explore this part of guild wars 2 now that I’m so close to endgame.

That dungeon is very forgiving for the very reason that you need to complete it to finish the game. 95% of the people that run that dungeon’s story mode will be understanding and give you some leeway if you don’t immediately understand dungeon mechanics.

By the way, there are two different types of dungeons. Each dungeon has a story mode variant and an explorable mode variant. To be able to start a run of explorable mode, you have to have completed the story mode, however if one person in your party has completed story mode, he can launch it for everyone. Story mode dungeons are usually (some exceptions) easier, although longer, and don’t require that much skill or cunning to complete. Just time.

Explorable mode dungeons are the ones that people want to speed run because they give tokens that can be exchanged for level 80 exotic gear.

The dungeon you have to complete is a story mode dungeon, so you don’t have too much to worry about.

hey there. i myself leveled up to 80 myself before attempting any dungeons. the very first story mode i ran was CM in Queensdale (Human starting zone). after joining a group, i let them know it was my first time. and they were friendly enough to say, this one isn’t too bad, don’t worry about it and to just follow their lead.

don’t doubt your own abilities. the more important thing is to have an open mind to learn. be able to communicate well with the group. and slowl you’ll gain confidence. i can say that i’ve learnt more how my character plays in the dungeons and i love running dungeons now (for fun, for tokens, what not). and if people are being buttholes, that’s their problem. not yours. just do your best to be part of the team.

that being said, to find a good group, might take some time as well. so don’t be discouraged if your first dungeon experience didn’t go as well as you’d hoped or you didn’t click with the group. keep trying! and do your best. remember in dungeons, it’s all for one and one for all.

and i would suggest going for a more survivable build to start with. and the more you do, you’ll know what your limits are and you can adjust your gear / traits and build more accordingly.

while we’re at it, why not try to find some video or written guides on dungons that you’r einterested in. just to SORT of see what might be coming if that helps you. but you learn most when you’re thrown in there.

btw, which server are you on?
here’s a shameless plug as well:
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/players/OPERATION-UNION-Bringing-Players-Together/first

a bunch of players decided to start a guild and an operation to help each other out. it’s still small but steadily growing now! maybe you can find someone on your server there. or even cross server to do dungeons together. i know some, myself included, will be wanting to do some runs in the future.

lastly, again, just have an open midn to learn, experiment, and you’ll learn to be awesome at dungeons.

A good measure of your ability to survive in a dungeon would be how you do in a Champion fight without many other people there. Most normal critters you fight in a dungeon are roughly that level of difficulty, with the bosses harder. Practice against that, pick up some survivability gear, and be willing to listen to direction from someone who has done them before and you should be ok.

Hey Guns , first and foremost GET OUT AND TRY IT!

Don’t be afraid and go for it! ::)
Sure you might find it difficult at first but it’s great fun once you know how. I advise you the dungeons are not really like anything in PvE.

Here’s a few tips:

1. Awareness is key
I’m not saying you have to study every enemies cues etc. (That comes with time) Just that you need some awareness of what is going on. Seeing someone downed and getting to them if possible is really great teamwork and the more folks you have fighting the better.

2. Learn class combos
This is so that you can understand the OTHER people’s skills. It also buffs and does more damage so if someone pops a combo field down, finish it!

3. Study what your skills do
I’m not saying crank out the maths. Just read the description so you know what your skills do. This is so you understand when to apply/activate the skills in a certain situation.

4. Determination
You may find your future experiences become frustrating but you just can’t give up! This is especially true if ALL members are ACTUALLY TRYING. Giving up on people is not nice. >:L

If you’re on an EU Server drop me a line. I’m always happy to help on dungeons.

