Guild Wars 2

Laar.5476:

Apparently I am missing something on my guardian because my health is way, way lower than what real berserker guardian has.

“I’m a zerk, I have a berserker mace.”

Frustrating, isn’kitten I tend to go for faster runs these days, but when I was starting out I liked to take things slower and learn as much as I could about the dungeons.

Find a guild that runs dungeons but doesn’t take things too seriously (PM me if you’re on NA and interested. My guild does a lot of laid-back dungeon runs, but we are 100% rep). Or put “watching cutscenes, casual run” in your own LFG.

PCanineBrigade.4916:

‘p1 no kittens’
In Open World Content category.
Edit: word starts with R, followed by etards.

LMAO I love “lfm p1” posts in non-dungeon LFG sections xD

The extra requirement was just icing on the cake!

Bread.7516:

we need less plain variable tweaks and more movement.

QFT.

But maybe it was all just a dream….

Or Scarlet and Zhaitan will wage war on Tyria from beyond the grave!

OMG wouldn’t it be absolutely wonderful to have Scarlet back in LS2?

Lian Olsam.9541:

I d like to have like in other games the final dungeon stats with dmg done, healing, how many tme u was downd and how many time u are death etc etc…

Interesting idea, with you so far….

i dont care if some classes are unbalanced we still have elitism with full zerk, maybe with those stats we can see how many time the party have to waste their time for ressing a full zerk noob builds…

’k, no need to read further.

Pull your head out, man. Play how you want, but let us play how we want.

We have AC tears in HotW, why not mossman in AC?

blinks

Is this real life?

I’ve seen this happen, but only near the table. I think it has to do with be on top of the table, or on the opposite side of the table from Hodgins.

The most useful kiting pattern I’ve found there is to just keep running clockwise around the pillar just East of Hodgins while spamming 1 on staff. You usually won’t see the invuln bug and you stay close enough to Hodgins that you can keep aggro off of him while keeping the gravelings away. Plus you’re constantly LOSing the gravelings around the pillar, so you don’t have to worry as much about knockbacks.

FenrirSlakt.3692:

maha.7902:

Literally the last four times I have taken mesmer in to low-man Arah p2’s (some on stream as well ….) wardens have bugged out. I love playing mesmer but I’m absolutely sick of the class being so screwy and causing wipes.

Some bugs take so long to get fixed (or acknowledged) that sometimes it feels like the game is in some sort of open beta or something.

Nah, games in open beta usually have active developers and engage their community.

It’s more like the game is in the life-support phase of software development. It’s not a priority for developer/customer service resources, only the bare minimum to keep it alive as a revenue stream.

They had the realization “Reflects are broken and OP in certain cases”, but rather than fix the issue by making reflect damage reasonable and consistent, they slap on a band-aid and just break the mechanic so that players have to guess whether or not their skills will actually work the way that they’re supposed to.

Such lazy. Much sad. So annoy.

This pattern of taking the easy route and breaking mechanics more vs. fixing the broken mechanics doesn’t make me very hopeful.

God I love this game, but it is so mismanaged…

It’d be really cool if they started fighting each other ala Troll/Kholer.

My guess is that by the time they whittled Lupi down to 75% with ~14 grubs, the first phase 2 AoE would wipe them out xD.

I was thinking this morning that I’d like to see a group pull all (or at least most) of the risen mob from before Lupi into his arena and fight them and Lupi at the same time. It’d be hilarious

You can jump off the ship, use a rev orb, and swim around quite a bit. There are a lot of walls, but you know how walls are in this game….esp in Arah xD

I did that in a PUG a while back. I was laughing because everyone followed me.

I guess they couldn’t believe that it was actually over!

Honestly, some of the fights in Arah’s story mode are pretty fun, it’s just that the majority of the time is spent on that kibbeh airship trying to stay awake. But fighting the mouth? Really fun, especially in a sucky group xD

I’d never noticed the gate after the mouth. I may go back and run that again to do some exploring…I love breaking Arah, lol

There are rumors that the airship was supposed to follow Zhaitan down into Arah and the team would finish him on land. Sounds like it would have been a much more interesting fight.

