Tips for the difficulty spike? Should I change class?

[JustAGayOrc.7628]

Hi everyone, I'm very new to the game and I was plodding along with the story/revenant just fine and then once I hit victory or death/living world s1 I feel like the game completely changed.

 

To give a quick overview of my journey so far.

I bought the game last year, all LW and expansions. Played a warrior but wasn't a fan and took a break.

 

Now I chose revenant and finished the base story and was able to get past Zhaitan. Was getting into revenant alot as it reminded me a bit of DH from wow. Then at 80, got full beserker gear, sigils, runes and accessories at exotic. I am dying multiple times n every LW chapter so after disconnecting many times on the final boss of each LW chapter and gettng to the beginning of Tower of Nightmares very frustrated, I went and unlocked most of the Vindicator spec. Abput 80points left to get but I am still strugling. Was originally running Sword/Sword and Staff on the core and on Vindicator running greatsword and sword/sword.

 

Is it normal to suck this bad? It's getting to the point where I might quit the game because it's just so frustrating for me to feel like I am making any sense of progression. I want to do the story in order and unlocking the HPs has made the story feel kind of disjointed already but I can get over that if I feel like it's worth it. I play solo and I really wanted to get away from WoW and FFXIV - gw2 for me has one of the best fantasy worlds Ive ever played so I really don't want to quit. I'm following a Power Vindicator build guide. When I played before I boosted a Guardian and Warrior but I feel kind of attatched to my rev, was this my mistake? I just feel like I have no one that can help me as I know no one that plays the game so I've come here for some insight. Do I just suck lol? Sorry if this post is a bit allover the place but I really don't know where to start.

 

Much love everyone <3

[Khisanth.2948]

What is your build? http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/ can be used to replicate and share the build.

1 hour ago, JustAGayOrc.7628 said:

I'm following a Power Vindicator build guide.

is it meant for solo?

in the most extreme cases there are builds that tosses aside all defenses including the heal skill to maximize damage

also make sure you are not running around with a partially unlocked elite spec

[AlCapwnd.7834]

3 hours ago, JustAGayOrc.7628 said:

Hi everyone, I'm very new to the game and I was plodding along with the story/revenant just fine and then once I hit victory or death/living world s1 I feel like the game completely changed.

 

To give a quick overview of my journey so far.

I bought the game last year, all LW and expansions. Played a warrior but wasn't a fan and took a break.

 

Now I chose revenant and finished the base story and was able to get past Zhaitan. Was getting into revenant alot as it reminded me a bit of DH from wow. Then at 80, got full beserker gear, sigils, runes and accessories at exotic. I am dying multiple times n every LW chapter so after disconnecting many times on the final boss of each LW chapter and gettng to the beginning of Tower of Nightmares very frustrated, I went and unlocked most of the Vindicator spec. Abput 80points left to get but I am still strugling. Was originally running Sword/Sword and Staff on the core and on Vindicator running greatsword and sword/sword.

 

Is it normal to suck this bad? It's getting to the point where I might quit the game because it's just so frustrating for me to feel like I am making any sense of progression. I want to do the story in order and unlocking the HPs has made the story feel kind of disjointed already but I can get over that if I feel like it's worth it. I play solo and I really wanted to get away from WoW and FFXIV - gw2 for me has one of the best fantasy worlds Ive ever played so I really don't want to quit. I'm following a Power Vindicator build guide. When I played before I boosted a Guardian and Warrior but I feel kind of attatched to my rev, was this my mistake? I just feel like I have no one that can help me as I know no one that plays the game so I've come here for some insight. Do I just suck lol? Sorry if this post is a bit allover the place but I really don't know where to start.

 

Much love everyone ❤️

Welcome! Id say your problem is your gear and build. If you are full zerker and scholar runes youre going to be very squishy. Idont play Rev a lot so i cant comment on the build. But it took me FOREVER to learn that runes and sigils were things in the game. Take a look at some builds on one of those GW2 build websites (just google GW2 open world build) for open world. Those builds generally give better sustain while alone. But save the zerker gear you have and use it in group content when you have support. 😃

[JustAGayOrc.7628]

9 hours ago, Khisanth.2948 said:

What is your build? http://en.gw2skills.net/editor/ can be used to replicate and share the build.

is it meant for solo?

in the most extreme cases there are builds that tosses aside all defenses including the heal skill to maximize damage

also make sure you are not running around with a partially unlocked elite spec

Hey, thanks for the reply! I tried setting up my build in the editor and I think this is right!

