Guild Wars 2

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

I think the biggest plot hole (if you will) with the dragon / gods theory is that from the lore we have, the dragons have always been a part of Tyria while the human gods came from ‘elsewhere.’ The issue here is that we don’t know what or where that ‘elsewhere’ is. They could be truly alien, which could debunk the theory.Or they could all be part of some greater whole of which we have no knowledge, offshoots (facets) of a greater power. Or they could be some sort of kin, like calling to like so to speak. Who knows.

Honestly I dont consider this a plot hole at all, in fact I see it as evidence that they ARE coming form the Dragons if not the Dragons themselves.
Remember that Humans have not been around long, and the Gods and Humans arrived at the exact same time. So I believe that the Gods are Personas created by the Dragons as a means to keep the Humans in check and to manipulate them, since humans were discovered to be very impressionable and prone to worship.

I personally don’t hold much stock in the Dragons -> Races thing. The races all just live in different regions of Tyria so naturally there would be a Race living near where a Dragon is.

But I am totally fixated on the Dragons -> Gods thing. Two headed Bubbles and twin Dwayna are just too coincidental to ignore to me, among other things.

*fixed.

They would make excellent Elementalists then!

(I feel we may be digressing…)

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

Im assuming with the player races you’re going back to the 5 dragons, 5 races thing from when the game was introd?

Like you said though, we could still get another dragon centric race. The Largos would fit quite well with Bubbles.

No Largos, Quaggan or gtfo!

LanfearShadowflame.3189:

The book says there isn’t enough proof to prove it; conversely there is also not enough to disprove it either.

It’s hard to match the dragons and the god up directly. Especially when we start taking Abaddon and Dhuum into account, as well as the fact that what the gods currently represent has changed a bit over time.

If you take the original 6 gods and pair them with the dragons, they match up pretty well. It could be argued that maybe they aren’t intended to match up as say death -> death though, instead as opposites death -> life (ie: Zhaitan -> Dwayna). Either way, its not a perfect match. Not without a heck of a lot more information.

True, but without the devs coming out and telling us one way or the other (The book does not do that contrary to what people say, all it does is confirm that there is not enough evidence to form a fact) all we can do is theorize. To me there is enough evidence to support the theory so until I’m given more information to tip my opinion the other direction I’ll go on believing it just as others will go on believing the opposite. This post is just here for people to discuss it, or to bring awareness to others who haven’t made the connection.

Lyssa was actually one of my lynchpins for the theory. She is dipicted as a twin goddess. The Deep Sea Dragon’s concept art shows it’s a two headed dragon.

There are so many similarities its really hard to not say that there must be some kind of connection even if they aren’t the same beings. Perhaps reverses of one another?

The book Dragon’s and Gods simply says that “There is not enough proof”, rather than debunking it entirely.

Ah pity, oh well.

There are six gods and six dragons with remarkable amount of overlap on their spheres of influence.
Zhaitan, Elder Dragon of Death -> Grenth, God of Death
Mordremoth, Elder Dragon of Plants -> Melandru, God of Nature
Primordus, Elder Dragon of Fire -> Balthazar, God of Fire
Deep Sea Dragon of Water -> Lyssa, Goddess of Water
The last two are a bit more forced but similarities can be seen:
Krakatorrik, Elder Dragon of Crystal -> Kormir, God of Order
Jormag, Elder Dragon of Ice -> Dwayna, Goddess of Air

The gods disappearance coincided with the Elder Dragon’s return.

So what if the Gods ARE the Elder Dragons, or at the very least agents of them. Humans have been worshipping the Elder Dragons this whole time without realizing it!

Rolled my first Necro in 2 years last week, specced Reaper and now I’m already maining him. I haven’t had this much fun with a class in a long time. Reaper4Life!

Awesome, thanks so much! I’m glad the holiday is lasting so long, I was worried my Christmas vacation visiting family (no computer) was going to cut into my Wintersday time

inch.3769:

Its not most of the player base who whine, the forums are often where people vent their whining, most people in game seem perfectly happy with wintersday Anyways, I guess the forums a useful tool in that they can be used to criticise and suggest improvements for the game. Anyways, I am also enjoying wintersday very much

Thank you inch that is actually really great to hear and does make me feel a bit better. All the complaining about free content has just been getting to me is all.

