Level 80 - dying in main story

[Swither.3541]

I have recently come back to GW2 and am having a blast after over 10 years away.

 

I am at the final chapter of the main story in Orr and I have noticed that I keep dying regardless of character.

I have a lvl 80 elementalist - condition build, lvl 80 warrior - berserker build.

Is the last chapter higher difficulty overall ?  Am I rushing things and should I complete the zone before progressing the story?

My gear is okay, not exception, but what is generally advised for the builds in terms of perks etc - nowhere near crafting top gear, but have exotic I bought or found.

 

I recently started a revenant incase it is the solo bit that is my downfall, as they seem to have some better survivability.

I am dreading the expansions as they are known to be harder!

 

Any advice please about the content difficulty?

 

[Dayra.7405]

1 hour ago, Swither.3541 said:

I am at the final chapter of the main story in Orr and I have noticed that I keep dying regardless of character.

You mean Victory or Death? Hm, I remember it more as the most boring part of the story, not as a challenging one.

1 hour ago, Swither.3541 said:

I have a lvl 80 elementalist - condition build, lvl 80 warrior - berserker build.

Ele with a pure offensive build is always a bit shaky, you need to actively play defense to stay alive, that could be the reason. Not an easy class to play for a (re-)beginner.

lvl 80 warrior - berserker build, again a pure offensive build, pure offensive builds are always a bit kamikaze: kill fast or die fast 🙂. Till you know what your doing (or play in groups) more defensive gear usually helps to forgive mistakes, or give you more time to react to threads. Ele for instance plays well in celestial gear and a marauder (pure power) or celestial warrior (mix of power and condie) is much harder to kill than in berserker gear

Also outdated equipment: not lvl 80, not exo, no (good) jewelery, not fitting runes, not fitting sigils, could be a reason

Maybe you missed something else very important, but as you missed it, it's also not guessable from your post. 🙂

If you see me online, you can ask me to join you, maybe I can see what you missed 🙂

Edited March 7, 2023 by Dayra.7405

[Danikat.8537]

This is not a game where you can simply out-level or out-gear content (even in the story). Understanding how your build works and how to play it effectively will make far more of a difference than what specifically you have equipped (although having a good build and gear with relevant attributes will help too).

So while completing maps, either in Orr or elsewhere won't make your character any stronger it might be useful for you to take some time to familiarise yourself with the build you've chosen and how to use it effectively before attempting the story again.

There's also a few bits in Victory or Death where you have to use special mechanics to beat a boss. For example there's some where you have to shoot a canon at flying enemies and use a shield to reflect their attacks, and a mini-boss where you have to pick up the meteorites he spits out and throw them at him while he's inhaling before you can damage him. If you seem to be doing literally no damage against an enemy you're probably at one of those phases and need to either check what the NPCs are telling you to do or use a guide to look it up.
 

1 hour ago, Swither.3541 said:

My gear is okay, not exception, but what is generally advised for the builds in terms of perks etc - nowhere near crafting top gear, but have exotic I bought or found.

I wanted to call this point out specifically as this is one of the ways GW2 is different from other games. There's no variation within tiers of equipment in this game. All level 80 exotics have equally good attributes (stats), it doesn't matter where they came from. It's the same for other tiers (ascended/legendary is the only one above exotic). The only things which determine how strong an item is are the level requirement and rarity tier.

However what does make a huge difference is having the right attributes for your build. You'd actually be better off with lower quality equipment with the right stats than higher quality with the wrong ones because, for example, if you're stacking up condition damage but using a power build with no damaging conditions you might as well not have those attribute points because they're doing nothing.

Build guides will recommend attribute combinations to use, or if you tell us what builds you're using we can recommend ones. Guides will probably give a name like 'beserkers' or 'vipers' and won't specify where to get it because there's lots of options for each set. Most exotic combinations are tradable, or you can use this Wiki page to find them: https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Equipment_acquisition_by_stats

[Swither.3541]

Thanks for the replies.

Seems I missed some useful information out.

For the ele I am using gear with celestial for a bit of survivability with the drop in dps.  It is a condition build.

For warrior I'm using berzerker gear - davonia set with some celestial and power I think.

The instanced parts are okay to do generally (Mainly because of the npcs distracting mobs) but if I bump into a veteran or a group of mobs I sometimes get killed a bit too quickly, despite using for ele the defensive spells and with warrior my defence gets ripped apart.

I also should have mentioned that I levelled ele from scratch when I came back - so I am familiar enough with the build.

