Is it me or is this game freaking difficult?

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

You can replace the Runes in any armor. 

Really, check out the Wiki for any information.  It has everything.

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

7 minutes ago, Inculpatus cedo.9234 said:

You can replace the Runes in any armor. 

Really, check out the Wiki for any information.  It has everything

 

Oh gosh THANK YOU see I was trying to find that information but try as I may, I couldn't!!! It was so frustrating - nowhere does it tell you that you can simply swap runes out that I could find! Okay - so you're probably gonna send me a link that takes me straight to a page that says exactly that lol I've probably just missed it but I was assuming if a rune was already there you needed to get an upgrade extractor to remove it!

 

Gosh so much to learn!

 

Thank you.

[Infusion.7149]

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/User:Tanetris/So_You_Want_To_Gear_a_Character
 

Guide for meta gear

[Tails.9372]

7 hours ago, Shivan Aquilarnus.8417 said:

I have done the research and believe my build is a decent one.

That's a general issue with the game: players have no real way of telling how good / bad they're actually doing unless they use 3rd party software which many understandably don't want to do. A comprehensive in-house personal DPS meter would be a huge help here but the chances of A-Net ever implementing something like this are IMO pretty much non existent.

All you can do rn is to try your build vs. various champions. In general:

If you, with your build, can effortlessly solo various base game champions (like this one) then you should be fine (combat wise) vs. all OW content provided you play it like from the devs. intended.

If you, with your build, can effortlessly solo all HoT hero challenges then you should be fine in general.

Edited December 25, 2021 by Tails.9372

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

Thanks - I've since decided that my build was actually pretty rubbish - 'Aimless' is perhaps the word I'd use. It needed a focus - thanks to this thread I've got that now so just gearing up to give it another whirl.

[SeTect.5918]

3 hours ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

Yakkington's is slightly cheaper and comes with Traveler runes which also a gives a bit of condition duration

Cull the Weak and Armored Attack on a condi build? O_o

Probably better to trade the bit of damage they are providing for the QoL/survivability from Dogged March and Defy Pain. Cleansing Ire is nice but open world isn't very heavy on the damaging conditions while CCs are pretty common so Last Stand is probably better but it is ultimately situational. I can only think of a handful of open world enemies that present a dangerous amount of damaging conditions.

Yakkington is cheaper yes, just noticed. However the runes you will change anyway so they r useless.
Balthy runes for example are very cheap and easily bought without losing a gold.

I use Cull the Weak and Armored Attack because the other 2 traits next to cull the weak are useless on that build and weakness blocks blue bars from restoring. Its a small cc that is perm on that build if the enemy is under 50%.

I basically dont like traits that are as situational like the other 2.
Cull the Weak is still useful on that build. Armored attack not that much but I prefer that one over the 60 sec CD of Defy Pain. Also bc most enemies attack very slow in pve so its not even sure if you even get a hit in these 4 sec.

I found it useful to build any condi cleanse in that build for certain bosses or heropoints in hot since @Shivan Aquilarnus.8417was talking about hot. Balthazar heropoint in AB. Itzel heropoint in VB. Troll heropoint in TD. Frog hp in TD. And maybe some others i dont remember atm.

However yes I maybe shouldve said that Dogged March and Defy Pain are also good options, but I find them very situational.

Edited December 26, 2021 by SeTect.5918

[ugrakarma.9416]

in really GW2 is so easy thats is very easy in Gw2 u forget proper equipment, and then very later notice that your character is killed to much.

im kinda paranoic with that, than when i equip a new alt, or trying new build i check all equipment passing mouse over.

inst rare also i forget select stats in selectable stats equipment(i have a few legendaries and lots of farmed asc. trinkets), at least Anet put a alert when u have equipment with unselected status.

also remember theres 2 tiers(or more, i dont remeber details) of exotic equipment, u must check the level of equipment, the exotic equipmente with minimal level bellow 80, have lesser status that exotic equipment that requires 80... u will get used to check that when bought stuff from tp.

Edited December 26, 2021 by ugrakarma.9416

[ugrakarma.9416]

On the warrior it's currently one of the easiest classes behind only the necro, and better: is meta in various "difficult" encounters.

Once u dominate u warrior, u can try jump in fractals, strikes, or even raids.

The banner-slave is one of the easiest "buff your allies" builds, im a lazy person, so i dont get used for a Firebrand for example that requires u "learn" the right moment for apply buffs.

if u are lazy and dont want bother with complicated rotations, use Strenght+Discipline+Tatics warrior, with self-heal traits.

if u like big atack numbers use berserker instead of tatics.

warrior is by far one the top "easy life" class in this game.