Wintersday does a fantastic job of simulating the Christmas spirit by bringing out the worst in people just like the RL holiday.
Where everyone should be happy about all the free content, and fun mini games there is nothing but whining and complaining about not getting the toy they wanted this year, and crying because the neighbor kid got a cooler toy then he did and now he wants it too (but it has snowflakes!).

ANet, Thank You for giving us an awesome game and another fantastic holiday. Most of your playerbase don’t deserve it.

Happy Wintersday…

Andraus.3874:

Now if you happen to be a snowman I can see your point. You really need this item so you don’t melt in the jungle. In that case maybe I would advocate for some nerf.

This guy

But yeah your experience was identical to mine in every way (right down to Dulfy). I’m actually pretty sure I couldn’t do it even if I tried, not enough time to play everyday for that many beverages lol. But hey I’m enjoying the money I’m getting from selling the Wintersday gifts

Story quests are the fastest to me, get them stories done. Huge chunks of xp with minimal time investment. In between story quests EotM is alright, but I actually prefer mapping. It’s a lot more fun (to me) and roughly the same xp plus you are going to need to do it eventually anyway.

Yeah there’ve been a lot of complains about this Wintersday, all of which I feel are mostly just complaining.
THIS is about the only part of Wintersday I feel is worthy of having an issue with. Timelocked content with no timer is not good game design. When does it end?!

Dashingsteel.3410:

To get Winter’s Presence you are required to finish the winter jumping puzzle 3 times. I believe that would be a platforming requirement.

And how is Winter’s Presence part of the game world? Is it necessary to continue a Story? A Map? Access a Point of Interest, HP, or Vista? A Dungeon? A Fractal?
It’s a skin!

Not having Winter’s Presence does not in any way bar you from experiencing the game, so just like the other platforms which are a sideshow, just skip it.

EDIT

I’ve put forth this suggestion in another thread. Award tokens after completing each event(bell choir, jumping puzzle, snowball fight, and infinitarium). Have each of the collectibles have a token cost. Since the snowglobe took 3 successful jumping puzzle completions charge 3 tokens for it….. etc. etc. This I think would be a reasonable way to go about earning the skin. That way you could do the events you want and still earn the skin. After all isn’t the game about entertainment?

I could be behind this. It is perfectly reasonable on the grounds that the difficulty of achieving the shoulders is quantifiably as difficult as it is now.

Dashingsteel.3410:

Well Anet has certainly cut down my tree by changing their philosophy on platforming. I actually enjoyed earning skins previous to HoT. Now that platforming is involved not so much.

You understand that you are still not required to actually do any platforming right? You can go through the entire game, experience every map and you still wont ever need to do any platforming. But those who enjoy platforming as well should be rewarded for their efforts. It’s like Dungeons, The very best stuff in the game is in dungeons. I hate dungeons with a passion, so I don’t go in dungeons. I don’t go on the forums and whine that I should get those things too despite being unwilling to put in the effort to do them. Dungeon runners go the extra mile and they should be rewarded for it.
I completely agree that if actual game content were gated behind a platform, like part of a map or something then you would be absolutely right, I’d be right there with you. But there is nothing but a single skin designed to be acquired only by the most elite of us gated behind that platform…one skin…and people are losing their minds over that. Its ridiculous…

Makai.3429:

If you climb a tree to fetch an apple, you get an apple.
If someone gives me a ladder to help me fetch an apple, I get an apple.
We both get apples.

A more accurate analogy would be: “If someone cuts down the tree you get an apple”
But now you’ve just cut down someones tree, someone who actually enjoyed climbing it.

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

You know what, that doesn’t make you sound “empathetic” to other disabled players, it makes you sound judgemental.

Good, because judgemental is exactly how I was trying to sound.
Yes I very much judge others who wish to take something from someone else just so they can have it and use their disability to justify it.