 

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmxAExzlZSMsTyjlSdMUijpSksSigJ7lasD-zRIUR4OLEuIhargKSBbHAA-e

 

Thank you for taking your time to let me know, I have been running scholar runes and need to get more for amulet/rings. Also realised I am not running any accessories xD That may be a problem lol

 

6 hours ago, AlCapwnd.7834 said:

Welcome! Id say your problem is your gear and build. If you are full zerker and scholar runes youre going to be very squishy. Idont play Rev a lot so i cant comment on the build. But it took me FOREVER to learn that runes and sigils were things in the game. Take a look at some builds on one of those GW2 build websites (just google GW2 open world build) for open world. Those builds generally give better sustain while alone. But save the zerker gear you have and use it in group content when you have support. 😃

 

Hey, also thank you for taking your time to reply. I think I may have made the mistakeat looking at instance builds thinking that included the story so I will kee having a pay around with those!

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

You shouldn't listen to players who tell you to play full Berserker as a new player. Alot of them are veterans who have played for many years and don't remember what being inexperienced is like.

 

(I presume you were told to use the build by someone, because if you found it on a website you were basically in the wrong section meant for high-level group content.)

 

Even experienced players can struggle to go full glass when alone since it leaves you without defense or healing. Those who do usually take active defenses (like block, blind, etc.), and boons like Protection, and aren't actually playing a full damage build but instead putting their defense into their build instead of gear.

 

You need something we call "sustain". This is what other games call tanking but in this game its just built into every class by default. Basically, you need to be able to to survive fights long enough for your heal skill to come off cooldown. In smaller fights like against trash enemies, this is just from having high damage and wiping them out beefore they can hit you, but against elites or champions you'll face prolonged fights in which you can't rely on simply wiping out the enemy quickly.

 

Once you can survive long enough for your heal skill #6 to come off cooldown, either through active defenses, or smaller heals, and so on, you become immortal and can solo any opponent, as every time you get close to death again you will just heal up to 60% health or more.

 

Absolutely do not run Scholar runes when solo, you lose the bonus when taking damage. This works better in group content, or classes like Necromancer who can hide their health bar.

 

Its generally recommended to take vitality over toughness, as it results in better builds and toughness is only really effective with healing power (which only works well for certain classes, like Elementalist). If you don't know how to gear, just go with Celestial and you'll be fine.

 

You need at minimum: Some defense (on gear or from boons), some healing, some crowd control for breakbars, a stunbreak and source of Stability. Ideally you will change these out depending on the encounter, but some soloing builds include them all at once.

 

There's builds for open-world and story that you can find on sites like Metabattle, also search YouTube for something like "revenant one build all game modes".

 

Save your Berserker gear in tab #2 for group content and run a metabuild in that content only where you usually have a healer supporting you, and for solo play when you get more experienced at the game and know all the enemies and their attacks and so on.

 

One more thing, in ranged-heavy fights like against Toxic Alliance or later on against enemies in Heart of Thorns and Path of Fire, hide behind objects. This will not only protect you from their ranged attacks, but will also make them all group up for easy pickings. This is called Line of Sight (LOS) and is also an essential tactic for clearing group content efficiently!

Edited May 17, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

The lack of trinkets is definitely an issue.  Some tips from a veteran revenant player. 

Vindicator is the most frail of the elite specializations, PVE-wise.  The other two have an immortality button and a button to disable an entire group.  But, since we're already at Vindicator, there's two things to note.  First, if you're running the greatsword, there's little reason to have sword/sword on the off-hand unless you're planning to benchmark a raid golem.  So, for off-hand choices you'll want the hammer for some ranged attacks, or you'll want a staff for some condition cleanses defiance bar breaking abilities.  Honestly I spend most of my time on the greatsword.  Second is to know what the skills do and how to do as much damage as possible in a short amount of time.  For a lone enemy, pre-casting Spear of Archemorus then dodging right into them is an excellent way to do a lot of damage very fast.  Against a group of enemies, you'll want to open with Scavenger Burst, then dodge, then follow up with Eternity's Requiem.

For the most part, going full Berserkers with Scholar runes is fine.  You'll have to learn your skills well, but it is more than possible to complete difficult content with that setup.  It is quicker and easier to change tactics and traits/legends than it is to buy new gear.  However, if you want to have an easier time against groups of enemies, there's one change you could make to become the Bunny Lord.  Equip the Superior Sigil of Stamina over the Sigil of Impact on the Greatsword.  This will cause your endurance bar to refill every time you kill an enemy, and since Death Drop does so much damage you'll frequently find yourself dodging non-stop into groups of enemies, with Eternity's Requiem thrown in for good measure here and there.  This constant dodging is the best way for Vindicator to stay alive against anything that isn't a big, singular boss.  

