Hearts and Minds: What were you thinking?

[Sinistral.5309]

I don't know what happened, but i was sat thinking "maybe it's a bug? kind of odd for damage to suddenly go to zero like that", so gave it one more shot with the intention of taking screenshots and possible filing a bug report etc, however i was on necro, so his first breakbar inevitably broke quite quickly, second was same deal, impossible to break, but carried on anyway with a measly 500dps or so. Now something weird happened, it got to the 25% phase where canach drops his shield, and the boss half-bugged out, his breakbar went invuln, and this time time he still took damage (albeit the same ~90% reduction)....i thought oh well...maybe this is finally it? Sure enough, 3 hours later he dropped!

Luck maybe? I dunno, i needn't have bothered though, i was NOT expecting mordremoth to hit so stupidly hard as he does, (and rytlock, marjory etc hit even friggin harder). rapid fire auto-attacks that deal insane damage, and im not talking about his telegraphed stuff either, im talking about the swipes he does in-between...so not possible to avoid those as he just turns on the spot, gear starting to get seriously broken so i thought ok, viper gear back on and back to condi, kite his ass....Yeah....nope. That stupid ring of whatever-the-hell-it-is all but makes it impossible to stay at any range, wouldn't be so bad, except it casts right on top of you and immediately knockdown/knockback locks you to death.

At that point, 3 pieces of gear in the red (completely broken) and a yellow message telling me the game is gonna restart in an hour....Yeah, Alt+F4.

@Cuks.8241 said:Firsy time with my full zerk berzerker warrior in exotics. Didnt even find it difficult. Didnt think much of it.The second time it was much harder with glass weaver, was kinda surprised. But I went with Eir. I think her version is hardest.SB ranger, easy.

Dunno if you're replying to OP or me, but I'm talking about Challenge Mode, so i seriously doubt that :)

@"Vayne.8563" said:If you're still having trouble and you're on a US server, I can take you through it, and show you how to get past certain bosses. It won't even take as long as you think. Just message me in game.I'm pretty much done with the game at this point, if it isnt the multitude of bugs, and unnecessary nerfs, its unpassable stuff like this that can't even be overcome with any skill level/time investment, oh and the blatant "abandonment" of old content has a rather large hand too, but thats off-topic.

Been playing for about a month + half i think, and not even past Bloodstone Fen (because i grew to hate necro, so rolled a new class, then another, then another...)Hell, i was kind of gonna leave the achievement alone and just classify as "will never get", but then i saw the price of the LWS3 accessories....

[Rasimir.6239]

@"Sinistral.5309" said:Been playing for about a month + half i think, and not even past Bloodstone Fen (because i grew to hate necro, so rolled a new class, then another, then another...)Hell, i was kind of gonna leave the achievement alone and just classify as "will never get", but then i saw the price of the LWS3 accessories....There are things in this game not balanced around solo play, but rather around parties. Challenge modes in story instances often are among them, and Migraine definitely is. If you have easily gotten through Hearts and Minds normal mode you are definitely among the better players out there, as many can't even do that, but don't trash the game because there is one achievement that can be done solo only by the very best of the best and most experienced players in game.

That said, a month and a half is really not far into the game. There is a lot more to it than just playing story, and if you play around on the living story season maps you'll quickly find enough currency for getting ascended jewellery there. It is not however even necessary, especially if you don't intend to play group content like fractals and raids. Exotic jewellery is close and can be crafted by a jeweller or gotten for gold on the trading post. For (most) open world and story rare or even masterwork jewellery of the matching stat set will probably serve you just as well.

The thing about this game's equipment system is that the difference in stats between the different rarity tiers isn't what will make or break your gameplay. Your personal experience with your class and the combat system, ability to adjust build, weapons, utility skills to suit your needs (and do that frequently and on the go if you come upon something your character isn't well suited to tackle), the ability to react to different mechanics, knowing when to dodge or use your defensive skills ... all of that is often more important and will separate the good players from the decent ones much more than the equipment they wear. If you can't get that one amulet there are others around that will be much cheaper and easier to get, and you probably won't notice a difference in your performance if you go for the easier alternative.