Now what is your proposal for making it more accessible to everyone while not also making it easier? I’m not saying such a thing can’t exist but so far I have heard: “Remove the JP from Requirements”, “Make it 1K not 10K”, and “Make it purchasable with tokens from gifts”. None of these things make it more accessible without also killing the items difficulty in obtaining it.
If a decent proposal were to come up I would very likely be on board. But while I am always on board for making content more accessible to players (I was on the frontlines of the argument against the Mastery gate for HoT personal story, and I authored a thread proposing a solo mode for dungeons for those who have difficulty with parties) I am very rarely going to agree with making special vanity items, that have no impact on a players ability to progress and experience the game, easier to obtain since that takes the vanity part out of it for those who have earned it.
I am always against taking from one hand to give to another.

Dashingsteel.3410:

Oh boy, here we go again with the “entitlement complex” accusations. No one is asking for free skins. I earned a bunch of skins and items in the game before the release of HoT. For example, I worked for the selfless potion which was part of the Lion’s arch events. It wasn’t given to me but it had a reasonable way to achieve it.

Nightfury and Winter’s Presence requirements are just ridiculous.

If it isn’t an entitlement complex than what is it? Demanding elements of the game that you deem too difficult be easier just so that you can get them can be called little else. And if the developers did bow to this and made it easier, how much easier? What about the people that still get left behind and still find it too difficult. The ONLY solution to some people finding something too difficult is to give it to everyone. So if that isn’t what you are asking then what is, because anything you say that isn’t asking for it for free will be alienating SOMEONE still.

And do remember that I probably have less than most people, most likely less than you. I’m a casual player. I have exactly 2 ascended items and that was from laurels that I’ve accumulated over the 2 years I’ve played and about 200gp to my name. I am casual and I know that. I play the game because I find it fun, not because I need all teh lootz!
People need to stop demanding more for doing less, you get what you earn! Just play the game and enjoy all the rest of the awesome stuff they give us (for free btw) instead of whining about the the stuff someone else gets for working harder for it than you did.

Chaos.3579:

this game does not need ultra rare hard to get items during limited time events. it does not make the game fun for anyone but game whales (rl rich players) and in game economy sharks.

But their existance doesn’t make it any less fun for those who can’t get the item (unless you have an entitlement complex like many have these days). Us normal people aren’t SUPPOSED to be able to go for these ultra rare items. No one said you had to get the shoulders, it is a premium item there for the few players will/able to get it, and good for them. The rest of us casual players should be content with all the other cool stuff in the event rather than fixating on the one thing we can’t have.
This entitlement complex people have developed is ridiculous, just because it exists in the game doesn’t mean you deserve it without earning it. Many items in the game many of us will never have because we will never earn them, but why take that away from those who can?

Eleri Tezhme.3048:

Not easier, equal. We should all have an equal chance to get things in this game.

When you make content that is especially difficult or impossible for players with disabilities to do part of a requirement for an event, item or story, then you are actively excluding players. You are making them less than the other players.

Imagine you are a brown eyed person, and you enjoy a game. Most of the time, the colour of your eyes has no impact on your gameplay; you make some adjustments, you avoid optional content that is difficult for you, and you keep playing. Then they start adding required content that works better for blue eyed people. Blue eyed people can get through it just fine, so can green eyed people… but for brown eyed people, it is difficult, even physically debilitating and harmful.

And people’s response to that? To tell you to suck it up, quit whining, just ‘keep practicing’, to not expect the devs to make it ‘easier’ for you, because that ruins it for everyone else. All because you want equal access to the game.

This whole attitude is exactly why, when I got violently ill playing a particular HoT story mission, I wrote directly to GW2 support… only to be told I needed to go post on the forum, because that’s where the Devs are.

I didn’t want to post here on the forum, because despite it being 100% better than most MMOs, it is still filled with people who would happily insult me, belittle me, and berate me for trying to ‘ruin’ their game, just because I expect better out of ANet- not content that is deliberately designed to trigger physical disability.

I dont think anyone should be belittled for anything. But asking for content to be easier because it is difficult for you or for certain people is a very slippery road.

I am colorblind. Many traps, and tell rings (like the ones in the winterday JP) are extremely difficult for me. I have to work extra hard and put in more effort because I am disabled in the visual department.

But I have absolutely no problem with that!