Warrior - fair enough perhaps I am just too kamikaze and not paying enough attention to the broadcast attacks thinking about it.

It sounds like I just need to improve my gear and playstyle for both if the difficulty does not ramp up late in the storyline then.

Edited March 7, 2023 by Swither.3541

[Ashantara.8731]

29 minutes ago, Swither.3541 said:

Thanks for the replies.

The most important thing Danilkat mentioned are the encounter mechanics. If you don't familiarize yourself with them, you will have a hard time during certain story mission boss encounters.

[Nomad.5204]

Here's a simple warrior build that will provide a lot of healing each time you crit or give youself might.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PKwAEdflJwuYYMPWJOWTuLPA-zRIYRUxHCqDAA-e

 

You can swap out the offhand axe for a shield if you find you need more defense.

 

As you get more confident and comfortable you'll be able to swap up the utility skills to more damage focused ones.

I'd suggest picking up a full set of Devona's gear from the market board as it is a very cheap low cost exotic set that comes with strength runes.

 

This build should be enough to solo most things as a core warrior.

[Nabbut.7480]

To take less damage on any profession you need to make use of kiting and control.

As a warrior you should use Physical skills to disable enemy and not be ashamed to use a ranged weapon.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

15 hours ago, Swither.3541 said:

Thanks for the replies.

Seems I missed some useful information out.

For the ele I am using gear with celestial for a bit of survivability with the drop in dps.  It is a condition build.

For warrior I'm using berzerker gear - davonia set with some celestial and power I think.

The instanced parts are okay to do generally (Mainly because of the npcs distracting mobs) but if I bump into a veteran or a group of mobs I sometimes get killed a bit too quickly, despite using for ele the defensive spells and with warrior my defence gets ripped apart.

I also should have mentioned that I levelled ele from scratch when I came back - so I am familiar enough with the build.

Warrior - fair enough perhaps I am just too kamikaze and not paying enough attention to the broadcast attacks thinking about it.

It sounds like I just need to improve my gear and playstyle for both if the difficulty does not ramp up late in the storyline then.

If you're running Celestial gear then you don't run a condition build, you run a hybrid power/condi build, or you're losing half your damage and that's likely why you're struggling on Ele.

 

You also need to be running runes, sigils, food and traits that all synergise. For example, are you using the Dragon's Revelry Starcake, or your personal birthday cake? Are you running a Superior Sigil of Stars? Are your runes geared towards a Celestial build (Leadership, Tempest, Traveller, etc.)?

 

Elementalist is very squishy even on Celestial gear, it just barely makes them have about the same amount of survivability as other professions like Warrior in full glass. Another thing is that Ele is also extremely dependant on healing for tanking, not toughness or vitality, so you need to be taking skills to heal yourself. Make sure you're leaping and blasting your own water fields, most of all.

 

Make sure you also aren't running an incomplete elite specialisation! Just stick to core traitlines. I would also avoid staff, as its more of a support weapon and does mediocre damage, you'll probably want to run dagger/dagger for melee or sceptor/focus for range.

 

Most importantly, I repeat: Llearn your combo fields. Ele is dependant on them!

Edited March 8, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Luthan.5236]

Definitely possible (since balaneced for this) with all the core professions (no elite needed). Some might die easier cause they are squishy and meant to be harder to play if you want to play optimized. (Thiefe and elementalist are most annoying I think. Pet classes pretty easy.)

I would not go for condition. Better power. Warrior with the higher health pool and armor has an advantage. Though it is melee mostly. (Has ranged weapons as well though.) The elementalist is harder to play.

Get at least yellow (rare) gear for everything. Maybe some exotic pieces from map completion or story rewards. (Slowly upgrading later to at least full exotic.) And make sure it fits the build.

Kill normal trash mobs quickly so only the vet is left. 1-2 vets should not be a huge problem. You also can use CC to prevent them from attacking for a second. I think the most annoying in Orr are those huge ones that also CC you. Need to just be careful. Dodge/kite maybe.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Luthan.5236

[Swither.3541]

7 hours ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

If you're running Celestial gear then you don't run a condition build, you run a hybrid power/condi build, or you're losing half your damage and that's likely why you're struggling on Ele.

 

You also need to be running runes, sigils, food and traits that all synergise. For example, are you using the Dragon's Revelry Starcake, or your personal birthday cake? Are you running a Superior Sigil of Stars? Are your runes geared towards a Celestial build (Leadership, Tempest, Traveller, etc.)?

