Guild Wars 2

Hey guys/gals wanted to make a post to vent a little, but also get some advice from anyone who’s been in a similar place.

I’ve played GW2 for ~1month at launch and roughly the last 2-3 weeks. I’ve levelled 3 classes to 80 (guard>mesmer>ranger). Found I really enjoy Ranger due to how it can move from range>melee comfortably. But considering trying Warrior, as i dont mind levelling.

Now here is where i am struggling…End game dungeons/fractals/pvp;

- Dungeons have been an unpleasant experience so far, CoF story mode was cool and fun, but then tried AC path 1….The event at the table, where burrows come up etc. I’ve been in a few groups and we’ve just failed hardcore for a long time on it…but was told AC was one of the easiest dungeons? Fractals are detailed as harder than dungeons…what chance do i stand?

- PvP wise i’ve enjoyed WvW, both EotM and eternal BGs. SPvP i’ve dabbled at and not had a negative experience. But i feel like i’m not making the most of my character (ie. using the correct boons, combo’s etc)

I guess my problem is struggling to see a clear path to improving my gameplay. World bosses and general world encounters don’t require involved gameplay, so I just mash my way through. But stepping into 5man parties seems an intimidating place to learn.

How would you guys recommend that a newcomer can start to progress in the game? Ways to get experience in dungeons/fractals, without joining an all newbie pug where no one knows what they’re doing? How to gain a better understanding of priorities etc in PvP.

Thanks for your time!

msg me in game if u like. we do low lvl teaching fractals for newcomers. we also teach pvp.

as far as dungeons, pugging LFG dungeons can be a pain, and i know what ur talkin bout the AC burrows is a pain if ur not organized. i wont ever pug a dungeon, will only do with guild…

wvw.eotm.battlegrounds is not pvp. its world.vs.world. spvp is a blast once u understand the maps. win or lose, u play to get better.. msg me

I’ll try to contact you in game to help you out. Bear in mind we’re likely in different timezones though. (Western Oz here). I do play regularly during the day though.

I teach newbies for my guild, so I can help you out with a basic build and improving your play. I can also help you improve PvP. It plays quite differently from PvE.

As they’ve said, dungeons are generally a pain in pug, so your best bet is to join a guild that would be willing to help you through it/make friends who will. There’s a lot of knowing about your class, and what gear is helpful where.
PvP is basically all that but condensed. You need to know what strengths your class has and capitalize on it, constructing a build which can counteract weaknesses.
I’d say creating a warrior would be fine, as it’s probably the easiest class in game. If you want to get better at your current classes, maybe try out some build websites if you’re stuck on that, otherwise like I said just practicing with people who are willing to help you learn.

Puging is how I keep dungeons fresh, people saying dungeons are easy try doing ac burrows p1 as lone 80 guardian with 4 30-33s thats hard but also alot of fun when you see the new players learning each wipe then come together and completing the encounter

If you’re the type of person that has the patience to read through guides I would recommend poking through http://gw2dungeons.net. Wethospu has put together a lot of great information and walkthroughs on all things dungeon and fractals related. For the most part instances that are considered easy are those that had strategies already developed for them that are fairly consistent to deliver.

Second, I would suggest you read up on your preferred class(es). One thing is to getting a toon to 80; the other half is knowing what your class is capable of. The following link provides guides developed from members from well-known speed running communites that go into heavy detail for each and every class describing skills, traits, and even potential build synergies: http://dulfy.net/category/gw2/class-guides-gw2/

Lastly, it’s a matter of practice. PUG’s are probably the least forgiving when it comes to making mistakes so I would recommend finding a guild that is new player friendly. Such guild generally have mentoring/tutoring programs where the more seasoned Guild members are set aside to help out newer players when they want to run through an instance.

I pugged all dungeons and fractals, and learnt from others. Sometimes you will meet a kind soul to teach you some, and bit by bit you learn certain paths. It could be a pain, but over time you will master them. People can be unpleasant, but luckily, many more are quite kind. Guild, unless it is big and active in dungeon, does not always have 4 ppls that you can group up to do dungeon at your convenient time. You can advertise on LFG looking for mentor for certain dungeon/fractal; quite often you will get some nice people to teach you.

Thanks for all the positive & helpful posts guys, it’s a relief to know there are some genuine caring gamers out there! It’s given me some much needed motivation to keep trying to improve!

I have to say, I feel for the OP. There seem to be alot more jerks running around — if you don’t know all the bosses and strategies for all the dungeons, you become the target of all sorts of nasty, unpleasant callouts. I can see, frankly, where the stereotyping of losers who play video games comes from — ‘lolgtfonoob’, ‘dis (insert class here) tho…’. Pretty ridiculous.

Good advice to you Shinks from the others here, find some positive people to hang with and run dungeons with. I wish I could apologize for all the jerks you run into; I’ve had those exact sort of experiences too. Just hang in there.

You don’t need to join a guild just to do a dungeon, although it might be the better option long term if the guild is big enough (to get 4 others in party) and they guys are competent.

Dungeons seem hard to everyone who doesn’t know the encounters so once you go through a path few times, you’ll be familiar with what to expect and it won’t be that bad. The fact that some veteran players are not welcoming new players doesn’t help much either. You can use lfg for particular dungeon and ask for “all welcome , help needed, new player here etc”. If you’d like to learn dungeons/fractals a bit more, check this out https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/dungeons/Dungeon-Mentors-Noob-v2-0/first

Dungeon vs fractal, tbh, I found fractals easier than dungeons explorable but to complete whole fractal run takes a lot longer (many new players find it too much at once) and some of the mechanics can be very tricky.