Maybe not the best time to return but... Some questions about combat difficulty

[Tyrick.9805]

So I've been playing this game for years on and off, but sadly never achieved anything matningful, no raids, not a single hard content.

I enjoyed most of it still though. 🙂

 

However my wife and I decided to return once again, before EOD.

I want to practice a bit and I noticed that I'm still suck pretty much in open world content. I tried my revenant, my ranger, but I usually die to anything a bit harder.

Maybe I'm that bad and I haven't learned some important aspects of combat? I try to dodge and heal myself most of the time but I'm still amazed when I see people soloing champions like no problem.

 

So could anyone give me a few tips or maybe a video that explains things... Even when I follow a full "open world guide" I still die and still can't manage to do anything alone.

 

Thanks and see you in-game! 😄 

[kharmin.7683]

I have often seen recommended to players in your situation to roll a brand new toon and start from level one.  You will re-learn your skills at a more even pace and help you to learn the class changes that have happened since you last played.

[Tyrick.9805]

3 minutes ago, kharmin.7683 said:

I have often seen recommended to players in your situation to roll a brand new toon and start from level one.  You will re-learn your skills at a more even pace and help you to learn the class changes that have happened since you last played.

Hmm... I did that last time I played. Leveled up my ranger from level 1. That's why I left the game last time, everything was so hard

[mungozen.2379]

34 minutes ago, Tyrick.9805 said:

Hmm... I did that last time I played. Leveled up my ranger from level 1. That's why I left the game last time, everything was so hard

This game does have a lot of perceived complexity given the many choices we have as players.  If you have not seen, MetaBattle is a build site that offers a wide variety of build guides.  While many builds are focused on meta/end game/competitive builds, there are guides for Leveling and Low Intensity builds that could be a good starting place for you.

For Example:

Ranger - LI Ranger - MetaBattle Guild Wars 2 Builds

or

Revenant - LI Power - MetaBattle Guild Wars 2 Builds

This would give you tips on how to gear, what rotation to use, alternate build choices etc.  Once you find a build that you are successful with, you can start branching out and trying different builds as you explore more of the game.

Be aware though, that some builds are focused on perfect play, and are punishing if you are not aware of game mechanics or able to memorize complex rotations.  Hence the recommendation to start with LI or Leveling builds guides.

Edited December 2, 2021 by Mungo Zen.9364

[Khisanth.2948]

1 hour ago, Tyrick.9805 said:

Maybe I'm that bad and I haven't learned some important aspects of combat? I try to dodge and heal myself most of the time but I'm still amazed when I see people soloing champions like no problem.

Well as the saying goes ... "knowing is half the battle". A lot of that will come down to knowing what the opponents will do and when.

That includes knowing stuff like phase changes which usually happen at certain percent of health. Avoiding or purposely triggering certain attacks. Knowing the animations for the different attacks. There is often too much focus on builds and rotations and not enough "pay attention to what the enemy is doing".  A sensible build is important but so is understanding your enemy.

How much are you paying attention to the stuff you are fighting? Leveling from 1 doesn't help much if you aren't using that time to learn those things. At the same time there isn't really any value in starting from 1 since you can do that at any level.  The important thing is not your level but what you are doing. Leveling from 1 just allows you to practice it on weaker enemies first.

[Erich.1783]

I feel your pain with the ranger, the thing that got me past it was to accept that I just do not have the reflexes, comes with age, to play pure glass cannon.  Changing from zerker to marauder stats has made things much easier for me.  And I think I use a bit of commander's on my ranger since I generate many boons.

[lovemghool.7613]

Both classes can be incredibly easy to play and can yield good results depending on how many buttons you're willing to press and they aren't that many. I will assume you have not unlocked elite specializations for these two classes.  

What worries me most of the time when I see weaker players in the open world are two things

1- Are they clicking skills and thus can look around fast enough? If not then are they using comfortable keybinds? 
2- Did they equip decent traits and have gear that makes sense? 

So to start things off please tell us all about your equipments, weapons, sigils, runes and lastly skills and traits you have chosen. A screenshot will also do. Please do  not worry you will not be judged.  Please do not jump on a Low Intensity build  or random ones so you save some resources.