[Vayne.8563]

@"Sinistral.5309" said:I don't know what happened, but i was sat thinking "maybe it's a bug? kind of odd for damage to suddenly go to zero like that", so gave it one more shot with the intention of taking screenshots and possible filing a bug report etc, however i was on necro, so his first breakbar inevitably broke quite quickly, second was same deal, impossible to break, but carried on anyway with a measly 500dps or so. Now something weird happened, it got to the 25% phase where canach drops his shield, and the boss half-bugged out, his breakbar went invuln, and this time time he still took damage (albeit the same ~90% reduction)....i thought oh well...maybe this is finally it? Sure enough, 3 hours later he dropped!

Luck maybe? I dunno, i needn't have bothered though, i was NOT expecting mordremoth to hit so stupidly hard as he does, (and rytlock, marjory etc hit even friggin harder). rapid fire auto-attacks that deal insane damage, and im not talking about his telegraphed stuff either, im talking about the swipes he does in-between...so not possible to avoid those as he just turns on the spot, gear starting to get seriously broken so i thought ok, viper gear back on and back to condi, kite his kitten....Yeah....nope. That stupid ring of whatever-the-hell-it-is all but makes it impossible to stay at any range, wouldn't be so bad, except it casts right on top of you and immediately knockdown/knockback locks you to death.

At that point, 3 pieces of gear in the red (completely broken) and a yellow message telling me the game is gonna restart in an hour....Yeah, Alt+F4.

@Cuks.8241 said:Firsy time with my full zerk berzerker warrior in exotics. Didnt even find it difficult. Didnt think much of it.The second time it was much harder with glass weaver, was kinda surprised. But I went with Eir. I think her version is hardest.SB ranger, easy.

Dunno if you're replying to OP or me, but I'm talking about Challenge Mode, so i seriously doubt that :)

@"Vayne.8563" said:If you're still having trouble and you're on a US server, I can take you through it, and show you how to get past certain bosses. It won't even take as long as you think. Just message me in game.I'm pretty much done with the game at this point, if it isnt the multitude of bugs, and unnecessary nerfs, its unpassable stuff like this that can't even be overcome with any skill level/time investment, oh and the blatant "abandonment" of old content has a rather large hand too, but thats off-topic.

Been playing for about a month + half i think, and not even past Bloodstone Fen (because i grew to hate necro, so rolled a new class, then another, then another...)Hell, i was kind of gonna leave the achievement alone and just classify as "will never get", but then i saw the price of the LWS3 accessories....

@"Sinistral.5309" said:I don't know what happened, but i was sat thinking "maybe it's a bug? kind of odd for damage to suddenly go to zero like that", so gave it one more shot with the intention of taking screenshots and possible filing a bug report etc, however i was on necro, so his first breakbar inevitably broke quite quickly, second was same deal, impossible to break, but carried on anyway with a measly 500dps or so. Now something weird happened, it got to the 25% phase where canach drops his shield, and the boss half-bugged out, his breakbar went invuln, and this time time he still took damage (albeit the same ~90% reduction)....i thought oh well...maybe this is finally it? Sure enough, 3 hours later he dropped!

Luck maybe? I dunno, i needn't have bothered though, i was NOT expecting mordremoth to hit so stupidly hard as he does, (and rytlock, marjory etc hit even friggin harder). rapid fire auto-attacks that deal insane damage, and im not talking about his telegraphed stuff either, im talking about the swipes he does in-between...so not possible to avoid those as he just turns on the spot, gear starting to get seriously broken so i thought ok, viper gear back on and back to condi, kite his kitten....Yeah....nope. That stupid ring of whatever-the-hell-it-is all but makes it impossible to stay at any range, wouldn't be so bad, except it casts right on top of you and immediately knockdown/knockback locks you to death.

At that point, 3 pieces of gear in the red (completely broken) and a yellow message telling me the game is gonna restart in an hour....Yeah, Alt+F4.

@Cuks.8241 said:Firsy time with my full zerk berzerker warrior in exotics. Didnt even find it difficult. Didnt think much of it.The second time it was much harder with glass weaver, was kinda surprised. But I went with Eir. I think her version is hardest.SB ranger, easy.

