Guild Wars 2

I am new – never had a character above level 40 yet – but I want to learn how to play melee properly as I level. I know that from 40-80 I’ll really need to understand defense in order to survive.

This is what I think is true and what I am practicing – any advice?

- Simply moving side to side fails: Circling around my enemy to avoid attacks does NOT seem to work. Many attacks are AOE or cones and moving side to side just gets me killed. It works now with Drake breath etc but it seems like a bad habit long term
- Dodge: I need to use my dodge sparingly since I only get 2 before the refill. I try to ‘time’ it but I struggle to know when to use it.
- Weapon Defense: Certain weapons have evades, blocks, etc. I think I need to use these frequently to mitigate damage.

So right now I pretty much stand in one spot facing the mob and mix in my dodge and weapon defense moves.

It is not working.

I either kill the thing in seconds or the thing hits me with a whopper for 70% of my health when all my defenses are on cooldown.

I’d love any general advice on how to fight as I level so I build the muscle memory for level 80/

Thanks.

PS: I am playing a level 39 ranger now if that helps. But I want to learn the basic concepts of melee for all classes over time.

Moving out of their attacks generally does not work unless you move out of their strike range. Also it depends on whther their attacks cleave in which case the enemy strike zone is larger.

When you reach 80 the primary defense most people will speak of is to take down your target as fast possible. This is easily achieved by traiting and equipping berserker gear.

For a ranger, the two melee weapons, sword and axe habe a variety of opions for avoiding damage. The sword auto attack features an evade in the chain, skill 2 is an evade as is 3. All of these require good timing to use effectively and that comes with practice. The great sword has a closig skill in number 3 which is also an evade. Skill 4 is a block and 5 is a stun. Depensing on which one uou are using you will have access to 5 ways to avoid damage including your two dodges.

Effective melee is all abouy practice and waching for ememy tells. All of the big attacks will be projected either through AOE which is visible on the ground or have unique animations . knowing these is key to minimizing damage.

However, the biggest tip you can get as a melee player is to know when to retreat. Being melee does not mean you are the first one into a fight and the last one out. Only the hravy classes really have that luxury. If things are going bad never feel obliged to stay and die. Back away, pop your heal, switch to a ranged weapon, when you’re set switch back to your melee weapon and get stuck in again. Unlike traditional mmos combat in gw2 tends to be very fluid so you need to learn to adapt to the situation. For instance if you’re moving around too much and draw more aggro. In some locations uou can even use the terrain to uour advantage. Big tree stumps and rocks or a short drop can all be used to block a big attack. Standing and fighting is not a good option. You’ll simply take too much damage.

What weapon sets are you using? I actually found melee to be easiest on Ranger due to the amount of defensive skills you get on your weapons.

Here’s a quick idea of the skills you can use

Sword (it may help to turn the Sword Auto attack off. I found it much easier to control when I did) -

Skill 2 – Hornet’s Sting + Monarch’s Leap. Hornets sting is an evade backwards. Be careful not to jump off a cliff.
Skill 3 – Serpent’s Strike. Evades to the side of the target.

Dagger -

Skill 4 – Stalker’s Strike. Similar to Serpent’s Strike. If you use Sword/Dagger you’ll have 3 evades quickly at your disposal.

Greatsword -

Skill 1 – Third attack in the chain (Power Stab) is also an evade so just using auto attack you get an evade every 3 attacks
Skill 3 – Swoop. Swoop evades whilst leaping at the target.
Skill 4 – Counterattack. Using this skill once and you’ll block one attack and knockback your foe.
Skill 5 – Hilt Bash. Dazes (or Stuns if you hit from behind) your foe interrupting their attacks.

Axe -

Skill 4 – Path of Scars. This attack is a pull and can interrupt your foe.
Skill 5 – Whirling Defense. This skill will reflect projectiles directed towards you.

Non weapon evade skills -

Lightning Reflexes – Evade backwards (like Hornet’s Sting). Once again be careful not to jump off a cliff.

The main thing is knowing when to use these skills and that comes with recognising tells. For example Melee Centaurs (Tramplers etc.) rear back a little bit before they leap forward knocking you down. If you recognise the attack you can easily dodge otherwise you’re gonna eat dirt.

Message me in game sometime and we can try to get some dodging practice in.

On my ranger I like to have one melee set and one ranged set, put sigils on at least one weapon in each set that give me a benefit for swapping, and then swap back and forth between melee and ranged. It makes for a very active and mobile play style I enjoy on the ranger. Usually when I’m using sword, right when the weapon swap timer is about to be ready to activate I hit Hornet’s Sting to jump out of melee range and then swap to my ranged set.

Back at the start of the game, Enigmious 2 made this video that I found to be very helpful. It’s old but still relevant and perhaps will answer some of your questions.

Everything these others have said about the Ranger’s built-in defenses with melee weapons is true. Practice with all these weapons against PvE champs and bosses to start; these enemies usually have “tells” so you can see when they are about to wallop you. Use one of your evasive moves when you see the tell.

After practicing on PvE champs for awhile, I suggest joining SPvP and getting your rear end kicked a few times Seriously, the learning curve is steep in SPvP but it will eventually make you a very good dodger/evader. Just keep practicing and remember that we all got our butts kicked at one time or another.

Keep in mind your other (non-weapon) skills and certain traits that can help you stay in the fight without necessarily having to dodge or evade. For example: Troll Unguent heals you over time, allowing you to keep swinging. And Traits like Bark Skin (not unlocked until 80, alas) will make you harder to take down. Finally, anything that gives you Vigor will allow you to dodge more often within any given fight.

Once you start shopping for a nice set of gear (rare, exotic or possibly higher), take a close look at all the available Runes (you upgrade your armor with these) and Sigils (you upgrade your weapons with these). Full sets of Runes and Sigils often provide an additional bonus or unique ability on top of your skills and traits.