If you want to make your own build then use this site to simulate and share if you wish
http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/

Edited December 3, 2021 by lovemghool.7613

[Infusion.7149]

On revenant run devastation traitline with battlescars via Dance of Death, don't use hammer and run swordx2 and staff with Jalis legend for high tankiness. The only time this is cumbersome is when you have phase shift bosses in POF expansion and later. On core rev you can run retribution for damage reduction in range with Close Quarters. An option with POF expansion is torment rune condi renegade as well (mace + ace, shortbow) , don't run this in core tyria.

On ranger you can get away with ranging things on double axe (run 2-3-3 in beastmastery) with longbow or greatsword ... outside core tyria where condis dont work on strucures single condi shortbow (with dagger mainhand + torch as a swap if you are soulbeast). Not advisable to camp longbow ever, that's a bad PvE ranger habit.

The above linked metabattle gear is horrible if you aren't openworld farming. You are better off with condi on trailblazer or a torment rune renegade/scourge/specter (after EoD) than running soldier's gear.

Instead of berserker trinkets (ring/amulet/backpiece) you can run full marauder using living story items. I would not advise getting marauder weapons unless you plan on WVW.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Infusion.7149

[aspirine.6852]

For your rev I can recommend using double sword/staff. Or at least offhand shield instead of staff for some defense.

As Legends I use Dwarf and Dragon stance, very low maintenance, Dragon is just that simple. 

 

What does your wife use btw? Some tanky condi build works fine together with your power build.. 

[battledrone.8315]

12 hours ago, Mungo Zen.9364 said:

This game does have a lot of perceived complexity given the many choices we have as players.  If you have not seen, MetaBattle is a build site that offers a wide variety of build guides.  While many builds are focused on meta/end game/competitive builds, there are guides for Leveling and Low Intensity builds that could be a good starting place for you.

For Example:

Ranger - LI Ranger - MetaBattle Guild Wars 2 Builds

or

Revenant - LI Power - MetaBattle Guild Wars 2 Builds

This would give you tips on how to gear, what rotation to use, alternate build choices etc.  Once you find a build that you are successful with, you can start branching out and trying different builds as you explore more of the game.

Be aware though, that some builds are focused on perfect play, and are punishing if you are not aware of game mechanics or able to memorize complex rotations.  Hence the recommendation to start with LI or Leveling builds guides.

if he does that, then it isnt really HIS character anymore,  just a copy of someone elses.

he has to work to get it, and pay for it, but choices?

it is sheer insanity, that he has to chose between the build he is used to play with ( and presumably likes), and 

a build to do later content with. 

to the OP: if you like the core GW2, then its better to leave. the expansions are NOTHING like the core game.

[Cyninja.2954]

25 minutes ago, battledrone.8315 said:

if he does that, then it isnt really HIS character anymore,  just a copy of someone elses.

he has to work to get it, and pay for it, but choices?

it is sheer insanity, that he has to chose between the build he is used to play with ( and presumably likes), and 

a build to do later content with. 

to the OP: if you like the core GW2, then its better to leave. the expansions are NOTHING like the core game.

 

Copying and immtation are tools of learning. It's literally one of the first things children and even babys do while they watch their parents.

 

There is nothing wrong in taking a probed and tested build, using it for a while and learning the ropes that way or incorporating things learned from other builds into ones own.

 

Yes, in theory any player can and should start with their own builds, work their way through how the game systems work, fail, rework, improve and adapt until they have mastered the game.

Or for those who aren't obtuse or resistant to other people's advice or guidance: make use of all the resources available. If that fails, leaving and throwing the towel remains always an option.

Edited December 3, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[Cuks.8241]

SO it seems you have problems with the very basic mechanics. Builds are fine but nothing will help if you can't execute it mechanically. The truth is any build should work in the open world, some better some worse but in general build is not the so oh important for open world. Dont get me wrong it does help.

Maybe some very basic questions.

Do you click skills with your mouse?  Now if you do, I don't think this works in this game at all. It's not recommended in any game but in slower games with global cool down you might pull it off, here you wont. My recommendation is to bind everything so that it suits your fingers and NEVER ever click anything again (no, not even mounts or anything). Soon this will be completely natural to you.

