Gauntlet is pretty much a combination of simple raid mechanics in any other mmo, except solo. (Don’t stand in front when boss does lethal move. Avoid the red circles/mobs. Stand at a certain places. Tank boss to certain places. Buff/debuff management. Tank/target switches. Kite adds to certain place. Gear checks for dps/tanks/healers. Phase shifts. Kill orders for council type fights. Hard/soft enrage timers. MANY WHELPS HANDLE IT). None of the mechanics are innovative nor even that tightly tuned compared to many other mmo raid encounters.
Other than various bugs, farmability issues and the camera, I have no real problem with the difficulty or mechanics. It not random, nor is it that skill based, it is mainly a test of situational awareness and patience to learn mechanics and change your toon to counter said mechanics, and the will (to invest gold and time) to make multiple attempts at a same encounter.
Every basic raider in every other mmo seems to be able to grasp this concept. And for those who find raiding not fun, they don’t raid. In no way shape or form are you required to play gauntlet. They didn’t even lock any BiS gear, titles, or skins; just a mini. I am honestly surprised at the complaints about reward minis/achieves. In no other game have I heard this many complaints about the “rightness” of locking exclusive rewards (mounts titles weapons) behind difficult content.
After having completed all achievements, my biggest issue with gauntlets is that it is solo. A core concept of GW2 combat revolves around group synergy and coordination (builds/combo fields+finishers). This allows for amazing group synergy and complexity. IMO having a solo event removes one of the greatest parts of the combat system.
All good points. Though with “basic raider” comes the assumption that people possess the basic skill set that is required to raid. If I had to bet I’d say the vast majority of this player base has not raided, especially those having difficulty with challenges like this one.
What you call “situational awareness” and “countering mechanics” are actually skills that you’ve acquired while playing other MMO’s with raid content. Assuming everyone possesses these basic skills because they are second nature to you is a problem. Raiding does not typically correlate with casual play/players, which as we know, is what GW2 was designed for. I watch players eat kitten to AoE rings and not understand these basic concepts on a daily basis in all parts of this game.
Anyhow, still good points, and I appreciate the fact that you’ve actually completed these events before becoming the authority on their mechanics/flaws.
I believe the current gauntlet already has a very small chance to spawn you with a fellow GW2’er.
If you’re really lucky you’ll get to fight the previous player’s enemy + yours solo. Daily double!
Also, this community needs to come to a consensus on their definition of skill. “Trivial” and “not skill based” in reference to things like the gauntlet, sanctum sprinter, spvp/tpvp pollute these forums.
Does a game have to be a MOBA/RTS/FPS to require skill? Is everything outside of that trivial and skill-less? Why can only a small % of the players complete these “challenges?”
If I can do Light Up the Darkness or kill Liadri and you can’t, chances are I’m better than you at this game.
This, good sir or maam, would depend on the desired play style and / or a better measure of your superiority over him. In any instance I encourage people to not claim superiority on a particular subject area due to being able to do something that another isn’t able to – concerning a small part of the game.
I admit that you are justified in that you make a clear separation from IRL to game achievements. Its just that with such a statement you are implying beating Liadri is somewhat of a measure of a players aptitude. Simply put you have proven yourself to be better than others (including myself) at killing 1 boss of a mini game, in which you enter solo combat with, of which you know a strategy and like a play style which can beat her. Compare that to others who a) don’t know a strategy b) don’t like the play style c) use other builds.
I liken it to something of a mastery of Liadri, not a mastery of GW2…
But I digress. Liadri is hard, as you admitted, until you get a strategy, play style, and proper build.
/agree with this entire post, I should have been more specific. I’m sure there are things I’m terrible at by comparison, however, very few events/encounters in this game allow for an individual to prove themselves like the gauntlet. It’s all on you and attempts to blame other variables are just cop outs.
I’m just getting sick of these self-righteous posts claiming that this fight is poorly designed because it’s difficult and that people don’t want to waste their precious time on it.
It’s a great encounter, very well designed (outside of camera bugs, I’ll give you that) that takes a tremendous amount of effort (for most) to beat, especially Light Up the Darkness.
I hope they put more content like this in, despite all the crying.
Well, you can turn in 15 Watchwork Sprockets and 20 silver for 5 tickets, so you don’t need to grind at all.
As to the second half of your post, I don’t even know what to say to that. I’m sorry you’re upset you can’t beat it, don’t draw completely irrelevant comparisons?
People who can beat her better than those who can’t in-game, not IRL.
The last part only addressed the elitist crowd who thinks that beating Liadri correlates with more success in real life and think that they are entitled to more than others who can’t.
