Hidden Arcana. Why did it have to be Hidden Arcana. (tips please)

[Witch of Doom.5739]

OK, I've been happily playing all the "Return to..."  LW Bonus events these past couple of weeks.  But of all the story instances to repeat, Hidden Arcana is my downfall.  I've NEVER been able to complete it, so please help this clumsy-but-veteran player beat it.  Tips, hints, anything.  Please don't say "well you just do this" and "you just do that."  I know HOW it works but I can't get through it.  Best class?  Pets/minions or not?  I've been able to finish all other LW stories but not this one.  Thank you very much in advance.!

[yann.1946]

Wanna do this as a group?

 

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Ugh.  Got disconnected in that one at last boss with 40%.  (I used the walkthrough found in the Wiki.)  Still took me forever to get as far as I did.

 

Not my favorite 'mission'. 

 

Will try again tomorrow, or...

Edited June 8, 2021 by Inculpatus cedo.9234

[Witch of Doom.5739]

1 hour ago, yann.1946 said:

Wanna do this as a group?

 

Yes, that's what I needed.  I've been stubborn as heck all along, wanted to do every story instance solo.  Finally had to admit I couldn't do it with this one.  It's done now, and I hope I NEVER SEE IT AGAIN!

 

Rant over.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Witch of Doom.5739

[Kaliwenda.3428]

As soon as I got into this one I quickly remembered why I never tried going back to replay these episodes for achievements. 

I did get thru it but only by sheer cussedness - I refused to give up and then have to start the whole thing over again.  By the end I was practically hammering on the keys.  Glad that's over with.

 

[Mungrul.9358]

I've got one achievement left for this, but it's the last boss one.

 

ANet really do go out of their way to make you hate their game, don't they?

 

This is a hard enough achievement as it is (especially for a warrior, where every trait line has a minor trait that gives a boon).

But to stick it at the end of a really long mission that's more unskippable filler than gameplay is obnoxious.

Even worse, it's not like they couldn't make the filler skippable, as one of the cutscenes is  skippable.

 

I got close several times tonight, only to lose the achievement buff at seemingly random points when I know I didn't have a boon, as I'd purposefully waited them out.

 

Oh, and the first time I got to this boss, the void crystals were bugged and kept pushing me away when I was trying to transfer the fragility debuff. I thought there was something I was doing wrong, but nope, subsequent playthroughs had none of this.

[Manasa Devi.7958]

Season 2 has some of the most annoying story instances of the game. Hidden Arcana went well for me today, luckily. No disconnects, and I remembered how to do it, amazingly, but only when I was faced with the bosses. I you'd asked me before doing the instance I wouldn't have had a clue. Next week, the "play as Caithe" episodes IIRC. Oh, how I hated those.

Edited June 8, 2021 by Manasa Devi.7958

[neighto.7386]

One of my least favorite chapters in the whole game.   Thanks for the reminder to why I hate it so much.   Definitely wasn't designed for solo players.  

[Beleron.9347]

This is probably about the point in the thread where someone comes along to boast about how easy they found it and that the rest of us just need to " learn to play" and "git gud".

[Astralporing.1957]

The main problem with this instance is how long it is. With all those fights completely based not on standard combat engine, but on mechanics that were never seen before, and won't be seen again until the late part of LS 4, they really could have chopped it into smaller parts.

42 minutes ago, Beleron.9347 said:

This is probably about the point in the thread where someone comes along to boast about how easy they found it and that the rest of us just need to " learn to play" and "git gud".

Well, to be honest it is not exactly hard. What it is is extremely annoying. And way too long.

[Danger Ferret.6342]

1 minute ago, Astralporing.1957 said:

The main problem with this instance is how long it is. With all those fights completely based not on standard combat engine, but on mechanics that were never seen before, and won't be seen again until the late part of LS 4, they really could have chopped it into smaller parts.

Well, to be honest it is not exactly hard. What it is is extremely annoying. And way too long.

I'm for renaming this chapter "Four Bad Ideas on Rocks".

[Witch of Doom.5739]

3 minutes ago, Danger Ferret.6342 said:

I'm for renaming this chapter "Four Bad Ideas on Rocks".