I have to work hard, so what? I get slammed in the face all the time with skritt thrown snowballs that I cant see coming very easily because the ring matches the color of the ground to me. Is it frustrating, yes, but I am not going to demand that ANet change the game for me or to make getting the shoulders easier for everyone just so I have an easier time.
That would be incredibly selfish of me. And that is precisely how I feel about others who do do this, it is nothing less than being selfish.

I am also poor enough that I can’t afford anything from the gem store. I don’t complain about it because why should I deserve something I have not earned?

I am sorry, I am equally empathic towards others disabilities as I’m sure they are toward mine, but people need to understand their limitations. Work toward the things they CAN get rather than trying to ruin everyone else’s experience by cheapening their victories.

SELL YOUR STOCKPILED SOFT WOOD NOW!!!! SELL SELL SELL!!!

While well written, I have to disagree with you.

You are right, there are people who are simply unable to get certain items from the game. But to make it easier for those people is to cheapen it for others who are proud of what they’ve done. If we hand out items to every player with minimal effort no one has any reason to put any effort into it. That is what’s killing WoW btw. You give to one hand by taking from the other.

I don’t have Winters Presence or Nightfury and I never will, I dont have the time to grind out the parts for them. But I have absolutely no problem with that. I know my limitations, I know what it is that I deserve based on what I’ve put in. I don’t feel that I deserve it despite being unable to put the effort in to getting it. And that’s fine, because people like me make those items all the more great for the people who have them.
If we all had them, they stop being special.

Donari.5237:

The only issue I have with this suggestion is the stat loss. I just a few minutes ago finally finished Nightfury (thanks to the price drop on linseed oil due to it dropping in gifts). I am very happy to have it! I gave it to an alt that a) doesn’t wear visible shoulders and b) doesn’t already have an ascended armor piece.

It took a -huge- amount of resources, time, and work to make this thing. Getting a piece of ascended armor out of it made the expense much more palatable to me. If it converts to a vanity effect, I’d better still have an ascended piece of shoulder armor!

So I’d want it more like the feathered wings becoming backpacks, you talk to the NPC with the item equipped and you get the new slot skin.

Donari, yeah that’s exactly what I was imagining as well.

I already hate how many show stopper movement impairments there are, we don’t need anymore. Plus, since mobs don’t dodge this only has use in PvP so could never be added to a skill or trait, it could only be added to an environmental bundle, or used by mobs themselves (god no).
Sorry but my vote would be no on this.

See my thread for my proposed solution to this: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/New-Item-Slot-Proposal-Vanity-Slot/first#post5860096

Serval.6458:

They’d need to make six vanity slots (shoulder replacement and one for each accessory slot) unless they want to alienate the people who can currently use bees, ghostly infusions, colours and shoulder pieces simultaneously

No need for anything so drastic. The simpler solution would be to simply all the old items to remain in the game rather than converting them. Any new ones crafted after the date of the change would be Vanity Slot items from then on, but the ones crafted before that date would be “grandfathered in” and still be shoulders.
Then add an NPC in Lions Arch, call him a Vanity Trader, and allow people to trade in their old shoulder slots for their Vanity versions if they wish, 1 for 1.

Dilligaf Wyt.1867:

And please make it usable with outfits

That would be part of the beauty of a new slot, outfits would have no effect on it since outfits only replace the 6 armor slots. It’s why back items are unaffected by outfits either.

Nightfury and Winter’s Presence are really cool, I think most of us can agree. But I think we too can agree that giving up our shoulder skin (arguably the best looking part of any armor set) for it really really sucks. In fact many of us chose not to work toward getting them solely for that reason.

My proposal is a new statless item slot for Vanity items like these. If ANet plans to add more of these ultra hard to obtain but very unique particle skins (I hope they do) it would be great to have an item slot all to their own without having to sacrifice one of the best looking parts of a characters look. And Balance would not be an issue since my proposed Vanity items would all be statless.

(Also, ANet, having a new statless item slot opens up a whole new world of gem store items…just saying…)

Thoughts?

Exotrax.4207:

I guess you are a new player…….welcome.

