Instances - Am I the only one frustrated about them?

[Salech]

I need LFG tool badly, as usual in any other mmo out there. Too bad that by the time they finally realise to add it, the game is already dead.
I would also prefer them to do something about melee and make more predictable agro. I prefer to be a melee, more damage and just cooler, but I'm forced to stay on range if I want to survive.

IF you need LFD tool, play a game with it instead... just because you have to press 2 buttons and assemble your own group, instead of pressing 1 button and getting random players, doesn't mean the game will die.

And what the fuck are people talking about, i play my mesmer as mainly a melee spec and i rarely die, i do die sometimes ofcourse but that's mainly because i did something wrong, and if the boss is super anti melee, which very few is, then i just go ranged, all proffessions can be ranged.

I think most players have come to be lazy individuals that just wnat everything on a silver platter in front of them, they do not want to work for something to get that special feeling when you overcome it, most probably want to afk and watch tv while they faceroll dungeons.

All in all, the diffuculty is not a bad thing it actually makes you want to be a better player instead.

[Barthilas]

After putting off my first entrance to dungeons until level 45, I saw a random pug looking for an extra member for AC story last night so I decided to give it a go. I feared that it would be as difficult as many on this forum have claimed and that I would spend most of my time running back after a wipe, especially after I found that of the five people I was doing the dungeon with only one had done it before. The other three were all like me and that would be their first dungeon too.
Either I get really, really lucky... or that dungeon is just nowhere near as difficult as people claim. We got through the whole thing in under and hour, only wiped once on trash and managed to kill the lovers by WP zerging despite the fact that they bugged out halfway through the fight and got all their health reset.

After that I decided to test out if I had just gotten lucky so I looked for a different group for CM story: group composition ended up being; me (thief), a ranger, a dps traited gaurdian, an elementalist who didn't seem to be able to swap out of fire attunement and wouldn't respond in chat and a glass cannon traited warrior whose only other mmo experience had been EQ2. Although while we wiped a few times, we still finished the dungeon in around 40 minutes. After that I find it very difficult to believe that I just got lucky twice in a row so I am left wondering whether they nerfed story mode of the first few dungeons, or whether a lot of people on these forums merely exaggerate their difficulty? :P

P.S. I am by no means an experienced PvE player, I never did scheduled raiding in WoW and never even enjoyed that games iteration of endgame too much anyway.

[Valeron]

Well almost all of the complaints are about Explorable dungeons, which isn't really designed for pugs. But yeah, story mode dungeons are pretty easy to say the least.

[Fencers]

I sorta feel like even when playing "correctly" in a coordinated group that it hardly matters at all. ACx still feels the hardest and most demanding of groups out of the dungeons I have been able to run. Everything else just kinda comes off as unfinished or so random as to not even bother.

Unlike the first Guild Wars [which I prefer to the sequel], most encounters come down to "Kite till mob targets someone else. Remove conditions as needed." Lately I been finding myself only half paying attention to the dungeons. Esp. CoF and CM- very dull instances so far.

Also the difficulty is so uneven I am pretty certain that they were tested v. poorly by QA. Like the the mini boss in SE story mode is the single hardest thing I fought in the dungeons to this point. We had to graveyard rush in the end. It was pretty ridiculous damage vs. what we could possibly do. While like an Arah or CoF expo run is kinda just whatever; auto attack everything for 10 mins, run in circles, you're done.

Just some odd balancing and almost no strategic thought needed. Very disappointing to me as a GW1 player.

[Rife]

I sorta feel like even when playing "correctly" in a coordinated group that it hardly matters at all.

This.

I also very much dislike the fact that, in order to play properly, you're supposed to watch for animations on mobs which are covered in spell effects, in a small room, with your camera up your characters ass, and you're meant to spot a hand movement during the 1.2 seconds it takes the boss to run accross the room and out of camera view.

This isn't a problem because lack of coordination and sloppy play is not punished at all. Even if you're downed, you can be revived easily. If you die you can usually just zerg rush it back from GY and continue defeating the boss you just got stomped by.

I was really hoping explorables would be more than this. The margin for error is so huge, nothing you do really matters. I've cleared many explorables with 1 or 2 afk'ers. This is supposed to be the most difficult content the game has to offer. This is what I'm supposed to strive for? I'm meant to wear gear from these places with pride in Lions Arch as a reward for my efforts?

Meh. Challenge modes here I come.

[Deleted]

I have completed all paths of AC, CM and TA found them all very easy even with pugs, unless it was a shitty pug. Wish all bosses were all like the fire golem in SE Story.

[Vice80]

I'm not frustrated, I just try to avoid them like plague and pray I won't ever be needing TA for my legendary (think I need AC and it's... well... not too hard thank Gods). Let me put it this way: TA needs a huge nerf (especially that place with bees), while all others need a little one.

[Gisei]

The only dungeon I haven't ran yet is Arah, but CMx was the hardest for me by far, but I've only tried it in a 4man squad.

A lot of the difficulty comes down to the skill of the group, and I'm talking about individual skill rather than coordination. For example, I did ACx for the first time the other day. I went in expecting it to be brutal, but it was incredibly easy. I ended up running two paths in less than 90mins. Then I went in yesterday, and my squad kept wiping on every little thing. I often times ended up tanking alone while everyone ran back. Both pugs, but the players from one was obviously playing better than others. All 80s.

The same applies to running dungeons with my guild vs running with pugs. My Guild and I own every path of every dungeon we do, but paths that I normally find very easy with them, will suddenly become difficult with randoms. There is very little coordination in my guild as well, but we have all ran the dungeons several times, and are mostly decent players. The only two things that are predetermined is 1) I tank and 2) Res those who are down quickly. Other than that, we just run forward without strategy.