 

Edited December 26, 2021 by ugrakarma.9416

[Khisanth.2948]

1 hour ago, Shivan Aquilarnus.8417 said:

You disagreed with advice given to me to gear up in exotic gear - I'm assuming you are simply blessed or skilled at this game if you can just breeze through the content with 'random' gear acquired from levelling - making this comment a good example of the kind I've often seen by experienced or naturally skilled players about how easy they find the game that can be quite discouraging when new players (perhaps not as skilled) come along and find that they absolutely cannot breeze through on 'random' gear. That's what's led to this thread - I seem to need a proper build and as you can see from the build I've posted - lots of people have pointed out my build is terrible - so 'random' won't do it for me here I'm afraid.

On the other hand I've seen at least one post on the forum complaining about Queensdale being too difficult ... in ascended. =_=

That one was probably a bit too extreme but the main point is that GW2 is a game where gear still matters but the gear will not carry you as far as some other game. It is still very much possible for stuff to wreck you despite full ascended gear with a full set of stat infusions.

[Cynder.2509]

If you're new the game might seem a bit difficult but actually it's very casual and not really challenging. Even raids in cm are too easy when compared to raids in other games. 
It's not like it's the Dark Souls of mmos. And even Dark Souls is fairly easy once you learn how to play. 
Just git gud and you'll have no problems ^^ 
 

In terms of gear (you should have full ascended/legendary at best but exotic is the absolute minimum but beware to get frustrated and kicked from groups when having only exotics as ascended stuff is very easy to get these days) and builds you should seek out snowcrows.com because these builds are meta and the most useful builds. Also the cahnce of getting kicked out of groups instantly is reduced by a bit. 

Edited January 9, 2022 by Cynder.2509
*problems sorry I was drunk and made a spelling msitake you can stop hate reacting now ;)

[Cuks.8241]

The game has very action oriented mechanics, combat is fast paced and is combo oriented. Face tanking is not really an option as even most normal open world expansion monsters hit hard and can have some nasty abilities you will want to avoid. Defense is mostly active, so dodging, preemptive and reactionary skills. 

This is much different to other mmorpgs where generally combat is slow and combos are simple. Often you can just facetank monsters especially because you will eventually out gear them. 

Don't get me wrong, this in my opinion is one of the best aspects of the game. But it means it has a decent skill floor and very high skill ceiling. The more you will get the hang of the combat system, the more you will be familiar with enemies, the better you will be and eventually you will be able to just dance around monsters without taking any dmg at all. Most is avoidable. 

When players say this game is casual game it refers to other things. You don't have to constantly grind the gear to be competitive. Once you have exotics you can pretty much tackle any content. You can pause for a year, come back and still your gear is up to date. The game doesn't have much emphasis on end game raids and other group content that require tight dps checks, very strict compositions... Some content is there, but most updates are for open world stuff. 

Causal is not easy. Casual means it values you time and even if you don't have much playtime available it is only your skill that is the gate to tougher content.

With regards to builds. You have to be careful here. Different types of content require much different builds. Open world, fractals (5 man content), raids and strikes (10 man content), spvp and WvW require different builds. So looking at snowcrows (raids) for open world builds is a mistake. Raid and fractal builds are specialized to maximize certain output (dmg, utility up time...) in a group environment. Open world you will want more generalized builds that also help you survive, move faster... Pvp modes (WvW and spvp) again have much different builds and even within those modes builds might vastly vary depending on what you want to do, which role you want to play.

For builds it's OK to refer to outside sources but I would recommend to use your head also. Especially at the start. Every build comes with a notation. You need to understand the context of the build to use it properly. For example raid builds. Usually people will refer to snowcrows but those builds require specific group composition to work properly. If you understand the background, your build and group composition you will be able to adapt build to fit your specific situation which might not be ideal.

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

12 hours ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

On the other hand I've seen at least one post on the forum complaining about Queensdale being too difficult

haha yes that's next level. And now that I've sorted my build I'm leaning back towards thinking the game is a lot easier than I thought - I just lacked knowledge on build craft it would seem.

