Boss fights.

[Nephalem.8921]

@Fueki.4753 said:Many bosses in GW2, especially since PoF, just boil down to:bloated HP poolCC spamAoE spam

These things simply make bosses unfun for me.And the disturbing visual effects sometimes make it even worse.

Which one? All story bosses phase within seconds. World bosses get upscaled hard by dead weight.

There is an option to limit effect lod. This should always be checked.

[Fueki.4753]

@Nephalem.8921 said:Which one?In PoF both Balthazar and his Herald use way too much AoE.And their HP, as well as the HP of his Warbeast and the HP of the Forged Bastion, is too much.

In Season 4, Episode 1 Amala, as well as Scruffy 2.0 (and maybe the Wyvern, I don't remember that one) are even more AoE spammy.

In Episode 2, Lonai has too much HP and spams her AoE.

And that's merely six examples (or ten, if we count Balthazar and his herald once for each of their three times each).

All story bosses phase within seconds.Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.

[BlueJin.4127]

The other day, I was doing CW strike on my Rev. I do more damage from the side or behind, but against the last boss of that instance, I couldn’t even see her because of all the visual clutter. The visual clutter in this game is just embarrassingly bad. We really need a slider to control the visibility of player’s own spell effects, other players’ spell effects, and bosses’ spell effects.

[mindcircus.1506]

@Fueki.4753 said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.@"Joote.4081" said:The old vets know every boss tactic in the game, unfortunately they don't want to share.As a vet it's hard to "share" tactics about how to beat things in this game when no one asks.People who struggle with story bosses on this forum rarely ask for people to share strategy/tips on beating content. They come onto the forums in full consumerist outrage presenting every challenge as developer ineptitude or some kind of flaw in design.I've lost count of the number of threads on this forum that painted part of the game's difficulty as some kind of error that needs to be reversed in order to make them happy as a customer.I don't remember the last time I saw I thread that said "I am struggling with X... does anyone have any tips?"

[Nephalem.8921]

@Fueki.4753 said:

@"Nephalem.8921" said:Which one?In PoF both Balthazar and his Herald use way too much AoE.The whole balthazar mechanic is to sidestep the ground aoe. I would say this is part of the design. Its one of the better designed bosses in my opinion.And their HP, as well as the HP of his Warbeast and the HP of the Forged Bastion, is too much.

I could make a video for you where i burst it within seconds. Actually tried to "speedrun" scruffy at one point. Got the long phase down in like 20seconds. This doesnt sound like high hp to me.In Season 4, Episode 1 Amala, as well as Scruffy 2.0 (and maybe the Wyvern, I don't remember that one) are even more AoE spammy.

Scruffy aoe is good aoe though. Very big telegraphs. Not a lot of visual noise. The wyvern in the thunderhead peak drm is bad aoe for me. The whole arena is so orange that it hurts my eyes. Cant distinguish fire effects from ground there.In Episode 2, Lonai has too much HP and spams her AoE.

And that's merely six examples (or ten, if we count Balthazar and his herald once for each of their three times each).

All story bosses phase within seconds.Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.

Yes they should be balanced around what good builds do and not what random snowflake builds do in expansion story. You shouldnt be able to burst stuff within 5 seconds. Currently most story stuff phases within 10-20 which is ok for me. Maybe even a bit too fast. Lower the hp and it would trivialize the story even further. You are one of the only players i know who say that the hp in content is too high.Current cm boss fractal records have sub 3! second phases. All classes are able to do high amounts of damage now and not only ele like it was years ago. I do play other games and mmos in this one is the only one where fights are over withing seconds.Why arent you changing your build towards something decent? You basically force players to handycap themselves to not oneshot everything if they lower the hp of stuff.

[artcreator.4859]

The core game world bosses such as fire elemenbtal, shadow behemoth are down right outdated, not really playable anymore, but the newer ones have been pretty solid, the claw of jormag from drizelwoodcoast has been nice, drakkar, even some of the fights in HoT were cool.

