Guild Wars.

[Roland]

Does anyone here still play this worthless pile of dung? Because I'm really starting to regret buying it. The pathfinding AI is one of the most horrid implementations I have ever seen in a game. The target selection (be it NPC, mob, or whatever) is atrocious. The monsters are horridly imbalanced (from the laughably easy to the rediculously, mind-numbingly impossible), and the "henchmen" that you can sign on are just pathetic. Retarded 3-year-olds with ADHD play better than them (I guess some things haven't changed since Beta, huh?). Some skills are pathetically weak, while others are so out of whack that mobs 5 levels below you are impossible to kill by yourself (even with a pet and high-damage spells, AND physical damage!) because of massive heals, as just one example. The list goes on and on.

To put it bluntly: this game sucks.

ANYTHING enjoyable about this game is immediately dumped into a steaming cesspool of aggravation and just bad design. The only enjoyable aspect of this game is the one thing it's lauded for: the PvP aspect. Problem? You have to play with your "Roleplaying" characters just to even USE the PvP aspect, or risk being so horrendously crippled that you might as well not even try.

Imagine, if you will, that you didn't earn skills via skill points in Diablo 2. Imagine you had to earn them by questing. Imagine then, that if you did not do every single quest in your log, you'd be missing out on some very important skills. Don't want to do all those optional quests in Act III? Oops, so sorry, no Firewall or Whirlwind for you. Now try playing the game like that, in PvE or PvP. You'll get an idea of what it's like. Oh, sure, they provide you with a handful of "pre-built" characters, but they are pretty pathetic in terms of skills, and the items available to you are, equally, pathetic. And oh, you don't unlock only skills, but items and item upgrades as well. Despite Arena.Net insisting that "items do not affect the game nearly as much as skill (and skills)", the statement is thin when you see the difference between a well-equipped PvP character, and a stock "pre-built" one.

You know, I'm really trying to enjoy this game, if only because I just spend $50 that I shouldn't have on it. But it's so fist-poundingly difficult that I'm just about to give up on it. I get enough aggravation from my work. I don't need to come home to it, too, when I'm trying to relax and unwind. I've tried asking for help in-game from other players, but unfortunately, everyone there seems to think the game is perfect, so their "advice" consists of "party" or "it must just be you". Right... So when I get stuck on every little bump in the road, "it's just me". Or when I get my butt handed to me by a mob 5 levels below me, who kills me in 3 hits, "it's just me". Or the fact that they have a -60% Health / Energy Death Penalty cap (that's right boys and girls; you don't lose gold, exp, or items - you just because as weak as a wet paper bag in a hurricane; each time you die, you lose 15% to your stats) is "just me". Uh-huh. Whatever. Don't waste my time.

So, I come here in search of anyone who has this game and, more importantly, still plays. I know some of you bit the bullet when the game came out and played it for at least awhile, but I also remember a LOT of DS comments. Frankly, I think this is far worse than DS could ever hope to achieve. :P But in the vain hope that SOMEONE here still plays, I would love some company for the early levels. And if it comes down to me needing to start a new character to join you, so be it. Anything to alleviate the horrendous migraines this game is giving me.

And even if none of you still play, any advice would be appreciated as well. Just keep in mind I don't know where ANYTHING is, so keep references to Ascalon City and the like. :P Seriously though, this game is pushing me to my last vesiges of patience. I'm gonna need a Valium before long if I don't get someone other than these stupid, STUPID Henchmen to play with, or at least someone to tell me "Don't worry, it gets better before long", cause this is just... well, like pulling teeth without any novacaine. :P

[--Pete]

Hi,

So, Roland, what do you really think about it? :lol:

--Pete

[DeeBye]

I bought it when it came out, and I was amused with it for about 2 weeks. I haven't played it since. The problem might be that it's just not the game for me. Guild Wars is designed for party play and PvP. There are lots of times that I'd just rather play by myself, and I don't really care for PvP. I eventually hit a point (at about lvl 17 iirc), that my Elementalist/Mesmer just could not complete a quest to continue the storyline. I tried it about a dozen times with a full set of henchmen, and just gave up.

I also really disliked the skills system and the skill timer. What's the point of adding a hundred and eleventy skills if you can only have access to 8 at a time and they are all on timers? The items also kinda blow. I was hoping for more variety in finding new stuff, but everything seemed to be the same.