Dunno if you're replying to OP or me, but I'm talking about Challenge Mode, so i seriously doubt that :)

@"Vayne.8563" said:If you're still having trouble and you're on a US server, I can take you through it, and show you how to get past certain bosses. It won't even take as long as you think. Just message me in game.I'm pretty much done with the game at this point, if it isnt the multitude of bugs, and unnecessary nerfs, its unpassable stuff like this that can't even be overcome with any skill level/time investment, oh and the blatant "abandonment" of old content has a rather large hand too, but thats off-topic.

Been playing for about a month + half i think, and not even past Bloodstone Fen (because i grew to hate necro, so rolled a new class, then another, then another...)Hell, i was kind of gonna leave the achievement alone and just classify as "will never get", but then i saw the price of the LWS3 accessories....

Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

[Sinistral.5309]

@"Vayne.8563" said:Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

I wasn't going to reply, but seeing as my last post was made in absolute frustration/anger, i felt i probably should.I didn't mean to be rude or anything and outright dismiss your offer, but people seem to keep on the same thought-train here, "its not that hard" etc etc, tell me, has anyone even tried soloing challenge mode lately? Looking at the video cyninja posted, and others, it's obvious something changed (and by changed, i mean got completely broken), intentional or not.

I am however a little confused, what is there for me to "not understand"? I can do the mechanics fine, hell, i can even stay alive while doing them, but let me clarify:First, this is challenge mode, NOT the regular story instance, which is fine.

Blighted Canach: Bugs out and becomes undamageable at the next phase-shift if you ignore his breakbar (Specifically ignoring the first one).

Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank that (except maybe engi, seeing as they can throw nades behind/to the side of them and not have to strafe), but anyway, just nitpicking i suppose, would be doable eventually if it weren't for the horrid gear-breakage mechanic, since all stats come from gear, it's like every time you make a mistake/die, you're punished by being made even weaker, and since it's free to repair, why even leave the mechanic in anymore? It's pointless, and incredibly silly considering there is no way to repair in-the-field unless you were lucky enough to grab a permanent repair thing, which i see isn't even available anymore, gg on that btw.

Anyhow, my point is NOT that this should be balanced around possibly being soloed, not at all (although arguments could be made for it being story-related etc etc), but it should absolutely be possible given enough time/effort, and as it currently stands, due to the above reasons, it is not.

[Astralporing.1957]

@Sinistral.5309 said:I got lost half way down the first page with all the derailments, but is most of this thread about challenge mode? Because if it is, i think something gotta be done about canach, i mean, normal mode is easy as hell, but this?

To explain: in his 2nd immunity phase at 50%, his breakbar is like 5x the size from 1st stage, instantly refills back to full the second you stop CC, and is IMPOSSIBLE to break solo.Challenge mode is scaled with the assumption there are 5 players in the instance. So, yeah, it's possible you might need more than one person to break the bar (although as far as i can remember, some classes can do it solo). Or you can just power through it. I do remember just facetanking it on my power dh once. It seemed ridiculously easy (if boring) if you managed to corner him somewhere where you could stay within his hitbox indefinitely (the main damage comes only at range).

@Sinistral.5309 said:Also im pretty sure that video is before all the nerfs (2015), as 5k bleed ticks through all his damage reduction? Not gonna happen.I'm pretty sure the damage reduction doesn't apply to condi. Unless they've changed it within last year or so.

@Sinistral.5309 said:Well the plot thickens, took some advice from the video and just powered through ignoring his breakbar, but guess what, now he takes 0 damage from everything after his 50% phase, for some reason (Yes, i mean literally, all damage numbers are '0'), ANet's idea of a bad joke? probably.Just wait, it's a quite long phase transition, and at some point the immunity should disappear even if you don't break his bar.

@Sinistral.5309 said:Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank thatYou don't. You dodge/sidestep his conal attack. You don't stand on the sparkling rainbow path. You don't stand in the while swirly zone. You don't shoot through the white swirly zone. Facetanking is generally a bad idea. Damage's still high, though (especially in later phases). There's a reason why this instance's difficulty level gets way down when you include a healer in your team (something i greatly advise people trying this achi should do).