How do you dodge? For me by far the best method is to bind dodge to mouse button. Do not use double tap movement buttons to dodge, it's slow and stops movement. If you have a dedicated button for dodge your reaction will be much faster and it won't disrupt movement. If you have it on mouse you wont interrupt movement and skill usage at all not even for a millisecond. Again the best method for this is to bind dodge to something that suits you, disable the double tap in options and very soon it will be natural to you.

Do not panic in combat. I know easy to say... But this happens to many players. Oh someone is hitting my face, PANIC. And after panic comes overreaction and cold death. Most dmg can be avoided just by a very simple short side or back or even very often front step through enemy. And oh look now, instead of panic, dodge, dodge, runaway headless chicken that does no dmg, you just did a simple step and used no defensive skills and did dmg to monster all the while.

Use defensive utility skills. Pack those slots with defense. You want stun break, condition cleanse, movement/teleport stuff, invulnerable... Dead player does no dmg.

[HnRkLnXqZ.1870]

21 hours ago, Tyrick.9805 said:

Maybe I'm that bad and I haven't learned some important aspects of combat? I try to dodge and heal myself most of the time but I'm still amazed when I see people soloing champions like no problem.

 

So could anyone give me a few tips or maybe a video that explains things... Even when I follow a full "open world guide" I still die and still can't manage to do anything alone.

1.) Mobility skills
This is basically every skill that involves movement. May it be a charge into any direction, a jump or a shadow-step. These skills allow you survive devastating attacks rather easily by getting away quickly. Especially the leap-skills usually come with an evade-effect, so you can even use this skill while fighting to negate incoming damage on the go.

Look at your build, learn about the mobility-skills you have and try to use them on purpose. Save them until they come in handy. If they offer some good damage, it is pointless to save them forever. When fighting trash-mobs, you are free to mash those buttons. But challenging encounters require a little bit of planing and thinking. This does not happen instantly. The moment you are aware of those skills, the moment you start practicing. With every encounter, you get better with it. In the beginning, it always feels chaotic. That is normal. It gets better quickly.

2.) Blocks & Evades
Certain abilities grant you a block, which means the incoming damage is negated by 100 %. Those skills are extremely valuable and should be saved for the most devastating attacks. Evades go into the same direction, but usually last short. So it is harder to time those properly. 

3.) HP recovery
When do you use your healing-abilities? Depending on your personal choice, you can have different types of healing and different cooldowns. If the heal-skill recovers less than half of your max-HP, you should start using it when you hit 70 %. You recover quickly back to 100 % and the skill is maybe ready when you need it again. If you start thinking about the heal-skill too late, it can only prevent one dangerous situation and may be still on cooldown when you need it again. 

Some healing-skills have trait-effects which grant offensive boons or other useful combat effects. If that is the case for you, it can be wise to cast the skill right at the beginning of the encounter. By the time your HP drops, it may already be off cooldown again.

4.) Dodges
... are your last resort. The dodges are the best option to survive deadly attacks, aside of blocks. But they should never be your first priority to use. Rely on mobility as much as possible.

5.) Walking & Running
A lot of attacks can be nullified by walking a few inches to the side or just out of an AoE circle. There is no need to waste a dodge on such an attack. A boss is channeling a powerful attack? Walk behind them! Most of them cannot change directions while channeling and will use their powerful attack in the direction they aimed at the beginning. 

The terrain in GW2 is quite helpful with many encounters. Ranged attacks usually rely on line-of-sight (= direct line between you and the enemy, no obstacles allowed). If they channel one of those attacks, get behind an obstacle - a rock, wall or a tree. The attack will either abort or fail.

When you have to deal with ranged NPCs, hiding behind an obstacle forces mot of them to either stop attacking you or walk towards you (melee distance). 

6.) Jumping
When fighting melee bosses which cannot go into ranged-attacks, get close to a small ramp that leads to a platform. This can be a flat rock. The moment the boss starts to annoy you, jump up the platform. After a few more attacks, the NPC will stop attacking you and starts to walk around, to get back into melee-range. Did it reach your already? Jump down again. NPCs cannot jump in GW2, they can only walk. You will be surprised how many difficult bosses can be cheesed with this kind of trolling. 