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

 

4 hours ago, Cuks.8241 said:

This is much different to other mmorpgs where generally combat is slow and combos are simple

 

I totally agree - I played ESO before this and thrived because it involved a lot of moving around - but still probably not as much as in this game which I LOVE! That's where I'm quite confident as I really enjoy moving whilst executing a rotation and having to adapt the rotation relative to the situation and get to know your enemies and figure out strategies on how to beat them etc... all in a fast paced environment!

 

Now that I sorted out a build (just stole one from online) I'm getting through a lot easier lol - so it really did seem to just be the build that was the problem rather than teh skill which is a huge relief since I was quite worried!

 

We'll see how it goes - I simply couldn't afford or didn't have the knowledge to get exotic gear - but even on rare gear, I'm getting through HoT storyline  fine haha - touch wood (I'll be back next week complaining again probably lol)

 

Thanks again everyone.

[Batel.9206]

People have pointed this out, but it's still worth reiterating: Heart of Thorns (and Living World Season Three areas) was and is a massive spike in difficulty from the base game. Whether that difficulty spike was done well or not remains...a subject of contention...to this day, but one thing that's agreed on is that it is much harder than the rest of the game. Even veterans get caught off-guard in the jungle sometimes. I know I sure do, and I've been playing for about four years now!

So even if you get your build right (which it sounds like you're well on the way to doing!) and you've got skill (which you certainly have), don't be discouraged if you still bite the dust sometimes. It's pretty much a given in those areas. It happens to everyone, so don't feel like it's purely a 'you' problem. Stuff happens! 🙂 Just waypoint back, fix your armor, and wade in again. You've got this!

 

On another note...this might same weird, but thank you for having the willingness to learn and practice instead of just whining on the forums and giving up. I've seen a lot of people who buy the game, boost their first character to 80, hop into HoT, and start throwing a tantrum on the forums when their 501st pocket raptor pack destroys them. They rant about how the game's too hard and then ragequit in a fit of obscenities...never once taking anyone's advice that they should probably slow down, start over, and just learn the game before throwing themselves into some of the toughest open-world content available. You, on the other hand, are a breath of fresh air. I hope you enjoy Tyria with all it has to offer; good luck!

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

32 minutes ago, Batel.9206 said:

On another note...this might same weird, but thank you for having the willingness to learn and practice instead of just whining on the forums and giving up.

Haha I bet people do that but to be honest the game is just so much fun a bit of learning and practice is well worth it in my eyes and yeah it's a shame if people don't give it a chance!

 

And thank you for the reassurance - defo still have a way to go but it's loads of fun so I'm sticking around!

[AliamRationem.5172]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:06 AM, Shivan Aquilarnus.8417 said:

Hey all,

 

Just looking to get some frame of reference here.

 

When you look up reviews of this game loads of people say it's a casual MMORPG, and there's a strong implication that - basically - the game is easy.

 

I have personally found this to be incredibly misleading and it's led to me feeling significantly discouraged now that I'm into the beginning of the HoF expansion and finding that my guy is just dying all the time.

 

I have done the research and believe my build is a decent one. I don't yet have ascended gear but lots of exotic gear equipped. I've started down the Beserker specialisation and have unlocked the Beserker stance & bursts (Warrior profession). My skills around a keyboard and with my multi-buttoned mouse are good - I know I don't lack dexterity or coordination (I'm in the top 99th percentile for touch typists). I've got a frame of reference having played other MMORPGs and can categorically say that this game is HARD!! NOT easy.

 

At least - if the goal is to just not DIE so much!

 

So just so I'm not kicking myself thinking I'm absolutely rubbish at this game - is it basically 'normal' during the first playthrough of the storyline that you're just gonna DIE a lot?

 

Curious to get other people's thoughts 'cause if the verdict is that genuinely the player base finds this game easy (PVE playing through the story) - then it may just be that this game isn't for me.

 

Cheers,

 

SteveyP.

You're right and you're wrong about a few things.

First, your expectations are probably based on other MMOs (for me it was WoW).  One of the major differences between GW2 and games like WoW is that the open world is considered the main event here where in WoW it's the instanced content (which GW2 also has).  Another major difference is "horizontal progression".  Aside from the 5% bump in stats from ascended gear and a few minor combat-relevant masteries, the way you overcome in this game is by improving your gameplay or adjusting your build.

In WoW you might find the latest open world zone challenging, but you quickly acquire the gear to trivialize it.  In GW2 you never do.  If HoT is going to get easier, it'll be because you learned some things about buildcraft (more on that in a moment) and combat.  Keep in mind you have the dodge mechanic here and it is huge.  There is a lot of damage you're taking right now that you are supposed to avoid and while finger dexterity and MMO experience will help you in the long run, you still need to familiarize yourself with the visual cues and react properly to them.