Glitch

i guess i gave up too early/easily. i heard dungeons now also give karma, but i think it is too late for me to want to go back and attempt them. i have only been through Catacombs, Cathedral, Manor and Sorrows. each time i go with people from the guild, i feel as if i am letting them down somehow, each time. one guild member even said “thanks for the group today, but man you guys suck at dungeons!”

i think that hit some kind of nerve with me on Sunday, because i really don’t want to delve into them ever again, even just for the karma/token combo. i guess i an not as prepared as i should be.

thanks to the apparent alienating player base. i know it was just ONE person since playing Guild Wars 2, but there are bound to be others like that in-game i just have not encountered yet. i will stick to mindlessly grinding/stockpiling, because it makes me happy. at least i can save money in repair costs.

I also waited until i was level 80 before even trying AC story mode and I felt a similar anxiety about trying dungeons. I know how discouraging it can be when a party member is rude about people not knowing the dungeon but don’t give up on them. There are some decent people out there.

I’d advise to let your team know that it’s your first time so that they know to give more directions. And if they kick you out for that, well then they’re jerks and who wants to play with jerks! I’d rather take more time with a nice group, personally.

Also dodge, dodge, dodge!

That said, Guns and rgrwng, if you’re ever on Yak’s Bend and want to give AC a whirl, send me a message! (Silen Tium)

rgrwng if you want someone a tad bit more friendly to new players and has a bit of ability of lead them add me to your list. I usually do a lot of TA/AC explore with PuGs and do others with static groups. (Deadwarrior is my main)

@Roz – they don’t even need to be on Yaks bend/(Insert your home server here). Dungeons work cross server.

I’ll echo Dead. I’m not that experienced or high-leveled myself (level 42, completed AC and CM SM), but I’m always up to lend a hand when I’m free.

Overall, yeah, it takes a lot of patience. AC was described somewhere as “an hours-long wake-up call,” and it is a huge transition from general PvE. As Kozai said, practice soloing or near-soloing Veterans, then Champions (yes, it’s doable). You’ll get beaten up, but you’ll also learn a lot about how to time dodges/control skills.

if anyone’s interested in doing dungeons, i am relatively new, but have experience with AC, CM, CoE, and SE. let me know if you’re interested and feel free to add me. “akaimon” is my main, Guardian : )))

also, if you want to brave some new dungeons or paths, we can do that as well. have patience to slowly learn if that’s what you need as well. once you get the hang of dungeons, it can be REALLY fun. hopefully everyone out there can find a group that they click with.

communications, awareness and openness is key i feel. and everything else will come with practice.

rozcinana.7249:

I’d advise to let your team know that it’s your first time so that they know to give more directions. And if they kick you out for that, well then they’re jerks and who wants to play with jerks! I’d rather take more time with a nice group, personally.

Very much this. Letting the group know it’s your first time makes it smoother for everyone. They’ll give you tips on how to handle stuff instead of expecting you to know what to do and as a result you actually know what to do which makes it more pleasant for yourself and easier for the group. We’ve all been there for the first time at some point and most people understand that.

I’ve done most of the dungeons in storymode, and are usually running a couple of explorables per day for my exotic gear.

Yes, you will find players wanting to speed run, skip certain encounters (which can be extremely annoying and confusing if you haven’t tried it before), and who will complain if you don’t know what you’re doing. This is unfortunately part of what comes with playing a MMO. You will find these more often in Orr and explorable Arah than in other explorable dungeons though.

BUT I have generally found that GW2 players are nice and will help explain encounters for you when needed. Whenever I start a storymode or explorable mode unknown to me, I start off by saying upfront “Guys, just to let you all know, this is my first time in here, so please let me know any necessary strategies for the fights”. Based on this I have never experienced complaints or complained myself, it’s a first time for everyone and as long as you are open and upfront about it, then it’s fine.

And if you for whatever reason find yourself in a group with players wanting to speed run and generally complain and don’t help you, my recommendation is leave, typically that’s the type of player, who views the game as a job (read: take to seriously) instead of just having fun. That’s what I do anyway.

Dead.7385:

@Roz – they don’t even need to be on Yaks bend/(Insert your home server here). Dungeons work cross server.