7.) Watch your enemy
When you keep constantly dying against a boss/champion, just aggro it fight it without hitting it. Use your mobility, blocks, dodges and stay alive. After a little while you begin to learn its attack pattern, its most devastating attacks and how to properly survive them. Try applying the above mentioned hints: use dodge as the last resort, rather rely on movement and skills to utilize. Once you can survive its attacks with ease, you can start going into the offensive again. 

Edited December 3, 2021 by HnRkLnXqZ.1870

[unsung.2938]

23 hours ago, Tyrick.9805 said:

So I've been playing this game for years on and off, but sadly never achieved anything matningful, no raids, not a single hard content.

I enjoyed most of it still though. 🙂

 

However my wife and I decided to return once again, before EOD.

I want to practice a bit and I noticed that I'm still suck pretty much in open world content. I tried my revenant, my ranger, but I usually die to anything a bit harder.

Maybe I'm that bad and I haven't learned some important aspects of combat? I try to dodge and heal myself most of the time but I'm still amazed when I see people soloing champions like no problem.

 

So could anyone give me a few tips or maybe a video that explains things... Even when I follow a full "open world guide" I still die and still can't manage to do anything alone.

 

Thanks and see you in-game! 😄 

 

Guild Wars 2 added direct action gameplay in one of its setting. If you turn "direct action camera" on, combat would be akin to a fighting game (easier to manage). The camera would move with how you move with an aim reticule (circle dot). Piror to that, I had to use an addon to get direct action gameplay. Believe me when I say it is a game-changer, and one of the main reason I'm returning back to Guild Wars 2.

[Tyrick.9805]

19 hours ago, lovemghool.7613 said:

<...>
1- Are they clicking skills and thus can look around fast enough? If not then are they using comfortable keybinds? 
2- Did they equip decent traits and have gear that makes sense? 

<...>

No, I've been playing WoW for like 15 years, I'm well aware of hotkeys and keybinds etc... That's one reason why I'm worried, I've been a hardcore raider in WoW and here I'm struggling with open world content.

About decent traits... no idea, I'm looking up builds on websites and I usually go with some "open world" one.

 

11 hours ago, aspirine.6852 said:

<...>

What does your wife use btw? Some tanky condi build works fine together with your power build.. 

My wife is also playing a ranger but she wants to use bow, because she likes ranged skills in MMO's.
However we can't play together all the time.

 

11 hours ago, battledrone.8315 said:

<...>

to the OP: if you like the core GW2, then its better to leave. the expansions are NOTHING like the core game.

What do you mean leave? Leave the game and look for something else? I'm done with the PoF story long time ago, I have the gryphon, and I was working on the Skysclale before I left, so I know the expansions.

 

3 hours ago, Cuks.8241 said:

<...>

Do you click skills with your mouse? <...>

How do you dodge?<...>

Do not panic in combat. <...>

Use defensive utility skills. Pack those slots with defense. You want stun break, condition cleanse, movement/teleport stuff, invulnerable... Dead player does no dmg.

Some cool tips here, thanks for that. I'm probably not the best with using defensive and utility skills.

Will try to work on them. And no, I'm not clicking my skills and using a key to dodge, but rebinding it on my mouse 5 button might be also a good idea.

 

3 hours ago, HnRkLnXqZ.1870 said:

1.) Mobility skills
<...>

7.) Watch your enemy

Hm some great tips here, I definitely have something to work on. I will try to practice what you mentioned here. Thanks!

 

1 hour ago, unsung.2938 said:

 

Guild Wars 2 added direct action gameplay in one of its setting. If you turn "direct action camera" on, combat would be akin to a fighting game (easier to manage). The camera would move with how you move with an aim reticule (circle dot). Piror to that, I had to use an addon to get direct action gameplay. Believe me when I say it is a game-changer, and one of the main reason I'm returning back to Guild Wars 2.

Hm didn't know that, going to check that out, I like action camera.

