Solo help/dying Issues
Last I checked Ranger was one of the easiest professions to solo with. Could you be more clear on precisely what your having trouble with, and what about recent patches has made your Ranger less fun? Also why has every other profession beside Ranger given you trouble?
Necro should be equal to, if not better than, Ranger in terms of survivability on the basis of have pets AND a shroud AND they have the highest possible base HP pool. I main DH, Druid and Reaper, and my Reaper has always been the most balanced (easily survives and does good damage) in solo situations.
How much time have to spent with each of the other classes? There’s enough difference in each that it does take a fair amount of time to figure out your best build and improve your skills to the point you are effective in both damage and survival.
(edited by onevstheworld.2419)
OP, I think your problem likely has one of three possible causes.
First: Not Enough Movement. The harder mobs in GW2 require movement while you fight them. Not just dodging at the right time, either. Unfortunately one of GW2’s flaws is that it doesn’t teach this very well. Go to the lower level areas and find some veterans, and practice circling/strafing them while you fight…. as well as using any dodges, evades, blocks, and especially CC’s you have. You don’t need to kill them fast in this case, because you’ll be training yourself how to move and time your defenses… learn to move then learn to kill. When you move around mobs, even if just circling them, they hit you way less often. This might also require you to change your keybindings to more easily move/strafe, which is a very awkward change to get used to, but worthwhile.
If you are terrabad at movement, and can’t seem to get a grip on it, then I can suggest this more extreme solution… play the ftp mmo The Secret World. This mmo teaches movement in combat brilliantly… I’ve never seen better. I hated movement in combat before, and it took this game to get me to start doing it.
Second: Bad Builds. You have an aversion to some types of weapons… I do too… I think everyone does to some extent. But, if you’re not using the weapons you do like to their fullest advantage, then you can be severely hampering yourself. All weapons bring with them a general play style. Do the traits you’ve selected enhance your weapons and utility skills you’ve slotted? It’s important to select as many traits as you can that enhance the skills/weapons that you’re using. Don’t take a trait line if you’re only after a single trait in that line. On top of that, look for combos. Not just combo fields + finishers (although that’s an important thing to look for), but other skills that used together give you synergy. What utilities do you have that can be used with one of your weapon skills? Also, do you have means to get rid of conditions? Because you need those no matter what build you’re using.
Third: Bad Gear. This gets into the second possibility above just a bit, but is worth separating out. I’ve seen posts by players w/ lvl 80 toons who are using weapons that inflict a lot of DoT conditions, but instead equip berserker gear. Or the opposite. Double-check what your weapons actually do primarily for damage, and then check what your gear enhances.
As an addition to this third possibility, consider swapping all your gear out for tanking gear for a brief amount of time. If the weapons you’re using inflict primarily DoT conditions, then equip Dire. If the weapons you’re using inflict little/no DoT conditions, then equip Soldiers. THEN as you play, piece by piece, swap out for gear that gives better damage stats and less defensive stats until you find your equilibrium.
[Edit: unless you’re using celestial gear (never invest into celestial unless you’re absolutely sure it’s good for your build), try to stick to 3-4 stats… if you do more, you spread yourself too thin in stats and shortchange yourself in efficiency.]
Look at these 3 possibilities and see if any of them are the cause of your issues. I’m a solo player, too, and for the few classes I play I like to do a lot of build experimentation…. so from my own experience (as well as what I read that others post), I feel that each class has really good sustain, but it requires finding the stats, skills, and traits that work synergistically.
I hope that helps,
~EW
(edited by EphemeralWallaby.7643)
Are you talking about PvP, WvW or PvE ?
Atleast tell us your build, gear, playstyle or read what EW said above and fix it.
tbh with Ranger/Druid best build you can dish out more dps is condition build.
If you affraid of death that much then go with Carrion Necro/Reaper for WvW or Viper Horor in PvE with the amout of minions + “Rise” you can’t go wrong.
Are you talking about PvP, WvW or PvE ?
Atleast tell us your build, gear, playstyle
I think this is good advice too… so I wanna contribute a bit more to it. You can go into a profession-specific sub-forum, create a new thread, post your build, and ask for advice on how to improve it. Use the build editor: http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/ and make a link to it so its easier for others to see what you’re working with.
