I die A lot

[Skayth]

I like dying, especially when its hard bosses. But, might i be dying a bit too much?

My current main is a syvl thief. My weapon switches are dw dags and dw pst. currently at lvl 18, and i am getting hit like a frakin truck. It is mainly for the "storyline" quests where this is happening, as you know, the party ai is complete crap and the enemy immediately targets you >.> (soloing as my friend has yet to catch up.) But, I am currently getting plowed like a truck by 4 mobs.

Any suggestions?

[Robbomb116]

Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, and Dodge. Also kite.

[Deleted]

Are you evading a lot?

Dodging is a core mechanic to Guild Wars 2 game-play and more and more essential as you progress through the game.

Aside from that, Thieves do tend to be a little squishy. You could try a build with more Toughness or Acrobatics.

I also recommend you focus on ranged weapons in PvE. The risk/reward ratio just doesn't favour melee combat much in PvE. Dual Pistols are a little lackluster iirc so maybe give the Shortbow a try.

[Skayth]

Dodge, Dip, Duck, Dive, and Dodge. Also kite.

dodgeball reference really doesnt help. I do do my dodging alot, I kite when I know I have more than 1 mob on me. and I use tripwires on cd.

[Robbomb116]

There's not much else to say, even the tankier classes aren't supposed to sit there and take hits, they are supposed to utilize control abilities and dodge. Blinds, cripples, chills, weakness, ect. The personal story quests are not meant to be done all right away with nothing in between, they out level you quickly if its all you're doing.

[Repefe]

All I remember is rogues in GW1 built tanky in PvE. Like really tanky ... they were the best meta tanks for hard content.

[jtgizmo]

Playing Sylvari Thief here, dagger dagger and short bow switch, do not have a problem, im level 22, so far done all personal stories alone. In general, dodging and kiting and USING STEAL helps a lot, I have also specced into trickery with steal giving me initative + roll back signet = I got plenty to go around to keep dodging and evading.

[Maarius]

what stats do you have on your gear? Thought of vitality and toughness? I't not like in other games where you should specialize in one thing only imho.

When I'm in melee (Mesmer - Sword/Sword - extreme squishy) I'm moving constantly around the mob in order to avoid single hits, otherwise it would be damn difficult to melee. Haven't died once in the personal story yet so it seems to work.

[jtgizmo]

what stats do you have on your gear? Thought of vitality and toughness? I't not like in other games where you should specialize in one thing only imho.

When I'm in melee (Mesmer - Sword/Sword - extreme squishy) I'm moving constantly around the mob in order to avoid single hits, otherwise it would be damn difficult to melee. Haven't died once in the personal story yet so it seems to work.

I think it is different per profession, I personally keep power and condition damage gear. but it is really personal preference.

[Needonboots]

The story quests are pretty hard. But don't use ANY ability that could save your life unless you have to.

[FearGX]

Evade danger, also avoid champion / elite mobs as they usually need 3+ people coordinated to kill. Think Vanilla elites.

[Deleted]

I'm playing Mesmer and I'm dying a lot. guess I'm just getting used to the game. The mobs also out level me a lot (i've done all quests and events I can find!). I also started crafting late ! So I'm behind on that. My gear isn't too good either. I am so confused by it all. i am such a n00b aha (and loving it :P)

[Deleted]

I'd say I died a lot more comparing to WoW (even vanilla) and SWToR. Well, most of the time is b/c I tried to aoe mobs 2-3 higher level than me, other times I got my ass whooped in dynamic event bosses (higher level up, there's no one around so usually I tried to kite and solo). I love the challenge this game offers.

[Clockwork Pinkie]

It's part of learning a new game all over again, plus it's not that bad with the downed state (especially for mesmers) doing massive damage. Able to summon a rogue illusion that opens with a critical that takes nearly all of their health. It's a fun experience, most of these fights out in the world are far more interesting than anything I've experienced in other MMO's. Especially the world events. Just seeing a huge group of people working together to accomplish the same thing is an amazing thing to see and join in on.

[lethargy]

As a thief I find myself using the shortbow a LOT. It's honestly really really good, it has decent single target damage, a ranged slow + disengage, a ground targetted shadowstep, and a very useful AoE. Most of the time I'll strafe around in melee range just mashing 2 to early detonate the cluster bombs for really really good AoE damage. I would definitely recommend giving it a try - in one of the early BWEs I focused completely on melee and died constantly, and the second I switched to a shortbow it felt like the game became infinitely easier.

[Deleted]

I hardly ever die, at least not in pve. I have way too much mobility for that. Dagger/ pistol with shortbow on the switch. I like how you can throw down black power and combo it with heartseeker/ shadowshot for a brief stealth allowing you to do a backstab. Use blinds more I guess.

[Leben]

I think a lot of it comes down to understanding what your abilities do. Dodging is all well and dandy, but do you know how to cripple, immobilise, chill, etc when you need to? Learn that much and you will take down veteran mobs with relative ease. Dont try champions solo though :P

[woodydave44]

I like walking into an area, seeing 3 dead people from 1 vet and 3 normal mobs, and then soloing those same 4 mobs with barely a scratch.

Always, ALWAYS keep moving, and use your CC skills.

[Rukh]

I got pwned a lot on story line quests too. There's one where these assassins show up and they each hit like a truck, I mean like take me down to a sliver in a single hit. I died about 5 times getting them down. I think that one might have been a bit too hard for a storyline quest.

[Sylvanie]

First of all, yes, some of the story quests are pretty tough. Part of the problem (challenge?) is that you haven't yet had a chance to familiarize yourself with the mobs you're facing, so you don't know how they telegraph their nasty abilities. In a sense, dying in such a situation is not very different from dying on a new boss in WoW: you're climbing a learning curve. The important part is that you learn from your deaths and apply the experience to the next attempt.

That said, there are a few things that you can do regardless to even your odds.

Especially when facing a bunch of melee mobs, you should not just be dodging when you see a nasty attack, but you should be moving constantly. A lot of attacks will just miss if you're not standing in one spot all the time (though that is less true for ranged mobs). Many mob attacks have a wind-up time that is longer than it takes to strafe out of the area. Even if you're running with melee weapons, you want to strafe/circle-strafe a lot.

Don't just rely on dodge to not being hit. Use abilities that block, blind, stun, weaken (with the latter two, especially the ones that can do it to multiple targets). Thieves also have a number of attacks that provide dodge-like evasion to preserve endurance.

Watch your health. Use your self-heal as soon as it's not wasted, don't wait until you're actually close to death. The sooner you use it, the sooner it comes off cooldown again.

Finally, level matters on some of these personal story missions. There can be a big difference just from being one level below the recommended one instead of one level above.