[kharmin.7683]

@"mindcircus.1506" said:I don't remember the last time I saw I thread that said "I am struggling with X... does anyone have any tips?"Those threads are often relegated to the appropriate forum: https://en-forum.guildwars2.com/categories/players-helping-players

[Blood Red Arachnid.2493]

The bosses can be quite fun in this game. Just, not the gigantic world bosses. My personal favorites are the Molten Duo, the Nightmare Fractal, and Ysshi Hessani.

The issue of visual clutter comes and goes with the fights. It's actually one of my chief complaints about the new Claw and Drakkar fights. Hardest part about learning what to do with any of these is that it is nigh impossible to see what is going on. Putting the player/enemy count to lowest doesn't stop all of visual effects, it just means you end up dying from invisible enemies.

[Ashen.2907]

@Joote.4081 said:GW2 must be the only mmo that I don't like boss fights. I mean I see one and I shoot stuff off into the big ball of flashing lights just to get a reward. I don't know what I'm shooting at or why. I don't know if I'm hitting the boss or a passing duck.In raids and such how can you use any sort of tactics on these bosses, how do you see any telegraphs through all the flashy lights and laser beams?I was fighting the dragon in the personal story and the story was to watch out for its breath, you will get a warning when it's about to breath on you. Impossible to see. The only warning or idea it had snorted on me was when I ran of a cliff.Does anyone think boss fights in GW2 are fun?

Agreed. The visual noise in this game makes large scale fights, such as bosses, a chore.

[Joote.4081]

Music, fighting noise, and 100 npc's all talking at the same time. So relaxing.

[kurfu.5623]

@kharmin.7683 said:

@AliamRationem.5172 said:The sounds and animations in this game are pretty terrible, too....Like the grunts that were recently added to the Svarnir boss at Frozen Maw. Egad. Sometimes it sounds like he's having too good of a time, if you know what I mean.

Those grunts always remind me why I avoid Taco Bell.

[Khisanth.2948]

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@"Fueki.4753" said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.

Meanwhile some people might decide to do something silly like bringing a pure healing build.If I brought my heal tempest to the fight with Balthazar in "The Departing" it would take around 40 minutes while most of my other character/builds will be able to clear it in 3-8 minutes which seems reasonable. Actual run time might be a bit longer due to the unavoidable dialog bits. Oh and then there is the final fight. The game provides Sohothin to make it easier and faster but then people insist on not using it but still complain it takes too long. :/

[Linken.6345]

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@"Fueki.4753" said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.

Meanwhile some people might decide to do something silly like bringing a pure healing build.If I brought my heal tempest to the fight with Balthazar in "The Departing" it would take around 40 minutes while most of my other character/builds will be able to clear it in 3-8 minutes which seems reasonable. Actual run time might be a bit longer due to the unavoidable dialog bits. Oh and then there is the final fight. The game provides Sohothin to make it easier and faster but then people insist on not using it but still complain it takes too long. :/

There is an achievement for not useing it.

[Khisanth.2948]

@Linken.6345 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@"Fueki.4753" said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.

Meanwhile some people might decide to do something silly like bringing a pure healing build.If I brought my heal tempest to the fight with Balthazar in "The Departing" it would take around 40 minutes while most of my other character/builds will be able to clear it in 3-8 minutes which seems reasonable. Actual run time might be a bit longer due to the unavoidable dialog bits. Oh and then there is the final fight. The game provides Sohothin to make it easier and faster but then people insist on not using it but still complain it takes too long. :/

There is an achievement for not useing it.

well at some point a person is going to have to accept responsibility for their bad decisions

[Linken.6345]

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@Linken.6345 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@"Fueki.4753" said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.