Warning: go in with thick skin. The profession sub-forums can be vitriolic. But they can also give you good feedback.
~EW
Well, I’ve played the game for awhile. Currently have two 80 rangers, 1 80 Thief.
I only solo (no party).
I’ve always had difficulty with every profession except the ranger. Always close to death/ can’t fight more than 1 mob at a time.
I’ve tried all professions.
Recent patches have diminished my ranger fun, and somehow I can’t kill with any efficiency.
My issue is warrior, ele, mes, guardian, engi, necro, I cannot sustain properly. All fights are intense, and I cannot stand certain weapons/skills (I hate you greatsword).
I have tried a ton of skill and wep variations and just can’t find anything that is even remotely decent.
My question is am I just terribad and am sol, or is there some way for me to have a modicum of damage and survivability. Any profession, I don’t care. I’d like to play and not eat dirt (ie, have fun).
Thanks for any help.
So I’m a little unclear. You mention a bunch of classes, but apparently the only one you actually play that you have difficulty with is thief. So are you asking how you can improve your solo open world PvE performance on thief?
Try this build:
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAW6an8lCFOhFmCOOBkmiFYCbOEOCbhaJgAQGYLQtc6QA
The heal and agility signet grant endurance along with stealing, using weapon skills, or using utility skills. Translation: You can dodge forever.
Unhindered combat means you break movement impairing effects and grant yourself perma swiftness just by dodging.
Invigorating precision is your big healing trait. 15% of crit damage returned as health. The more damage you deal, the more it heals. The idea being you kill quicker and are forced to evade less often. This lets you hang in there just that second longer you need to close the deal, then you’re off to the next kill.
Give it a go and look me up in game if you need a hand figuring it out.
As others have said, it is difficult to provide useful advice without knowing more about your situation. What gear are you using? What is your build? What and where are you solo’ing? Do you have any personal issues that make the game difficult (i.e. color blindness, mobility problems, etc).
Previous posts have covered a lot so I would just support the idea of trying a minion necro build. Similar to a ranger, you have a pet to tank for you except you will have a lot more pets at your disposal to keep mobs off your back while you damage-deal (DD) from a distance. Just select all the utilities and skills that spawn or support minions and use whichever necro range weapons you prefer.
As to ranger, I still do fine with him. But my damage lately feels very sub par with him, and one of my favorite traits seems to have just disappeared (the one where every kill increases your pets stats up to 25 stacks). Thief was much squishier than my ranger but still had quite a few issues healthwise leveling him.
My main issue in this game has been professions. I do not like any of the professions except ranger due to huge squishiness issues so I have almost exclusively played ranger. However lately I’ve found I no longer am having fun on my ranger due to everything taking 10 years to kill, so I am trying to find another profession to play.
I move well, and I believe I synergise my builds fairly decently.
Outside of ranger and thief, I am currently having issues just “leveling”, with how quickly everyone takes damage. I had a warrior I got to level 30 3 or so times (after deleting) because I could not take more than 1 mob at a time (not even vets).
I only do solo pve, no wvw or dungeons, when I mean solo I mean me and the pve map pretty much.
I have extensively searched through the profession forums, reddit forums, and the general web looking for builds and ideas, and the only real information in this regard pigeon holes me into weapons and builds I despise.
As to gear, I don’t think it matters on my sub 80s who are having issues (they are in their level gear) and while I’m sure my gear is quite a factor on my 80s I use to have little issue in pve, and that has currently changed.
And playstyle, I really don’t know what you mean. I go to an enemy, I engage, I keep to the rear (ranger) while dodging out of red/orange.
I have leveled each class to between 30 and 40 (and I’ve watched my sister play elementalist and if that’s the kind of movement I need omg…)
Pleas go in here and as nearly as you can manage input how you 80s are setup.
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/
It should not be taking you “10 years” to kill anything with any profession. As for taking too much damage are you just standing there and eating damage (aside from red circles which you mentioned)? Are you using active defenses, e.g. block, evade, blind, weakness, protection, stealth, etc. and kiting when necessary?
