Guild Wars 2

The probability of having a separate Solo Queue is looking bleak. So instead mourning for its absence, I’ve decided to create a list of mistakes commonly made in order to improve and progress further in the season.

The goal here is to help the community survive and extract enjoyment out of the game despite the unfavorable circumstances. Please add what you feel most SoloQers need to improve on.

I do not wish for this thread to be hostile or vitriolic.

1. Defend the points you just capped.

A lot of times people just wander off not knowing where to go once the team has two points capped.

2. It’s very risky to attempt to 3-cap with a team of pugs.

This is how teams get wiped. A brief 3 cap could easily turn up against you.
Going for that far cap works if heavy pressure is at mid and home.

3. Don’t double or multi-cap

A strong indication that the team is likely to fail is when 2 people cap home at the start.
Multi-capping is not the same as node team fights. Only 1 person is needed to cap.

4. Be map aware

In Khylo for example, there is no need for you to keep trebbing when the enemy has 3 capped due to your team being outnumbered and your teammates just wiped. Or, if you see the point you just capped is contested don’t run away especially if it was home or mid

5. Don’t bring garbage builds to ranked

You are doing yourself and the team a disfavor when you run garbage. If you soloQ, the best builds to run are sustain and some support. I personally get discouraged when teammates hp drop to red and then black in a matter of seconds.

Edit: I know this goes without saying but bring the class you are comfortable with. The ESL meta doesn’t necessarily apply in the first 3 divisions.

Pimsley.3681:

5. Don’t bring to rank garbage builds to ranked

You are doing yourself and the team a disfavor when you run garbage. If you soloQ, the best builds to run are sustain and some support. I personally get discouraged when teammates hp drop to red and then black in a matter of seconds.

So no berserkers. Got it.

i had a thief on my team running “venom support,” he did no damage..ran everytime someone goes near him and most of the time he was nowhere in sight [didnt cap]….please specify support

Don’t fight bunker mesmers on their capped point.

Don’t engage in unnecessary fights off point. It’s tough to scrape you off the ground if you keep needlessly dying to far from the objectives.

Thanks for doing this, btw.

Don’t chase one guy and leave your teammate on a large team fight at a node. That’s really stupid and annoying when people do that. Sometimes they leave you to 1v3 so they could stomp a thief.

6. Buy hot to be any type of viable to a team
You’ll play subpar in all aspects of PvP when running a core build.

7. Change classes depending on your team comp
The faceroll meta is Rev, bunk mes, bunk Ele. A stack of either three classes will make a team so keep that in mind. Scrapper, DH, Druid, Reaper are great 5th picks, choose them at last resort.

8 It’s always best to duo or trio with a meta player friend
Because you’re less likely to grab a non meta player in pug matches.

Most Common Mistakes Made by SoloQers:

Expect to not fight against premades.

Some classes don’t stack well

It’s a mistake when soloQers think premades are unbeatable.

The thing is, if you follow what’s being shared here, you guys will do much better than the typical 5man pre.

What’s unbeatable are the teams with ESL members.

But with good coordination, soloQers can beat most premades.

If you keep TWO opponents busy somewhere, that means your other team members can fight 4 against 3 and win on another point and cap it.

But if you fight one on one, there is no net advantage and you are wasting time unless you are trying to take a point and you are pretty sure you can kill him and cap the point.

Don’t start one-on one fights in the middle of nowhere. That’s called “fighting on the road”, and is useless.

Capping > Trebuchet

Aeryn.9813:

Capping > Trebuchet

Trebuchet can speed capping .

Actually being farmed by teamQ is the common mistake.

Laserbolt.6731:

If you keep TWO opponents busy somewhere, that means your other team members can fight 4 against 3 and win on another point and cap it.

I want the same PUGs as you. I thought that for the longest time, then time and time again I’ve been proven wrong.

This is a very good OP, however I’m afraid it wont reach out to those who sorely need such info.
I cant count how many times on my cele Tempest auramancer in soloq, “we” win the first mid fight, and then at least two rush their far. They get killed by overwhelming respawns there, and I’m forced to withdraw from mid. And/or “they” arnt aware that enemy is inc at home when we’re at mid, not giving aid in time. Being able to read a game through insight awareness can be a rare thing in soloq, if you are being “unlucky” with how the system works.
Im halfway in 2nd div, if I can make it to third I’ll just grab my tokens and call it a day.

I only have dragonhunter and a druid atm .
I m in love with THE druid

I’m happy with all the feedback.

Here are additional mistakes made by many inexperienced SoloQers:

x. Personal points are mostly irrelevant and usually not a measure of skill
A good example – The role of bunkers are immense in conquest mode. Since parts of the game make very little sense, bunkers often score the lowest in points.