The other thing that may not be obvious to you is buildcraft.  This is a very freeform system compared to WoW.  In WoW you just pick tank, healer, or DPS depending on your class's available specs.  In this game there are no defined roles.  That means you have a much greater degree of control over how specialized your build is.  It also means you can easily think you have a good build when in fact your build isn't very good for what you're trying to do (trust me, it's very easy to mess this up!).

So, give it time.  You'll get better at timing and dodging, you'll learn what needs to be avoided, and you'll figure out some aspects of buildcraft that should allow you to handle this stuff.  If you're like me, you'll go from dying all the time to soloing things you didn't even think were possible for a single player to do.  That's the magic of GW2!

[VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig.]

On 12/25/2021 at 10:11 PM, Hannelore.8153 said:

I'm not sure that's right. They nerfed HoT because they thought making it easier would make it more appealing, then they further went and made PoF entirely casual. As a result, PoF ended up almost entirely dead content years later while HoT is still going strong.

 

 

PoF is not 'Dead' because it is 'too casual'. The HoT metas are just more interesting and looting after Auric Basin or TD is over is just so rewarding. PoF does not have anything close to that. 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

50 minutes ago, VAHNeunzehnsechundsiebzig. said:

 

PoF is not 'Dead' because it is 'too casual'. The HoT metas are just more interesting and looting after Auric Basin or TD is over is just so rewarding. PoF does not have anything close to that. 

I'm not sure what you mean by this, but the whole design of the PoF maps being more like Queensdale instead of having sweeping map-wide metas is exactly what made it casual. It was designed so players could jump in and out with no real commitment, while the HoT maps require build up and dedication to the completion of the meta.

 

Sure, you can just jump in, do the meta, and collect your loot, but only if you've run that map enough times already that you have the currencies and keys required to do so.

Edited December 27, 2021 by Hannelore.8153

[TheQuickFox.3826]

Check out the Mind over Meta channel for many great open world builds that provide a much better experience than your average meta build. Don't use these in raids and pvp but for open world check out this channel.

 

 

[Shivan Aquilarnus.8417]

15 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

So, give it time.  You'll get better at timing and dodging, you'll learn what needs to be avoided, and you'll figure out some aspects of buildcraft that should allow you to handle this stuff. 

Dodging and buildcraft - already been loving the dodge mechanic it's saved me more than I can say! But you're 100% right - someone else said this game is about 'knowing your enemy' - not knowing when to dodge is a huge hurdle because not everything is that needs dodging is conveniently exposed by a red circle on the ground!

 

Buildcraft - I *love* the flexibility of builds in this game! That again relates to 'knowing your enemy' - so much to learn to tweak the build to make it appropriate for different situations which again will come with time - and I love the horizontal progression idea!

 

That's great advice thanks for the help.

[Macabre.3829]

I finished the game with a glass cannon Dragonhunter (guardian). As I mentioned before I made a thread a couple of weeks or so ago about constantly dying.
If you're running story, you should just go for power (or condition, depending on your playstyle) and vitality gear. It can be found really cheap. And build around solo survival. For story it's not a big deal how much damage you dish out, but it can be frustrating to constantly die.
With 11k hp, my guardian was getting 2 shot and all that within seconds. I did get help in game how to build a but tankier character and ditching berserker gear definitely helped.

[Nash.2681]

52 minutes ago, Macabre.3829 said:

I finished the game with a glass cannon Dragonhunter (guardian). As I mentioned before I made a thread a couple of weeks or so ago about constantly dying.
If you're running story, you should just go for power (or condition, depending on your playstyle) and vitality gear. It can be found really cheap. And build around solo survival. For story it's not a big deal how much damage you dish out, but it can be frustrating to constantly die.
With 11k hp, my guardian was getting 2 shot and all that within seconds. I did get help in game how to build a but tankier character and ditching berserker gear definitely helped.

I finished the game with a "glass cannon Dragonhunter" aswell. Full Berserker gear, no issues thx to so many blocks, blinds and the dodge key. Glad ditching the "kill the stuff before it kills you" approach worked out for you and made you enjoy the game, but plz don't make it look like a general advice, for it is definetly not neccessary.

As you might have noticed- OP just had to get pointed to some very basic stuff about buildcrafting and now seems to get along quite fine by simply using active defenses, so there's really no need to advocate training-wheels builds in this case. 

