In the first mission, the puzzle didn’t follow the previous conveyance. To free the very-slappable NPC, you make all the lines go out. To attack the boss at the end, you have to light them all up so she overloads. That wasn’t what was demonstrated, and it looks like it was done for the devs whim and humor than player consistency.
I actually did it the opposite way. To free the Exemplar, I lit all of the lines and to damage the boss I turned them all off. Leads me to believe you can do either one either way.
In the second mission, the debuff claw isn’t dodgable. Or, if it is, its execution was so sloppy that the visual effect and actual projectile are nowhere near each other. That makes getting Fearless impossible on so many different builds, with no warning that such a mechanic is coming to allow the player to adjust.
It could have been a good fight, but it just came out to be incredibly annoying and wrong.
According to Dulfy, the claw is dodgeable, but I agree the visual cues are off. Perhaps a bug. But dodging the claw is how they recommend getting the Fearless achievement. Also, if you die you have ample opportunity to change your build.
I didn’t mind the Doubt fight that much once I figured it out.
@OP
Personally, I like the puzzles a lot more than just whittling boss health down. Pressing 1 and watching a health bar go down while occasionally dodging attacks is extremely boring. If the boss works the same as any other mob, just with a lot more health, what’s the point of even having a boss fight?
Heart of Thorns set a precedent that not everything was going to be core Tyria faceroll anymore.
This way there is some satisfaction to be had in figuring out the fight or puzzle.