So GW2 is casual friendly?

[Nash.2681]

27 minutes ago, Obtena.7952 said:

You only need 7 HP's to unlock an espec? How does that work? Recently I unlocked an espec on an alt ... still needed the full 200+ points to do it. Am I missing something?

Upon leveling, one gets 398 hero points which equals the amount to fully unlock the core class.

Asuming one does core tyria map completion, that's another 189 hero points, so 7 HoT hero points (or the 11 from Maguma Wastes + 5 HoT) would be enough to unlock the first e-spec.

€: was thinking E-Specs cost 200 points. With 250, the 7 Hot HPs for the first E-Spec are mathematically correct under before mentioned circumstances.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Nash.2681
false maths leading to false conclusion

[Cyninja.2954]

18 minutes ago, Obtena.7952 said:

You only need 7 HP's to unlock an espec? How does that work? Recently I unlocked an espec on an alt ... still needed the full 200+ points to do it. Am I missing something?

Your claim:

Well, not really, because you had to play much of HoT to release those OP specs. So no, we really didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT. 

Hero points available in core Tyria: 189

Hero points required to reach 250 needed to unlock an elite spec above 189: 61

Thus hero points required from HoT are minimum 7.

 

You are missing basic reading comprehension.

The original concept was that it took 400 hero points to unlock a full elite spec AND additional hero points from core to unlock the core spec. Which both got changed at the very beginning of HoT with the intent to NOT make players have to play through a majority of HoT as you claim.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Cyninja.2954]

3 minutes ago, Nash.2681 said:

Confused on this aswell. Upon leveling, one gets 398 hero points which equals the amount to fully unlock the core class.

Asuming one does core tyria map completion, that's another 189 hero points, so only 2 HoT hero points (or the 11 from Maguma Wastes) would be enough to unlock the first e-spec.

Elite specs require 250 hero points.

[Obtena.7952]

2 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

Your claim:

Well, not really, because you had to play much of HoT to release those OP specs. So no, we really didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT. 

Hero points available in core Tyria: 189

Hero points required to reach 250 needed to unlock an elite spec above 189: 61

Thus hero points required from HoT are minimum 7.

 

You are missing basic reading comprehension.

OK that still means we didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT when it was released. I don't get the response ... NO one starts HoT with OP'ed Especs... they still need to be unlocked, EVEN if you only need seven HP's in Hot to do it. 

[Cyninja.2954]

2 minutes ago, Obtena.7952 said:

OK that still means we didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT when it was released. I don't get the response ... NO one starts HoT with OP'ed Especs... they still need to be unlocked, EVEN if you only need seven HP's in Hot to do it. 

No, those 7 hero points in HoT are required to FINISH the elite spec fully. You can get a majority of it done, including most traits, even with lacking those remaining hero points adn most elite specs where far more powerful on launch of HoT than now, after some rounds of nerfs. With maybe 1 or 2 exceptions, but that is details.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Obtena.7952]

2 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

 

Ho, those 7 hero points in HoT are required to FINISH the elite spec fully. You can get a majority of it done, including most traits, even with lacking those remaining hero points.

Right ... so, I don't get how you are disagreeing with what I said ... no one is blasting through HoT with an OP'ed espec without having to go through HoT to some degree to complete it, especially when it was released. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Obtena.7952

[Cyninja.2954]

1 minute ago, Obtena.7952 said:

Right ... so, I don't get how you are disagreeing with what I said ... no one is blasting through HoT with an OP'ed espec without having to go through HoT to complete it. 

HoT has 40 hero points total. 7 of those is hardly the majority of HoT. That's not even beyond the second map (actually not even beyond the first, but let's assume the "difficult" hero points get skipped).

Edited September 16, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Obtena.7952]

2 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

HoT has 40 hero points total. 7 of those is hardly the majority of HoT. That's not even beyond the second map (actually not even beyond the first, but let's assume the "difficult" hero points get skipped).

OK ... I didn't say that's the majority of HoT. I think you need to go back and see the context of the conversation you are participating in. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Obtena.7952

[Cyninja.2954]

1 minute ago, Obtena.7952 said:

OK ... I didn't say that's the majority of HoT. I think you need to go back and see the context of the conversation you are participating in. 

Literally YOUR second response:

Well, not really, because you had to play much of HoT to release those OP specs. So no, we really didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT. 

