Curse

moriz · Jan 31, 2006, 07:34 PM // 19:34

when i first picked up the game, i thought: "wow, it's DII with better graphics!" after 1 minute of play: "wow, i can't even kill skales with my uberleet DII skillz!1!!!" after 2 minutes of play: "finally, a game that i will not master in 2 minutes!"

Pevil Lihatuh · Jan 31, 2006, 08:16 PM // 20:16

I think everyone else has pretty much covered everything I want to say, so here's one last thing from my own personal experience:

First time through is always the hardest. I played a R/Me, and found it easier than you apparently are (Ascalon was a pain of course lol). Now I'm going through it again (with 5 more characters!) and believe me, when you go through it again you'll wonder why you EVER had any difficulty. You're not upt o this bit yet, but others will know what i mean when I say that so far the only hard part has been aurora glade (hate that mission).

If its frustrating you, play something else for a while. Or try different skills. Do nothing but level up a bit. If you were to solo everything and get full exp you'd be level 20 by now, when you're not meant to be level 20 til you ascend (long way from where you are now).

Defender Of Orth · Jan 31, 2006, 08:42 PM // 20:42

Anyone else suprised he aint talking any more?

!

Mavrik · Jan 31, 2006, 09:48 PM // 21:48

Now I got my flame suit on so I'm set to go. For those who say PvE is to easy or what not... I'm not sure what PvE your playing but I don't find it all that easy. I can't even make it from Copperhammer to Citadel with hench and I'm a lv 20. My only complaint with GW is the cut off at lv20. Progression from there on is based on skills your character can learn. I would like to be able to lv to 25 at least. All these runes you can buy, better weapons, skills you can learn are not enough. Armor caps off at a certain level, thats fine, weapons can only deal so much damage, thats fine. But if you want a major rune or superior... expect -50 -75 cut in HP per RUNE! OUCH! And skills... now you gotta pay and they cost skill points. Whats worse is the more skills you cap or buy, the more and more they cost. I'm at like 2k and one skill point now with my warrior and I'm only at THK with her.

I played Diablo and I'm glad the game isn't exactly like that. But there are other ways it can be unlike Diablo and raise the cap on levels. With all the cuts you take to become more skillful... it would be nice to lv up to naturally gain HP to offset that.

thats my .02 cents anyway.

Raptox · Jan 31, 2006, 10:25 PM // 22:25

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrik

Now I got my flame suit on so I'm set to go. For those who say PvE is to easy or what not... I'm not sure what PvE your playing but I don't find it all that easy. I can't even make it from Copperhammer to Citadel with hench and I'm a lv 20.

Don't feel bad about that one, cause I'm in that boat too. I think I know exactly what and where you're talking about. Double mob of Summit right outside one of them, perhaps? Only way I got past them was dying, and that's a one-way ticket.

Maybe I'd have more luck with my Ele this time around...

DevilStick · Jan 31, 2006, 10:55 PM // 22:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raptox

Don't feel bad about that one, cause I'm in that boat too. I think I know exactly what and where you're talking about. Double mob of Summit right outside one of them, perhaps? Only way I got past them was dying, and that's a one-way ticket.

Maybe I'd have more luck with my Ele this time around...

In the last couple of days I just fought from Citadel to Copperhammer with an Ele/Mo and a party of henchmen. I set myself up as an earth ele and focused on Wards and Armor of Earth and such while using earthquake for damage dealing.

It worked much better than when I was set up for fire. I think one or two henchmen died, but overall not very many deaths. When I was set up as fire that initial group outside the citadel kept taking us down.

Edit: And that, I guess is also the point of many of the responses here. If your strategy isn't working, maybe experiment with a new approach. Think outside the box.

Pevil Lihatuh · Jan 31, 2006, 11:13 PM // 23:13

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrik

Whats worse is the more skills you cap or buy, the more and more they cost. I'm at like 2k and one skill point now with my warrior and I'm only at THK with her.