There's a couple of other solo-friendly notes to make on the build.  The one you listed is made for raids, and is made under the assumption that you'll have allies there to support you.  Since you're by yourself, it is worth it to look into the Battle Scar traits.  Particularly, Dance of Death when combined with Forerunner of Death will give you 10 stacks of Battle Scars per enemy each time you dodge (cap of 25).  That's 1.1k health per enemy, capping at nearly 3k healing when hitting 3 enemies at a time.  Those stacks of battle scars can get consumed pretty quickly with Eternity's Requiem or Vengeful Hammers.  Next, the trait Spirit Boon in the Invocation line is nigh useless by yourself.  While alone, you'll want to use Incensed Response to get a lot of might very quickly, or Rapid Flow a bit more self-healing and swiftness while running around.  Finally, Impossible Odds (Shiro) only works against one target, while Vengeful Hammers (Jalis) works against multiple.  As hinted at above, using Legendary Dwarf stance over Legendary Assassin stance will give you access to a wider toolbox, better self-healing, and also more AoE damage.  Shiro is used over Jalis in the raid build because raids are fought largely against a single target, but for general use Jalis has more broad applicability.

[EphemeralWallaby.7643]

I recall when Heart of Thorns expansion first released, the forums had frequent commentary and complaints largely revolving around how berzerk gear/builds were no longer working... where they had been the preferred stats for most PvE content.  People were finding themselves torn apart even by pocket raptors.  The expansion content began pushing players to think of their builds beyond the pure dps they were often relying on, as well as utilizing more dodging and positioning.

So, OP, what you're going though post-Zhaitan is annoying but normal... you don't suck.  Others have already given good suggestions about how to proceed, and since I infrequently play a Rev, I def don't have much better to offer.  But, I do have encouragement.  It should begin to come together for you now that you're exploring other options, and likely more smoothly than you might think. This is one of the best fantasy worlds I've played, too.  And, I think it's worth the effort.  

~EpWa

P.S. One of the things I most love doing in GW2 is experimenting with builds.  Don't be afraid to experiment (even if it's only trying someone's youtube build vid)... the most it will cost you is some time and a little gold... and the payoff even if an experiment doesn't work out is learning new things about how your profession works.

Edited May 17, 2023 by EphemeralWallaby.7643

[Gendalfs.7521]

Playing this game already a year and come to conclusion, that some classes are better open world, some are better pvp and some are better endgame instanced.

After Mech Power Rifle nerf I was trying other classes and played power herald a bit. For me it felt weak. In instances its probably great as providing quickness.

If you are new player and have not yet started to grind for specific gear, I would advise you try Necromancer minion build or Mechanist Power Rifle build (its worse than condi, but for thrash mobs its still ok) or Ranger going soulbeast as elite just for exploring world and story. Later on you can focus on game mechanics.

For me ranged classes have advantage of not staying in mobs aoes wich does alot of damage and having minion to tank for you is also invaluable.

As others say gear are important, but as new player you cant just buy everything of TP just like that 🙂

[Buran.3796]

17 hours ago, JustAGayOrc.7628 said:

Hi everyone, I'm very new to the game and I was plodding along with the story/revenant just fine and then once I hit victory or death/living world s1 I feel like the game completely changed.

 

Is it normal to suck this bad? It's getting to the point where I might quit the game because it's just so frustrating for me to feel like I am making any sense of progression. I want to do the story in order and unlocking the HPs has made the story feel kind of disjointed already but I can get over that if I feel like it's worth it.

 

   Hi.

   First of all, you're running a raid build designed to play in groups of 10 players with dedicated team support, but yoiu're  using it at solo in PvE while being new to the game, the enemies and the fights and the combat system in general. I'll say it clear: the build you're running is not great for PvE solo (albeit versed players could do ok with it).

   The good news, if you have been liking the overall gameplay of the Vindicaror, is that the spec has some of the tankiest solo PvE builds in the game (in both hybrid and power variants) and you can reverse your fate, just changing some traits and maybe changing some gear. Also, hybrid Herald is another extremely strong solo PvE spec, and hybrid Renegade is also good and allows to play at range. So don't worry about the class, Rev is mosnter at solo. You just have to adapt a bit.

   In general, in terms of tankiness at solo PvE celestial Vindicator > celestial Heralt > power Vindicator / celestial Renegade. For open world content supporting allies in meta events I would say that celestial Renegade works the best since you can provide perma alacrity, tons of cc, stability on demand and strong damage mitigation support.

   So: the problem with power Herald in solo PvE is the overall lack of cleave (area damage) since the swords only cleaves up to 3 targets; that's fine vs bosses but subpar vs large groups of mobs.  Vindicator is better since greatswords attacks hits up to 5 targets and good AoE damage boosters as Scavenger's Burst. But going full berserker while soloing is not that great, not only due lack of knownledge on combat is a problem, but also because those raid builds don't have any sustain.