[Vayne.8563]

@Sinistral.5309 said:

@"Vayne.8563" said:Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

I wasn't going to reply, but seeing as my last post was made in absolute frustration/anger, i felt i probably should.I didn't mean to be rude or anything and outright dismiss your offer, but people seem to keep on the same thought-train here, "its not that hard" etc etc, tell me, has anyone even tried soloing challenge mode lately? Looking at the video cyninja posted, and others, it's obvious something changed (and by changed, i mean got completely broken), intentional or not.

I am however a little confused, what is there for me to "not understand"? I can do the mechanics fine, hell, i can even stay alive while doing them, but let me clarify:First, this is challenge mode, NOT the regular story instance, which is fine.

Blighted Canach: Bugs out and becomes undamageable at the next phase-shift if you ignore his breakbar (Specifically ignoring the first one).

Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank that (except maybe engi, seeing as they can throw nades behind/to the side of them and not have to strafe), but anyway, just nitpicking i suppose, would be doable eventually if it weren't for the horrid gear-breakage mechanic, since all stats come from gear, it's like every time you make a mistake/die, you're punished by being made even weaker, and since it's free to repair, why even leave the mechanic in anymore? It's pointless, and incredibly silly considering there is no way to repair in-the-field unless you were lucky enough to grab a permanent repair thing, which i see isn't even available anymore, gg on that btw.

Anyhow, my point is NOT that this should be balanced around possibly being soloed, not at all (although arguments could be made for it being story-related etc etc), but it should absolutely be possible given enough time/effort, and as it currently stands, due to the above reasons, it is not.

Ah okay. So you're saying you can't get past challenge mode with a group of five, so the game is not for you. It's meant to be challenging mode. I absolutely couldn't have gotten past challenge mode six months into the game. No way in hell. I didn't know enough about my class. You need the right party and the right people to beat challenge mode. I've never seen anyone leaving over challenge mode either, so I didn't expect it. It took me years to get a group together that could beat challenge mode and I was okay with that, because it's a group activity made to test your mettle and I'm in a casual guild. However, I have beaten it, with the right group.

If there is a bug in one single achievement of one single mode that's not necessary for progression (and it's not) and you judge every MMO the same way, you'll leave every single MMO. I'm not sure why you're making challenge mode that important in your mind. But you know that's just me. I've played a dozen MMOs and this one is the best one for me. In other MMOs, if I miss the most challenging content, I'm locked out of other content, or can't continue progressing. That's just not true here. But to each his own.

[DaFishBob.6518]

@Vayne.8563 said:

@Sinistral.5309 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

I wasn't going to reply, but seeing as my last post was made in absolute frustration/anger, i felt i probably should.I didn't mean to be rude or anything and outright dismiss your offer, but people seem to keep on the same thought-train here, "its not that hard" etc etc, tell me, has anyone even tried soloing challenge mode lately? Looking at the video cyninja posted, and others, it's obvious something changed (and by changed, i mean got completely broken), intentional or not.

I am however a little confused, what is there for me to "not understand"? I can do the mechanics fine, hell, i can even stay alive while doing them, but let me clarify:First, this is challenge mode, NOT the regular story instance, which is fine.

Blighted Canach: Bugs out and becomes undamageable at the next phase-shift if you ignore his breakbar (Specifically ignoring the first one).

Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank that (except maybe engi, seeing as they can throw nades behind/to the side of them and not have to strafe), but anyway, just nitpicking i suppose, would be doable eventually if it weren't for the horrid gear-breakage mechanic, since all stats come from gear, it's like every time you make a mistake/die, you're punished by being made even weaker, and since it's free to repair, why even leave the mechanic in anymore? It's pointless, and incredibly silly considering there is no way to repair in-the-field unless you were lucky enough to grab a permanent repair thing, which i see isn't even available anymore, gg on that btw.

Anyhow, my point is NOT that this should be balanced around possibly being soloed, not at all (although arguments could be made for it being story-related etc etc), but it should absolutely be possible given enough time/effort, and as it currently stands, due to the above reasons, it is not.