The cost cuts off at 1k

Anyhoo I do most of the end game content now with henchies (i dont group anymore). Sorrows Furnace is easily doable with an all henchie team (not the quests so much, but just generally fighting in there is) and I have also been round the fire islands, southern shiverpeaks and desert many times with henchies only. I do have bad days where I can't do anything with 'em though

Mavrik · Jan 31, 2006, 11:24 PM // 23:24

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pevil Lihatuh

The cost cuts off at 1k

You sure? I could be wrong. Its been a while since I played my warrior. I know with my mesmer, I'm getting pretty far up there... 800g for a cap sig now.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Raptox

Don't feel bad about that one, cause I'm in that boat too. I think I know exactly what and where you're talking about. Double mob of Summit right outside one of them, perhaps? Only way I got past them was dying, and that's a one-way ticket.

I get about as far as the portal to the War Camp... then its mobs if ice imps, bosses of all sorts and I'm pounded to pieces within seconds.

DevilStick · Jan 31, 2006, 11:49 PM // 23:49

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrik

You sure? I could be wrong. Its been a while since I played my warrior. I know with my mesmer, I'm getting pretty far up there... 800g for a cap sig now.

FWIW, I'm sure. Been paying 1k for skills/cap sigs with characters on my primary account for a while.

lg5000 · Feb 01, 2006, 01:12 AM // 01:12

It used to not have a cut-off line of 1k per skill....

Cjlr · Feb 01, 2006, 01:24 AM // 01:24

It also used to ramp up slower...

Morangen · Feb 01, 2006, 01:58 AM // 01:58

I know where you are coming from D. It took me almost 7 months before I finished all the missions with my monk character (granted I didnt spend all my time on him). He was a Mo/W, but I really didnt get into the idea of joining up with groups till I got to lions arch. I had done everything else with henchmen.

The difficulty level is one that I find very interesting. For some character builds its hard, while with others its easy. Before I got to the desert I had kept pretty much the same skills build for the entire time, with only minor changes being made here and there. Once I got to the desert I realised that my build needed to change because I would die easily. After changing my build the areas became much more tolerable, and I could once again enjoy the game. Since then I have always tried to change my builds to reflect where I am and what I am doing (it was also at about this same time that I came to really like it when I was on a balanced, and well prepared team).

Like what others have said, you need to find something about the game that you like. I personally thought the story line was interesting. It wasnt the most complex and indepth storyline, but I enjoyed it. Another thing I like doing is exploring the map and trying to find new things to see. Anet gave us a beautiful game and I try to make the best of it.

Sure I dont have any greens, I dont have a FDS or IDS, and I certainly dont have the FoW armor, but that doesnt bother me.

saphir · Feb 01, 2006, 06:50 AM // 06:50

My very first character (now deleted) thru GW was an E/R fire ele. This was back in the day when I used to only hear rumors about a distant town called Forge when in Beacon's Perch. Back then everyone used to party up to get anything done, and most people didn't have bonuses memorized and virtually everyone was new to everything.

Presearing was idyllic and yet still a challenge for a soft, squishy fire ele. This is when I first learned that running away fast was my friend. But the monsters are peaceful and generally ignore you if you do not attack them.
In postsear, things got tough. I found it wasn't a good idea to venture out of town without Alesia watching my back and a warrior watching my front. That's when I realized that I had to start examining my skill set and pick up skills like troll ungent and dodge from my ranger skillset.

Spiny Aloes are monk based enemies and Mergoyles and Skales are mesmer and necro based, all of which contain some of the most annoying and grief inducing skills in the game. Now that I've finished the game w/ 5 characters and put in about 14-15mil XP across all of them (monk, ranger, necro, mesmer, ele), it's a second nature to tailor my skillset to the mobs I will be facing before heading out. And if you don't know what mobs you'll be facing, once you're dead and dying on the ground, then it's time check out what enemy skills are being used and find a counter to them. As a ranger some of your best skills lie in interrupting/distracting/trapping/and damage avoidance stances. If you want to solo, you better bring a running skill as well for when things get hot.

