Curse

tanhauser · Jun 07, 2007, 10:17 PM // 22:17

So I've been a loyal GW fan ever since it was released, I've played it for hundreds of hours leveling several different characters, played all campaigns and yet... I haven't been able to finish ANY of the campaigns.

Here's the gist of it:

1. Prophecies: Made it all the way to Thunderhead Keep. Tried it a couple of times solo and it didn't work. Tried it a couple more times with a group and we wiped both cases. Finally tried about 5 more times solo before I gave up entierly. Enter Factions campaign...

2. Factions: Made it all the way to Unwaking Waters. Same story, tried solo a couple of times (well solo on my side) and wiped. Tried with a group a few times, we would make it into the temple but wiped. Tried a few more times solo before giving up again. Enter Nightfall.

3.Nightfall: Made it to Grand Court of Sebelkeh (yes, I can't pass that stupid mission) and the same story applies.

Now, before you all say it, yes... I _DO_ prefer to solo all missions, since I like the freedom that it provides, but as you can probably guess there are missions where you simply have to group, so I am not against grouping.

My point with all of this is that, while I do appreciate the fact that ANET wants to provide a challenging experience for us all, I also wish they would think of sucky players like myself and offer an "easy" mode (the opposite of the "Hard" mode which is now available), so that we can get a chance to finish the campaigns as well.

I realize such a request may seem stupid, and I would tend to agree were this a normal MMO game. However, given that access to end-game areas in _each_ campaign is tied to finishing missions, it seems unfair to punish below-average players who get stuck.

Meh... I don't think anything will change but I just had to vent. I am thinking the same thing will happen to me with the EN expansion.

F

electrofish · Jun 07, 2007, 10:58 PM // 22:58

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanhauser

I realize such a request may seem stupid, and I would tend to agree were this a normal MMO game. However, given that access to end-game areas in _each_ campaign is tied to finishing missions, it seems unfair to punish below-average players who get stuck.

So you want to play in the end game area such as FoW, UW, Urgoz, Deep and DoA or even Sorrow's Furnace, but you're finding it difficult to complete the missions to get there...

let me just ask how you expect to survive in those areas when you can't even complete the easier ones?

and about the easy mode, do you really want Anet to make an easy mode so that you can complete all missions without any skill on your skill bar? That wouldn't be Guild Wars anymore, that'd be as boring as MU online (what I previously played) where you just walk to a monster kill it easily because of your level and move on to another one and repeat.

I have completed all 3 campaigns in both Hard and Normal mode with mostly hench and heroes, and I know lots of others that did it this way too so it's definately doable, if one way doesn't work why not consult others for strategy and try the other?

sau970982 · Jun 07, 2007, 11:44 PM // 23:44

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Mission...8Prophecies%29

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Mission...%28Factions%29

http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Mission...28Nightfall%29

The above mission guides should be very helpful for both team & solo play.

First of all, as you have all 3 chapters, I think you should have got your Heroes. They do help solo play. Standard hero setup like - SF Ele, MM/SS Necro, Interrupt/Barrage Ranger, etc.

* Thunderhead Keep - assume you can make it all the way up to the Fort, stay close to the King at the top of the stairs, flag your heroes & henchman there, kill anything walking up or close to the stairs

* Unwaking Waters - 50% depends on luck as you can't control the other team. Sometimes a pure henchman partner team is better than PUG. Anyway, regarding your own team, interrupt is the key, a consider setting up a Broad Head Arrow Ranger Hero. Select fewer (may be only 1) Melee Hero/Henchman as possible. Always try NOT to fight the Kuunavang together with the afflicted.

* Grand Court of Sebelkeh - the mission guide at GW Wiki is very useful for solo play. Try bringing Koss with simple Warrior setup (weapon up to your choice) and Tahlkora with Heal/Prot setup (both Koss & Tahlkora should have Rez signet). Such a 2-Hero party can be flagged and hold the center altar easily while your main team going around capturing the other 3 rifts. Of course, you still need to keep an eye on their health and go helping them if needed.

The general key for solo play is "flag your heroes & henchman wisely" and "don't over-aggro".

Sentience · Jun 08, 2007, 02:30 AM // 02:30

Game is already too easy, take crappy skills off of your bar and you'll do much better.