Ah okay. So you're saying you can't get past challenge mode with a group of five, so the game is not for you. It's meant to be challenging mode. I absolutely couldn't have gotten past challenge mode six months into the game. No way in hell. I didn't know enough about my class. You need the right party and the right people to beat challenge mode. I've never seen anyone leaving over challenge mode either, so I didn't expect it. It took me years to get a group together that could beat challenge mode and I was okay with that, because it's a group activity made to test your mettle and I'm in a casual guild. However, I have beaten it, with the right group.

If there is a bug in one single achievement of one single mode that's not necessary for progression (and it's not) and you judge every MMO the same way, you'll leave every single MMO. I'm not sure why you're making challenge mode that important in your mind. But you know that's just me. I've played a dozen MMOs and this one is the best one for me. In other MMOs, if I miss the most challenging content, I'm locked out of other content, or can't continue progressing. That's just not true here. But to each his own.

I feel I need to clarify something here. They're not having trouble beating challenge mode with a group, they're having trouble getting a group to begin with and trying to do it solo instead, which is even harder. Anyway, this achievement is unapologetic in its description that it's intended for a group so it's pointless to get frustrated over the inability to solo it. Unfortunate for the late achievement hunter but that's how it is. It's still possible to get lucky and catch some other people trying to get the achievement though, there's just no real incentive for someone who already did it to go back and do it again.

[Vayne.8563]

@DaFishBob.6518 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:

@Sinistral.5309 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

I wasn't going to reply, but seeing as my last post was made in absolute frustration/anger, i felt i probably should.I didn't mean to be rude or anything and outright dismiss your offer, but people seem to keep on the same thought-train here, "its not that hard" etc etc, tell me, has anyone even tried soloing challenge mode lately? Looking at the video cyninja posted, and others, it's obvious something changed (and by changed, i mean got completely broken), intentional or not.

I am however a little confused, what is there for me to "not understand"? I can do the mechanics fine, hell, i can even stay alive while doing them, but let me clarify:First, this is challenge mode, NOT the regular story instance, which is fine.

Blighted Canach: Bugs out and becomes undamageable at the next phase-shift if you ignore his breakbar (Specifically ignoring the first one).

Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank that (except maybe engi, seeing as they can throw nades behind/to the side of them and not have to strafe), but anyway, just nitpicking i suppose, would be doable eventually if it weren't for the horrid gear-breakage mechanic, since all stats come from gear, it's like every time you make a mistake/die, you're punished by being made even weaker, and since it's free to repair, why even leave the mechanic in anymore? It's pointless, and incredibly silly considering there is no way to repair in-the-field unless you were lucky enough to grab a permanent repair thing, which i see isn't even available anymore, gg on that btw.

Anyhow, my point is NOT that this should be balanced around possibly being soloed, not at all (although arguments could be made for it being story-related etc etc), but it should absolutely be possible given enough time/effort, and as it currently stands, due to the above reasons, it is not.

Ah okay. So you're saying you can't get past challenge mode with a group of five, so the game is not for you. It's meant to be challenging mode. I absolutely couldn't have gotten past challenge mode six months into the game. No way in hell. I didn't know enough about my class. You need the right party and the right people to beat challenge mode. I've never seen anyone leaving over challenge mode either, so I didn't expect it. It took me years to get a group together that could beat challenge mode and I was okay with that, because it's a group activity made to test your mettle and I'm in a casual guild. However, I have beaten it, with the right group.

If there is a bug in one single achievement of one single mode that's not necessary for progression (and it's not) and you judge every MMO the same way, you'll leave every single MMO. I'm not sure why you're making challenge mode that important in your mind. But you know that's just me. I've played a dozen MMOs and this one is the best one for me. In other MMOs, if I miss the most challenging content, I'm locked out of other content, or can't continue progressing. That's just not true here. But to each his own.

I feel I need to clarify something here. They're not having trouble beating challenge mode with a group, they're having trouble getting a group to begin with and trying to do it solo instead, which is even harder. Anyway, this achievement is unapologetic in its description that it's intended for a group so it's pointless to get frustrated over the inability to solo it. Unfortunate for the late achievement hunter but that's how it is. It's still possible to get lucky and catch some other people trying to get the achievement though, there's just no real incentive for someone who already did it to go back and do it again.