Oh! that’s good to know, thanks

Yes! Don’t be discouraged! I think the best way to handle this is for each dungeon run you do—pay attention to your teammates; if they are cooperative and seem like someone you’d like to party with again, add them to your friends list. I feel like sometimes just like in real life, you just need to find the right people but once you find a good group, you are pretty much set.

I love running ac dungeons, if you ever need help with that, I can aid—and this is to anyone who just needs help to get that experience and knowledge base. I know most of the different routes you can take (aka when to skip, but I don’t mind fighting either because boss fights are funn) so I can inform you along the way just in case you want to consider those options or at least be aware of them in the future if you accidentally party with some impatient players. One thing I can gurantee is that you can never let me down. I fight for myself, if I die, I tried to rez as fast as I can to get back on track, no blame, no stress. Also I have a few guildmates who play for fun and who are willing to help.

Sanctum of Rall
I run 8pm-10pm est.
Sky Avalon

Dead.7385 @Roz – they don’t even need to be on Yaks bend/(Insert your home server here). Dungeons work cross server.

Really? I didn’t know that, how do you connect with people on other servers for a specific dungeon? The only people I know in GW2 are RL friends so we all went to one server.

One of the helpful things about practicing solo versus Veterans/Champions, Guns, is that you can really focus on learning “tells” for attacks, timing of your own attacks, play around with different utility skills and combos and so on without either holding up a group or trying to figure out what is going on among a haze of special effects from your party. Definitely read up on Combos at the wiki, while you may not know everyone’s in the game, you can at least figure out how to work with the ones YOU can generate. Then you can do things like rotate in crowd control when the boss focuses on you.

I’m also curious how you can link up cross-server to do dungeons. Do they automatically get the message to enter the dungeon instance as long as they are in the right zone (e.g. Plains of Ashford for AC), regardless of their server?

The way I understand it is that you first need to be in a party with the others you intend to dungeon with (even if you are all on different servers). Then you need to be near to the dungeon on your own server (not sure how near but I should imagine in the area just outside it would be best). Then whomever is going to initiate the dungeon run goes to enter and everyone else in the party should receive an instance request asking if they want to join. You accept and enter the dungeon and congregate inside.

If I am incorrect (having only discussed this with others, not having done it myself) please feel free to correct me.

rozcinana.7249:

I’m also curious how you can link up cross-server to do dungeons. Do they automatically get the message to enter the dungeon instance as long as they are in the right zone (e.g. Plains of Ashford for AC), regardless of their server?

Simply invite the player. Then zone into the area (Ashford) and have one player enter. Just as you would in a regular group. It should prompt the entire party – but if not you should be able to just zone in (if you don’t bug out in separate instances) Friends list/guilds/tells work cross server as well so you can meet up to join that way.

Although I hear it does not work cross region.

Last time I went to dungeon, it was one I had not been into. Had no idea were to go and even got lost once which one guy started yelling in all caps insulting me.

“KICK THIS NOOB! GOD HE’S SLOWING US DOWN!!!!:”. Yea ok. /quit group.

Everyone just wants a speed run it seems and people who have not done it before are actively discouraged from going. But I accept this b/c this is how it is in all MMOs now.

Hey guys! Thanks for all the tips and encouragement. I joined a group and ran the Arah storymode dungeon last night and it was lots of fun! I let them know it was my first time and after my nervousness left I think I did pretty well, (:

I was lucky to be a part of such a nice team and I’m looking forward to trying the other dungeons now. Again, thank you all for the encouragement and helpful hints, and I hope this thread helps to encourage other people like it’s helped me!

Awww that sucks fixit.
If you are on an EU server I’d glad to help you in story dungeons, especially AC. My friend Lexy says I practically live there.

If you are on an NA Server I’m sure I can rustle up some of my American buddies to lend a hand.

Don’t be discouraged try again and don’t give up!

Saying “this is my first try” is a must but you might also try YouTube. Watch it through a couple of times before your first visit and again after. I have been told “follow us and do what we do” but that teaches little.