Guild Wars 2

I come from other games where I just stood there and beat the hell out if things, won’t mention them but sure you can guess.

I have always moved using both mouse buttons but obviously that doesn’t work on GW2, I need to relearn how to move and also how to kite.

Could you please give me an idea the best way to do this as only started game this week and really struggling with it but love the game and want to improve.

learn to utilize dodge roll it gives you pseudo invincibility so you can time evades. adapting isn’t going to come immediately, just practice and you’ll get it eventually. remember that everyone has a heal skill and utility skills to keep you moving/healing/evading

More important than choosing the correct class is choosing the correct gear. Make sure you’re taking pieces with +vitality and +toughness. This will give you the survivability necessary to take a few hits. You’ll put out less damage, but that’s generally not significant until later levels, or until you feel the need to kill things more quickly.

That said, dodging is absolutely critical to learn. You cannot survive many encounters within dungeons, and even some encounters in the open world, unless you learn to dodge appropriately. Kiting, control chaining, blocking, and etc are all helpful, but unlike dodge, they aren’t necessary. You might pick them up along the way and be better off for it. But you must practice dodging.

Also, in direct answer to your question: armor class generally dictates the overall ability to sit and take hits. Light armor classes depend on kiting or misdirection, medium armor classes can take a few hits but do best with a little evasion, heavy armor classes can stand toe to toe with nearly anything.

This video by Enigmius is very helpful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=sUKWeaXZeOY

Thanks for all the replies everyone, that video was very helpful and now on the right track

Having a good keyboard layout that your hands can easily (and comfortably) work with is key to good play, I think… and it’s often different for everyone as people have different sized or shaped hands or older hands (like mine) that may not be as flexible or able to stretch over large number of keys.

Moving camera with mouse is essential for the turning speed and I also move forward with both mouse buttons pressed. I also have autorun on my mouse side button so i can use it in short doses and then turn camera or ground target with the keyboard hotkeys (thinking of keeping forward & backwards on keys also for backups but not found a good place for them, yet)

My hotkeys are different from the default as I just can’t easily reach the numbers 1-5 easily for long periods without my palm causing havoc and my hand cramping up…

What I use, instead is :-

Strafe Left (Goes on Left Shift Key) – This also keeps me more often moving which is kind’a essential in this game.

Strafe Right (Spacebar) – It’s an old keyboard and space for jump can sometimes not work and i plunge to eat dirt so having strafe right here allows my thumb to use this as well as the bottom set of keys (ALT, X, C, V)

Weapon Skills 1-5 (assigned to A-W-E-R-Q) – A as it’s not often needed to press this skill as it’s our auto-attack anyways on most skills/builds. The others are my most easily reached keys and I can move quickly between them with my Left index finger.

Heal Skill (A crucial skill so it goes on “C” where it can be pressed by my thumb easily even while strafing or attacking with my weapon skills)

Elite Skill (“X” as it’s also easily reached with thumb at any time)

Util Skills (I have these on “S”, "D, “F” so my index finger need just slip down a row for them and then back up to weapon skills without losing my position etc)

Target Nearest Enemy is on CAPS rather than the default TAB for a little easier to reach.

Look Behind & About Face are on “B” & “V” for when i’m more skilled and able to make use of these as again thumb can get them easily without having to leave my weapon skills alone.

Target Ally can go somewhere nearby when I’ve found just the right place.

TIP: Put your – Interact/Gather skill somewhere really quick and easy to reach as well as you’ll likely be needing that a lot. I have it on Shft-Q atm as it’s my most comfortable position but “T” or “G” are also possible keys for this and other general actions such as Open bags etc.

F1-F4 are used for my most common interface panels so I can just move my left hand up to them when out-of-combat (Hero Panel, Contacts, Mail, Trading Post)

This is still being tweaked for my own most personal, ease of use and as I’ve not been playing very long it’ll likely be tweaked for what skills I use most or need at same time as another skill etc.. having such skills close together etc. can be essential.