You say you don’t like any professions but Ranger due to squishiness. You can build any profession as tanky or glassy as you want for the most part. What is it specifically that draws you to Ranger as not squishy? And why the hate on Greatsword? You get an evade on auto attack 3, heavy hit on #2, evade/leap/movement on #3, block/knock back/ranged cripple on #4, and hard CC on #5.
As to ranger, I still do fine with him. But my damage lately feels very sub par with him, and one of my favorite traits seems to have just disappeared (the one where every kill increases your pets stats up to 25 stacks). Thief was much squishier than my ranger but still had quite a few issues healthwise leveling him.
My main issue in this game has been professions. I do not like any of the professions except ranger due to huge squishiness issues so I have almost exclusively played ranger. However lately I’ve found I no longer am having fun on my ranger due to everything taking 10 years to kill, so I am trying to find another profession to play.
I move well, and I believe I synergise my builds fairly decently.
Outside of ranger and thief, I am currently having issues just “leveling”, with how quickly everyone takes damage. I had a warrior I got to level 30 3 or so times (after deleting) because I could not take more than 1 mob at a time (not even vets).
I only do solo pve, no wvw or dungeons, when I mean solo I mean me and the pve map pretty much.
I have extensively searched through the profession forums, reddit forums, and the general web looking for builds and ideas, and the only real information in this regard pigeon holes me into weapons and builds I despise.As to gear, I don’t think it matters on my sub 80s who are having issues (they are in their level gear) and while I’m sure my gear is quite a factor on my 80s I use to have little issue in pve, and that has currently changed.
And playstyle, I really don’t know what you mean. I go to an enemy, I engage, I keep to the rear (ranger) while dodging out of red/orange.
I have leveled each class to between 30 and 40 (and I’ve watched my sister play elementalist and if that’s the kind of movement I need omg…)
Have you made sure to buy new armor and weapons as you gain levels if drops/personal story doesn’t cover what you need? If you’re level 30 and have level 10 armor and weapons that could be one reason why you aren’t doing as well as you would like.
I am still have unclear infomations to identify your main problem !!
Read and follow/answer some questions below.
1/ Please go to the link @Sagramor gave you and build exactly the same BUILD youre using *note im not gonna judging your build im try to find the problem so we can fix it
2/ Tell us your gears color (Green/Blue/Yellow/Orange/Pink) with what STATS on it.
3/ What kind of mob did you fight that take you “10 years” ? And Where ?
4/ Are you sure youre not using your lv 30 war to lvl up at the map that actually has higher lv than you ? Because i do main a war recently and he is NOT that weak.
5/ Playstyle mean how did you use your ranger ? Did you use your pet and stay from afar shooting ? Or you usually fight in melee range ? Which one you prefer POWER or CONDITION build ? Weapons that you like to use most of your time fighting ?
6/ Finally – Are you a Free to Play player ? Do you have HoT purchased ?
(edited by Eros.6801)
IMO shroud necro is the best for soloing, but rangers and thieves can solo if you have the skill
NA – Teef main – IGN Tensatsu
Kittenhunters are mean.
Warriors rock.
Kittenhunters are mean.
Warriors rock.
I am still have unclear infomations to identify your main problem !!
Read and follow/answer some questions below.
1/ Please go to the link @Sagramor gave you and build exactly the same BUILD youre using *note im not gonna judging your build im try to find the problem so we can fix it
2/ Tell us your gears color (Green/Blue/Yellow/Orange/Pink) with what STATS on it.
3/ What kind of mob did you fight that take you “10 years” ? And Where ?
4/ Are you sure youre not using your lv 30 war to lvl up at the map that actually has higher lv than you ? Because i do main a war recently and he is NOT that weak.
5/ Playstyle mean how did you use your ranger ? Did you use your pet and stay from afar shooting ? Or you usually fight in melee range ? Which one you prefer POWER or CONDITION build ? Weapons that you like to use most of your time fighting ?
6/ Finally – Are you a Free to Play player ? Do you have HoT purchased ?
To add more questions to this:
7/ How much do you move during combat? Not dodges, but actual running around?