“Welcome back” would be more accurate. I played since a few months after release but I stopped playing about a year ago and just recently picked it back up. But as everything is changed it kind of is like a brand new game to me lol

Thanks guys this was all really useful info! Based on what I’m reading I might give the Necro a shot again (back when I used to play they kinda sucked). Reaper does sound pretty fun.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

What I think is the best class for HoT is, in fact, the one that you like playing. I don’t think there’s a good answer that separates the two things. If you don’t like the class, you won’t play it well and you’ll be more likely to die (plus, even if you don’t, it will be more frustrating).

Instead, I’ll rephrase the question as: “what do I like about playing my main in HoT maps and story?”

Chronomancer is a lot of fun to play on its own. The wells are fun and useful and even though I really wanted a new main hand weapon, the shield provides some really excellent utility for all sorts of HoT needs.

For HoT specifically, Chrono (and less so mesmer) provides all the utilities I could want: clones to distract enemies, stealth or blocks to run through raptors etc, and (played well) enough burst to defeat nearly anything solo (except, of course, Hero Challenge Champions — I just find them tedious to solo).

However, I haven’t really had serious problems running other classes; they just haven’t been as much fun.

Lol I’m glad you went on to actually answer my question. After all my disclaimers to NOT say precisely what you began your response with I was like “Seriously?!”. There seems to always be that one guy that answers that way despite the OP clearly stating that what he wants is YOUR opinion, I thought you were about to be that guy…

But you weren’t so we cool, and thanks for the response, I was not expecting to hear mesmer come up.

Serophous.9085:

And yet, somehow, DE was able to face off alone against an Elder Dragon with only the help of Glint, and almost kill it.

“only the help of Glint” Kinda think that gives them more than a bit of an edge to have a mother flippin’ Elder dragon on their team when fighting against another Elder Dragon. I imagine DE actually had very little to do with the equation.

What you just said is like someone saying “Yeah this handful of civilians just destroyed a whole tank all by themselves! I mean yeah they ALSO had a tank, but how did they manage that miracle all by themselves!?…(and a tank)”

I get what you are trying to say I just thought it was funny the way you said it XD

Lotta love for Ranger here I see lol. Good to know

What I am looking for is what YOU think is the most optimal class for solo’ing HoT content in terms of survivability without sacrificing too much DPS, also including the build type and type of gear you would use for that class would be very helpful as well.

Please note I am NOT asking for “THE BEST CLASS EVAR!” as there isn’t one. I know this is purely opinion and that’s exactly what I am looking for: YOUR opinion. So in before “The best class is the one you like playing”. I am well aware of that.

Tenno.6578:

just want to get this right, you liked fighting Zhaitan cause “epic monstrosity who required massive laser cannons attached advanced airships in order to take down. Super epic, and very cinematic.” but all he does during that fight is hang to a wall, while you shoot him with ‘lasers.’

mechanically, i really enjoyed mordremoth more than zhaitan. even dragon stand is epic. if you dont beat dragon stand he kills everyone on the map.

you also might want to double check the Wiki about the mouth of mordremoth, since it is very different then the mouth of zhaitan, both completely different.

I did! I remember the first time going though the Tyria personal story thinking about how stupid it would be if the finally battle was just WoW Raid Boss style fight where you just hit him with your weapon enough and he’d die. These dragons are gods and hitting them in the head with a stick isn’t doing to kill them. A massive friggin laser shearing off half it’s body and then getting pelted to death by smaller lasers was quite satisfying I thought.

The Mordremoth fight decided to go with the WoW Raid boss arena style fight though…completely unsatisfying, and lackluster in my opinion fighting a a 10 foot tall dinosaur by beating it in the head with your stick enough times…

ANd then there’s the fact that the Zhaitan battle culminated in a grand celebration and even a really cool song (That to this day I still listen to all the way through). Was a very epic feeling ending. Mordremoth was just “Ok he’s dead now, here’s your loot. The End”

Anduriell, unfortunately yes. I don’t do dungeons, and now raids for this very same reason (Fractals are still fairly sacred at least). Lot of elitist jerks in there. Unless you desperate need the gear you get from raiding, I’d just avoid it. It’s a very caustic atmosphere unless you are doing it with guildies as friends or something.