Enko · Jun 08, 2007, 04:57 AM // 04:57

when you say solo do you really mean solo as by yourself or with henchies/heroes?

what type of character do you have?

VorianVader · Jun 08, 2007, 09:26 AM // 09:26

Good outline by sau970982 on the missions. Just a few points more:

THK: If you stay near the king with your entire group, its very very easy to survive till the end of the mission as all enemies coming converge on one point i.e. onto the king where there is a wall of bodies waiting to meet them. Besides the eles and bosses dont do as much damage in prophecies as they do in factions/nightfall so no harm in clustering up.

Unwaking waters: Just did masters on my ele a few days ago. Its much easier with all hero/hench teams. Take one hero BHA ranger with interrupts (Thats really needed). The other two heroes I took were an SF ele and a Jagged Bones MM (for body blocking afflicted). As sau said, dont fight afflicted and the dragon together plus take out the corrupted eggs asap if you fail to interrupt the spell (too much degen...will kill you fast).

Grand court: I took tahlkora as prot monk with ZB. Olias as JB MM and a random third hero. Fight in the center till waves of enemies stop coverging on center. By this time, Olias would have 10 minions up. Now you can choose one of two alternatives based on your playing style i.e.

1) Flag olias and Tahlkora in the center and they will be able to hold it without any problems while you close rifts OR
2) Take your entire team and close rifts one at a time. Let the blasphemy start capturing the altar and only turn back when the bar is around 75% of the way. You will be able to take back altar in plenty of time after closing a rift. I do it this way generally and never have problems making masters on this.

For heroes, I suggest that you put them all on guard mode so that they attack your called targets or what you attack. Flagging them properly also solves a lot of problems.

By the way, there is not a single mission for which you need to group in factions/nightfall (Even for masters). Got my ele her protector of cantha/elona title within a week using only heroes/henches throughout. Getting her started on the tyrian one (Had to group on my other chars before heroes for the title especially for dunes of despair....lets see now).

Sophitia Leafblade · Jun 08, 2007, 10:12 AM // 10:12

Yups i have to agree with the points VorianVader and Sau970982 make.

The reason alot of people fail THK is they try to hold the fort from the 2 outergates, often spreading firepower too thin, making things die slower making u gradually get overwhelmed and making it harder for any monks in the party to keep everyone alive. I cant count the time of times ive been helping friends who have joined PUGs and the PUGs have decided not to stay by the King which i suggest and then get overwhelmed and defeated. IT is possible to do it when holding the outer gates but it is considerably easier to hold near the King. Also Make sure to always leave the bosses to last (killing the boss will spawn the next series of attacks, some will come after the boss appears on the scene, they are still part of that Wave of attacks, if u kill him these will come ontop of the next waves of attack. Also Doing the Bonus will also make the 1st wave easier since the Jades and Mursaat will kill numerious giants coming your way which are an annoyance with there knockdowns. Oh and before u kill StonePate make sure u fire the Catapults on the West side of the Fort until u kill the large mob standing directly in its target point.

Unwaking isnt that hard, just make sure u have an interuptor or 2, as mentioned BHA ranger works a charm here, just make sure to lock him onto Kuuvaang when hes in range (and unlock when hes not near the party so the ranger can target monks etc.)

In grand court LB gazes comes in handy but failing that play very agressivly with the 1st group, When ive done this mission ive put the MM and Monks slightly more central than the rest of the party they keep the attacks busy long enough for u to charge and eliminate one of the points asap, then turn around and assist them and clear the middle area of enemys. Youv now cut 1/3 of the attack waves making the mission easier. now u only have 2 sides to take care of. Once the Orbs things go down charge the next area etc.
Remember - The Best Defence is a Strong Offence

anshin · Jun 08, 2007, 11:38 AM // 11:38

i have the same doubt as enko but i really hope you mean with henchies and heroes...

the previous guys tips are very good and i use some of their strategies...

about THK... i don't find it hard to defend the gates because it seems i kill fast enough one side to go kill the other without worries...

and to answer your topic title... i think its bad luck

bilateralrope · Jun 08, 2007, 01:03 PM // 13:03

Another tip for THK: Light the beacons quickly, as they make the mission easier.