8/ Do you click your skills, or you use your own keybinds?
9/ Do you play first-person or third-person?
10/ For your ranger, what pet do you primarily use?
11/ You mentioned your sister plays an elementalist. Has she given you any input, and if so what?
It’s a shame you’ve deleted your lower lvl toons, ’cause knowing what weapons, skills, and especially gear stats/quality/level would have been useful to know, too.
~EW
I main warrior, and I find it to be a better balance of survivability and damage than my Ranger (Which, as you seem to also be struggling with, kills to slow). If you want to try warrior again, I can offer some suggestions there.
On my warrior, I run Berzerker weapons and armor, but my trinkets are a hodgepodge of stats (Mostly Soldier/Marauder, but I think I have a few with Healing Power and Toughness in there as well). You can slot Healing Signet for your healing skill and let it quietly work until you get into an “Oh kitten Condi’s gonna kill me!” situation, where it can be panic-buttoned into resistance. Endure Pain and Balanced Stance are also great PvE panic buttons on the utility chain (I have my utility skills bound to Shift-1-5), for when you start getting hit hard and when you start getting knocked around/stunned/etc respectively.
Traitwise… Defense is a godsend for survivability thanks to the Adrenal Health overwork a few months back. You can also trait it to have certain panic buttons auto-activate (Endure Pain autocast at less than 50% health. And you can choose between either clearing conditions with the burst skill or having stances last longer and auto-cast Balanced Stance on first affect Stability would shield against) Discipline is a boost to general performance, QoL, and general utility all around, and strongly suggested as either first or second to fill while leveling (The other being Defense, thanks to its massive survival boosts).
Greatsword is an amazing weapon for Warriors, and Rifle’s not bad for open-world PvE since it provides CC (Which Greatsword sorely lacks) and the ability to stay back at range. However, it requires Berzerker for Gunflame to truly shine – Even with the nerf to Gunflame way back when, it’s still a strong, versatile (It’s quick, a big hit, AoE, and Interrupt all in one, with lingering condi damage tacked on as well), and spammable skill – perfect for the adrenaline-building weapon (Wish the same could be said about Killshot, which is rendered largely situational thanks to its long cast time and root – NOT good qualities for an adrenaline-building weapon.) Axe mainhand is a flexible direct-damage weapon that provides a bit of mobility with its burst, an opener or escape-inhibitor with its 3, omnidirectional cleave with its 2, and a strong autoattack (Though only mace cleaves less than it). Shield provides a strong CC and gap-closer, and a panic-button defense that can be traited into a reflect.
I wish I could be more help in suggesting improvements to ranger, but you’re having the same issue I am. Then again, I’m running a Marauder-geared Ranger that uses Shortbow+Greatsword because those are the two legendary weapons I have (I got Sunrise for my shiny golden Greatsword warrior, and Chuka+Champawat because I wanted backtigers and liked the big tanky appearance of the bow. Really wish it was a longbow) and running around with Tiger (Because Tiger: Tiger Charr, Tiger Mini, Tiger pet, and Tiger Back piece!) and Carrion Devourer (Because Charr) pets, traited with Skirmishing, Beastmastery, and Marksmanship, with all my utilities taken up by signets.
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQJAVTjMqQFLWwCurAXLG+DqtIWgA4P+ud45PIfn9C49B-TRQLAAgOAA-e
I’ve always disliked 2h anything. I prefer ranged weapons or ranged chars or dual wielding/speeeeeed.
Yes, by level gear I meant if my char is level 20 they are in 20 gear, 30 30.
2: Yellow gear, Berserkers (Exotic shortbow, Berserkers)
3: GW2 mobs take a bit longer than they used to, but are still fairly simple. HoT mobs take forever.
4: My warrior experience is from about a year ago, they may have changed, but no I fight in level maps (or below my level)
(completionist)
5: Use pet, stay away, circle to rear/line up multiple enemies for peircing shots. Prefer power/shortbow.
6: HoT is purchased, and on my Ranger/Thief is where I am having the most trouble with time to kill (in HoT).
7: Run around low to medium, keep distance/rear/line up shots, otherwise just dodge when needed.
