Story quests - Difficulty levels

[Belleunicorn.7840]

I play these games for pve & story.  I find the story quests on my thief to near impossible.  I'll never be an uber player but I enjoy playing the pve & stories of mmos.   The stories here are more like dungeons on the low end or raids at the higher end.   The latest has crystals that are impossible to see, 5+mobs attacking you while you're trying to find those crystals.   It would be great if they had a story level, doesn't have to be boringly easy just doing solo w/o making your forgot or ignore the story just to get thru the fighting.   At least make it so people can see the what they have to get to weaken the mobs to kill them.  

[Dante.1763]

2 minutes ago, Belleunicorn.7840 said:

I play these games for pve & story.  I find the story quests on my thief to near impossible.  I'll never be an uber player but I enjoy playing the pve & stories of mmos.   The stories here are more like dungeons on the low end or raids at the higher end.   The latest has crystals that are impossible to see, 5+mobs attacking you while you're trying to find those crystals.   It would be great if they had a story level, doesn't have to be boringly easy just doing solo w/o making your forgot or ignore the story just to get thru the fighting.   At least make it so people can see the what they have to get to weaken the mobs to kill them.  

They arent on the level of any of those things.

 

What boss/story are you having trouble with however so we can give tips/advice?

 

[Parthenos Polias.5683]

Confused about your point.
Stories already have a difficulty adjustment.

Most of the stories can be done alone with any profession (such achievement being easier with some profession).

I really don't get what you mean.
Can you give us any example ?

[Noah Salazar.5430]

You can ask random person at lion arch to come with you for help (his lv and gear will be scaled to lv of story, so its not like he will one shot evrythink)

 

be also sure that your gear is not 2-5lv lower (weapon is most importent) 

and you can dodge by presing v

 

Edited August 26, 2021 by Noah Salazar.5430

[Randulf.7614]

The problem is, the player skill spectrum is enormous. Finding a sweet spot is likely very tough and it's not feasible to add a variety of difficulty levels.

As a low skilled player, no boss is on par to dungeon or raid level. They often expect a knowledge of your skills and traits so you can adapt accordingly, require knowledge of the mechanics (which they teach you leading up to the fight in most cases) and decent armour/weapons, but that is expected.

Some bosses are annoying though. That Glint’s Lair crystal thing and the big Golem in Sandswept are not my favourite fights. Thats prob more on me than the game though.

What fight are you struggling on that we can help with?

 

[nosleepdemon.1368]

Thief actually can be trickier to play than other professions while levelling up, so don't feel too discouraged OP. As others have said, check your gear first of all - lower level gear than what your character can equip is going to make things much harder for you, especially when you don't have every skill available yet. Which brings me to the next point - make sure you have as many skills as feasible unlocked. Finally, pay attention to your weapon choice and how different skills combo by creating fields, and casting finishers through them. For example, Thief in particular is good at inflicting blind on opponents at close range via black powder, and daze through headshot. In general as a Thief you want to be disrupting as many of your opponent's attacks as possible to prevent damage from ever getting to you.

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

If you are talking about 'Eye of the Brandstorm', the crystals emit a bright light shooting straight up into the sky, much like our searchlights. 

It's very easy to find and destroy on a Skyscale, if you happen to have one.

 

If you are referring to some other Story Mission, you will have to give us a bit more detail.

Edited August 26, 2021 by Inculpatus cedo.9234

[Moradorin.6217]

3 hours ago, Belleunicorn.7840 said:

I play these games for pve & story.  I find the story quests on my thief to near impossible.  I'll never be an uber player but I enjoy playing the pve & stories of mmos.   The stories here are more like dungeons on the low end or raids at the higher end.   The latest has crystals that are impossible to see, 5+mobs attacking you while you're trying to find those crystals.   It would be great if they had a story level, doesn't have to be boringly easy just doing solo w/o making your forgot or ignore the story just to get thru the fighting.   At least make it so people can see the what they have to get to weaken the mobs to kill them.  

Some story bits can be hard on certain classes depending. I would try LF a someone to do the story with. Right now allot of people are doing them if you ask in map for a partner and mention you had a hard time Im sure others will be happy to go in with ya. I usually offer in map before I do them just in case anyone needs help.

[moony.5780]

- Whats your lvl and what is the lvl of your gear?

If your lvl is too low or ur armor is too low it might be difficult

- Do u use power gear?

If u dont use power, try it out. On thief u should be able to kill 5+ monster on shortbow without big problems.