If you do this you spawn a few jades which stay in the center of the fort and attack anything that comes in (including mursaat). So if you do this and hang back to the king it makes things much easier.

Also the groups seems to come in smaller waves, meaning they are easier to handle if you do this.

I know that without speed boosts I can easily light the first in time. I don't know about the second as I've always been with at least one human player.

chesterocks7 · Jun 08, 2007, 02:56 PM // 14:56

Quote:

Originally Posted by bilateralrope

I know that without speed boosts I can easily light the first in time. I don't know about the second as I've always been with at least one human player.

you can light them both without speed boosts. quote from guildwiki (http://gw.gamewikis.org/wiki/Thunderhead_Keep#Bonus): There are two Storm Beacons that you must light: one on the east wall and one on the west wall (both points marked 1 on the map). Enchanted torches appear at the base of each, so it is just a matter of running to each beacon, picking up the torch there and clicking the beacon. You have only a few seconds after the cut scene to do this, so it'll be easiest to designate one person on the team to light each beacon before taking their assigned position. However, it is still possible to light both beacons with one person (for full hench parties), as long as you drop the torch when running from the first beacon to the second.

The dwarves outside the keep will plead for their lives, if they scream out "The end is here! Great Dwarf save us!" then the chance to light the beacons is lost.

Mouse at Large · Jun 08, 2007, 02:58 PM // 14:58

I may be mad, but THK is actually my favourite mission. Must have done it 50+ times in normal and 5 times HM - mission and bonus

To add to the tips - at the start - let a monk or other backline character talk to the king. Also, if you are hero monking, try and get the hero monks from backline/midline chars - they tend to survive longer if when not following frontline melee chars

And one tip above all - as has been said, take the bonus and camp at the king. I may be imagining it, but I actually find it easier this way than not taking the bonus

Lord Natural · Jun 08, 2007, 04:00 PM // 16:00

Normal mode is already too easy. If you want constructive feedback however, post up the skill bars that you and your 3 heroes are using.

Pick Me · Jun 08, 2007, 06:25 PM // 18:25

If you want help in these missions, let me know.

add me to friends: Dargoth Alfazul. I'll be on tonight.

However, if you think its punishment, it isn't. Getting to end game missions is to help weed out the weak and reward the strong. Completing the endgame missions, rewards the skilled and weeds out the ones who were lucky to complete the game.

The only way to get better is to continue to test builds and your own strategies. I'm able to do most missions with just henchies/heros.

Good luck!

Tarzan The Chetta · Jun 08, 2007, 07:15 PM // 19:15

Same as above if you need help you can add me Collin Blood is ign. I should be on some tonight and have beat all the proph missions etc. with heros/hench so it shouldnt be much ofr a problem.

martialis · Jun 08, 2007, 07:15 PM // 19:15

When I first reached Thunderhead Keep, I quit for 6 months. I remember people (it might have been Zinger, I think it was...) crying "OMFG VIZUNAH SQUARE IS SO HARD!!", when Factions came out.

Make no mistake, PvE is hard, if you don't know what you're doing. If you do, though, it's really easy, so you just need to practice and read some guides.

If you stand in the Grand Court of Sebelkeh, I think you'll find (and I could be wrong, but I think you will) that most people are doing the mission with heroes and henchies, and succeeding. So the fastest way to beat it would be to stand in town, be chatty and friendly, and get someone to let you join their group and tag along. You'll beat the mission easily, and should learn some lessons on soloing.

Dinkytowner · Jun 08, 2007, 07:21 PM // 19:21

What's your professsion, build, and hero set-up?

If you can't get sufficient help here I would also be willing to give you a hand with one or two of the missions, IGN is Domi Noe.

Onarik Amrak · Jun 08, 2007, 09:08 PM // 21:08

Have you tried going back to Tyria and Cantha with your heroes? It's pretty easy.

tanhauser · Jun 10, 2007, 03:14 PM // 15:14

Thanks for all the replies!

Quick update, I managed to pass Grand Court of Sebelkeh and I am now at Ruins of Morah (though I haven't tried it yet). Also, I tried THK once more and camping the king does work, unfortunately I got stupid and left the stairs to focus on a boss and he got killed, but now I see it's doable. Will try again today.