8: I use 1-0 and click.
9: Third person.
10: River Drake (Jungle Stalker if hes downed).
11: She hasn’t given me any input.
12: Warrior-Sword/Shield, Necro-Dagger/Dagger, Guard-Mace(or Sword)/Shield, Engi-Pistol/Pistol, Mesmer-Sword(or
Scepter)/Pistol. All Below 30.
On a side note I do not switch weapons or pets unless I am forced to (on all characters).
I suppose as an addendum, I do not use adrenaline very often on War, I dislike kits on Engi, I dislike using shroud on Necro
(although I may try him out again and attempt to), and I hated the whole stance-dancing thing Eles have going on (ie, why I
don’t care for them).
I see in the build posted you’re running LB and SB. Do you have a preference? I ask because SB is a hybrid/condition weapon (you never mention LB in your narrative) and you have traps slotted with the trap trait. If you’re running Berserkers gear then you’re not getting your money’s worth out of SB or Flame Trap.
Now we’re talking – i see whats your problem is
I fixed your build a bit
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vNAQNAT8XjMqQFLWwCurAXLG2Dq/5L3nmH4AeE2bPAO7C85B-e
This the build i highly recommended, i know you like power build but this build is very powerful in HoT map and hella cheap to gear up.
It seems you still wearing rare gear (Yellow) thats why youre going to suffer alot from HoT, this is how to get easy exotic gear.
https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Temple_armor
If you have karma a full set of armor x6 pcs will cost you 242k karma but karma gears can’t be salvaged so don’t put any expensive rune on it and no karma vendor sell berserker trinkets.
Now the reason why i recommend you to play the second build is Rabid gear, runes of krait are very cheap on trading post ( carrion too but only weapon ).
If you use power build x6 karma armors with berserker stats = 242k BUT weapons, trinkets with zerker stat will cost you ton of gold even with exotic version and since you only do solo pve so pretty much just use karma and gold to buy gear.
Again for the second build gear up if you use karma + gold to buy its only cost you 10g or less for all of that stuff in the build.
Another way to get exotic armor is playing Verdant Brink events, get Pact Crowbar use them to open cargos all around the map to get Airship Part and buy Bladed box from map vendor but requied Itzel Language mastery.
Last thing get your Druid specs done, i can lend you a hand with HP run ( if youre on NA ofc )
Thats all i can say for now !!
On a side note I do not switch weapons or pets unless I am forced to (on all characters).
I suppose as an addendum, I do not use adrenaline very often on War, I dislike kits on Engi, I dislike using shroud on Necro
(although I may try him out again and attempt to), and I hated the whole stance-dancing thing Eles have going on (ie, why I
don’t care for them).
You’re really limiting yourself by not using the F-keys or weapons swaps. Is it because of the positioning? You can always rebind them to easier to reach keys; particularly for classes like Necro or Warrior who only have a F1 skill… rebinding an Engineer’s F1-5 is a bit more difficult. You might want to consider a MMO mouse or a gaming keypad to get around the issue.
Also what is it about swapping weapons and using your profession mechanic (F1-F5) that you have such an aversion to? You’re intentionally not using a significant portion of your abilities.
Edit: You don’t need an MMO mouse or a gamepad. Just a reconfiguration of keybinds.
(edited by Sagramor.7395)
…snip…12: Warrior-Sword/Shield, …snip…I do not use adrenaline very often on War
Warrior 1-h Sword is a condition weapon (edit: or hybrid as Sartharina clarifies below). If you were using equipment that doesn’t give condition damage, then this would cause your damage to suffer greatly. Shield is great for the block and the interrupt. But, if you don’t have an aversion to it, consider either off-hand sword, or off-hand mace, or warhorn instead.
Off-hand sword will give you a block, but will also give you a second condition to inflict on your foes. Off-hand mace will allow you to interrupt, but it will also let you apply 10 stacks of vulnerability, effectively increasing all your damage by 10%. Warhorn will allow you to confer weakness when you get surrounded or are fighting tougher mobs (and the other skill gives you vigor so you can dodge more often). All 3 of those still give you defense, and the off-hand sword or mace also gives you extra damage.