[ShadowCatz.8437]

On 12/25/2021 at 8:46 PM, Shivan Aquilarnus.8417 said:

Thanks again - you've given me lots to look at so I'll check those builds out too!

 

And yes - one of the hardest things is GETTING equipment. From what I've seen frankly exotic equipment that matches the right specifications is WAY out of my reach at the moment. It'll just have to be 'rare' from what I can see & afford, but even that - I think - will be enough of an improvement that I can soldier through.

 

Thanks again!

There is too much focus here in this thread on your gear and less on the tools that exists in this game to compensate until you can afford to get that gear.

First of all if you also are owning PoF expansion you will have access to unlock Raptor as a mount which is a rather fast mount, have an independent health pool from your character (if mont dies, you can still survive) and can both be used as a gap closer to get to places where Gliding would drop down and can skip by hostile enemies. With later upgrades for Raptor Mastery you can also collect hostile enemies in one spot from Tail Spin (Round Up Mastery) and kill them fast with AoE or cone based skills from weapons. Springer can do a knock down in AoE when you force a dismount attack, so mount work also as an extention of your characters tools to do stuff in this game.

With Raptor you will get an extra health pool (HP) that will reduce your problem with getting low health too fast (and die). Second Raptor is a fast mount that can do jumps (a type of teleportation) which if upgraded can also jump further distance to cross open gaps in air to cross to other sides in HoT maps. In HoT before you get gliding unlocked this can be useful to get around both faster in defense phases of camps which you will need to build/upgrade and defend to gain more XP for yourself and to get meta going. Meta events adds a lot of XP for your Mastery, so it is one way to increase your Mastery Track. Just be aware for HoT you need to be on green maps (all Mastery have a colour code that you can see in Hero Panel and on map). In PoF that is purple colour on all Mastery Insights on map on related story and achievements.

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Mastery

When that yellow bar have become filled you be able to use those Mastery points you have picked up/earned to unlock that ability/skill. If you don't have enough Mastery to unlock that track, you can pick another one and let that XP bar fill, so you don't waste any XP gain while working towards collecting Mastery points.

There are easy Mastery Insights that you can collect on both PoF (for your mount) and in HoT (for Gliding, Mushroom jumping and Updraft as basic tools to get around in HoT maps and later PoF and other maps).

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Raptor
 

(Taking story part out of order to unlock things is probably better, then having to farm currencies (Gold or map currencies) to get gear before anyting else.)

If possible also unlock Springer as that mount make it possible to jump up to another level or fall down with getting dismounted or killed, which is useful until your get Mushroom unlocked in HoT Mastery. 

https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Springer

As for HoT content, you will learn that every hostile NPCs have a certain pattern which again will make you less prone to die. When there is snipers (they usually mark on ground a straight line before shoting and there is a short delay before they shot), you can avoid to stand in that line and kill them with crowd control effect, blind (if you are condi based or have blind from skills, weapon or trait - weakness [from Body Blow trait] also work as reduced damage from hostile target]). Fighting invisible frogs can be easier when you have any kind of AoEs that doesn't need a target to be activated. Later you will be able to unlock a Mastery which make them more visible, but until then just learn where they will be visible again and you should have less problem with their attacks.

As for condi cleanse I would recommend to use Sigil of Cleansing, but for get that you need to have at least one crafter in any disipline that can craft weapon (Weaponsmith, Huntsman and Artificer) as all of these can learn Recipes for crafting Sigils that can be upgrades on weapon. Right click on any weapon, gear or trinkets you have and pick which attribute that this piece of gear or weapon should have and you can see which slot you can add things. Most exotic gear will have an upgrade slot where you put your Sigil for weapon or Rune for Armour.  @Hannelore.8153  which made a post above this post also give you some good suggestion that I think is important for you to listen to be to stubborn about getting into hardcore Berserker (as in attribute; not the elite) all the way out for DPS . Condition based build have a bit easier task in HoT as you only need to keep condition on target and not be very careful when Defiance bar will be up, as DPS need to time windown when this is down to recive direct damage or Strike damage (power based) as it is being called now in this game. In HoT you don't any kind of NPC that can remove condition so they will die even when they are invisible or move around a lot (and you can't target them).

Here is a list of all attributes: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Attribute_combinations
Here is list of Rune: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Rune
Here is a list of Sigil: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Sigil

(Some Rune or Sigil can be bought on Black Lion Trade Post - BLTP for short and otehr you need to craft yourself or use tools to extract as those are accountbound; meaning you can not sell or buy those).