   OW solo Power marauder Vindicator:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmzAExzlxQmMP6k1RpMOClRSqMCqkn1kfsF-zRZYiRNnHcQgzBFcIZKF6VEUhCQxHAB2D9JF4W0f0CqA-e

   This build reaches and maintains 25% stacks of might, perma fury, perma vigor and has high uptime  regeneration and quickness while having  100% crit chance, 200% crit damage and over 2800 base power. It cleanses conditions which each evade (and evades A LOT) and has plenty of mobility. I can solo 65% of the bounties with it (in the other 35% the bounties have too much cc/mobility to allow me to kill them in the 10 time cap, but I can still survive them forever while delivering plenty of damage.

   OW solo Hybrid celestial Vindicator:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmzAkeFlhQmsI6kJRpMIClBSqMBqkjyzasF-zxIY1o7vQyMV7Ni6oI8+AEufNgYaDUB-e

    Here the gameplay is different, since this build moves slower (runes of tormenting instead of fireworks, Mallyx instead of Shiro, mace + axe instead of swords) and the largest part of the damage comes from pulsating Embrace the Darkness and camping on mace. But while on paper the dps could look slighly worse (at least vs weak foes) against thogh champions and bounties is much stronger: the sustain has no equal, since on top of the damage mitigation and regeneration of the power variant now we have extra regen every time we proc torment, and we do constantly, and we do damage even when got cced. I can solo 95% of bounties with this build, and the exceptions are things as the rabbit in Desert Highland, which spents most of the time running away from us.

   OW solo (and meta events) celestial Renegade:

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?PmgAUZlxQHsOqhxROMP6hRSfMCKgj2z6DH-zxIY1oi/UyUI0rIoDJQIKAFfCCXP8We0sCA-e

   I use this one for things as Palawadan, Drakkar, Dragonstorm...  Is good for solo but not as tanky or powerful as the Vindicator builds, but allows to fight at range and provides permanent alacrity to your squad, plus has a lot off cc, team stability on demand and good group damage mitigation. There's condi variants which does more damage, but when I run this my goal is stack up to 30s alacrity, cast stability and damage mitigation when is needed and revive allies if they fall in downstate, so in Palawadan runs I camp Jalis and only use Shiro to teleport to champions before they die (in good groups they will melt in seconds, so you barely have time to gather the chest rewards).

[Ashantara.8731]

19 hours ago, JustAGayOrc.7628 said:

Is it normal to suck this bad?

Yes. As @SoftFootpaws.9134 explained correctly, there are combat mechanics that you must learn first and master before going into full DPS gear. Once movement and using the terrain to your advantage has become second nature to you and you have become well acquainted with your profession/elite spec, you will have no trouble surving on Berserker's.

I remember dying a lot during my first year in GW2 to content whose difficulty level I consider laughable nowadays.😉

[Harfang.1507]

The closest to a main I have is a vindicator. Most of the useful comments have been made: glass cannon works best with highly skilled and experienced players. Until you get there, mix in gear that enhance survivability, e.g., marauder's. As for whether revenant is a bad choice . . . The good choice is whatever you feel most comfortable with. I learned the game through an elementalist and I do not regret it. You like playing revenant? Go for it. It is the last profession I tried and now it is my #1.

Going past the base game is well known for sharply increasing the needed skill level. The worst is arguably heading into the HoT expansion. After many years I still often struggle going through story instances the first time, but it becomes much more manageable after that first, painful run-through.

An additional challenge you may face is how they remaster LW S1, especially the Tower of Nightmares. That thing is designed for a zerg and poorly so. Since its novelty has worn off, it is probably harder to get into one. I have not been back there in months and hope to be wrong. If I am not, well, patience and you'll eventually get it.

GL. It will get better.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

5 hours ago, Harfang.1507 said:

The closest to a main I have is a vindicator. Most of the useful comments have been made: glass cannon works best with highly skilled and experienced players. Until you get there, mix in gear that enhance survivability, e.g., marauder's. As for whether revenant is a bad choice . . . The good choice is whatever you feel most comfortable with. I learned the game through an elementalist and I do not regret it. You like playing revenant? Go for it. It is the last profession I tried and now it is my #1.

Going past the base game is well known for sharply increasing the needed skill level. The worst is arguably heading into the HoT expansion. After many years I still often struggle going through story instances the first time, but it becomes much more manageable after that first, painful run-through.

An additional challenge you may face is how they remaster LW S1, especially the Tower of Nightmares. That thing is designed for a zerg and poorly so. Since its novelty has worn off, it is probably harder to get into one. I have not been back there in months and hope to be wrong. If I am not, well, patience and you'll eventually get it.

GL. It will get better.

I'd just like to note, Tower of Nightmares is completable by a party of five in private squad mode. You just need a standard composition with a healer to keep everyone alive.

Edited May 18, 2023 by SoftFootpaws.9134