 

Elementalist is very squishy even on Celestial gear, it just barely makes them have about the same amount of survivability as other professions like Warrior in full glass. Another thing is that Ele is also extremely dependant on healing for tanking, not toughness or vitality, so you need to be taking skills to heal yourself. Make sure you're leaping and blasting your own water fields, most of all.

 

Make sure you also aren't running an incomplete elite specialisation! Just stick to core traitlines. I would also avoid staff, as its more of a support weapon and does mediocre damage, you'll probably want to run dagger/dagger for melee or sceptor/focus for range.

 

Most importantly, I repeat: Llearn your combo fields. Ele is dependant on them!

Now I am confused with the elementalist build 

I have been following from several build sites and wooden potatoes video the condition ele build (tempest) and most suggested celestial is helpful for solo as it has all round stats?

Agreed vipers is the end game gear, but I can barely afford to buy a few bits of celestial as it is.

I leap and dodge all over the place, it isn't that as an issue.

My gear was lower level than I realised so I have upgraded on the ele what I can afford so have seen a much better play now.

Thanks again for help.

Edited March 8, 2023 by Swither.3541
Added in Tempest

[Linken.6345]

2 hours ago, Swither.3541 said:

Now I am confused with the elementalist build 

I have been following from several build sites and wooden potatoes video the condition ele build (tempest) and most suggested celestial is helpful for solo as it has all round stats?

Agreed vipers is the end game gear, but I can barely afford to buy a few bits of celestial as it is.

I leap and dodge all over the place, it isn't that as an issue.

My gear was lower level than I realised so I have upgraded on the ele what I can afford so have seen a much better play now.

Thanks again for help.

if you have heart of thorns try the bladed/leystone armor since it is stat selectable.

[chronometria.3708]

I can understand the elementalist going to downstate pretty much all the time - but as a warrior, you should be tearing up the story enemies - even in terrible gear. Get yourself some food that lifesteals or heals on crit and hit things over and over with a greatsword, that should take care of pretty much anything in the basic storyline.

 

The only time you should take a real beating is when you start the heart of thorns content - thats a notable improvement in enemy damage and abilities that really forces you to improve your playstyle. So, if there are issues, you are wise to sort them out now rather than get de-spirited later. Go into the jungle at your best!

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

4 hours ago, Swither.3541 said:

Now I am confused with the elementalist build 

I have been following from several build sites and wooden potatoes video the condition ele build (tempest) and most suggested celestial is helpful for solo as it has all round stats?

Agreed vipers is the end game gear, but I can barely afford to buy a few bits of celestial as it is.

I leap and dodge all over the place, it isn't that as an issue.

My gear was lower level than I realised so I have upgraded on the ele what I can afford so have seen a much better play now.

Thanks again for help.

Celestial isn't a condition damage set, its an everything set, so if you're not doing everything then you're wasting stats. Just taking it for the defense is unnecessary as something like Dire (or even an Apothecary/Settler/Shaman mix) will do a better job of it on a condition damage build.

 

Grieving and Viper gear are played the same way as Celestial, they just has no defense which is what makes them end-game gear. I think that's the source of your confusion?

Edited March 8, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Randulf.7614]

The game ramps up greatly in difficulty in heart of thorns. Arah story mode generally isn’t a gear related issue, it’s mostly ensuring you either know your skills or know how to mitigate damage and dodge.

Just out of curiosity, you did pick the solo version of the instance? There’s a 5 player version as well which you may have selected in error?

Edited March 13, 2023 by Randulf.7614
Last sentence incorrect

[Swither.3541]

2 hours ago, chronometria.3708 said:

I can understand the elementalist going to downstate pretty much all the time - but as a warrior, you should be tearing up the story enemies - even in terrible gear. Get yourself some food that lifesteals or heals on crit and hit things over and over with a greatsword, that should take care of pretty much anything in the basic storyline.

 

 

Yeah again after reading the help here, I checked my warrior gear and it was lower than I thought it was.

However in storymode taking on the mouth of zaitan (not the big final mouth) in the instance is sheer hell solo.

Wiped it in secs with the elementalist.  I think I don't dodge enough as a warrior as the skills lock you in place at times smacking mobs with your axea or GS.

 

Thanks for the suggestions.

[Swither.3541]

1 hour ago, SoftFootpaws.9134 said:

Celestial isn't a condition damage set, its an everything set, so if you're not doing everything then you're wasting stats. Just taking it for the defense is unnecessary as something like Dire (or even an Apothecary/Settler/Shaman mix) will do a better job of it on a condition damage build.