With the semi-recent changes to the Adrenal Health (AH) trait, there is little reason to not use F1. Slotting AH and using your F1 when it is full will give you A LOT of sustain. If you’re using the 1-h sword, your F1 only needs a single hit in order to get AH. Going into the Defense trait line will serve you very well as your first trait line to go into. Try to get used to using F1 in combination with AH…. it’s VERY worthwhile.
…snip… Guard-Mace(or Sword)/Shield, …snip…
Guardian mace/shield is for slow tanking. This is a useful thing to use if you’re in groups and want to hold aggro while healing. But for general PvE and soloing, it is not ideal.
1-h sword is decent, especially with the recent update… it’s a power weapon, so power should be a trait you focus on while using it. Also for a ranged option consider the scepter (again, if you don’t have an aversion). The scepter gets a bad rep, but in PvE it works pretty well, especially now that it has a might-granting symbol. Combine that with the Zealous Scepter trait, and you can stack on quite a bit of might (especially if you also add on the torch).
For your off-hand consider either the torch or the focus. The torch gives you a lot of rapid hits which is great for things that proc on hit (or crit of you are also using precision). The focus gives you a ton of goodies for offense, defense, and healing, so it will definitely up your game.
~EW
edit: if you haven’t used it yet, the wiki has a great page about what stat-combos are available on equipment at various levels: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Item_nomenclature
(edited by EphemeralWallaby.7643)
…snip…12: Warrior-Sword/Shield, …snip…I do not use adrenaline very often on War
Warrior 1-h Sword is a condition weapon. If you were using equipment that doesn’t give condition damage, then this would cause your damage to suffer greatly. Shield is great for the block and the interrupt. But, if you don’t have an aversion to it, consider either off-hand sword, or off-hand mace, or warhorn instead.
Actually, 1-H sword is a strong Hybrid weapon. It’s simply the closest thing to a Condi weapon warriors get, though – But S2 and 3 are both Power attacks, and it has a strong physical damage component to its Auto Attack and non-primal F1. And while off-hand sword F4 does give another condition… it turns into a Power-based attack immediately afterward. Its traitline (Arms) improves its condi potential, and Berzerker makes it more condi-friendly as well, though.
…snip…12: Warrior-Sword/Shield, …snip…I do not use adrenaline very often on War
Warrior 1-h Sword is a condition weapon. If you were using equipment that doesn’t give condition damage, then this would cause your damage to suffer greatly. Shield is great for the block and the interrupt. But, if you don’t have an aversion to it, consider either off-hand sword, or off-hand mace, or warhorn instead.
Actually, 1-H sword is a strong Hybrid weapon. It’s simply the closest thing to a Condi weapon warriors get, though – But S2 and 3 are both Power attacks, and it has a strong physical damage component to its Auto Attack and non-primal F1. And while off-hand sword F4 does give another condition… it turns into a Power-based attack immediately afterward. Its traitline (Arms) improves its condi potential, and Berzerker makes it more condi-friendly as well, though.
Yeah, I was considering clarifying it for Hybrid, but he hasn’t gotten his toons past 30, and statting for hybrid at lower levels is tricky. Which is why I also didn’t say a lick about Berserker.
Sw3 should never be used until the enemy is under 50% health because the casting time is so slow, so AA is going to be preferred until then anyways (most enemies should be dead by the cooldown, too, so it’ll likely only get one use per enemy). Sw2 is best used for combo-fields and mobility… so that’s also shouldn’t be wasted for just a power attack. With main-hand 1-h sword, the AA bleed is the preferred attack when not using whatever off-hand item you’ve got equipped. At lower levels it remains a condi weapon, and at higher levels it can be either condi or hybrid.
If you’re using off-hand sword in conjunction with higher condi, then you don’t want to use the second chain effect for sw4… you want to keep stacking the torment. The second in the chain is only good if you’re doing hybrid…. and then only after you’ve stacked the torment (which the timing takes practice).
Again, all my advice was directed towards lower level Warrior play. I probably shoulda clarified that.
~EW
(edited by EphemeralWallaby.7643)