@DaFishBob.6518 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:

@Sinistral.5309 said:

@Vayne.8563 said:Playing the game for a month and a half doesn't make you an expert or even necessarily decent at a class. It can take a lot longer, depending on a lot of factors. The fact that this story can be soloed and many have, including me, says something. Not sure what the price of LWS 3 accessories have to do with it, but I'm telling you,. you simply don't understand certain things about the combat, or it wouldn't be as hard as you're saying it is. Either way, I offered. If you're done with the game, that's okay too.

I wasn't going to reply, but seeing as my last post was made in absolute frustration/anger, i felt i probably should.I didn't mean to be rude or anything and outright dismiss your offer, but people seem to keep on the same thought-train here, "its not that hard" etc etc, tell me, has anyone even tried soloing challenge mode lately? Looking at the video cyninja posted, and others, it's obvious something changed (and by changed, i mean got completely broken), intentional or not.

I am however a little confused, what is there for me to "not understand"? I can do the mechanics fine, hell, i can even stay alive while doing them, but let me clarify:First, this is challenge mode, NOT the regular story instance, which is fine.

Blighted Canach: Bugs out and becomes undamageable at the next phase-shift if you ignore his breakbar (Specifically ignoring the first one).

Mordremoth: Hits far too hard, far too fast, and that white ring he does it far too small, i don't know a single class who can facetank that (except maybe engi, seeing as they can throw nades behind/to the side of them and not have to strafe), but anyway, just nitpicking i suppose, would be doable eventually if it weren't for the horrid gear-breakage mechanic, since all stats come from gear, it's like every time you make a mistake/die, you're punished by being made even weaker, and since it's free to repair, why even leave the mechanic in anymore? It's pointless, and incredibly silly considering there is no way to repair in-the-field unless you were lucky enough to grab a permanent repair thing, which i see isn't even available anymore, gg on that btw.

Anyhow, my point is NOT that this should be balanced around possibly being soloed, not at all (although arguments could be made for it being story-related etc etc), but it should absolutely be possible given enough time/effort, and as it currently stands, due to the above reasons, it is not.

Ah okay. So you're saying you can't get past challenge mode with a group of five, so the game is not for you. It's meant to be challenging mode. I absolutely couldn't have gotten past challenge mode six months into the game. No way in hell. I didn't know enough about my class. You need the right party and the right people to beat challenge mode. I've never seen anyone leaving over challenge mode either, so I didn't expect it. It took me years to get a group together that could beat challenge mode and I was okay with that, because it's a group activity made to test your mettle and I'm in a casual guild. However, I have beaten it, with the right group.

If there is a bug in one single achievement of one single mode that's not necessary for progression (and it's not) and you judge every MMO the same way, you'll leave every single MMO. I'm not sure why you're making challenge mode that important in your mind. But you know that's just me. I've played a dozen MMOs and this one is the best one for me. In other MMOs, if I miss the most challenging content, I'm locked out of other content, or can't continue progressing. That's just not true here. But to each his own.

I feel I need to clarify something here. They're not having trouble beating challenge mode with a group, they're having trouble getting a group to begin with and trying to do it solo instead, which is even harder. Anyway, this achievement is unapologetic in its description that it's intended for a group so it's pointless to get frustrated over the inability to solo it. Unfortunate for the late achievement hunter but that's how it is. It's still possible to get lucky and catch some other people trying to get the achievement though, there's just no real incentive for someone who already did it to go back and do it again.

It's why joining a guild and building a community is so important. I often redo achievements I don't need to help out guildies. Obviously randoms have less reason to do so. Being in a community means more people you can bring with you. And guilds have voice chat which makes stuff like that easier.

[mindcircus.1506]

@DaFishBob.6518 said:I feel I need to clarify something here. They're not having trouble beating challenge mode with a group, they're having trouble getting a group to begin with and trying to do it solo instead, which is even harder.You haven't read @"Sinistral.5309" posts. This person is not having "trouble getting a group". They are purposefully trying to solo what is designed and labelled to the player as group content as some kind of flex...and getting salty when they fail.

[DaFishBob.6518]

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@DaFishBob.6518 said:I feel I need to clarify something here. They're not having trouble beating challenge mode with a group, they're having trouble getting a group to begin with and trying to do it solo instead, which is even harder.You haven't read @"Sinistral.5309" posts. This person is not having "trouble getting a group". They are purposefully trying to solo what is designed and labelled to the player as group content as some kind of flex...and getting salty when they fail.