___________________________________________________

Thanks everyone for the answers, got some great tips already! 🙂

[Rogue.8235]

On 12/2/2021 at 2:53 PM, Tyrick.9805 said:

Hmm... I did that last time I played. Leveled up my ranger from level 1. That's why I left the game last time, everything was so hard

 

Maybe a change in mindset is in order?  Play the open world with a single goal:

Do not take any damage from anything.

Use your skills to quickly move out of the way, never stand in a single spot and fight but keep moving, and dodge roll.  Play the game with your brain consciously and constantly reminding you to avoid getting hit at all.  Don't worry about killing anything quickly, just avoid getting hit.

Once this becomes more natural to do can you worry about all the other stuff.  

I advise this because this is what I had to do when the game first launched.  I was so used to being hit as a normal part of gameplay.  However, in GW2, you're expected not to get hit at all.

 

 

[ArchonWing.9480]

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Options#Combat.2FMovement

Disable melee attack assist; it's a useless option that prevents you from moving through enemies.

Ground Target: Fast with Range indicator and more importantly, "Lock Ground Target at Maximum Skill Range" makes ground targeted skills less confusing.

Also do Free Camera so it's easier to see your surroundings

This video explains settings more in depth; it is pvp focused, but most of it applies to pve. (Except autotarget in PvE-- you may keep that on)

 

[lovemghool.7613]

On 12/3/2021 at 11:48 PM, Tyrick.9805 said:

No, I've been playing WoW for like 15 years, I'm well aware of hotkeys and keybinds etc... That's one reason why I'm worried, I've been a hardcore raider in WoW and here I'm struggling with open world content.

About decent traits... no idea, I'm looking up builds on websites and I usually go with some "open world" one.

 

My wife is also playing a ranger but she wants to use bow, because she likes ranged skills in MMO's.
However we can't play together all the time.

 

What do you mean leave? Leave the game and look for something else? I'm done with the PoF story long time ago, I have the gryphon, and I was working on the Skysclale before I left, so I know the expansions.

 

Some cool tips here, thanks for that. I'm probably not the best with using defensive and utility skills.

Will try to work on them. And no, I'm not clicking my skills and using a key to dodge, but rebinding it on my mouse 5 button might be also a good idea.

 

Hm some great tips here, I definitely have something to work on. I will try to practice what you mentioned here. Thanks!

 

Hm didn't know that, going to check that out, I like action camera.

___________________________________________________

Thanks everyone for the answers, got some great tips already! 🙂

So you have the keybinds which is good to hear.
Now for gear and traits it is important to look for synergies between them and  to be honest I dislike most  of the open world builds on meta battle that focus only on damage. Open world damage  requirement is not high so finding utility in traits and runes will surely improve your experience and might even make it too easy. Surprisingly, PvP and WvW roaming builds are great in open world.  My advice is to read your traits and focus on boons and fun.  so read your traits so you could swap traitlines around as needed and guides on what traits do are also around. I dont know how you run your ranger but this is an example of a basic build on ranger

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?POwAceNlZw8YdsLGKWuPur9SO3bA-zRRUBRHIG+ihSOsIouQIwCo1EQtB-e


please just share what gear can you get or have access to. to help you improve your gaming experience we must first see what you got on your toons what you use on them. 

I hope you will find enjoyment in the game regardless 

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

I actually run my raid alac renegade build in open world.  The only difference is that I use a power food rather than my concentration food and just accept that I'm not going to have the 100% alac up time (90% is good enough as far as I care).

 

[voltaicbore.8012]

Yeah if you're already using hotkeys and such, I'm thinking your issue might just be needing to adjust to how relatively fragile our max-level characters are in this game. In the classic trinity tab-target games I've played, endgame gear and stats tend to provide enough padding to help you get through content. Moreover, things that aren't meant to be soloed are just physically impossible to solo in most such games. In exchange for level 80 stats not being such a game-changer in the open world in GW2, we have build freedom paired with event scaling that allows us to solo things that were really designed for group play.
 

Without knowing more specifics, as a ranger main I recommend this core ranger build. Here are some notes on how to use it/some choices I made.