NOTE: You can still use the shift key assigned with other keys to bring things even closer together, it’s often just a matter of working out which skills use want to use while strafing or remember to strafe-right while using them)

Finally, Key-bindings can be a very personal thing sometimes so try and tweak as you go while leveling and practice to get it right so muscle memory can start taking effect. Changing after long time playing other bindings can be a real chore.

Alf had some good advice, not just for moving in combat and dodging but for controlling the game in general – always remember you can re-map any/all keys so if you find something is awkward or uncomfortable, or you keep thinking a key should be somewhere else move it. It will make the game much easier!

Here’s something that will help you tremendously. Its a little technique that FPS players have been using for years called “Circle strafing.”

Find a pole, or a small fixed object that you can focus on and practice running in a circle around that object. Shouldn’t be too hard to master. After you’ve got that down… Run around the circle using your WASD strafe keys, using RMB to ensure that the object always remains at the center of your screen, in your character’s field of fire.

This is a basic kiting manoeuvre taken from FPS game tactics. It enables you to keep your target in your sights while running sideways (strafing.) Once you’re used to that, you can start practice on a moving target… A Moa bird or something. Here’s a good video showing a quick video of the basics of PvP movement.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7LRrEBqAUPI

Remember, field of fire. The field of fire in an MMO is much more flexible, I think in GW2 its about a 45 degree angle of flexibility. So the target doesn’t have to be directly in the centre of you screen… Just in your field of fire.

Now the great thing about GW2 is the dodge. Essentially, its a get out of trouble button when the target you’re strafing actually manages to catch up. So you’re strafing, doing damage, kiting and suddenly the mob does a dash and a quick 1sec stun… Usually you’d be eating it by then, unless… You see the mob winding up the attack and while still strafing… You roll. You could roll away from him to gain more distance, or you could roll “through” him and begin strafing from the other direction… All are tactical decisions based on the environment. ( Not wanting to aggro another mob behind you if you roll too far for instance.) Keep in mind too that run speed matters… You’ll find it extremely difficult to circle strafe/kite something that moves faster than your character can, so if you’re planning to go after something veteran level and you know it moves faster than you, I’d get ready with something to either increase your run speed or cripple/slow the veteran so you can effectively kite him.

As for keybinds… Set them up how you like to. The first thing I do is completely unbind the “turn” keys and remap A and D to strafe left and strafe right. I use the mouse to turn, its faster and much more efficient. Incidentally its also where that insulting moniker “keyboard turner” came from, since keyboards can’t really turn as swiftly as a mouse can.

So to wrap it up… Mouse controls viewing angle, strafe controls lateral character movement. W or D controls forward or backpedal. (Usually I don’t really use backpedal but it has its uses sometimes.) Combine using both mouse buttons and left/right strafe and you’ll be able to do “diagonal” runs. Combine that with circle strafing techniques and you’ll be running figure eights around targets in to no time. With practice it’ll feel as natural as walking and you’ll wonder why you didn’t do it in EVERY game.

There’s techniques that require slightly more dexterity, like fancy jump shots and stuff… I can tell you about those but I think you should learn how to circle strafe first. I’m sure you’ve seen people use jump shots in PvP before… Its pretty visually spectacular. A melee runs after a ranged, the ranged runs and mid run, he jumps, spins around 360 degrees in mid-air and fires a shot, crippling the target and then lands still on the run, helping him escape. No loss of speed or momentum. Tricky but cool when you pull it off.

Also look out for other players who are good at kiting/dodging and watch their movements. Obviously you can’t see how they’ve got their keyboard set up or if they’re using mouse/keyboard to turn, but you can see how their character is moving and you can potentially learn a lot from that.

I was watching a level 2 sylvari fight a level 6 boar the other day, I don’t think the guy ever stood still and I don’t think the boar ever touched him.