To Kill a God

I looked for other threads on this, but all the ones I found were about bugs in the instance. My problem isn't a bug. I'm just having trouble finishing this. It seems like no matter what I do, I make very little progress on Balthazar. It's really discouraging. I haven't played the game for a really long time, but this is killing my interest in returning.

I'm following as much wiki advice as I can, but it's just not enough. I just wanted to catch up on the story on my main, but I can't get past this. I'm not going to respond to any pointless, snotty "git gud" replies, so come up with something more helpful than that.

whatcha running?

@derd.6413 said:whatcha running?

The magical sword takes care of that problem. While using it you can complete the instance in about 7 minutes regardless of your build.

I'm on an Engineer - Holosmith. A couple of things keep making this really hard - for one, every time I die and revive, I'm facing the wrong way - away from the small platform. It sounds like a small thing, but it's really frustrating when I revive and try to run toward the fight, but because I keep reviving the wrong direction, I'm too often running away from it. Another thing, every time I revive I've got Sohothin in hand again and I'm trying to do the fight without it. I hate this. I feel like I should revive still holding the weapons I was equipped with when I die. Just these 2 small things cause me to lose precious time I could be using to damage Balthazar.

My advice:

1) Do you have anyone you can ask for help? Guildies, friends, some random stranger from lions arch who has nothing better to do. A friend or two makes the instance so much easier. Don't be afraid to ask for help.

2) If you're the anti social sort like me, I'd take a look at your build. DPS raid builds will usually result in you taking a dirt nap, while herbavore builds that stock up on vitality, toughness or support simply won't deal enough damage. Some members of the community have created builds with a good mix of both, like Lord Hizan's One Man Army warrior build (I'm pretty sure he has similar builds for other classes).

3) When all else fails, res rush. Our ancient ancestors used to fight without armour; if fighting in undergarments was good enough for them, then it's good enough for us...

If you post your class and build here, maybe we could give pointers.

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:I'm on an Engineer - Holosmith. A couple of things keep making this really hard - for one, every time I die and revive, I'm facing the wrong way - away from the small platform. It sounds like a small thing, but it's really frustrating when I revive and try to run toward the fight, but because I keep reviving the wrong direction, I'm too often running away from it. Another thing, every time I revive I've got Sohothin in hand again and I'm trying to do the fight without it. I hate this. I feel like I should revive still holding the weapons I was equipped with when I die. Just these 2 small things cause me to lose precious time I could be using to damage Balthazar.

why not use sohotin?

Unfortunately, my guild died out while I was gone. I haven't asked for help in random chat. I suppose I could try that, but it seems like a long shot that people would offer to help me. I'm not real versed on the different builds. I'm using what I had been using in the Jungle - Explosives, Firearms, and Holosmith. I've tried the instance with a sword, pistols, and rifle so far. I'm wearing my Ascended gear, which is a combo of Viper and Grieving.

@derd.6413 said:

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:I'm on an Engineer - Holosmith. A couple of things keep making this really hard - for one, every time I die and revive, I'm facing the wrong way - away from the small platform. It sounds like a small thing, but it's really frustrating when I revive and try to run toward the fight, but because I keep reviving the wrong direction, I'm too often running away from it. Another thing, every time I revive I've got Sohothin in hand again and I'm trying to do the fight without it. I hate this. I feel like I should revive still holding the weapons I was equipped with when I die. Just these 2 small things cause me to lose precious time I could be using to damage Balthazar.

I'm not using it because I feel like I'm dying too much being that close range. I'm more comfortable with being ranged. And since I'm already dying so much, I don't want to use Sohothin. Same thing with using my own sword. I need to be able to stay mobile while I fight.

I remember when I did it with my engineer (definitely not my main class) and I was astonished to see that my turrets stayed on the battlefield for so long, before being destroyed. I didn't expect. But I used Sohotin, way easier. I can't give specific tips though, because I'm not that good with the engi. I just tried to save the blue orbs for when I was low on HP, so I managed not to die.