As for melee vs range, range is obviously the safer choice, but I play pure melee Guardian. I use Mace/Shield and Hammer. Geared in Pow/Vit/Tough, and traited for high regen in symbols. As I said in another thread, I have few problems surviving most encounters. I hold aggro of most mobs, most of the time. If things get too rough, I'll step back and let a couple cool downs run off, then back into the fray.

In the end, my guild and I have found dungeons to be very enjoyable, and actually prefer them to the open world pve.

[Olocan]

How they changed COF exp on the magg path is completely stupid. The first 2 things you gotta do is kinda a joke but then you get to a point where you gotta wait around for this asuran to set this bomb, and it used to be a decent time limit it prob could have been increased a little but what anet did was made triple the time it was before and made everything that could 2 shot you 1 shot you now. They have basically said you need to run back from dying to complete this it's close to impossible to do this event without dying. I think they need to really take there time with dungeons from now on and actually make it fun and have even level of challege instead of just making 1 part of it a death run fest. I've ran other exp dungeons and it seems like a lot of it is kite fest and testing ability to stay awake. I like things to be hard and you don't always live because you make a mistake i don't want to be required for us to die alot and run back or kite and have boss battles that last way to long.

[VibrantViolet]

I dont really look foward on doing any of the instances, it takes a long time to complete and some of them take so many deaths. The CoF buff was really frustrating

I generally agree, except if you run with a pre-made group, or a group of guildies, it's usually not so bad. The CoF buff was ridiculous, though. I have no idea how to "properly" complete the Magg event at the end. Do you kill them? Do you kite them? The first option is pretty much impossible, as they are too strong and spawn too fast. The second option is really all you can do, while dying a ton in the process, unless you have a good group with a plan. I only had a 3 silver repair bill last night after CoF, and I considered that a victory. The only times I died were during the Magg event. If not for that, none of us would have died.

---------- Post added 2012-10-02 at 10:52 AM ----------

I'm not frustrated, I just try to avoid them like plague and pray I won't ever be needing TA for my legendary (think I need AC and it's... well... not too hard thank Gods). Let me put it this way: TA needs a huge nerf (especially that place with bees), while all others need a little one.

I need TA, too, but I am avoiding it pretty much. I am hoping they fix it. It's way too difficult, especially since the required level is only 55 for EM.

---------- Post added 2012-10-02 at 10:57 AM ----------

I agree, after I read that Anet is aware of the issues with dungeons - rewards (tokens and drops) and boss mechanics, I won't be stepping into any of them either until its sorted out.

Its not so much the way the bosses hit so hard, its the actual fight mechanics - they aren't that interesting.

Some of the trash mobs hit harder then some bosses. It's not that the bosses hit too hard, it's sometimes you can't tell when they are doing their "going-to-one-shot-you" move because of spell effects and the like in the way. My point is the boss in AC EM that does the Scorpion-like pull, and you have to dodge to avoid it. Sometimes, you can't see it coming.

[Vice80]

did ac exp (need it for my leggy) 3 times now, always wiping fuckloads of times on event pre last boss, where an absolutely retarded npc needs to fix 3 mortars. After she fixes first she starts fighting adds and they overrun us. 2-3 wipes clearing them all. Res npc. Fixes second mortar. 2-3 wipes again...

[Deleted]

My point is the boss in AC EM that does the Scorpion-like pull, and you have to dodge to avoid it. Sometimes, you can't see it coming.

He telegraphs this attack for about 2 seconds, if your group isn't kiting him around corners or something like that, it is not that hard to spot. You can also keep him permanently blinded.

[kinetiks]

This.

I also very much dislike the fact that, in order to play properly, you're supposed to watch for animations on mobs which are covered in spell effects, in a small room, with your camera up your characters ass, and you're meant to spot a hand movement during the 1.2 seconds it takes the boss to run accross the room and out of camera view.

This isn't a problem because lack of coordination and sloppy play is not punished at all. Even if you're downed, you can be revived easily. If you die you can usually just zerg rush it back from GY and continue defeating the boss you just got stomped by.

I was really hoping explorables would be more than this. The margin for error is so huge, nothing you do really matters. I've cleared many explorables with 1 or 2 afk'ers. This is supposed to be the most difficult content the game has to offer. This is what I'm supposed to strive for? I'm meant to wear gear from these places with pride in Lions Arch as a reward for my efforts?

Meh. Challenge modes here I come.

Not to mention when you're damaging a boss he convulses making it even harder to telegraph. They shouldn't flinch when taking damage, its very annoying.

[Hraklea]

All dungeons I made until now suffers from the same problem: people's mentality that "5 man PvE challenges are supposed to be faceroll".

Why do people (I mean all my old guilds from WoW) spend an entire hour just discussing buffs, pulls, respecs and consumables before even entering a 10-man raid, but they don't even change their 7-9 skills to dungeon in GW2?! I ran yesterday with a guy using 3 passives skills (signets, I guess?) ...

I agree that the game should explain better the reason why you die, sometimes you get one shooted and can't tell why... but I don't think that running a raid without reading/watching a guide was that easier, so... I'm frustrated as I expected to be, and I'm hyped to practice as I expected to be.

---------- Post added 2012-10-04 at 10:45 AM ----------

I also very much dislike the fact that, in order to play properly, you're supposed to watch for animations on mobs which are covered in spell effects, in a small room, with your camera up your characters ass, and you're meant to spot a hand movement during the 1.2 seconds it takes the boss to run accross the room and out of camera view.

The boss is covered by spells by his own or is your group casting things on him?