Guild Wars 2

I’ve only recently begun dipping into the HoT zones and associated content. I was wondering what methods others have used to succeed in those areas?

Up until now I ran with GS/Bow in primarily zerker gear (which a smattering of other stats in trinkets/rings etc – whatever I could get my hands on really). For anything I’ve done up to this point it didn’t create problems for me, but some of these new critters can tear off a third or more of my health swiftly, and getting close no longer seems to be an option, forcing me to keep to the bow.

Of course I’m aware I could just sink time or money into something like PTV set, but I didn’t want to make an investment until I was sure what sorts of gear/builds players were having the most success with.

Another concern is that if I start sinking into toughness, then I may create other problems for myself, like unintentionally becoming an aggro magnet.

I’m not an elite player by any means, but I’ve been doing pretty well in HoT with DH. It’s not nearly as easy as Ranger w pet, but still quite powerful and very fun. Until you mostly unlock the DH traps, it won’t be as powerful, so getting all the hero points unlocked first is a priority. If you can’t reach some of them yet due to flight\shroom masteries, can also move onto Tangled Depths and try to hit some of the easier ones (though not many “easy” ones to be honest).

I went in initially in HoT with all PVT gear and two-handed sword and found that I struggled quite a bit. Mobs simply hit too hard in HoT, have FAR too many cripple\knockdowns\poisons\condis crap, and basically are a serious pain in the kitten . Toughness is not as important I found than simply killing them quickly and having a bigger health pool to deal with the condi damage. Having good condi-cleanse and movement is extremely helpful. Once I unlocked enough of DH and got most of the traps, things really started to click. Killing from range is a huge advantage in HoT, and the traps are great insurance and mandatory for the vets and stronger creatures that take a while to bring down.

For most vets and champs trap dropping is key to success. Stay at range until they do their unique move, run or dodge in close, f3 on LB to blind, drop traps, switch to sword, blind, burn, dodge out. Switch back to LB, stay at range until traps reset, and then repeat.

The f3 LB blind doesn’t always hit what you have targeted for some reason, so pretty much have to be right in their face to get it to hit.

My gear is almost all Rampager\Carrion now since I am using a mostly burn\condition build. I found this armor mix to be pretty survivable, especially with the LB play style. You can take most stuff down at range pretty easily and stay out of danger. When things get hairy or I want to end things quick, I move in and drop my traps (or tag them and lead them to the traps), switch to sword\torch once they are in the traps, and to do blind teleport\torch burn\condi-cleanse, dodge out and watch them melt. The traps are so strong it’s not even funny. Tagging those annoying pocket raptors, laying your traps down and watching them all cry in anguish is soooo satisfying

I’m sure there are better builds, but this is the one I am running. I’m sure it’s not totally optimized…
http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vVAQNAT8fn8cCVdiFdCekittendil4BrKAslKAyFw+XC0KE8CeUA-T5gAABBcBAIc/BAeAAAA

I am running the Purification trap heal. It’s very tricky to use. Basically unless the mob triggers it you only get a tiny crappy heal. But if you can get a mob to trigger it you will be completely healed back up to full. I like it, but I’m a bit of a gambler.

I am using rune of the traveler because I want to have high base movement, I find it’s much easier to escape stuff that way and simply explore in general.

I use mostly Zerker gear and run LB/M/Sh and don’t have a problem surviving against anything but the Itzl that like to stun/demolish folks. But those ones give most folks grief. I find I don’t even bother with traps, either. Shouts and LB get me by in most cases, M/Sh is more for utility.

I chose to run Marauder’s as a compromise to zerker gear – I run LB and then GS or Hammer or M/F depending on what I’m doing. Learning to dodge in drop traps and drop out works best for me.

Currently running all Berserker, but when I first got into HOT I had to change to Soldiers until I learn the mobs better.

Longbow makes most things fairly easy due to its range. Procession of Blades and Test of Faith are incredibly helpful as well. Procession for its damage and ToF for the protection, instant cast, and traited daze. Don’t overlook daze in PVE, because that 1s can give you time to get away, interrupt, block, and does sizable damage to break bars.

I will most likely get ridicule for this, but Spirit Hammer is really helpful and has become a mainstay on my bar in general PVE. For some reason it has very high aggro and it is somewhat tanky against everything except for the bigger bosses. It also helps for break bars in some of the later areas (chak).

The only real issue I consistently encounter is the frogs. Longbow sucks against them (due to evades) and they have 2 different burst abilities that almost 1-shot me.