If you want to complete the instance without Sohotin (for example for the achievement), I suggest to do it with some friend. That's what I did, in 2. Unfortunately only the instance owner gets the achievement, so you have to do it twice (but if you're not interested, you can let him be the instance owner and stop after the first run).Otherwise, I you don't find anyone, I can join, if you play in EU.

Thanks for the offer. I'm on Darkhaven. I think that's US, not sure. I'm going to give it another go. I lowered my graphics, so we'll see if that helps. I've been pretty good at getting into the blue orbs. I just get knocked down so much, it's hard to do damage. I can't tell if I'm supposed to stand on Aurene when we do a coordinated attack or if I'm missing something else, some spot. There's just so much going on with the fire and orange marks, it's hard to keep everything straight.

@"Celtic Lady.3729"Beating Balthazar without using Sohothin results in an achievement "Who needs a magic sword", there is a thread where people discussed how to manage to achieve this, maybe you can find ideas for your goal there.

https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/discussion/74828/path-of-fire-build-advice-for-achievement-who-needs-a-magic-sword

I did not win a speed record for doing this but it was fairly comfortable, I basically ran around (making sure I keep distance to him) Balthazar the whole time and shot him with the longbow. While running I set up traps, the God always running and jumping in those, this strategy helped me to beat Balthazar (did it as a dragonhunter)

Ok, You're in the second and final Balthazar fight.

I had to watch a video of what to do because it's completely not obvious and poorly described.

There will be a pale white circle on the ground on the opposite side of Balthazar from where Aurene is standing. Stand in that circle, you get a special action button and immediately hit that.

The first time Aurene is free and you can immediately go stand in it but every other time you first have to attack the chains on Aurene to free her and then go stand in the circle. If you're too slow Aurene gets chained again and you can't do the attack until you free her again. Making things especially confusing is that the circle will be on the ground briefly but disappear as soon as Aurene is chained.

So first time,

1. "Let's do our special attack"
2. Circle appears
3. Run into it quickly
4. Hit special action button immediately

Every other time,

1. "Let's do our special attack"
2. Circle appears but disappears immediately because Aurene is chained
3. Attack chains on Aurene
4. Circle reappears
5. Run into it quickly
6. Hit special action button immediately

Also, his aoe attacks have crazy ground patterns often with little safe spots that you can step into. You don't necessarily need to do a full dodge to avoid damage. He also tended to let you get behind him in melee and was slow to turn. I found that there were periods where I could engage him in melee and other periods where I would need to back off and switch to my bow. If I didn't have a ranged weapon it would have been an even more difficult fight.

Thanks, Emmet. I'll definitely use this. Yeah, it's really confusing. I think I was having trouble, too, because of the chains. I didn't realize this at first. Then, I had trouble attacking them, seeing them, etc. Okay, circle opposite side of Aurene. That's a big one. Hopefully, if I do this right, it'll damage Balthazar. The rest of the time I'll use ranged attacks and try to keep running around the circle, getting the blue orbs.

Don't be so quick to discard Sohothin. The 4 and 5 skills on that sword especially do insane damage. There's a reason why doing the fight without the sword gets its own achievement. You should be able to switch between your own weapon skills and Sohothin during the fight. Make use of that ability.

If you're trying to avoid going in melee range then you're probably not getting much out of Holosmith, since the Photon Forge attacks are mostly melee (with Crystal Configuration: Storm the autoattack becomes ranged, but the range is only 600, so still not much). You might do better if you pick Scrapper, and use some of the defensive traits, e.g. Adaptive Armour and Recovery Matrix (and Rapid Regeneration if you have a source of swiftness).

That said, if I recall correctly, if you don't pull off the special attack mechanic with Aurene that EmmetOtter describes, then Balthazar will kill you regardless.

Message me in game/send me a mail if you still need help -- I'm happy to help you complete this! (Use my username that you see me posting from here).