Since you belong to the latter crowd, what are your qualifications in real life? Have you won a Nobel Prize? How many PhDs do you hold and in what area?
I’m sorry, who’s talking about IRL? These are the Guild Wars 2 forums.
If I can do Light Up the Darkness or kill Liadri and you can’t, chances are I’m better than you at this game.
That being said, I’d know when to shut my mouth around people who’ve achieved things like “Nobel Prizes” and “PhD’s” , if you know, that was at all what we’re talking about.
You’re mad, I get it. She’s hard, just keep trying.
Kind of ironic how a boss that requires on average 50+ tries for most people requires FARM to even attempt.
Most people have too much of a life to farm that many tickets, or lack the inclination to do the same thing over and over again like they would have to in other games.
I thought GW2 wasn’t about grinding, or catering to hardcores who do nothing but play the game 24/7. I was obviously wrong. Not to mention that the repair costs and gear/spec requirements cost a load for somebody who hasn’t been playing forever.
Not to mention that the last fight is impossible for somebody with high latency, or on a server that lags due to high traffic.
If you seriously think completing this event makes you a better person irl than somebody who lacked the inclination/capability of doing so, I challenge you to hand in your Liadri achievement(s) for a Nobel Prize/Fields Medal.
Well, you can turn in 15 Watchwork Sprockets and 20 silver for 5 tickets, so you don’t need to grind at all.
As to the second half of your post, I don’t even know what to say to that. I’m sorry you’re upset you can’t beat it, don’t draw completely irrelevant comparisons?
People who can beat her better than those who can’t in-game, not IRL.
1-shot mechanics are perfectly natural sources of difficulty in a game that offers dozens of ways to consistently avoid them. In fact, this is really the only way to achieve a legitimately difficulty encounter that is skill dependent due to the amount of self-preservation abilities in this game. If you’re complaining that this fight is poorly designed and and cheesy you’re likely frustrated at your own lack of skill/strategy to complete it. Nobody wants to come to terms with the fact that they’re not as good as they think they are, or that they will not get 100% of the content done regardless of time spent.
Those who actually put the time in to learn the fight’s mechanics and come prepared with all of our classes’ tools can consistently beat Liadri, and find doing her non-hard mode (standard kill) quite easy.
I’ve killed her at least 15+ times while getting “Light Up the Darkness” (many times on accident, i.e. killing her too quickly) done on my Charr Engineer, who is wearing full Berserker’s gear and is big as hell.
not all content is for everyone, end of story. no amount of liadri QQ will make ANet look away from the praise it got from the people that actually bothered trying to beat her instead of blaming it on luck or profession of choice.
+1
Too many players in this game feel that x time spent should = x award. It’s ok to not be able to achieve everything. Not all of us are professional athletes, should we whine to the respective leagues that it’s not fair to the masses? Should ivy league schools have an open admission policy? No no no, it’s ok for some things to be designed for the 1%.
I worked my kitten off getting Light Up the Darkness and would be outraged if this amazingly fun and difficult fight got nerfed due to QQ.
This reminds me of the Hall of Monuments complaining, people just wanting what they can’t have/get.
This should definitely have a title associated with it, and be awarded retroactively. I’m not a thief and DO NOT want to get this achievement again.
*Retroactive title for Light Up the Darkness, this achievement is entirely too hard to not have some kind of prestigious/unique reward associated with it (20 AP not enough).
Because you lack the determination/skill to achieve the kill it’s suddenly designed poorly or for a vast minority.
As an adult I’m sure you know by now that life’s not fair and you either work incredibly hard or you’re born into advantage. Not everyone deserves all of these achievements simply because they put the hours in.
I have Light Up the Darkness done and have killed Liadri countless times…Do I want entitled “hard workers” like yourself taking that away from me by crying for a nerf?
I’d like to second this, the reward needs to be greater as this is one of the hardest achievements (from an actual player-skill perspective) out there.
There needs to be a title so those that have slaved over this can be recognized.
There is absolutely no reason to have not tested this prior to making Belcher’s Bluff part of the meta achievement for Bazaar of the Four Winds. Adnul Irongut is essentially impossible right now, especially after you “fixed” food but forgot to fix the following:
Drink is dealing 1999 damage to players (Let’s call it 20%) Water is healing for 1000 damage (10%) The tooltip specifically indicates the opposite. Moreover, the NPC’s appear to be benefiting from the *proper values.*
You cannot implement temporary content to suck people in and not properly test it.
With achievements giving actual bonuses now, and living story being your new primary focus, you’ve certainly done a horrible (and embarrassing) job of implementing both.
I hate that this had to be my first forum post, I’m in utter disbelief.