The graphics are pretty though.

I guess I was hoping for WoW, only soloable and without a monthly fee. Boy was I wrong!

[Drasca]

You know, I really really enjoyed this game in beta. Reason why? No BS questing everywhere for every skill. Just buy most / all skills, or gamble for them.

What else? Got to start with 2 classes in the outset, and choose skills from the beginning. Money had some meaning too. You could actually afford skills and weapons, and such. So... basically a LOT lower startup time than what is is in retail.

I played retail for a few days... and haven't picked it back up. I keep meaning too, because beta was so darn fun... but stretching everything out seems to have deflated the fun aspect. Too much time for too little gain now-a-days.

[Minionman]

What part of the game are you at? Might give us some idead for advice.

On monsters: yes, you've noticed monsters can be very differently powerful. Some of it depends on the character, one anti-spellcaster can play against hydras just fine, others have trouble. Some monsters you have to watch a little, see how they seem grouped and how they move, and attack groups when they are split as far as possible. Other monsters are just the "attack one at a time" types. Most monsters in the game can be handled easier by watching them carefully and attacking to get as few as possible attacking on you.

Imps and caromi are just plain evil. I don't think you'll find anyone who knows what to do with them. they are fine in small groups, but a big group of lava imps mans bye bye to any party, and caromi are a guarenteed swarming.

Henchmen will attack whatever you attack. They will also tend ot follow closely behind you. Healer henchmen will not heal people when you use Orison of healing on them, possibly other single target spells. Henchmen usually seem to do fine with me, they just don't have a lot of the skills that players have (in terms of firstorm, deathly swarm, hammer bash type skills.)

Against enemies with healing, you just have to keep pounding on them, or if you have skills that interrupt spellcasting, use them. They will usually run out of energy at some point, or the mae henchmen will drop a firestorm on them that does damage faster than they heal.

I might think of some other things, other descriptions of problems may be helpful, such as what type of character you have, where you are, etc.


The other game similar to this I've played is D2, I like guild wars a lot better. The skill system means you get good skills early on, unlike some D2 characters where you had to go through those 24 or so early levels to get good skills that you could put points into, you were forced into 3 or 4 skills, instead of guild wars which gives 8. I always did the D2 quests anyway, so "having" to do extra to get skills doesn't bug me at all. D2 monsters also had their balance problems, (gloams) (resistant monsters), and henchmen give a way to fight more types. Although items may be more mportant than they are described, compared to d2 they actually have very small effects. Items were often a part of the strategy as much as any skills in D2, in guild wars maybe you get items for extra mana or armor penetration and such, but they don't effect the skills nearly as much. Guild wars doesn't have the ability for characters to kill hundreds of monsters with an area effect spell (one of the most fun things about D2), but the other things make up for it.

Don't worry about the pain. Some things caused problems with me at least the first time I went through with a character, I figured them out the second character through. This may sound annoying, but it's more the process of learning the tricks of the game than the areas getting better.

[roguebanshee]

I bought it when it came out, and I was amused with it for about 2 weeks.  I haven't played it since.  The problem might be that it's just not the game for me.  Guild Wars is designed for party play and PvP.  There are lots of times that I'd just rather play by myself, and I don't really care for PvP.
[right][snapback]87980[/snapback][/right]

Competent human players will (almost) always outperform any AI helpers. PvP can be fun as long as you don't run into a jerk and you don't take any losses personal.

I eventually hit a point (at about lvl 17 iirc), that my Elementalist/Mesmer just could not complete a quest to continue the storyline.  I tried it about a dozen times with a full set of henchmen, and just gave up.

The Wilds or Aurora Glade?

The Wilds can be very difficult if you don't hang back and study the patrol patterns of the various enemies. The last part of Aurora Glade can be really irritating if you don't have human help though it is possible to do without.

I also really disliked the skills system and the skill timer.  What's the point of adding a hundred and eleventy skills if you can only have access to 8 at a time and they are all on timers?  The items also kinda blow.  I was hoping for more variety in finding new stuff, but everything seemed to be the same.