The main reasoning for the rumor is that there’s a very provocatively named POI in the Arah story map (“Zhaitan’s Last Stand”), but it’s not accessible. Maybe they omitted the Last Stand because they were worried that the party might not be awake after pushing 2 every 3 seconds for 45 minutes?

Or they’re waiting until they’re happy with it! I’m sure the real version is coming just as soon as they finish working on it!

lol

Staff guard can cover medium range, bearbow +GS mes for long range, MM necro for tank.

With such a stronk party, it wouldn’t matter what the fifth was.

Mesket.5728:

I think I see where you are going, but it won’t turn out good with all melee. The game pretty much forces stacking unless you are willing to play with range.

Just take turns :-P

aliksyian.7642:

Silvia.9130:

It will never be fixed.
And just to say, if the instance owner goes offline after some minutes the game will autokick him from party, screwing every effort anyway, neat no?

Do you say it’ll never be fixed because anet said so, or pessimism (justified by experience, perhaps)?

Because someone makes a new thread about this issue about 3 times every week, and no dev has ever commented on it, acknowledged it, tried to share their reasonings/priorities, etc etc etc.

They stick their fingers in their ears and sing loudly and off-key instead.

So…pure pessimism. And yes, quite justified.

TA is great if you want to solo. Arah is popular, but takes more practice.

Go do TA forward :-) Even I can solo it.

Also check into minidungeons. Some of them are really fun and interesting challenges (Vexa’s lab comes to mind).

Jure Simich.6154:

As someone who only ever PUGs due to a dead guild, I can say that all of my PUGs successfully killed the spider queen, so no, it’s not “the end of casuals”.

General scenario, with about 10 runs, including one with a party including only two lvl 80s, is:
-someone may insist that we stack, resulting in a “learning wipe”
-group engages queen in the open space, and if people stay out of AoE (sometimes problematic if the queen camps inside an AoE circle or if someone runs out of condition removal just when he gets immobilized in a circle) the queen generally dies with 1-2 defeated people.

Really, people on this board seem to mistake the idea that the meta way is the fastest way to do a dungeon with the misconception that it is the only way to finish one.

Also, it’s much more fun now.

+1000. (there were bonus points for acknowledging the existence of “learning wipes”.)

Good choice. Warr is probably best to learn on. Ele’s are a bit squishy and need to be adapted to various situations more than warr.

Have fun, and don’t hesitate to come back if you have more questions!

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

OrianZeta.1537:

Windu The Forbidden One.6045:

Nope, it just made the combat more shallow. Instead of 11111 dodge 11111 reflect 11111 we now just have 1111 dodge 11111 dodge.

Basically what 90% of people do already.

Because what else is there to do when it comes to bosses.
CC doesn’t work, Reflects don’t work and on some even conditions don’t work. I got nothing to work with. Just making bosses immune to everything is lazy and bad design imo.

<3

coughblatantobviousreferencetoacrossplatformautomatedunittestingplatform CMAKE/CTEST/CDASH /cough

I <3 people who do art just for the love of making art :’-)

GJ, looks great.

Seriously, find a guild. PUGing just means opening yourself to this kind of nonsense, whether it’s an “elitist” kicking you for not knowing something a inexp player couldn’t possibly know, or a wannabe elitist pug kicking you for not being a 100% meta, cut&dried farm4lyf kitten.

A guild of people you trust is worth more than a lifetime of pugging could ever offer.

Thieves are OP in this challenge. Pls nerf.

Trevor Boyer.6524:

In most forums as they age
Devs or GMS or w/e they are called specific to that forum
All eventually use alternative accounts to post and comment
This avoids direct aggression toward company representation
And allows them to say to you what they REALLY want to say

Every conversation in this forum concerning ANet’s handling of dungeons is full of the most absolute pessimism and negativity I’ve ever seen when it comes to dungeon development. I can’t remember the last time anyone said anything hopeful about the future of dungeons during a discussion.