If a SoloQ decides to bunk for a pug team, thank them because they will probably contribute the most on the team scoreboard.

Unfortunately, what occurs is the contrary, bunkers are underappreciated.

When the bunker calls out bad rotations, scrubs often use the bunker’s low points against them. Stop that. If you bunk and scrubs use your points against you, refer them to this thread.

Problem is, many MANY solo queuers already know these things.

They just refuse to do them.

Call it diffusion of responsibility, but really it’s just laziness and ADD. Everyone wants to be the solo queue hero and push far even though mid and home are already capped.

Sitting still is really hard for some 12 year olds.

So they full cap far and usually lose the other two points in the process. And then while trying to win the other points, they lose far and get 3 capped.

I have only a fistfull of PvE right now. I startet last week due to WvW lacking ^^.
I learned most things fast. Well i am a strategist so map awareness is logical for me :-).
I also try to run where others don´t go(avoid street fighting unless i see a fast kill). I try to cap the far sidepoint an hold it.
I play a semi bunker tempest with less healing but more 1:1 capability and can defend a point well in 1:1. Also i try to binde more then 1 oponent knowing i can handle it for a while. They force me off the point, but cant´t kill me fast so it buys time.
I think i won yesterdays match with that. Caped the point, defended it against two 1:1 attempts and had a long fight in the 1:2 that finaly got me down.
I think after learning the maps, i will do good progress.

you forgot
Do Not fight tanky individuals standing on points capped in their favor
I have seen bunker mesmers who are holding their home point get pushed by a necro or scrapper or something only to waste time and cause us to lose fights outnumbered. Easy mistake to fix.

Firebird.8324:

you forgot
Do Not fight tanky individuals standing on points capped in their favor
I have seen bunker mesmers who are holding their home point get pushed by a necro or scrapper or something only to waste time and cause us to lose fights outnumbered. Easy mistake to fix.

Agree.

Was just explaining the importance of outnumbered fights when opponents have a dedicated home bunker to my pug team.

Most people haven’t realized one of the most powerful attributes of bunkers is buying time for your teammates while opponents exhaust their CDs on you.

To decap from the bunker, especially if he’s good will take a REALLY long time. Time that would be better spent helping teammates secure mid.

I’m sure there are many more that wasn’t covered here. I miss the good old bunker guards. I’d never imagined that mesmers, out of all classes, would replace them.

- Fighting off points is a good defensive strategy if your team has 2 points secured.
- Try staying alive as long as you can while defending or capturing a node. A dead teammate puts the rest of the team in harms way.

The biggest mistake is Anet not separating premade from solo queuers.

Groonz.7825:

Most Common Mistakes Made by SoloQers:

Expect to not fight against premades.

Underrated post.

If u killed someone, be aware of respawn and be ready to defend your close.

Do not run more than 2 or 3 bunker-support builds 2 bunkers are enough (celestial – sentinel- cleric- …) U won’t kill anybody just by using bunkers.

Know which builds are strong which aren’t

Playing the 3 caps is good only vs strong teamfight composition ( ex: A lot of AOE dmg) Spread the enemies if you are good in 1v1.

Only one ppl is needed on node to anti-cap, do not stand all on the point. Let the bunker do his job.

Queueing solo doesn’t mean solo effort. To win, you still need to the cooperation of your teammates whether you like it or not.

Not swapping when you have weaker classes stacked
Not swapping when your enemy’s comp hard counters yours

Pimsley.3681:

1. Defend the points you just capped.

A lot of times people just wander off not knowing where to go once the team has two points capped.

I’d be happy if they just learned this one. Every time last night I’d win a teamfight and cap mid only to be instantly abandoned by my soloQ teammates then overrun by respawns 10 seconds later. Sometimes they would leave while I could see the other team incoming. That point that you just fought for is VALUABLE. Defend it.

I’d also go as far as saying that a full pug should NEVER 3 cap unless the other team has DCed or is dancing in their spawn.

Blaming the team and QQ on mapchat doesn’t help winning

Does saying: “Please don’t abandon me at mid.” count as blaming the team and QQing?

Aeryn.9813:

I’m sure there are many more that wasn’t covered here. I miss the good old bunker guards. I’d never imagined that mesmers, out of all classes, would replace them.

- Fighting off points is a good defensive strategy if your team has 2 points secured.
- Try staying alive as long as you can while defending or capturing a node. A dead teammate puts the rest of the team in harms way.

I miss teh bunker guards too. I’m a guard, I’m supposed to guard. At least let me do that, but no, flippin mesmer gets to guard. Sad bunker is sad tears

Dristig.9678:

Does saying: “Please don’t abandon me at mid.” count as blaming the team and QQing?

lmao, I say that often but use an expletive instead of “Please”
Seriously though, when home is capped and mid just capped, why the hell does everyone leave? Where do they go and are they driven to achieve whatever it is they are running towards?