Again, not true.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Obtena.7952]

4 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

Literally YOUR second response:

Well, not really, because you had to play much of HoT to release those OP specs. So no, we really didn't have OP'ed specs to blast through HoT. 

Again, not true.

Yeah, I'm not going to argue with you about how you interpret my posts or how they fit into the context of the thread. Someone was implying OP's complaint wasn't valid because of 'OPed especs' ... except you have to play the content the OP is complaining about to get those especs. I mean, you want to make some pedantic point over wording? OK you do that. That changes little what I'm saying. 

Edited September 16, 2021 by Obtena.7952

[Cyninja.2954]

37 minutes ago, Obtena.7952 said:

Yeah, I'm not going to argue with you about how you interpret my posts or how they fit into the context of the thread. Someone was implying OP's complaint wasn't valid because of 'OPed especs' ... except you have to play the content the OP is complaining about to get those especs. I mean, you want to make some pedantic point over wording? OK you do that. That changes little what I'm saying. 

 

Yes, I was making a pedantic point about wording, given the wording to describe the situation was INCORRECT.

Again, as explained by me, after the initial change which happened rather shortly after the HoT launch, one does not require to play the content to great extent, as you claimed one would. Sorry you were wrong, I really am. It seems you have a very hard time with just accepting that your wording and maybe memory was off.

I could care less for this but I dislike having incorrect statements made which are easily referenced or disproven. There are less experienced players reading the forums and they certainly do not need incorrect information spread around.

Edited September 16, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[SunTzu.4513]

Maybe OP want to share his build? Sometimes changing just a few traits or get some other less used utility skills can make a big difference. As engi combolfields and/or chaining blinds with slow effects can be another effectiv mitigation tool. The most important thing to learn is when and how to dodge imo.

When i startet to get really into GW2 shortly before HoT hit i was dying permanently even as minion necro. After i get used to the game mechaniks (core tyria does a really bad job of this because you can face tank almost everything while auto attacking it to death) dying was no real problem anymore. After you get used to telegraphs of mobs and which one to fokus first (or cc) it's getting really easy imo.

[Deedrick.4372]

4 hours ago, Obtena.7952 said:

You only need 7 HP's to unlock an espec? How does that work? Recently I unlocked an espec on an alt ... still needed the full 200+ points to do it. Am I missing something?

 

I think they refer too the excess amount of skill points from Tyria & WVW, I don't remember having to do any thing but unlock the spec and go play.

[mindcircus.1506]

6 hours ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

I could care less for this but I dislike having incorrect statements made which are easily referenced or disproven. There are less experienced players reading the forums and they certainly do not need incorrect information spread around.

If all the misinformation on the forums was done away with all we would have was you and Danikat answering newbie questions and a few posts in the art section.

That might be good for you, but a lot less entertaining for the rest of us.

[ASP.8093]

Did we really need a whole page of arguments about how starting Verdant Brink worked 5+ years ago in this thread where someone was discussing frustration/confusion with playing a completely different section of the game today?

…

Anyway, back to the OP—

A lot of Season 3 has a slightly annoying gimmick where the best way to beat breakbars is to pick up some crud off the ground and throw it at the enemies. Like the way Bloodstone Elementals drop little shards when you hit them, and you can break their bars almost instantly by throwing the shards at them.

And the problem isn't that they did that, the problem is that they made the defiance bars a bit too big for people to circumvent the mechanic by using their builds' skills.

This comes to a head in "Head of the Snake"/"Confessor's End," where you're trying to break that shield thing while dodging a lot of AOE circles. It'll be easier to actually break bars using your class abilities from now on.

However, [low spoilers] there are two more boss fights in Season 3 where you'll really care about breakbars:

1. At the end of Chapter 6, you'll face a fight where you have to break an NPC's bar to trigger a special effect to move phases. There are lots of ambient rocks on the ground if you run out of CC, but having your own class CC makes it easier (even a super-weak short-duration daze will do it).

2. At the beginning of Chapter 6, there's a fight where the boss applies a brutal buff/debuff whenever you hit it while it's not CCed. If you are going for certain achievements, being able to instantly break the bar is very high value here, and the fight's unique mechanics make it hard to use the same skill to do it over and over. My recommendation with this encounter is to look up a wiki explanation of how to do it if you get stuck. (The easiest way to beat it, if you're not hunting achievements, is to accept help from your story-NPC friends.)