You can tell just by reading some of the comments you got here, these are the kinds of players you will meet. It’s how they like to play and there’s no changing it, so best to just avoid raiding entirely.

Aomine.5012:

We never see the real physical Mordremoth, which is what I was looking for so much :/
I’m extremely disappointed with the ending as welll. Why is Mordremoth, a supposedly dragon that symbolize MIND, is so WEAK, and so SMALL in his own realm, “Mind”?

I know! That’s what I thought too. This is Mordremoth’s home game. His mental manifestation should have been massive, and unimaginably powerful to equal his own confidence and ego. Instead he’s just a kitten y little dinosaur in his own head.

I’d laugh if I wasn’t crying so much…

EDIT Really? This forum “kittens” the word (d)erp?

So let me preface this by saying I love this game ANet. People on mapchat knock you all the time for the slightest of things and I’m usually that guy who defends you in some way. You’ve given us a great game to play, and still even after this post, consider GW2 to be the best MMO out there. And I love HoT just as much…

…Except the Mordremoth battle. What the heck happened there ANet?
The HoT story was really good, I even got a little choked up there when Eir died. And the Faolin monster was really awesome. I even really liked how most of it was all about saving Destiny’s Edge using the new group, in a very “Pass the Torch” kind of way.

Then I got to the Mordremoth fight and it singlehandedly killed the entire story for me…

What the hell was that!? Zhaitan was this epic monstrosity who required massive laser cannons attached advanced airships in order to take down. Super epic, and very cinematic, I loved it!
But for Mordremoth you give us an afterthought of a battle where a mutated Barney the Dinosaur stomps around in a boring arena riddled with more bugs than half the game combined, and the way you beat him is by hitting him with your weapon enough times…

That was awful!

I was hoping for some killer, God of War style fight with a massive plant dragon where the dragon itself is the battlefield. Or at the very least something equally awesome. I trusted you would deliver and was eagerly working toward the end, and you managed to drop the ball right on my heart….of Thorns…

Agemnon.4608:

I think sniper sounds cool but the way the mechanics work is you need to move around quite a bit so hunkering down for long range attacks wouldn’t be a practical playstyle.

The mechanics of the game only require you to move around a lot because there isn’t a class that can snipe from a distance. Closest we have is a Ranger and even then you notice that many rangers will stand in the same place, firing at range until something starts closing in on them.

Also, the class doesn’t actually require hunkering down, it is perfectly capable of run and gunning just as well as anyone else, but if you get a chance to put yourself in a position where you can just sit still for a little while you can use the tripod and unleash some pretty devastating firepower. The Tripod is meant to be situational rather than used on every single combatant. And the 1500 range puts you out of range of most danger, you’ll see the enemy closing in before even a ranger could start shooting at you and you can use that opportunity to stealth and reposition. And in PvE people just stack themselves and sit in the same place anyway.

I guess I like the idea of specializations that change the way we play the classes rather than specializations that are just more of the same class. That’s what made the Berzerker so bad was it was just more Warrior, it didn’t change anything, but made the Reaper, Daredevil, Scrapper, and many others really fun cause it changed how you played the classes.

I think I might just have a different vision of what the Elite Specs mean than most people here lol. Not better or worse, just different.

Aw that disappointing, this wasn’t as popular as I was hoping it’d be, and I thought it was perfect. Oh well back to the drawing board to make another. I’ll get one you all like don’t worry

I’m curious though, I notice that the people who are suggesting other specialization ideas are all using existing classes as the basis for their idea. Wouldn’t you want something brand new that is not in the game already? I mean if that’s the kind of class you want to play, why not just play THAT class rather than push to get a thief spec that mimics it?
Personally I’d much rather see something like this, or something else even, that opens up a brand new style of play. That’s what made the Daredevil so great, it was a highly reactive playstyle that we’d never seen before, wildly different than the base class and without mimicking any existing classes. Is that not the kind of thing people like?

Just some ideas for the next Specialization I think ANet should release for us.
The Sniper.

Gets the ability to use rifles (obviously).