- Did u skip the lvl 1-80 process with the lvl 80 booster?

If yes, then try first older content. The HoT and PoF story content is more difficult. First try out the core and then the living world story 2.

- How well do u know ur profession?

If u dont know it well, and run newer story missions, u will not know how to act in what situation. Try out different things in the normal maps and just have fun while testing new stuff 🙂

 

If u still have problems, feel free to contact me \(^.^)/

 

 

[Rogue.8235]

On 8/26/2021 at 9:00 AM, Belleunicorn.7840 said:

I play these games for pve & story.  I find the story quests on my thief to near impossible.  I'll never be an uber player but I enjoy playing the pve & stories of mmos.   The stories here are more like dungeons on the low end or raids at the higher end.   The latest has crystals that are impossible to see, 5+mobs attacking you while you're trying to find those crystals.   It would be great if they had a story level, doesn't have to be boringly easy just doing solo w/o making your forgot or ignore the story just to get thru the fighting.   At least make it so people can see the what they have to get to weaken the mobs to kill them.  

The best advice, since you play thief, is to change the mindset of how you approach online games.  As a thief, your goal in every fight (always) is never to get hit.  You do this through dodging, blinding, interrupting with dazes, and mobility with shadowsteps.  

For most enemies, blinding is the easiest way to nullify an attack.  For champions and other bosses, you want to be evading the big attacks, kiting the little ones, and breaking that defiance bar as fast as possible.

Other useful tricks to thief.  Thief has access to a lot of immobilize.  Use that to pin the enemy in one place, then just hack away at their back!  They won't be able to hit you back.

The mobility aspect is a gameplay style you'll have to train yourself to adopt.  Thief doesn't ever just stand and fight through the hordes of enemies.  You're always jumping from one enemy to another, jumping in and out of the fight, etc.  As a thief, you want to be teleporting around the battlefield like a jack russell terrier with ADHD.  The point is that you're always out of harms way by the time an enemy gets an attack off.

 

Really pay attention to the thief's weapon and utility skills.  The Evade, Blind, Immobilize, Shadowstep, Daze, and Stun effects are all as important as damage, if not more.  Rule number 1 as a thief, never get hit. 

Rule 2 is don't step on dragonhunter traps, but we'll worry about that one later.

Edited August 28, 2021 by Rogue.8235
Added link to defiance bar mechanic

[Chrysaliss.8720]

If you are having problem with a thief then either its one of these things:

 

1) Your gear sucks

2) Your build sucks

3) You suck

4) All of the above

 

As a thief I can 1 shot a group of 5 mobs in a story instance. Be more specific, so we can see where the problem is.

[Andy.5981]

Over the years I've taken 10 characters, through the entire storyline. Every core class has been used. On the odd occassion, mainly the Hearts and Minds HoT part, I've done it with a friend. None of the story parts have been difficult. I would say probably in excess of 95% of the runs have been solo.

You will die a bit until you work out what you need to do. Don't be surprised at this.

In most cases with involved mechanics Anet often show you parts of what you eventually need to do as you progress through the episode. A notable example of this is when the Commander enters Glints Lair with Kasmeer and Marjory and  fights a crystal boss at the end. All of the final fight mechanics are used in part throughout the episode, they all come together at the end.

Keep an eye on is the text at the top right of the screen. I am constantly amazed at the number of players who fail to read this text, since in most events it tells you what you should be doing. It often tells you what you need to do to damage the boss.

Don't think you can do all of the achievments in the story instance with the same class. In some cases some classes have a much easier time of it than others.

Don't make the mistake of fixating on the boss character model. Sure it will often telegraph special attacks which you can look out for, but in the main one of the biggest mistakes people make is not looking at the ground. It is the special attack skills that hit hard and will down you with one shot. They're the ones with the coloured patterns on the floor. If you're standing in that coloured pattern chances are you will get hurt. I know it sounds a cliche, but move or dodge.

If all else fails, join a Guild or use the LFG tool. You will be amazed at how many nice people there are out there willing to help.
 

 

Edited August 30, 2021 by Andy.5981

[Genesis.5169]

Absolutely nothing in the story is to hard to not clear, i will go so far as to say you can do it naked with only 1 weapon and no utility skills.

[mindcircus.1506]

On 8/26/2021 at 9:00 AM, Belleunicorn.7840 said:

I play these games for pve & story.  I find the story quests on my thief to near impossible. 

Here is a nice beefy thief build for you.