The other stuff in Season 3 has mechanics that are signposted pretty well by objectives and in-fight dialogue, imo. CC the bosses using your class abilities whenever you can, it's usually very reasonable to do and very high value.

Also, make sure you bind your "Special Ability slot" (where the Countermagic appears from time to time) to a semi-usable key (mine is on Shift+F1), because you'll need it again here and there throughout the game for various things, including for the rest of Season 3.

Edited September 17, 2021 by ASP.8093

[Fuchslein.8639]

I would suggest you a active(smallish) guild, which help you with the Game. Because GW2 IS Casual.

And believe me, if you found HOT hard, you'll hate POF because you'll be spammed with enemies. And the story won't be lesser bug-free either xx. So my tip, find a guild that doesn't drag you through stuff, but teaches you the game, including your class. This does not require much time and effort, but helps immensely if you know which skills help you when and when you can ignore what.

If you have a class that you can really play (even if it's just the necro) then everything else becomes more fun again. But that's what MMO's are all about, you can't just play any class with random equip and build and expect everything come flying to you ^^.

[aspirine.6852]

I stopped playing after HoT came out and years later way after PoF expansion I started again.. Fitted in easily and if that not makes it casual I dont know.. 

[frareanselm.1925]

GW2 is casual friendly as long as you dont wear berserker gear in HOT and POF maps.

[Teratus.2859]

I've brought these same issues up in the past, specifically the HoT difficulty spike and the annoying lack of stun defence.

The late Vanilla game does need improving to diminish that Diff spike to HoT.. Orr should be harder content imo and LW2 should also be doing a better job at preparing you for HoT as well.

As for the stun locking issue i've said this many times, Gw2 needs an immunity phase for hard and soft CC's after certain effects are removed.
Plenty of people have had to deal with being stunned instantly after popping a stunbreak to remove a stun effect or being instantly immobilized after removing that effect and it is infuriating and rage inducing when you end up being rendered utterly helpless and get screwed over because of it.
And nobody should have to replace and limit all their utility skills etc just to run a bunch of stunbreaks.

Frankly the easiest thing they could do is have it so that all classes get access to 1 or 2 stacks of stability for 2-3 seconds after successfully using a stunbreak to break free of a hard CC, while not granting it if you fail the stunbreak or you use the skill for it's other effects.
Stunbreak's should also be expanded to include Immobilize as well.

Stability should also be expanded to negate the effect of Immobilize while the boon is active, but if stability is removed from the player, either by boonstrip or the player being hit by a hard CC then that player becomes instantly immobilized for the remaining duration of the condition.

Edited September 25, 2021 by Teratus.2859

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

21 hours ago, Teratus.2859 said:

I've brought these same issues up in the past, specifically the HoT difficulty spike and the annoying lack of stun defence.

The late Vanilla game does need improving to diminish that Diff spike to HoT.. Orr should be harder content imo and LW2 should also be doing a better job at preparing you for HoT as well.

As for the stun locking issue i've said this many times, Gw2 needs an immunity phase for hard and soft CC's after certain effects are removed.
Plenty of people have had to deal with being stunned instantly after popping a stunbreak to remove a stun effect or being instantly immobilized after removing that effect and it is infuriating and rage inducing when you end up being rendered utterly helpless and get screwed over because of it.
And nobody should have to replace and limit all their utility skills etc just to run a bunch of stunbreaks.

Frankly the easiest thing they could do is have it so that all classes get access to 1 or 2 stacks of stability for 2-3 seconds after successfully using a stunbreak to break free of a hard CC, while not granting it if you fail the stunbreak or you use the skill for it's other effects.
Stunbreak's should also be expanded to include Immobilize as well.

Stability should also be expanded to negate the effect of Immobilize while the boon is active, but if stability is removed from the player, either by boonstrip or the player being hit by a hard CC then that player becomes instantly immobilized for the remaining duration of the condition.

Lot of the CC from enemies can be avoided simply by strafing and/or understanding the encounter. Bosses, for example, often have a set of behavior patterns (knockup always followed by kick, for example).

[Teratus.2859]

56 minutes ago, NorthernRedStar.3054 said:

Lot of the CC from enemies can be avoided simply by strafing and/or understanding the encounter. Bosses, for example, often have a set of behavior patterns (knockup always followed by kick, for example).

This isn't really much of a problem in content like fractals or raids, it's more of an open world PvE thing.
Specially when you get attacked by groups of enemies that have the abilities to lock you down like that.