Meanwhile some people might decide to do something silly like bringing a pure healing build.If I brought my heal tempest to the fight with Balthazar in "The Departing" it would take around 40 minutes while most of my other character/builds will be able to clear it in 3-8 minutes which seems reasonable. Actual run time might be a bit longer due to the unavoidable dialog bits. Oh and then there is the final fight. The game provides Sohothin to make it easier and faster but then people insist on not using it but still complain it takes too long. :/

There is an achievement for not useing it.

well at some point a person is going to have to accept responsibility for their bad decisions

Great players do more damage then the sword, not saying Im one of em tho :open_mouth:

[Khisanth.2948]

@Linken.6345 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@Linken.6345 said:

@Khisanth.2948 said:

@mindcircus.1506 said:

@"Fueki.4753" said:Not everyone uses META builds, story bosses should not be balanced around those.I agree... good thing none of them (including the ones you referenced) are.Likewise, I don't believe story instance bosses should be balanced around straight up bad builds, like say the IBS prologue story boss is.

Meanwhile some people might decide to do something silly like bringing a pure healing build.If I brought my heal tempest to the fight with Balthazar in "The Departing" it would take around 40 minutes while most of my other character/builds will be able to clear it in 3-8 minutes which seems reasonable. Actual run time might be a bit longer due to the unavoidable dialog bits. Oh and then there is the final fight. The game provides Sohothin to make it easier and faster but then people insist on not using it but still complain it takes too long. :/

There is an achievement for not useing it.

well at some point a person is going to have to accept responsibility for their bad decisions

Great players do more damage then the sword, not saying Im one of em tho :open_mouth:

That isn't the issue.

The issue is that if you bring a character with low damage and refuses to use tools available to increase that damage for whatever reason then you shouldn't be complaining about it. If the fight takes too long it was by your own choice.

[Eraden.8740]

From my experience, boss fights, at least the ones in the storylines, are heavy on endurance. I tried to do the final one for "Path of Thorns". You know, "Heart and Minds" where you fight two evil versions of your companions before fighting Mordremar? I realized I may have finally met my limits. I am 60 years old with a minor case of Parkinsons and this fight is probably too much for me to solo. I tried to solo this fight with my elementalist in berserker gear (the only gear I have right now). Fiddled around a bit with keybinds and aspects to squeeze as much out as I could. The fights were a constant run away, run away, heal myself and hope to get a few strafing shots off while doing so. I finally had to give up after 6 hours as my body was failing and my left side was shaking uncontrollably. I did get as far as phase 4 of the Mordremar fight, but I finally had to give up. This fight has taught me that boss fights in this game are probably a challenge best suited for young folks. I regret not being able to finish my storyline but then again, it is what it is and I really would not want to see this game made easier for someone like me. It would become much too easy for young folks. In my youth I think I would have had a blast with this but now, at this stage of my life, such endurance runs are just too punishing.

[Joote.4081]

That's a thing with the later story line boss fights. They seem to be designed for a group of 50 players and not a single person. Thankfully in most cases the game resurrects you every time you die. I don't think there is any need for a boss and ten thousand adds in the personal story's. The boss is hard enough without all the adds and stuff.

Then there is that fight with the dragon after taking the fort, I spent the whole time running off a cliff after being feared. The only way I could finish it was to try my hardest to get killed which declared me the winner.They could do with revamping some sections of your personal story, they don't work as intended.

[Luthan.5236]

Depends on the taste as well. I did not like Joko and other stuff that much. I recently enjoyed Kralkatorrik the fight in chapter 5 (not the last one still need to do that). For fractals the Sunqua boss. Open world the Triple Trouble. But yeah if a lot of people are there ... in open world it is just zerging. Hard to see what is going on.

Except for a few missions ... I completd most story up until chapter 5 of season 4 (have played in order of release and not finished chapter 6 and later stuff yet) without dying too much. (Only the optional achievements are a lot harder. And some probably need a group. There is in season 4 chapter 2 some golem you need to kill in 3 minutes for an achievement. I doubt I coul solo that when even in the dulfy vid I think she had a group ha ha.)