Reading again, yeah there's definitely the flex factor coming in. But my post still stands as a response to Vayne suggesting this person can't complete this content with a group of 5. This person hasn't even tried with a group of 5 as far as I can tell.

[crepuscular.9047]

@XenoSpyro.1780 said:

@Wyrd.1432 said:firebrand with an ascended weapon and jewelry but the rest exotics. Haven't had the time or resources to get a full set dedicated to any particular build as the ascendeds are random drops with some crafted depending on available recipes.

Well there's why. You're probably running a random assortment of stats. Focus on Power or Conditions (or even a possible mix) for decent damage. For that class, invest in some Vita too. You can craft, buy from TP, or buy from Temple karma vendors.

for heart and mind, condi is your best friend, completely bypasses the breakbar mechanic

[Zeral.8249]

Nah i'll tell you what's god damn annoying about this mission. I was just about to defeat Mordremoth when he was using his large scale attack, So naturally I went on a glider... AND IT SHOT ME SO HIGH THAT I LEFT THE INSTANCE AND HAVE TO DO IT ALL OVER AGAIN!!!! (solo, btw)

[Andral.4582]

This instance has now got me to the stage where I log on once or twice a week bang my head against it for an hour or two and then go play FF14 or ESO which are actually enjoyable to play. Very much geared to the Dark Souls "get gud" community for me but for main story content in an MMO it's just stupid if you want to retain players.

Edited June 18, 2022 by Andral.4582

[Juan.6124]

What's your gear/build?

Edited June 18, 2022 by DirtyDan.4759

[Ariurotl.3718]

45 minutes ago, Andral.4582 said:

This instance has now got me to the stage where I log on once or twice a week bang my head against it for an hour or two and then go play FF14 or ESO which are actually enjoyable to play. Very much geared to the Dark Souls "get gud" community for me but for main story content in an MMO it's just stupid if you want to retain players.

Blimey, I should try Dark Souls then. I'm a crappy player but the Mordremoth fight is one of the easier boss fights in the game.

[PepeLePewPew.2107]

This is the only part of the entire story offered in GW2 that I have not completed (not counting dungeons).  I could never get a group for it, and it broke my "fun" bar trying to solo it.  It needs nerfing.  Yes, it does.

[AliamRationem.5172]

1 hour ago, PepeLePewPew.2107 said:

This is the only part of the entire story offered in GW2 that I have not completed (not counting dungeons).  I could never get a group for it, and it broke my "fun" bar trying to solo it.  It needs nerfing.  Yes, it does.

The damage output of this fight is fairly low.  However, there are some mechanics that can't be ignored.  Nerfing it wouldn't change anything for you if you aren't understanding the mechanics.  Most players who struggle with this fight have issues with the pass/fail flight phase, which can actually be bypassed if you just stand next to Braham inside the blue bubble he summons during this phase.

[AliamRationem.5172]

4 hours ago, Andral.4582 said:

This instance has now got me to the stage where I log on once or twice a week bang my head against it for an hour or two and then go play FF14 or ESO which are actually enjoyable to play. Very much geared to the Dark Souls "get gud" community for me but for main story content in an MMO it's just stupid if you want to retain players.

Why not just get some help?  Story instances don't have to be alone.  If you're the stubborn sort, then perhaps discussing what specifically you're struggling with in this fight?

[Labjax.2465]

Some tips for people struggling with this:

1) Don't choose Caithe. Her blighted fight is considerably more punishing than the other two.

2) Share your class and ask for build advice, or if you want to be independent about it, look up tankier builds for your class (celestial gear, that kind of thing). Unlike a lot of story instance stuff where you can get away with being glassy, this fight is more punishing on glassy builds and you want something that can stay alive, even if that means the fight overall takes longer.

3) Make sure you have some decent AoE for the final phase.

4) During the gliding phase, just hide in the protective bubble. You only have to glide if you want to go for the achievement. (Not sure why I don't see this mentioned on wiki, but pretty sure I did this with one character I completed it on.)