As for my build and that of my heroes, here they are:

1 - W/Mo (myself):

Hundred Blades
Sever Artery
Gash
Silverwing Slash
Final Thrust
Endure Pain
Vigorous Spirit
Rebirth

Swordsmanship +14 (+3 rune), Strenght +10, Tactics +7, Healing Prayers +9. Using Serrated Shield (Armor 16, Phys Damage -2, Health +30) and Sskai's Sword (15-22, +15% Damage, Double Adrenaline, Health +30).

2 - Dunkoro Mo/Rt Main healer. Orison of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Seed, Words of Comfort, Remove Hex, Mend Ailment, Vengeful Weapon, Rebirth. Healing Prayers +12, Divine Favor +9, Restoration Magic +9, Prot Prayers +4.

3 - Thalkora Mo Protection monk. Reversal of Fortune, Shield of Absorption, Protective Spirit, Remove Hex, Mend Ailment, Pacisfism, Healing Breeze, Rebirth. Protection Prayers +12, Divine Favor +12, Healing Prayers +3.

4 - Olias N Minion Master. Animate Bone Fiend, Deathly Swarm, Putrid Explosion, Shadow Strike, Life Siphon, Soul Feast, Resurrection Signet. Death Magic +12, Curses +10, Blood Magic +8, Soul Reaping +2.

Those are usually the 3 heroes I take with me when I go on missions. Anyway, thanks again for all the tips!

F

sau970982 · Jun 11, 2007, 12:08 AM // 00:08

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanhauser

Thanks for all the replies!

Quick update, I managed to pass Grand Court of Sebelkeh and I am now at Ruins of Morah (though I haven't tried it yet). Also, I tried THK once more and camping the king does work, unfortunately I got stupid and left the stairs to focus on a boss and he got killed, but now I see it's doable. Will try again today.

You're welcome. Glad you made it.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanhauser

As for my build and that of my heroes, here they are:

1 - W/Mo (myself):

Hundred Blades
Sever Artery
Gash
Silverwing Slash
Final Thrust
Endure Pain
Vigorous Spirit
Rebirth

Swordsmanship +14 (+3 rune), Strenght +10, Tactics +7, Healing Prayers +9. Using Serrated Shield (Armor 16, Phys Damage -2, Health +30) and Sskai's Sword (15-22, +15% Damage, Double Adrenaline, Health +30).

Personally, I prefer making use of Rez Signet or Sunspear Rebirth Signet.

[Update] As you're the Warrior, I think you'd better to "flag" your Hero/Henchman before chasing your target; otherwise, your whole H/H team may keep running around with you.

Quote:

Originally Posted by tanhauser

2 - Dunkoro Mo/Rt Main healer. Orison of Healing, Healing Breeze, Healing Seed, Words of Comfort, Remove Hex, Mend Ailment, Vengeful Weapon, Rebirth. Healing Prayers +12, Divine Favor +9, Restoration Magic +9, Prot Prayers +4.

3 - Thalkora Mo Protection monk. Reversal of Fortune, Shield of Absorption, Protective Spirit, Remove Hex, Mend Ailment, Pacisfism, Healing Breeze, Rebirth. Protection Prayers +12, Divine Favor +12, Healing Prayers +3.

4 - Olias N Minion Master. Animate Bone Fiend, Deathly Swarm, Putrid Explosion, Shadow Strike, Life Siphon, Soul Feast, Resurrection Signet. Death Magic +12, Curses +10, Blood Magic +8, Soul Reaping +2.

Those are usually the 3 heroes I take with me when I go on missions. Anyway, thanks again for all the tips!

F

Again, seems too much "Rebirth", especially on Monks. Rez signet or some other rez skill will be better. If you really want to use "Rebirth", may be you can make Olias N/Mo and manually use it. Also, you may not need 2 Monk Heroes, the healer Henchman is not that bad. Then you can free up 1 slot for an interrupt Ranger Hero or Supportive Paragon Hero, etc.

Painbringer · Jun 11, 2007, 02:29 PM // 14:29

Research is the best tool for completing the Missions. Look to Wiki

This also may help out a bit anywhere. If you or your heroes are not using a secondary class. Make them all Mesmer’s with either or both of the following on there skill bars [skill]leech signet[/skill] [skill]power drain[/skill]