 

Grieving and Viper gear are played the same way as Celestial, they just has no defense which is what makes them end-game gear. I think that's the source of your confusion?

Ahh I think I have misunderstood the build.

Funnily enough I kited the ele out with dire gear last night, but have yet to test it.  Aiming for a condi tempest build so hopefully it works better.

[Cuks.8241]

Its quite normal for a new player to die from time to time. Veterans tend to forget that.  Its a lot about mechanics. 

When you come back after you develop some muscle memory youll just plow through these enemies. 

Neither elementalist or warrior are easy mode compared to some classes. Both can have great solo builds though. 

Btw how are you dodging? Double tap? If yes,  stop now and bind a separate key. 

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

1 hour ago, Swither.3541 said:

Ahh I think I have misunderstood the build.

Funnily enough I kited the ele out with dire gear last night, but have yet to test it.  Aiming for a condi tempest build so hopefully it works better.

This will work very well if you want to solo, and mostly just play the story. Keep in mind however that if you ever step into group content, you'll be expected to give Alacrity on Tempest, even on a DPS build.

 

Catalyst is Quickness, and Weaver is the pure DPS.

 

I recommend starting on low Fractals (search LFG for T1 daily) as soon as you can, and work your way up with them, as it'll radically improve your skill level and your ability to handle the story mode. Living World Season 1 has a steep jump in difficulty, and it then jumps again in Heart of Thorns (even open-world) before becoming relatively constant from Path of Fire and onwards before easing off a bit in End of Dragons.

Edited March 8, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Fakie Five.3064]

I die pretty often in open world and story quests. If that helps you feel any better LOL. New player here, i found i can live on necro better than my guardian. I think it's most likely being more range and having a pet allows me to see more of what's going on than in melee.

[Gibson.4036]

On 3/8/2023 at 8:01 PM, Fakie Five.3064 said:

I die pretty often in open world and story quests. If that helps you feel any better LOL. New player here, i found i can live on necro better than my guardian. I think it's most likely being more range and having a pet allows me to see more of what's going on than in melee.

Being able to go range does help a lot, especially when ArenaNet goes crazy with the AoE spam and it’s all about where to stand.

Guardian is a bit of a new player trap. It looks like a tanky paladin from other games, and starts really strong in early levels. Later, though, it relies on actively managing defenses.

Edited March 10, 2023 by Gibson.4036

[stormemperor.3745]

Weaver is kinda offensive defense, you keep attacking, running, using barrier to mitigate damage and heal while using skills. Elementalist in general very squishy unless built for specific content. Cele is okay but traiblazer much more efficient in ow. Use undead runes and you are good. High toughness and base heal from signet sufficient. Condi duration sigils if necessary

[Vayne.8563]

On 3/9/2023 at 5:00 AM, Randulf.7614 said:

The game ramps up greatly in difficulty in heart of thorns. Arah story mode generally isn’t a gear related issue, it’s mostly ensuring you either know your skills or know how to mitigate damage and dodge.

Just out of curiosity, you did pick the solo version of the instance? There’s a 5 player version as well which you may have selected in error?

There is no five player version of that instance. There is a five player explorable dungeon that's nothing like that instance, but the five player version of Victory or Death was completely replaced by the current solo story. There is no way to play the five person version.

 

[Randulf.7614]

Shows how long it’s been since I went to Arah then, could have sworn they kept both. I’ll edit accordingly

[Xperiment.6923]

Started back in 2013. Took a 10 year hiatus. I'm back since December and just now starting to figure out how to spec a build. I was in the same boat on my warrior. Few dumb things I did at 80, I spec'd berserker while I was still filling up my hero points, I also bought the cheapest exotic gear with condi/burning cause I was so happy to try a torch! Died a bunch! Went to HoT and wanted to cry! I whined in map chat and got some advice. Some good soul even made me jeweler and mailed me! Eventually I figured stuff out enough to not always die. I'm basically a poorly played gunzerker now, but gunflaming vets for 10k - 15k and getting my hp up to 25k kills them quicker then me to stay alive.

[Gendalfs.7521]

HoT enemies are the hardest, specifically those snipers that leave that burning thing on the ground. If you miss and stay on those marks, its like 3 hit death in like 2 secs.

No gear will save you. Just pay attention.

My first toon to complete those maps were Necro minionmancer so I guess, class matters more.