If you think things are hard now, just wait until you get a load of UW Tombs, UW, or SF. At least as a ranger you've got better survival skills than most squishy casters!

Kaguya · Feb 01, 2006, 07:36 AM // 07:36

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrik

I'm not sure what PvE your playing but I don't find it all that easy. I can't even make it from Copperhammer to Citadel with hench and I'm a lv 20.

Try harder, it's not that hard.

I've done that bit with my Mesmer, Warrior and Monk, with henchies. The last bit just before Citadel is the most hardest part, tho luckily it's so close that you can run through the swarm of mobs, sacrificing the henchies.

hidden_agenda · Feb 01, 2006, 08:00 AM // 08:00

Although many people have posted on this thread, I feel that concrete suggestions have been somewhat in lacking. So I will mention them:

1) I noticed that sometimes in GW, there is a "tactical puzzle" -- i.e. if you try to bull through things, it's very very hard. Here are two examples (I am being deliberate vague to avoid spoiler):

a) In Maguuma Jungle, there is a large mob of storm-riders (like 12+) that you may run across. If you rush in, it's likely you'll fail. The trick is to either wait until they're past and sneak past them. Or wait until their patrol routine dissolves them into 3-4 separate groups before taking them on one group at a time.

b) In one of the Ascension missions, if you don't fight the enemies in a certain order it is difficult for you to win.

Both of these had been quite frustrating for me until I figure it out. So I think your frustration is certainly understandable. What you might want to do is to try different tactics to see if that help things to become easier...

2) It is worthwhile, if you feel that the game is too difficult, to read the various posts on this forum and see how people use the skills. In addition, look up skills in the left hand panel, often you can find tid-bits on how to use them.

Finally, let me say that I REALLY AGREE with the OP's view on the storyline. The collapse of the Ascalon storyline at Lion's Arch is really one of the worse things in Guild Wars.

Fantus · Feb 01, 2006, 09:38 AM // 09:38

Quote:

Originally Posted by hidden_agenda

Finally, let me say that I REALLY AGREE with the OP's view on the storyline. The collapse of the Ascalon storyline at Lion's Arch is really one of the worse things in Guild Wars.

It's more like a "disappearence" of the original storyline than a collapse.

And yes, I didn't like that either. To me more precise, I didn't like that the Ascalon part of the storyline is never really going to be tied up. To a certain degree I liked the "second story" starting in Kryta. But I really would have liked to go back to Ascalon at the end and.. well.. finish what I started. The titan quests do that to a certain degree but it's still very vague and feels like what it is - an attachment to the original game that got slapped on as an afterthought.

About the difficulty thing - well, as many people here already said, most experienced PvE players do indeed consider the difficulty as being too LOW and not too hard. If you will stick to the game and eventually solve the harder missions at the end, you probably will reach a state where you will actually agree with us here. Maybe then you will sometimes grab your ranger and go back to Kryta for a laugh and solo the missions there. However, I can totally see from where you are coming. I often train new players coming to our guild and thus I am often reminded how GW can be DIFFICULT to a new player.

Because depending on what you have played before, you will find out that GW is totally different than other MMORPGs. I played Neverwinter Nights before I came to GW. NWN is a game where all your strength lies in your character and not your player skill. You build your char, give them nice items and a fight is more like telling your char "go kill them". You can just click on an enemy and your character will take them out while you can go drink a coffee. GW is very, very different from a game like NWN. Because in GW, YOU have to do the fighting, not your character. At first, I didn't notice the difference much. Pre seared Ascalon is quite the same thing. You click on a river scale and watch your character kill it. I remember the very first thing that happened to me when I moved over to post seared Ascalon. I left the city with my elementalist and 3 other players and did what I have done in NWN for like 4 years: I rushed into the Devourers and started spellcasting. Well, next thing I remember is my character laying dead in the sand. I am totally sure the Devourers laughed at her while walking over her corpse. That was the very first rule in learned in GW: Don't ever tank with a spellcaster (at least unless it's an earth ele, but I didn't know that, then)! I've learned many, many other things over the course of the next 2,000 hours I spent playing GW so far - most of them I learned in a quite painful way (well, painful at least for my poor characters who had to bite the dust when I screwed up). Today I'm among those who think that 99% of GW PvE is too easy...