 

(1) Opening up from range with longbow 5: If you're in a situation where you're not being jumped by mobs but are instead the one initiating combat, use the elite skill Strength of the Pack and drop longbow 5 in a manner such that the mobs need to travel through the entire rain of arrows before reaching you. Most weaker enemies will drop dead before they can leave the field. You get a 10% damage bonus from the Farsighted trait in the Marksmanship line, as well as another 15% bonus from Predator's Onslaught (also in the Marksmanship line). While this massacre is going on, you and your pet will be gaining the might boon thanks to Strength of the Pack combined with the number of hits longbow 5 is capable of putting out.

 

(2) Most typical mob groups will be dead with just longbow 5. but if there's an elite or higher enemy still hobbling toward you, pump a full longbow 2 into them.

 

(3) If one or more of those threatening targets survives both longbow 5 and longbow 2 and manages to close the distance on you, just before they get into melee range use longbow 3 to hide yourself and flank the target. Switch to greatsword and smack the enemy with greatsword 2 for a nice big burst. If they're still alive, hit it with greatsword 5, which instantly refreshes greatsword 2, which you can again use for another nice big burst.

 

(4) If the mob still isn't dead, time to make a few other decisions. If you feel comfortably confident that you can kill it while being in melee, keep smacking it with autoattacks and greatsword 2. Be prepared to use greatsword 4 to block if you see a hit coming, or if other things are beginning to gang up on you.

 

(5) If the mob still isn't dead, chances are you're looking at some sort of champ, or you missed some of your key damage moves. Now's the time for some ranger escape tactics. Press ESC twice to detarget the mob, point yourself in a direction you want to run, and use greatsword 3 to create some distance. For even more pressure relief, swap to longbow and hit the target with longbow 3 to stealth yourself for some free repositioning time.

 

(6) Pet management: both the smokescale and jacaranda are relatively sturdy pets that are nonetheless capable of dishing out modest damage. Of course your pet will also have been plinking away at your target this whole time as well. Don't let them die in combat - if you see your pet is getting low on health, swap it out. If your pet had aggro, the aggro will shift to you on pet swap. Use longbow 3 to stealth yourself and F1 to command your pet to hit the target, and the mob should get interested in your pet again.

 

(7) Survival: The build I linked is extremely survival oriented. In terms of condition cleanse, your heal move alone removes 4 conditions. Your pet swap, Quickening Zephyr (QZ), and Lightning Reflexes (LR) also cleanse 2 conditions each. All 3 of the utility moves (QZ, LR, and Protect Me) are also stunbreaks. As such, you have a lot of options to prevent getting locked down, and to make things even better each of those panic buttons also has another benefit attached to them. QZ I often treat as an offensive move, as it grants you quickness and you can hit things faster. However, at first you can reserve QZ as either a condition cleanse or plain old stunbreak. LR is a bit different - unlike QZ or Protect Me, LR is a backwards roll that natively removes the immobilize condition. It also does a bit of damage at the start of the roll, but I never use it offensively, so LR is almost always available to me when I really need to clean conditions + stunbreak + create some distance between me and the target. Protect Me grants you barrier and the protection boon in addition to being a stunbreak, so it's superb for dealing with some incoming power damage pressure. Finally, your dodge rolls grant you protection, and protection grants you a ranger-specific form of regeneration (Rugged Growth) that has enormous healing potential. This is a huge passive survival benefit unique to rangers. That said, don't just burn dodges willy nilly. Use them to avoid hits, but just know that in so doing you're also granting yourself a nice heal over time. Protect Me also triggers this heal over time, in addition to granting you the actual regular regeneration boon on top of that.

 

(8) Fury uptime: This build gives you pretty good uptime on the fury boon, and it just kind of happens automatically thanks to the numerous sources of fury this build has. These runes replicate the 5% bonus damage from the harder-hitting rune sets like Scholar or Eagle, but with the added benefit that in combat you'll almost always have fury, so you'll almost always have that 5% buff.

 

Sorry for the wall of text. Ultimately it comes down to practice. When you get more comfortable with combat (knowing enemy attack patterns, the ideal time to dodge/heal/hide/etc, judging your weapon range accurately, and more) you can begin to shift away from the survival-centric choices in this build to hit harder. However, as you're getting back into the swing of things, I think this is a safe compromise build.

Edited December 6, 2021 by voltaicbore.8012