Specialization mechanic is “Tripod”.
Set your rifle up on an tripod. You are immobile while using tripod but damage and rifle skill cast speed is increased.
F3, F4, and F5 change to “Leg shots”, “Arm shots”, and “Headshots”. Selecting any of these three will cause all of your attacks to apply 2 second stacks of either crippled, weakness, or blindness respectively for as long as you are using the tripod, and can be switched between at will. Moving, swapping weapons, or even being attacked directly cancels the tripod automatically. 30 sec cooldown.

Skills: (Notice that all shots have a range of 1500 but actually have a minimum of 300, forcing you to switch to a new weapon or run at that range)
1) “High Ground” – Range 1500. 300 Minimum. Does more damage the greater the difference in elevation the sniper is from the target (Like the rangers longbow but elevation instead of distance)
2) “Head Down” – Range 1500. 300 Minimum. Fires medium damage shot and immediately stealthed. Stealth duration decreases rapidly if you move encouraging you to stay in or near the same place after firing.
3) “Cover Fire” – 3 second channel. Range 1500. 300 Minimum. Rapid fire very low damage shots but grant stacks of Protection to allies within 600 of the target.
4) “Between the Eyes” – 1500 Range. 300 Minimum. – Medium damage with a strong Launch.
5) “Down the Sights” – 4 second channel. 1500 Range. 300 Minimum. Laser light, much like the Pale Reavers during the channel. Very strong damage that penetrates and applies 10 stacks of vulnerability.

So yeah it’s basically designed as distance support and dps. And the Tripod and Higher Ground abilities encourage creative preparation and location seeking.

Thoughts?

Eponet.4829:

Aren’t the story modes already all soloable?

No they are not. Perhaps if you are extremely skilled/geared and know the dungeon and all it’s bosses attacks intimately, yes you CAN solo them. That does not put them in the category of “soloable” in the general sense though.

Daddicus.6128:

Oh, I get it. I haven’t done that mission for quite a while, but I have done the dungeon a few times. I didn’t remember a solo mode, but if it’s part of the storyline, that makes sense.

Thanks!

Apologies for not making that clear. But yeah a solo mode was recently created for Arah personal story. What they did there is precisely what I am suggesting they do for the rest of the dungeons as well.

Altoid.9104:

Most dungeons are soloable, I don’t understand why there would need to be a solo mode. Maybe change it so the few dungeons that require a group (coe lasers for example) make you jump across and hit a switch to progress, but otherwise it’s fine.

As I told another guy, dungeons are not soloable to casual players only to the more elite players who obey the meta and memorized every facet of the dungeon before even attempting to solo it. And as a group-designed dungeon I wouldnt expect them to be soloable by us casuals. I’m not asking them to be easier, I’m asking for a solo mode precisely the way they did for Arah.

zombyturtle.5980:

wow haha, whenever someone has left a party for me I havnt even thought twice about it and have just grabbed someone else to fill their spot or finished it as a 4. I dont thikn anyone would begrudge you for leaving in a casual group. It is nice to see you respect peoples time like that though.

I would like to apologise for my initial post which was probably more snappy that it should have been. I am just tired of seeing people wanting to change the game to suit their style at the detriment of other peoples enjoyment, which seem to be all over now with HOT. You seem like a nice and reasonable person though.

If you did ever want to do a dungeon on EU then I wouldnt mind running any style with you and wouldnt care if you left in the middle.

Thought nothing of it, man, you seem a reasonable fellow yourself. Honestly my post could have easily come across as me complaining about the current state of dungeons, so really any kind of negative reaction to it would be perfectly warranted as there is plenty of complaining on these forums as it is. But mostly I’m just looking for a way for more people to enjoy more of the game.

zombyturtle.5980:

I do hope you realise that there are many go at your own pace groups forming where noone is expecting anything of their teammates other than to have a welcoming attitude. Its sad to see people having this view of instanced content when loot farming groups are only a small part.

If you inherintly dislike grouping just because then there isnt much I can do, but if you dont like it because of the pressure or expectations then there are many ways around that.

I think many people misunderstand how to use the LFG tool, which is not their fault, as its badly explained. Creating a LFG with the description ‘casual run all welcome new to path’ should always be sufficient to find the type of group you would seem to prefer.
Also just because you create a group doesnt mean you have to lead or take charge in any way.