What's the point of that story? PvE can be both hard or laughably easy. It all depends on your experience, your skill and the "feeling" you develop for the game (or lack thereof). If you have fun improving your PLAYER skills and becoming a better player over the course of time, if you can handle to fail at a mission 5 times and then beat it on the 6th time (while wondering why you didn't do it that way on the first time), GW is DEFINITELY the game for you. It might not the be the right thing for you, if you don't like that. To me, being now able to laugh at the very same challenges that used to get me regularly killed when I was a new player, is a quite satisfying aspect of GW.

strcpy · Feb 01, 2006, 09:55 AM // 09:55

Quote:

Originally Posted by Mavrik

Now I got my flame suit on so I'm set to go. For those who say PvE is to easy or what not... I'm not sure what PvE your playing but I don't find it all that easy.

To some extent, at one time I felt PvE was really hard and now, eh. There are still places it's easy to get stuck on with henchies but that tends to be dependant on what class your are playing.

Quote:

I can't even make it from Copperhammer to Citadel with hench and I'm a lv 20.

Never had any problem with it. Have you played several different play styles? Say a tank, caster, healer, and maybe one of the "other" professions (ne, r, or me)? The game became MUCH easier for each class I took at least to the desert (though quite a few didn't make it past). I found I could use the henchies much better if I understood quite a bit of what they are doing, helped with target priority, know when a hex or an enchantment needs me to change my play style, and quite a few other things. It's kinda embarrasing some of the things I used to run from and other things I didn't. About the only character I haven't taken is a necro - I just can't get into the character. I also find it confusing to fight them - I don't know what most of the spells/skills they use do.

And, lastly, you have learned patience? Carefully pull mobs (usually means waiting until you can aggro a *single* one from the group - may take a while), wait on all your health/energy to fully regen (if using henchies this is when it helps to know about how long the spell casters generally take to recharge thier energy). Easy doesn't necessarily mean "fast" and rushing around.

tafy69 · Feb 01, 2006, 09:58 AM // 09:58

For a PvE player the Diablo2 type game is amazing I must admit, super weapons, armours, charms etc

Ahh Diablo2 was so much fun, hope they make a diablo3 game

But Guild Wars cant be the great PvE game because of the balanced PvP

aron searle · Feb 01, 2006, 10:35 AM // 10:35

Quote:

Originally Posted by tafy69

For a PvE player the Diablo2 type game is amazing I must admit, super weapons, armours, charms etc

Ahh Diablo2 was so much fun, hope they make a diablo3 game

But Guild Wars cant be the great PvE game because of the balanced PvP

I still play Diablo 2, it is awsome but, Personally i think Guild wars is better.

Diablo 2 = hit it till it dies, if you cant go level up and find better equipment.

GW = hit it till it dies, if you cant your not using your brainpower.

As to people finding it hard to get form x to x with henchies, well. A very common mistake people make is to not consider how the henchies act when you attack.

If its just you and henchies YOU MUST CALL TARGETS. henchies react 105% faster if you call. Quite often in battles where its me and a friend and the rest henchis, they will stand watching as i go to attack. They will sometimes not attack untill i am actually hitting something or untill they get hit. If you call they will attack as soon as the target is in range.

Just like real people they need to rest to regenarate energy.

Use the landscape, when cyne/orion uses firestorm, make sure either you or a rock is blocking the way for when the enemy tries to scatter.

Keep an eye on what is attacking you AND YOUR HENCHIES, if someone is bashing away at a henchie monk, dont go attacking the enemy ranger for example. You will need to switch targets in larger battles, again this is why calling is so important.

Also hencheis are capable of dealing lots of damage, so take something that will help them stay alive rather than a few extra attack skills. Ward against melle, blind, slowdown spells, hex/condition removers ect ect

and of course a res spell or 2.