I really hope there aren’t employees participating in those conversations. That’d be more depressing than the silence. :-(

Brutal Arts.6307:

Build choices aside it has useful information. Too bad the people that are on these forums already know these things.

Well, the forums are also indexed by google, so more people find posts here than just the regulars.

Miku Lawrence.6329:

“I’ve never heard of you, so you obviously can’t teach.”

I doubt so.

Well, more or less.

I’m actually amazed I could find that post, given this forum’s fantastic search abilities xD

Has anyone gone jumping in CoE story lately? It looks like there’s a new wall.

I’ve never been that good at it, so I might just be sucking. Can someone confirm?

Guys, guys, guys…relax. Some people still have fun doing runs that aren’t 100% perfect/efficient. OP found a way to play that’s fun for him and shared his playstyle for people who might be looking for some ideas that work. Might not reflect the current meta 100%, but it is probably valuable to some players regardless.

Nitpicking people who try to post friendly/helpful advice is what gives this subforum the “toxic” reputation that we hear about so much. A guildy of mine advertised some dungeon training runs on here and was met with a ton of negativity and ridiculous bullkitten like “I’ve never heard of you, so you obviously can’t teach.” It doesn’t leave a good impression.

Things that must be in a template:

• Weapons
• Sigils
• Rune
• Amulet
• Skills
• Traits

What could be in a template:

• Skins
• Dyes
• Outfit
• Finisher

Things to consider:

• Sharing (chat links? codes? urls?)
• Viewing (seeing some else’s vs. seeing your own)
• Saving (notepad vs. local vs. account vs. web) — Why would anything but account-wide persistence be desirable?
• Building (one spot in UI vs. multiple spots)
• Websites (third-party sites should work with in-game)
• APIs (Could expose an API to third-parties)
• PvP vs PvE vs WvW (each mode requires different configuration options)

Another vote for talking with (hell, maybe hiring) these guys: http://en.gw2skills.net They’ve done most of this work for you.

My $0.02:
I think simply using their base64 encoded strings (or your own format) to represent the list of “must haves” and having a simple UI to label/save/swap builds would make 99% of players happy. Web APIs, sharing, importing, etc are all polish that we don’t really need right away. Push out the basic mechanism and then work on polish.

Just need a method to serialize/deserialize a build, save it with a label, and add a combo box to the Hero UI. Maybe add the ability to export/import the serialized representation via a string editor and push it out.

It’s been a long time coming, just get the basics implemented and add bells and whistles later.

Oh and BTW, and props to the PvP folks at ANet for actually talking to your community. If you could find a way to inspire the PvE teams (particularly dungeon teams, since they seem to be active again) to do the same you would win the adoration of an entire subforum ;-)

TheSwede.9512:

Then we have the boss, Fyonna… The Spider Tree. Basically, loads and loads of Spider trash mobs swarming the party, including (I think) those darn Stonetouch Spiders. Also a PuG destroyer, as back when I did that path everyone was certain that Ranging from the entrance was the one and only way to do it.

This. I think most of us would have been just fine with them just keeping the path and just dialing back the number of adds at Fyonna. But trashcanning it was easier, I guess.

Trevor Boyer.6524:

It’s the official forum, there is no where else for me to post this
It is posted here not for you to read over but for the hopes that a-net will read it over

Then you really picked the wrong place to post this.

It’s ok, it makes sense to assume that the official forums would be a good place to put feedback. But we don’t get much dev traffic in here. Try to find the last time a dev posted in here. A CC did several months ago, but a dev? Nah. Probably been the better part of a year if not more.

Even though your feedback concerns a dungeon, you have a much better chances of getting noticed in the general GW2 discussion forum. Even then….you talk about a lot of things that people have been complaining about since launch. I honestly don’t think they’re interested in hearing it :-(

Congrats, guildie! I always thought you were just pugging when you were the only one in the guild in Arah >.>

I need to catch up! I still haven’t done one….