From my experience, they run to far, end up dying coz they weren’t prepared for the encounter and failed miserably at their attempt because they are ignorant about how conquest works.

These lists are very basics that it sounds more like “most common mistakes made by hotjoin heros”. Instead, make another thread to list things you can do to help carry the team as a solo player, for example.

knkasa.2608:

These lists are very basics that it sounds more like “most common mistakes made by hotjoin heros”. Instead, make another thread to list things you can do to help carry the team as a solo player, for example.

The only way you can carry a bad team is by RAPIDLY killing opponents, VERY fast, and constantly, so they are always off the battlefield rezzing. That takes the right build and a lot of skill. It is very hard to do and won’t save the game for many of the bad PUGs anyway.

My advice: It’s okay to disengage from a fight especially if it is going too long or no where.

• Don’t contest a point the opposing team owns. This is a bunker meta, fight if it is yours or fight if it’s uncapped.

• Back off when you are low on health, go back to the point and hug your bunker when you are about to die.

• Count how many icons you see, if you see 5 on the map and no one is at far plus you are a viper rev, sneak to decap far. There is a good chance by the time you returned you wouldn’t have missed anything.

knkasa.2608:

These lists are very basics that it sounds more like “most common mistakes made by hotjoin heros”. Instead, make another thread to list things you can do to help carry the team as a solo player, for example.

Teamwork is still needed to function in conquest. Being able to carry lies on the individual’s skill. If you need someone to instruct you on how to carry, then you are likely to fail anyway.

It’s also very narrow minded of you to criticize the tips shared by helpful individuals when you have provided nothing useful

abc.5790:

Thanks for doing this, btw.

Don’t chase one guy and leave your teammate on a large team fight at a node. That’s really stupid and annoying when people do that. Sometimes they leave you to 1v3 so they could stomp a thief.

and sticking around doing 2v3, while thief heals back up and come back to 2v4 is great, Got it. OH WAIT.

the only mistake soloQer make is not bring 4 friends with him/her.
All the things you listed are not rocket science , most soloQers with high mmr know them .
The problem is with skills being equal, soloQ 5 man will loss because you simply do not run the same build in a team as you do soloQ. You can not count on support or condi cleanse from other player if you soloQ, you do not take a lot of support skills because you can’t count on your team mates to take advantage of them. As a result 5 soloQer will have much less synergy between their builds compared to a 5 man premade.
There is just no getting around that fact.

My advice: Solo play emphasizes strong duelling, rather than bunker play.

The professional meta is bunker-based, but solo-queue players are not organized enough to take advantage of it. A good duellist, such as a revenant, should be able to kill most bunkers in solo queue/below the professional level of play.

Mogar.9216:

5 soloQer will have much less synergy between their builds compared to a 5 man premade

If you have mid and close capped, you can rotate far but only to decap. Letting them have free points is silly. Then go back to mid home to defend. The point people are making is, don’t get greedy but you can play smart.

I have seen major mistakes when it comes to Lord defense. I think that is probably the hardest strat on when to go and defend or take it when you are a pug group without coms.

Pimsley.3681:

The probability of having a separate Solo Queue is looking bleak. So instead mourning for its absence, I’ve decided to create a list of mistakes commonly made in order to improve and progress further in the season.

The goal here is to help the community survive and extract enjoyment out of the game despite the unfavorable circumstances. Please add what you feel most SoloQers need to improve on.

I do not wish for this thread to be hostile or vitriolic.

1. Defend the points you just capped.

A lot of times people just wander off not knowing where to go once the team has two points capped.

2. It’s very risky to attempt to 3-cap with a team of pugs.

This is how teams get wiped. A brief 3 cap could easily turn up against you.
Going for that far cap works if heavy pressure is at mid and home.

3. Don’t double or multi-cap

A strong indication that the team is likely to fail is when 2 people cap home at the start.
Multi-capping is not the same as node team fights. Only 1 person is needed to cap.

4. Be map aware

In Khylo for example, there is no need for you to keep trebbing when the enemy has 3 capped due to your team being outnumbered and your teammates just wiped. Or, if you see the point you just capped is contested don’t run away especially if it was home or mid

5. Don’t bring garbage builds to ranked

You are doing yourself and the team a disfavor when you run garbage. If you soloQ, the best builds to run are sustain and some support. I personally get discouraged when teammates hp drop to red and then black in a matter of seconds.