Independent of build there is basic things you can do. One is always make sure you have at least one stun break which make your break out of pull, push and even fear (have a red icon which means it is a condition that can be cleansed, but also act as a soft CC which means stun break will stop you from moving in opposite direction from target that gave you fear). Boons like Stability, Protection and Resolution will also help you from taking damage and loose control which is most common reason why player die in this content (HoT and later expansion/living world seasons). Don't forget that among conitions you have Blind, Weakness and Vulnerbility that also work the same way to increase your defense and to increase damage on target. I would recommend to read up on what each type of boon and condition does on GW2 wiki. Learn also how to take down Defiance bars and try find a balance being in melee range (melee weapon) and when to go in range (ranged weapon).

Those roots that spawn around camps use projectiles, which you can block if you use skills, traits that can block projectiles. Those are the most important to focus on while defending (many players only focus on the mobile larger adds and bosses) as those can be hard see during fights and hits you with poison. That is another reason why player that enter HoT for first time have some problems as they aren't used to have to check (use Tab target that can change targets to next target for fast rotation of close targets - use Call Target [keybind it] with Take Target to get back to main hostile your are fighting) if there is things that also need to be killed fast around add/mobs or bosses.

With only two monts unlocked (Raptor and Springer) and only base skills from Mastery (for time being on mounts) in doing som easier PoF events in PoF maps you shouldn't have too hard time to get enough PoF Mastery Insights (MI you will find those on map - you can enter other maps that you haven't still get access from story and collect easier MI to you have enough for unlocking those mounts skills/ability in Mastery Track) and Mastery Points to unlock those.

Then go back to continue HoT and you will see that your gear doesn't matter that much anymore as you can now move faster, have an extra HP from mount until you will dismount and can avoid or get to places that before you had mount would need to have updraft, mushroom or other HoT Mastery unlocked before.

You will also learn hostile enemies pattern for attacks and movement over time, so it will become less of a problem and with more understanding from reading up on what is boons and condition you will be able to manage those situation better.

If you discover that Warrior or its elite, Spellbreaker and Berserker) is not really your thing, then all that work on mounts and all mastery you have gained will still be useful as it is shared for all of your future characters on that account, so it is still something that are more useful then getting all exotic gear on your character as all exotic gear and weapons will be soul bound (locked to your character when you equip it). Ascended gears and Legendary are account bound meaning that you can move it to another character, but you will need to have a crafter that can craft on that level to craft ascended armour or weapon.

Don't forget that there are Karma vendors in Orr that also sell armour, but those armour and weapons can not be later salvaged (broken down to mats with Salvage Kits or extract upgrades from like Rune or Sigil).

Edited December 28, 2021 by ShadowCatz.8437

[Gibson.4036]

I’m puzzled by the idea that PoF is dead content. I regularly encounter people doing bounties even in non-daily zones. There are always people doing HPs. Augury Rock and Doppleganger have groups regularly. I saw people teaming up to do that event that leads into a mastery point in Elon Riverlands last night (the name escapes me).

There aren’t crowds gathering waiting to do massive metas, because the content in the desert is different, but there are plenty of players running around those zones.

[AliamRationem.5172]

3 hours ago, Macabre.3829 said:

I finished the game with a glass cannon Dragonhunter (guardian). As I mentioned before I made a thread a couple of weeks or so ago about constantly dying.
If you're running story, you should just go for power (or condition, depending on your playstyle) and vitality gear. It can be found really cheap. And build around solo survival. For story it's not a big deal how much damage you dish out, but it can be frustrating to constantly die.
With 11k hp, my guardian was getting 2 shot and all that within seconds. I did get help in game how to build a but tankier character and ditching berserker gear definitely helped.

Good advice (although condition builds change the conversation a bit!).  While you don't want to be too glassy for your own comfort level, skimping too much on damage can also lead to a frustrating experience.  This is especially true of story bosses which tend to be fairly gimmicky and have mechanics that punish you if you take too long either by introducing new mechanics (e.g. the construct spawn on Caudecus in season 3) or just repeating phases you don't want to repeat! 

This is why Marauder is a good choice for power builds as it gives you that extra health cushion without giving up all of your damage like you do with a set like Soldier.  Condition builds have it even better because they only need 1 or 2 stats for damage as opposed to 3.  This allows them to take sets like Trailblazer, Dire, even Celestial and still deal solid damage while also being very passively tanky.