Four Funerals and No Wedding

[Danger Ferret.6342]

2 minutes ago, Witch of Doom.5739 said:

Four Funerals and No Wedding

Glint's Travesty? Or perhaps "Crystal Mess"

Edited June 8, 2021 by Danger Ferret.6342

[asterix.9614]

What a kitten chapter, I personally hadn't done this one before, and I am glad I only had to do it once. They should have made the repeated cutsceme skippable and got rid of the unnecessary fights at the start. I am glad I didn't dc, as I would have said kitten it and left. kitten you Glint, I am glad you died.

[Gorem.8104]

Well, at least we can hope for an update right? maybe now that we are all doing S2 content again they change and make things better after so long, even the zones have this like, large requirement of players to work on their achievements. If these zones are dead, you can't do anything.  

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Well, The Silverwastes is rarely 'dead', being as popular as it is. 

[Cyninja.2954]

Just goes to show:

This game had challenging content during its vanilla time, yet somehow  players managed to complete the content (and not on juiced up elite specs from 2 expansions in).

 

Hidden arcana is one of those cases where each mechanic is seperately introduced, explained via in game means and then combined for a final fight (absolutely manageable if players payed attention, I remeber having a ton of fun figuring this out).

 

The achievements were challenging, at least 2 of them (for the entire season 2, at least I recall 2-3 challenging ones). 

 

I actually enjoy the return to these old story steps. It really puts into perspective how rose tinted some glasses are in regards to difficulty of the base game, as well as unfortunately shine a bright light on how far this games player base has declined skill wise.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Cyninja.2954

[BlueJin.4127]

While the mechanics are simple enough, some poor designs really need to be fixed.

 

Darkness encounter: The fragile pick-ups respawn way too slowly and the boss requires too many hits from the Vortex Crystals. Speed things up. Also, since random issues can get the player 1-shotted, the boss should not regenerate HP when the player dies.

 

The last boss: The DoT effects the boss casts on the ground need to be adjusted or removed. The DoT effects constantly get placed right on the fragile pick-ups or the Vortex Crystals. If the player tries to rush through the mission by dodge rolling through the DoT effects for the mechanics, the player risks getting 1-shotted, which drags on the mission. If the player plays safe and waits for the DoT’s to disappear from under the fragile pick-ups or the Vortex Crystals, the pick-ups or the crystals may despawn before the DoT’s, which drags on the mission.

 

Don't spawn the fragile pick-ups near the player or the boss as it results in accidental pick ups that lead to 1-hit deaths.

 

Make the Vortex Crystals absorb the fragile effect immediately. Sometimes, the Vortex Crystals will not absorb the fragile effect for several seconds, and lead to yet another 1-hit death.

Edited June 10, 2021 by BlueJin.4127

[Danger Ferret.6342]

1 minute ago, BlueJin.4127 said:

Not that I think Anet will ever change this, but I'm gonna post this anyways. While the mechanics are simple enough, some poor designs can really drag on this mission.

 

Darkness encounter: The fragility shields respawn way too slowly and the boss requires too many hits from the Vortex Crystals. Reduce the number of hits required. Also, the boss regenerates HP when the player dies. Since something outside the player's control (such as lag) can get the player 1-shotted, the boss should not regenerate HP.

 

The last boss: The DoT effect the boss casts on the ground should be removed. The boss repeatedly places the DoT directly under the fragility shields or the Vortex Crystals. If the player tries to rush through the mission by dodge rolling through the DoT, the player risks getting 1-shotted, which drags on the mission. If the player waits for a fragility shield or Vortex Crystal without the DoT under it, it drags on the mission. It's a lose-lose situation.

Yep. One image continues to run through my mind: Sigourney Weaver in Galaxy Quest facing the chompers. "This episode was badly written!"

[Danger Ferret.6342]

42 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

Just goes to show:

This game had challenging content during its vanilla time, yet somehow  players managed to complete the content (and not on juiced up elite specs from 2 expansions in).

 

Hidden arcana is one of those cases where each mechanic is seperately introduced, explained via in game means and then combined for a final fight (absolutely manageable if players payed attention, I remeber having a ton of fun figuring this out).