This is where the little immunity phase would be the biggest benefit, not in dedicated instanced group content.

[ASP.8093]

Most classes have stun breaks that grant stability, or add an evade effect, or teleport you out of danger.

[Cynder.2509]

Depends. Overall PvE is more than casual friendly. For raids and Fractals and WvW (if you're on the wrong server you're basically kittened due to immense blobbing sometimes) however you better not attempt it if you're a casual as raids require 250 to 1k LI average with top tier snowcrows performance (yes, I know about training guilds but they're just as unhelpful for people wanting to get into raids or people wanting to return to it after a long break and a collapsed guild that used to do clear raid wings weekly but died due to nobody being online anymore The latter is actually speaking from own experience as a veteran and experienced raider). I'm a veteran playing since 2012 by the way so I must know it best. 
Let's not talk about PvP by the way because we all know what PvP has become... (sad actually because I enjoyed the earlier leagues, even got to silver and gold pretty often despite hating PvP content in games, and almost completed the legendary backpiece, only one gift left that is achievement related, but stopped due to too many bots and people being afk at spawns)
If you stay out of group contents as a casual you're fine. If you however step into that territory be prepared for being insulted to the bone, insta kicked if you're not the right class or don't do snowcrows DPS or if you don't have 35k AP. Also be prepared for insta kick or member ragequits after one wipe. 

[battledrone.8315]

On 9/25/2021 at 5:07 PM, Teratus.2859 said:

I've brought these same issues up in the past, specifically the HoT difficulty spike and the annoying lack of stun defence.

The late Vanilla game does need improving to diminish that Diff spike to HoT.. Orr should be harder content imo and LW2 should also be doing a better job at preparing you for HoT as well.

As for the stun locking issue i've said this many times, Gw2 needs an immunity phase for hard and soft CC's after certain effects are removed.
Plenty of people have had to deal with being stunned instantly after popping a stunbreak to remove a stun effect or being instantly immobilized after removing that effect and it is infuriating and rage inducing when you end up being rendered utterly helpless and get screwed over because of it.
And nobody should have to replace and limit all their utility skills etc just to run a bunch of stunbreaks.

Frankly the easiest thing they could do is have it so that all classes get access to 1 or 2 stacks of stability for 2-3 seconds after successfully using a stunbreak to break free of a hard CC, while not granting it if you fail the stunbreak or you use the skill for it's other effects.
Stunbreak's should also be expanded to include Immobilize as well.

Stability should also be expanded to negate the effect of Immobilize while the boon is active, but if stability is removed from the player, either by boonstrip or the player being hit by a hard CC then that player becomes instantly immobilized for the remaining duration of the condition.

orr was much harder back at launch, do you think they nerfed it without the numbers to motivate that change?

HoT will never be popular, it basically ruined the games chances of getting bigger

 

[Teratus.2859]

1 hour ago, battledrone.8315 said:

orr was much harder back at launch, do you think they nerfed it without the numbers to motivate that change?

HoT will never be popular, it basically ruined the games chances of getting bigger

 

They didn't nerf it no, not directly anyway.

The problem is powercreep, newer improvements to the game such as Elite Specs, new stat combos, sigils and runes and the upgrades made to various traits.. even the entire trait system which has been reworked multiple times since the vanilla Gw2 was released have all contributed to the older content becoming less challenging, even on new characters.

I think there have been times when devs have gone back and balanced the vanilla maps a little but I think most would agree that it hasn't been enough and there is still to this day a significant gap between the core maps and HoT.

Honestly the only area of the core world that really bothers me is Orr.
By the time you are pushing into Orr the game should be testing that you know how to play it, it's the original endgame PvE content after all.
There are still players in the game today that get to HoT and don't know how to use some basic mechanics like dodging, combo fields and CC's.. that's partly why they have so much trouble in HoT where Dodging especially becomes a key survival mechanic you need to use often.

The only time you ever actually need to dodge in the core world is during that little tutorial puzzle to get the chest, which is right in the starting maps.
There's nothing else around that will ever actually push you to use the dodge mechanic since you can just tank most enemies and dps them down, even on glass stats and most players won't attempt to solo strong creatures like champs which would require them to learn how to dodge.

It's very very easy to fall into the stack and smack routine as well in Gw2 and just let yourself get hit because others will revive you or heal you or you'll have people spamming out boons and barrier etc
I blame that in part for when you then get people claiming the actual story content missions are too hard and need nerfing down.