[Rogue.8235]

3 hours ago, PepeLePewPew.2107 said:

This is the only part of the entire story offered in GW2 that I have not completed (not counting dungeons).  I could never get a group for it, and it broke my "fun" bar trying to solo it.  It needs nerfing.  Yes, it does.

The thing is, all you really need to do is break blue bars and hide next to Braham.  Everything else is standard attack mitigation and DPS.

If you are not CC heavy and breaking blue bars instantly in the first two fights, you need to bring CC.  CC is daze, stun, knockdown, knock back, launch, fear, taunt, immobilize, chill, cripple.  Those conditions deal damage to the blue bar.  Damage the blue bar before focusing on doing any regular damage to the health bar.

Next, listen for when Braham is throwing up his Guardian bubble of safety goodness.  Hide in the bubble with him, which allows you to skip any need for glider mechanics.  Everything else is a standard Champion fight.  

 

If you are not doing both of the above, this is why you're failing in the story.  Story boss fights are regular Champion fights with additional mechanics that need to be dealt with.  Think of the additional mechanics as ArenaNet's way of poking the player to make sure they're still awake.  If you're paying attention, they're not a barrier to success.  If you're not paying attention, then you run into you're current situation.

 

I'm able to consistently solo this story instance because of the foregoing.  Also, I'm not even attempting to go for the achievements for this story instance.  Maybe some day, but for now I'm not gonna bother.  

 

Edited June 19, 2022 by Rogue.8235

[Ariurotl.3718]

14 hours ago, Labjax.2465 said:

Some tips for people struggling with this:

1) Don't choose Caithe. Her blighted fight is considerably more punishing than the other two.

See, I disagree on that. People who struggle with these fights usually struggle with mechanics, and the Caithe bit is straightforward. Braham (needing to down Garm to reliably damage Eir) and Canach (having to use the shield to reflect the orbs) are BOTH trickier.

[PepeLePewPew.2107]

Thanks for the tips (Aliam, Labjax, Rogue)!

 

It's been a while since attempting it and you've convinced me to try again.   I'm familiar with which cc abilities I have for breaking bars and the specific tips should be helpful.  Maybe I can convince a guildmate to join in (no such luck in the past as no one seems to enjoy it).

[Hotride.2187]

22 hours ago, Ariurotl.3718 said:

Blimey, I should try Dark Souls then. I'm a crappy player but the Mordremoth fight is one of the easier boss fights in the game.

Its a good adventure. Pvp was also pretty good before the remaster killed off whatever fight clubs were still active. If you actually want a challenge, there are some challenge runs in it that are hard. The games themselves are not, if you use the tools you are given (have not played elden ring, maybe that one is hard? no idea).

Edited June 19, 2022 by Hotride.2187

[Labjax.2465]

4 hours ago, Ariurotl.3718 said:

See, I disagree on that. People who struggle with these fights usually struggle with mechanics, and the Caithe bit is straightforward. Braham (needing to down Garm to reliably damage Eir) and Canach (having to use the shield to reflect the orbs) are BOTH trickier.

I hadn't really thought of it that way, but I can kinda see your point. I just think if someone goes in there with a build that is melee and doesn't have good sustain, they are going to get absolutely crushed by the Caithe part near the end. The nice thing about the other two is that as long as you can figure out the mechanics, they aren't especially hard to execute. With the Caithe one, it's the execution that's harder, IMO.

In my case, I'm not just saying that off the recommendation of a guide, I've completed the fight on 3 different characters since coming back to the game (had very much struggled with it back in the day) and on one of them (a melee Thief with mediocre sustain) I decided I would do Caithe to finish the achievement and I ended up having to swap around build and abilities and rely heavily on the shortbow I had to get through it.

Granted, if someone is playing a long range build (on a class that can do long range effectively), I could see that making a huge difference for that fight.

[Astralporing.1957]

20 hours ago, AliamRationem.5172 said:

Most players who struggle with this fight have issues with the pass/fail flight phase, which can actually be bypassed if you just stand next to Braham inside the blue bubble he summons during this phase.

Many players may actually be unaware of this, because Braham's dome got fixed only relatively recently, and has been broken (doing nothing) for the majority of the game's history.