The skill timer is in place to help balance the various skills. It lets a really powerful skill such as Meteor Shower cost as "little" energy as it does compared to Flare simply because you can't use it as often. The 8 skill limit is to prevent people from being too self-sufficient and promote teamplay, if my PvE Monk had access to all her skills at all times then she wouldn't need help for any situation (except those that require multiple simultaneous actions). GW is a team game and should be approached as such.

Items are balanced for the PvP side with the notion that no one should have to spend several months to get something acceptable. All the functionally best items are available from Collectors and Crafters, everything else is for looks.

I guess I was hoping for WoW, only soloable and without a monthly fee.  Boy was I wrong!

And I'm happy that GW isn't the usual Blizzard "If I kill this monster I'll have a 0.008% chance to get something I can use" lewt fest.

[ergates]

Roland,

you might want to take a look at the Amazon Basin's GW presence. Specifically the PvE Questing and Strategy forum should help you out on most (if not all) of your issues. ;)


ergates

[Ashock]

Does anyone here still play this worthless pile of dung? Because I'm really starting to regret buying it. The pathfinding AI is one of the most horrid implementations I have ever seen in a game. The target selection (be it NPC, mob, or whatever) is atrocious. The monsters are horridly imbalanced (from the laughably easy to the rediculously, mind-numbingly impossible), and the "henchmen" that you can sign on are just pathetic. Retarded 3-year-olds with ADHD play better than them (I guess some things haven't changed since Beta, huh?). Some skills are pathetically weak, while others are so out of whack that mobs 5 levels below you are impossible to kill by yourself (even with a pet and high-damage spells, AND physical damage!) because of massive heals, as just one example. The list goes on and on.

To put it bluntly: this game sucks.

ANYTHING enjoyable about this game is immediately dumped into a steaming cesspool of aggravation and just bad design. The only enjoyable aspect of this game is the one thing it's lauded for: the PvP aspect. Problem? You have to play with your "Roleplaying" characters just to even USE the PvP aspect, or risk being so horrendously crippled that you might as well not even try.

Imagine, if you will, that you didn't earn skills via skill points in Diablo 2. Imagine you had to earn them by questing. Imagine then, that if you did not do every single quest in your log, you'd be missing out on some very important skills. Don't want to do all those optional quests in Act III? Oops, so sorry, no Firewall or Whirlwind for you. Now try playing the game like that, in PvE or PvP. You'll get an idea of what it's like. Oh, sure, they provide you with a handful of "pre-built" characters, but they are pretty pathetic in terms of skills, and the items available to you are, equally, pathetic. And oh, you don't unlock only skills, but items and item upgrades as well. Despite Arena.Net insisting that "items do not affect the game nearly as much as skill (and skills)", the statement is thin when you see the difference between a well-equipped PvP character, and a stock "pre-built" one.

You know, I'm really trying to enjoy this game, if only because I just spend $50 that I shouldn't have on it. But it's so fist-poundingly difficult that I'm just about to give up on it. I get enough aggravation from my work. I don't need to come home to it, too, when I'm trying to relax and unwind. I've tried asking for help in-game from other players, but unfortunately, everyone there seems to think the game is perfect, so their "advice" consists of "party" or "it must just be you". Right... So when I get stuck on every little bump in the road, "it's just me". Or when I get my butt handed to me by a mob 5 levels below me, who kills me in 3 hits, "it's just me". Or the fact that they have a -60% Health / Energy Death Penalty cap (that's right boys and girls; you don't lose gold, exp, or items - you just because as weak as a wet paper bag in a hurricane; each time you die, you lose 15% to your stats) is "just me". Uh-huh. Whatever. Don't waste my time.

So, I come here in search of anyone who has this game and, more importantly, still plays. I know some of you bit the bullet when the game came out and played it for at least awhile, but I also remember a LOT of DS comments. Frankly, I think this is far worse than DS could ever hope to achieve. :P But in the vain hope that SOMEONE here still plays, I would love some company for the early levels. And if it comes down to me needing to start a new character to join you, so be it. Anything to alleviate the horrendous migraines this game is giving me.

And even if none of you still play, any advice would be appreciated as well. Just keep in mind I don't know where ANYTHING is, so keep references to Ascalon City and the like. :P Seriously though, this game is pushing me to my last vesiges of patience. I'm gonna need a Valium before long if I don't get someone other than these stupid, STUPID Henchmen to play with, or at least someone to tell me "Don't worry, it gets better before long", cause this is just... well, like pulling teeth without any novacaine. :P
[right][snapback]87978[/snapback][/right]

The game is nice for 2-3 weeks. However, it gets old real fast. It looks nice though. However, a piece of crap in gold wrapping is still a piece of crap.