Edit: I know this goes without saying but bring the class you are comfortable with. The ESL meta doesn’t necessarily apply in the first 3 divisions

Everything said is dead-on. We need a giant bullet board in Heart of the Mist next to the leader boards that has “Guidelines for Solo Queue Play” with these rules and more.

I would add

• Don’t try to play team captain in /team chat when solo or duo-queuing. People won’t trust you and will go do their own thing anyway, so instead call where you are going early on before game starts. If others don’t call it. Say “Where is everyone going?”

• Remind the team to pay attention to map ping.

• Assign team member to secondary mechanics on most maps (e.g. “Jaxx please take out enemy treb if they start using it”, “Someone with high mobility please scout base if they get inside and ping if help is needed”)

@SamTheGuardian – Thank you. I often enjoy reading the material you post on these threads. Agree that playing team captain to pugs is usually ineffective. What’s more persuasive is using suggestions and making them believe it was their idea. But without voice coms, you gotta make communication as short as possible.

Encouraging words can also do wonders so long as they are receptive and eager to win.

Hi Deagle,

I understand the problems with imbalance and computerized matchmaking inefficiencies.

However, they are monumental roadblocks that’s beyond my capacity to resolve.

Since I can’t fix the game’s internal infrastructure, I’ve collaborated with other pvpers to offer tips that anyone can apply immediately in conquest based matches. If everyone understood these principles, I think the pvp scene would be far more enjoyable

1v2’s at home and starts rotating to mid…

Team dies 4v3 in mid…

Premade of 4 blames me.

Buff Premades Pls

Pimsley.3681:

The probability of having a separate Solo Queue is looking bleak. So instead mourning for its absence, I’ve decided to create a list of mistakes commonly made in order to improve and progress further in the season.

The goal here is to help the community survive and extract enjoyment out of the game despite the unfavorable circumstances. Please add what you feel most SoloQers need to improve on.

I do not wish for this thread to be hostile or vitriolic.

1. Defend the points you just capped.

A lot of times people just wander off not knowing where to go once the team has two points capped.

2. It’s very risky to attempt to 3-cap with a team of pugs.

This is how teams get wiped. A brief 3 cap could easily turn up against you.
Going for that far cap works if heavy pressure is at mid and home.

3. Don’t double or multi-cap

A strong indication that the team is likely to fail is when 2 people cap home at the start.
Multi-capping is not the same as node team fights. Only 1 person is needed to cap.

4. Be map aware

In Khylo for example, there is no need for you to keep trebbing when the enemy has 3 capped due to your team being outnumbered and your teammates just wiped. Or, if you see the point you just capped is contested don’t run away especially if it was home or mid

5. Don’t bring garbage builds to ranked

You are doing yourself and the team a disfavor when you run garbage. If you soloQ, the best builds to run are sustain and some support. I personally get discouraged when teammates hp drop to red and then black in a matter of seconds.

Edit: I know this goes without saying but bring the class you are comfortable with. The ESL meta doesn’t necessarily apply in the first 3 divisions.

I, on e contrary, find that support builds are next to useless in bad teams.

You dont have the damage to kill inferior foes, you dont have anyone to support because everybody is running around like headless chicken.

In those situations, id rather have a decent soloer build, and run around capping points like crazy.

Can I request advice for how to handle a specific scenario on Foefire?

Say I’m on Blue team (it doesn’t really matter which team, though) and I’m near Waterfall, which we own. Red team has just capped Mine after killing one of our players there in a 2v1 situation, and the same number of players from each team are fighting at mid. Now one of the Red team members who was at Mine is close to arriving at Mid, and the second is likely to follow in the next few moments.

My question is, what’s the proper way to rotate in response to this type of situation?

-I can reinforce mid, but we’re likely to be outnumbered for some period of time on the point, and I’ll likely just end up getting wiped with my team. To me, this seems like the worst idea overall unless I have a very good reason to believe I can turn the fight quickly upon arriving.

-Decapping far to interrupt their momentum is only feasible with a high-mobility profession or one with access to Stealth, since I’ll either have to cut through the mid fight or take the significantly longer way around (which is what makes this situation particularly tricky on Foefire). I’ve been playing on a variety of professions recently, so this may or may not be an option, and I’m not sure how good of an option decapping far is under these circumstances.

-Defending Waterfall seems like the best decision if the opposing team still has members who aren’t engaged at mid, since that would help prevent them from securing an additional decap or full cap while we wipe to the rest of their team. At that point, however, I’m basically just trying to do damage control instead of actively trying to regain an advantage for my team. Is there anything else better to do here, or is that outcome likely to be the best thing I can salvage out of the situation?

Maybe this seems like an oddly specific situation, but I feel like I run into it more often than I’d like as a solo player. Any insight anyone has would be much appreciated.

Squashing the forum bug.