Excellent advice, thanks for the thorough guide! I’m really enjoying my mes in Arah, and once I get these skips down it’ll be much easier

Aha, I’ve been scared to take stability off my bar for that run because I’m used to just popping SYG or traited VoC on guard.

PU + full stealth is something I haven’t tried. I haven’t looked too much into the Chaos line, but Mirror of Anguish also looks helpful for those pesky techs for when I inevitably leave stealth at just the wrong time >.<

I think I also need to just open our next p2 instance and stick around after we’re done and just practice those skips.

While we’ve got this lovely mesmer/arah advice thread going, maybe I get some pointers on skips :-)

The one that gives me the most trouble is the run after Alphard to Brie. I usually run:

Healing Mantra (Centaur runes + harmonious mantras = awesome)
Mantra of Concentration
Decoy
Blink
Mass Invis

with 6/6/0/2/0.

My typical approach is to make the skip in three parts. First from Alphard to just past the boat, then boat to the “choke point” with the techs and deadeyes just before Brie’s room (where the bone wall pops up), and then the rest of the way to Brie.

I can usually make the first two parts in one go, especially if all of the grubs are out to distract the techs. Then I wait in a safespot near the choke point for a long, long time waiting for mass invis to come off cooldown so I can make the final run past the techs/deadeyes to Brie.

Any advice for doing this in one run on a mes? On my guard I can just run past everything, but mes is still kinda tricky for me.

Do most mesmers not bother with stealth at the choke point and just YOLO it with stability + blink?

Heh, yeah, that back aggro sucks.

Unfortunately, the best way I’ve found to deal with it is to either be the first to YOLO, or wait a little while after the the first person goes so that things have a chance to reset.

Sometimes you can follow Senor YOLO at just the right time so that all the mobs are in the middle of resetting when you go, which makes it much, much easier

Ewwww, underwater. You sadist :P

Aha, that sounds familiar. We usually just ignore the last grub spawn anyway and burn it down while hunkering down under a feedback during phase 2.

Unless Lupi is a kitten and starts phase 2 with a slap.

Ahhhh, cool. I usually have three swordsmen out by then anyway, so I think I’ll be ok there.

Which leads to my next question…

Back in the day, I remember hearing that mesmers are expected to shatter clones after the p1-p2 transition because Lupi should grub them. However, in my mes Arah runs, he’s never targeted an illusion but instead always grubs a party member. Is this a coordination issue, and my party should be doing something to force the grub onto the illusion?

But since 1 grub doesn’t really matter, I should probably just not shatter, and keep my swordsmen around for the extra reflect damage. Hell, IIRC the grub actually makes the projectiles stronger, so it might be better to just let him get it for a better chance at phase skipping…

Wethospu.6437:

Spider Queen no damage, no dodge, melee thingy: http://youtu.be/VdA9xfLsF2Y

Very nice! Good job evading the web spray that changes direction without dodges!

Note to self: Need to turn off melee assist….

Jeremlloyd.6837:

For traits, I’d take 6/4/0/4/0 as well. In dueling you want Deceptive Evasion, so you can switch Blade Training or Phantasmal Fury (I’d switch PF for DE)

Really? I’ve never heard anyone recommend DE for, well, anything in PvE. I think I’ve been Lupi’ing wrong…I’ve only been using illusions during phase 1, relying on sword dmg and reflects for 2/3.

How does DE help at Lupi? My first guess was Compounding Power, but not with 6/4/0/4/0….

Iris Ng.9845:

My biggest problem of the day is the bloody locusts kill my swordmen.

Obviously I’m a mes noob, but have you tried throwing a warden out in between swordmen? They’re pretty good at clearing out trash like that, just be sure to wait until after the kick.

In a pug which has more reflection than from a single mesmer (me), I use 6/6/0/2/0 and don’t bother myself with the abomination a.k.a. bugged wardens. In a pug which I can foretell the fail incoming, I use 6/4/0/4/0, supercharge my mantra of stability and carry Blink as my security measure….