 

The achievements were challenging, at least 2 of them (for the entire season 2, at least I recall 2-3 challenging ones). 

 

I actually enjoy the return to these old story steps. It really puts into perspective how rose tinted some glasses are in regards to difficulty of the base game, as well as unfortunately shine a bright light on how far this games player base has declined skill wise.

I didn't find the mechanics difficult to understand. Took like three seconds. I just found it annoying. That's not the same as "challenging" content in my mind. And I've completed the episode I believe several times.

 

But of course, everyone who doesn't like the episode is simply less talented than you. That must be it.

[Taki.2130]

6 hours ago, Manasa Devi.7958 said:

Season 2 has some of the most annoying story instances of the game. Hidden Arcana went well for me today, luckily. No disconnects, and I remembered how to do it, amazingly, but only when I was faced with the bosses. I you'd asked me before doing the instance I wouldn't have had a clue. Next week, the "play as Caithe" episodes IIRC. Oh, how I hated those.

 

The PTSD of Caithe's fight QQ

[Ardenwolfe.8590]

I finished without disconnecting. Clear your GW2 cache. It helps. Annoying doesn’t describe that nonsense.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Ardenwolfe.8590

[Cyninja.2954]

2 hours ago, Danger Ferret.6342 said:

I didn't find the mechanics difficult to understand. Took like three seconds. I just found it annoying. That's not the same as "challenging" content in my mind. And I've completed the episode I believe several times.

 

But of course, everyone who doesn't like the episode is simply less talented than you. That must be it.

I guess you must have missed the part where I was obvioisly refering to the players who did NOT complete the instance or were complaining about the difficulty. Some of those comments are found in this very thread.

 

If you had bothered reading the replies instead of immeditately assuming this was about you, you might have noticed.

[Danger Ferret.6342]

46 minutes ago, Cyninja.2954 said:

I guess you must have missed the part where I was obvioisly refering to the players who did NOT complete the instance or were complaining about the difficulty. Some of those comments are found in this very thread.

 

If you had bothered reading the replies instead of immeditately assuming this was about you, you might have noticed.

If that's what you thought you were "obviously" referring to, you might want to read your own post.

I didn't assume it was about me. I assumed it was about the declining skill of this game's players, and how those players with rose-tinted glasses were an example of it. You know, what you actually wrote.

 

And since one of those comments complaining about the chapter was mine, well...

 

If you don't want people to feel included in your general dismay at the current state of player skills as measured by people with rosey-hued expectations - which came across as anyone who didn't "enjoy" the return to the episodes (since you didn't mention completion other than in terms of what people used to be able to do) - perhaps don't paint with such broad strokes?

 

How do you expect people to react when you shine your little light on the player base and deem it unworthy? You've essentially just said everyone complaining about this episode is a kitteny player.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Danger Ferret.6342

[Cyninja.2954]

22 minutes ago, Danger Ferret.6342 said:

If that's what you thought you were "obviously" referring to, you might want to read your own post.

I didn't assume it was about me. I assumed it was about the declining skill of this game's players, and how those players with rose-tinted glasses were an example of it. You know, what you actually wrote.

My opening statements was clearly directed at the fact that even such content existed and players managed to complete it even with complaints in the forums. This poses an antipodal situation to today's content which we are given which has been dumbed down significantly. In fact I can't recall a single story instance which was not gutted or nerfed past the caudecus fight (the eater of souls in the PoF story having eating his share of nerfs) which even remotely required more than pressing 1.

 

I am obviously critiquing the often repeated yet false claims that this game used to be "easy" in the past and thus this game is targeted at players who just enjoy "easy" content.

Quote

 

If you don't want people to feel included in your general dismay at the current state of player skills as measured by people with rosey-hued expectations - which came across as anyone who didn't "enjoy" the return to the episodes (since you didn't mention completion other than in terms of what people used to be able to do) - perhaps don't paint with such broad strokes?

 

If you had bothered to put that last part of my post in context with the beginning, you would have hopefully not self projected as much.

Edited June 9, 2021 by Cyninja.2954