Stavemaster Adryn pwnd hard and I died a lot - first time I did him. (In HoT story.) And in core store only back then in 2012/13 with my first char with not that much knowledge about my char and no elite existing and outdated gear ... some misisons with lots of trash mobs pwnd a bit. Other than that I do not remember many hard bosses. Maybe for new players that rush straight to the later content ... where it expects that you have full exo at least and understand a bit about your class/profession. (+ maybe being able do adapt the build to the situation ... where you need a bit of knowledge)

Edit: Instead of "dungeon training" there are fractals. If I remember correctly they were intended for people that found dungeons "too long". Then quickly seemed to have replaced them cause of the better rewards. Until later raids and strikes (for people that think raids take too long) got added. Fractals T1 really are not that hard. And very short. I usually try to avoid group content where you need to look a group first. (Everything group-wise besides open world.) But fractal rush got me into fractals and I play them until T2 now without trouble. (Not even meta builds.) Not many toxic players ther ein T1/T2. (I had feared worse. Out of fear of getting flamed for not being good enough I usually tried to avoid the group content.)

[Joote.4081]

It's a shame that most new and/or casual players never get a chance to play dungeons. I suppose that's were guilds come in. I just wish they had more dungeons for noobs.Unless you have played the game solid from release you get left behind like eve online.

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

@Joote.4081 said:It's a shame that most new and/or casual players never get a chance to play dungeons. I suppose that's were guilds come in. I just wish they had more dungeons for noobs.Unless you have played the game solid from release you get left behind like eve online.

I have to completely disagree with this. I just last week boosted a character on an account that has been around a couple of years, but had never done anything. I boosted a necro and took it into HoT and unlocked gliding. Then I went to PoF unlocked the raptor. After this weekend, I'm 5 or 8 HoT masteries in and in PoF, I just got to Elon Riverlands in the story and I'm almost all the way through skimmer 2 being trained. I've been running all over without issues and have completed training Scourge and I'm part way through Reaper without any problems at all. Yeah, I don't have griffon, or skyscale, or roller beetle yet, but, I've only been playing on that account for 4 or 5 days, other than getting login rewards for the last two or three years. I don't feel left behind at all.

[Redfeather.6401]

Skill Monitor Bar was in the first game and it added so much to the experience. Without that system in guild wars 2 I am stuck just randomly guessing whether an enemy is using crowd control skills under all the particle effects, or I am completely guessing on whether my interrupt skill, with a 20 second cooldown, is actually going to interrupt anything. I really think it's time guild wars 2 appreciated some of the things guild wars 1 did.

[mindcircus.1506]

@"Eraden.8740" said:From my experience, boss fights, at least the ones in the storylines, are heavy on endurance. I tried to do the final one for "Path of Thorns". You know, "Heart and Minds" where you fight two evil versions of your companions before fighting Mordremar? I realized I may have finally met my limits. I am 60 years old with a minor case of Parkinsons and this fight is probably too much for me to solo. I tried to solo this fight with my elementalist in berserker gear (the only gear I have right now). Fiddled around a bit with keybinds and aspects to squeeze as much out as I could. The fights were a constant run away, run away, heal myself and hope to get a few strafing shots off while doing so. I finally had to give up after 6 hours as my body was failing and my left side was shaking uncontrollably. I did get as far as phase 4 of the Mordremar fight, but I finally had to give up. This fight has taught me that boss fights in this game are probably a challenge best suited for young folks. I regret not being able to finish my storyline but then again, it is what it is and I really would not want to see this game made easier for someone like me. It would become much too easy for young folks. In my youth I think I would have had a blast with this but now, at this stage of my life, such endurance runs are just too punishing.If you are on NA and want a carry through this, IM me in game, I would be glad to get you to the end of your story.

[Eraden.8740]

Thanks for your kind offer, mindcircus. I am taking a short 1-2 day brake at the moment as my health is still suffering from my earlier attempt at this battle. I hope to be back in the saddle again, soon, though. I'm on the Ehmry Bay server.

[mindcircus.1506]

@Eraden.8740 said:Thanks for your kind offer, mindcircus. I am taking a short 1-2 day brake at the moment as my health is still suffering from my earlier attempt at this battle. I hope to be back in the saddle again, soon, though. I'm on the Ehmry Bay server.Take your time. Just shoot me an ingame message when you feel up to it.