When I got back in-game to do this, someone that had seen this thread whispered me and offered to help. Actually, I got more than one offer, which was great. I was very pleasantly surprised. Thanks to everyone that gave me advice here, several pieces of which I used to improve my performance, my new friend and I were able to finally beat this. I'm so excited to have finished the Path of Fire story! So, thanks again.

@Rasimir.6239 said:Don't be so quick to discard Sohothin. The 4 and 5 skills on that sword especially do insane damage. There's a reason why doing the fight without the sword gets its own achievement. You should be able to switch between your own weapon skills and Sohothin during the fight. Make use of that ability.

Eh ... those are more like red herrings. Sure their damage is nice but the long CD makes them not particularly relevant.

On the other hand the 2 skill is a heal+evade+damage

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:...I haven't asked for help in random chat. I suppose I could try that, but it seems like a long shot that people would offer to help me...Glad that you were able to finish the story. The only thing I'd like to add is that just like you found some willing help here on the forum, equally willing help is often available in the general chat. I was soloing the Citadel of Flame dungeon once to unlock it's reward track and did fine up until the very last boss battle. After getting killed there repeatedly and not wanting to lose all the progress making it that far, I put out a desperate call for help on the map chat. In just a few minutes, three random players jumped in to help me finish. This community is frequently like that. :)

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:...I haven't asked for help in random chat. I suppose I could try that, but it seems like a long shot that people would offer to help me...Glad that you were able to finish the story. The only thing I'd like to add is that just like you found some willing help here on the forum, equally willing help is often available in the general chat. I was soloing the Citadel of Flame dungeon once to unlock it's reward track and did fine up until the very last boss battle. After getting killed there repeatedly and not wanting to lose all the progress making it that far, I put out a desperate call for help on the map chat. In just a few minutes, three random players jumped in to help me finish. This community is frequently like that. :)

How did you even reach fireheart rise map chat while still being in the instance?

@Linken.6345 said:

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:...I haven't asked for help in random chat. I suppose I could try that, but it seems like a long shot that people would offer to help me...Glad that you were able to finish the story. The only thing I'd like to add is that just like you found some willing help here on the forum, equally willing help is often available in the general chat. I was soloing the Citadel of Flame dungeon once to unlock it's reward track and did fine up until the very last boss battle. After getting killed there repeatedly and not wanting to lose all the progress making it that far, I put out a desperate call for help on the map chat. In just a few minutes, three random players jumped in to help me finish. This community is frequently like that. :)

Not sure. First I posted something in lfg and then said in map chat that I needed help with the dungeon with more details available on lfg. People responded in map chat.

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Linken.6345 said:

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Celtic Lady.3729 said:...I haven't asked for help in random chat. I suppose I could try that, but it seems like a long shot that people would offer to help me...Glad that you were able to finish the story. The only thing I'd like to add is that just like you found some willing help here on the forum, equally willing help is often available in the general chat. I was soloing the Citadel of Flame dungeon once to unlock it's reward track and did fine up until the very last boss battle. After getting killed there repeatedly and not wanting to lose all the progress making it that far, I put out a desperate call for help on the map chat. In just a few minutes, three random players jumped in to help me finish. This community is frequently like that. :)

It is much more likely that you are simply remembering the event incorrectly ...

@Khisanth.2948 said:......It is much more likely that you are simply remembering the event incorrectly ...At my age that's always a possibility. :) I was stuck at the last boss though, asked for help ingame, and got it. That was the point of my post and that much I do remember correctly.

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:......It is much more likely that you are simply remembering the event incorrectly ...At my age that's always a possibility. :) I was stuck at the last boss though, asked for help ingame, and got it. That was the point of my post and that much I do remember correctly.

Only people who can talk to you inside an instance is other people in your party dont matter if it say party or mapchat.

@Linken.6345 said:

@Chichimec.9364 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:......It is much more likely that you are simply remembering the event incorrectly ...At my age that's always a possibility. :) I was stuck at the last boss though, asked for help ingame, and got it. That was the point of my post and that much I do remember correctly.

Also guild chat