True, and on the handful of times I’ve gone through a dungeon those have been significantly more enjoyable. But there is still an aspect of dependability that really kills the experience for me. A feeling of everyone needing everyone or you aren’t going to make it. I’m a pick up and put down kind of player because like most of us, RL gets in the way and I need to log off. If I’m by myself this is no big deal but if I’m with a group suddenly I’ve let the group down. They now need to put everything on halt to find a new player to join them since proceeding will likely result in death because casual players are also inherently weaker players. I feel bad doing that to people so really the only responsible thing is to not play dungeons.

It’s that double sided dependability that solo’ers dislike. We don’t like depending on people and we don’t like people having to depend on us. A Psychologist would probably tell you it has something to do with self-esteem and lack of trust in others but meh, there you have it lol

zombyturtle.5980:

I would be FULLY behind you if there was a guarantee that it would not destroy the grouping aspect of dungeons. I even think though that 1/4 of the rewards would still mean solo would become the dominant way of earnign tokens and gear. If tokens were removed from solo mode, and only gold were given at 1/2 of the current rate then that might be a solution that doesnt harm either side. I would be behind that.

There are still many issues though that I think means this is really unlikely to happen. The biggest being Anet hates dungeons and has declared them dead for development purposes. They wont even touch them to fix bugs anymore.

True story. But there is still Fractals.

Kormeg.2469:

“the grouping wall”

Is having to walk a gravity wall? Is having to use your hands to play the game a motor function wall?" Is needing to be corporeal an existence wall?

I have no opinion on this either way, but hearing regular parts of the game people don’t like being referred to as hard limits is getting extremely annoying…

I can understand that, and I’m sorry to have referred to it in such a fashion. But its hard to explain the way solo’ers like me see things like that without explaining them that way. A Grouping Wall really get the point across. It’s an entire section of the game that requires you to do something particularly unenjoyable just to get to it, and the act of performing the unenjoyable part is bad enough to us that it ruins the entire experience.
The only other way I can explain is is a carton of ice cream covered in dog poop. From my viewpoint I can’t help but wonder why it needs to be covered in dog poop in the first place?

zombyturtle.5980:

I understand and I sympathise with you and your dislike for grouping. I have had many bad experiences with grouping myself, as well as many good ones and I can see how people may be put off if they have a few bad in a row.

I understand your suggestion but I think you are minimising or not fully understanding the impact your suggestion would have on the grouping playerbase for dungeons.

The state of dungeons currently is not good. Rewards have been decimated to the point where its not worth players time to repeat them after they have got enough tokens for whatever goal they are trying to achieve. Most players have already reached that goal and therefore getting a group is a challenge all in itself, as most players will only do a run for the enjoyment once or twice a month.

If a solo option WAS added. Many players, even those who dont mind grouping, would probably choose the solo option simply for the convenience, rather than go through the hassel of waiting for a party from a limited pool of available players.

This leaves people who want to do the dungeons with a group, for enjoyment, with noone to play with. The pool of dungeon players would be so segmented it would take unreasonable efforts to make and play as a group and I would end up playing solo.

I bought this game, and have continued playing it for 3 years because I enjoy dungeons and I get satisfaction for compleing them with other people. I dont want the thing I enjoy most in the game to be taken away moire than it already has been and if solo runs were ever implemented, it would be the final nail in the coffin for gw2 grouped dungeon runs.

You are exactly right. Though this is why I also suggested that the solo mode result in significant reward decreases to the point where grouping will be significantly more profitable. Group dungeons should always be more profitable because they are a simply harder, and I am perfectly ok with that. Honestly I would be fine with zero rewards because I just like playing the game, but I know most people wouldn’t like that much lol. Something like, oh say, 1/4 the rewards probably would suffice I think.
I’ve been playing the game causally for 2 years now and I’ve been behind most players the whole time as a result. I don’t own a single legendary and I have little gold, and I’m perfectly ok with that! I wouldn’t expect to get more than I’ve earned. My complaint is that I don’t get to see some of the games coolest looking areas without having to group, which to me, would kill the experience, especially during a time when dungeons are dying as it is.