Mantra of Concentration is the second best thing about being a mes (after Blurred Frenzy)

And I still cannot solo Lupi off the wall. I’m bad /raisefist

Well, I can’t solo him at all, so I’m a terribad :P But I also always play on a laptop over wifi in a different room than where my router is.

And then wonder why my dodges never proc in time.

Hmmm….orders 100 ft ethernet cable

meeptha.4670:

I think this was the old Twilight Arbor loading screen

Oooh, pretty

RemiRome.8495:

dlonie.6547:

snippety exploit snip snap

It’s almost like they don’t read this forum.

ikr? That, and I was blatantly “advertising another website” by mentioning youtube >.>

And IMO (which I’ll admit, ANet probably does not share) skipping to practice Lupi but not finish the path isn’t really an exploit, as there’s not really any profit in doing that.

Would probably delete it anyway. Why would you encourage bads to be bad?

Hmm? How does wanting to practice Lupi solos make anyone a bad?

And OP — I definitely recommend duoing/trioing p2 as much as possible too. It’s a lot of fun and good practice. I rarely run Arah with a full party anymore, and then when I do, I’m always surprised at how quickly everything dies xD

Embrace The Bold.7619:

dlonie.6547:

Path 2, as mentioned above, is the official answer.

Alternatively, look at Gab 1337’s youtube channel for a recent warr p3/p4 video that shows a 4 minute route to Lupi…

Yeah but I like to do thinks “legit” :p though it is tempting does this route prevent completion of p4?

Me too, but for just practicing Lupi…eh. Not sure about completion, I haven’t done any Arah JPs since they wall’d up the coral by the entrance. I used to just jump around and explore, see how far I could get…it was a lot of fun. I didn’t finish those runs because it’s easy enough to just get some guildies together for a quick run and not have to worry about exploit bans.

I’ve heard of folks using similar skips to exploit and sell p4 (before flaming, not all sellers exploit…), so I don’t think it blocks completion.

Which is bullkitten. If they want to stop people from skipping bosses, they need to just make the bosses required to get rewards. Playing whack-a-mole with invisible walls is stupid. I really miss jumping around on top of Arah, the views are quite spectacular, and it gives a whole new meaning to “explorable” mode ;-)

p2 almost does this, all bosses except Lupi are required for rewards (and IIRC, they must be killed in the correct order).

Why they don’t do this with all bosses in the other paths blows my mind.

Path 2, as mentioned above, is the official answer.

Alternatively, look at Gab 1337’s youtube channel for a recent warr p3/p4 video that shows a 4 minute route to Lupi…

spoj.9672:

My personal favourite is Wall of Partial Reflection.

I like that one too, but didn’t want to steal credit for Lucas’s name ;-)

In seriousness. If reflect damage is too strong the projectiles should just be destroyed instead for these encounters. Because whether they reflect or block they are an important part of active defence. Making it rng based is just awful. Its just like blind on bosses. Doesnt work and makes it completely pointless to rely on.

That’d be better than unblockable, but still leaves inconsistent behavior. I’d still rather see player-based damage.

Another really good idea for weaking reflections while maintaining consistency is Belka from Arah p1. She intermittently has her own reflection up, and since projectiles only reflect twice, it effectively negates reflections by using a clear, consistent mechanic. If both allies and enemies are reflecting, the projectiles still hit the targeted foe.

RemiRome.8495:

dlonie.6547:

You need to a) bait the first AoE, b) have enough damage to kill SQ before the second AoE, and c) have an ele for IB/FGS.

a) nope
b) not really
c) lol no

Maybe I was unclear — those are the steps that are needed if you want to corner stack the entire “fight”.

Last I heard, anyway. Is there another way? Just bring a kittenload of cleansing? I thought the AoE’s ticked continuously and poison in the corner would just get reapplied when cleared.

Same here. The fight is way more fun in the open…and coordinated groups can still cheese/speed-clear her. Win-win.