I predicted in May on a GW forum that without drastic changes this game will be dying within 3 month and dead within 6. I still stand by that prediction.
I loved it when all the GW fanboys kept screaming about it being a game that is "all about skill, not items and levels" and then several weeks later would complain about this game needing changes.

Nice looking POS.



-A

[Wyrm]

I've tried asking for help in-game from other players, but unfortunately, everyone there seems to think the game is perfect, so their "advice" consists of "party" or "it must just be you".

If you're referring to the random assortment of players you'll see in the districts, then you really shouldn't try to have anything anywhere near a serious conversation with them. Seriously, the PuG (pick up group) mentality is worse than the random games in d2, unless you get very picky about who you invite.

So, I come here in search of anyone who has this game and, more importantly, still plays. I know some of you bit the bullet when the game came out and played it for at least awhile, but I also remember a LOT of DS comments. Frankly, I think this is far worse than DS could ever hope to achieve. :P But in the vain hope that SOMEONE here still plays, I would love some company for the early levels. And if it comes down to me needing to start a new character to join you, so be it. Anything to alleviate the horrendous migraines this game is giving me.

Unless you decided to leave the guild for some reason (I do remember inviting you and seeing your name appear on the roster), you've already got access to quite a few players who are more than willing to help out on any mission. You just need to make use of the guild channel. Usually the only time you might not see at least 4 of us on at once is during the 3pm - 9pm EST time block. I've completed the game with 3 different characters, so, basically, when I'm signed on it's to help out people in the guild.

And even if none of you still play, any advice would be appreciated as well. Just keep in mind I don't know where ANYTHING is, so keep references to Ascalon City and the like. :P Seriously though, this game is pushing me to my last vesiges of patience. I'm gonna need a Valium before long if I don't get someone other than these stupid, STUPID Henchmen to play with, or at least someone to tell me "Don't worry, it gets better before long", cause this is just... well, like pulling teeth without any novacaine. :P
[right][snapback]87978[/snapback][/right]

Again, I refer you to the guild channel. Even when we're unavailable to help for missions (which would only be because we're in the middle of a mission/quest) we can still offer advice.

I completely agree with you that the AI is horrendous, the only way I was able to beat some of the missions was to put them off until I could get at least 1 other guildmate to help me complete them.

[Swiss Mercenary]

As bad as public groups are, henchmen bore me to death. And, ah, yes, I do play the game.

The difficulty wall you are running in - it is, 9 times out of 10, lack of experience on you, as a player. Everything prior to the last three missions is easily doable with just henchmen, worthless wastes of 1s and 0s that they are.

The game is still much better when you play with real people. Even if they do have the IQ of a turnip.

If you are having difficulties with self-healing, or other-healing monsters... It comes down to poor choices for your skills, or poor use of them.

Are you a Warrior? I propose bringing Disrupting Chop. Takes care of any skill that takes 2 seconds to cast with ease.

A Ranger? Distracting shot. This can spell doom for any AI spellcaster.

A Mesmer? Interrupt spells.

An Elementalist? Plenty of spells that cause knockdown.

A Necromancer, or a Monk? Well, not many anti-healer choices here, so try to use those given by your secondary class.

The majority of the PvE portion of the game, is, by and large, not difficult.

Ignore the monster levels. Level means little more then the power of their armour, and their health. You aren't intended to (Ala WoW) breeze through mobs 3 levels below you, or get slaughtered by mobs 5 levels above you.

And as for the difference between a "Starting PvP gear-equipped" and an "Everything unlocked" character in PvP can by far, and large, be bridged through player skill. Regardless of conflicting claims, superior runes or +5 armour weapon upgrades are not necessary to be competetive.

Lack of skills IS a real issue, yes. Lack of unlocked items is one overblown by naysayers.

[Roland]

If you're referring to the random assortment of players you'll see in the districts, then you really shouldn't try to have anything anywhere near a serious conversation with them.  Seriously, the PuG (pick up group) mentality is worse than the random games in d2, unless you get very picky about who you invite.

Actually, it is from a (normally) very helpful, friendly group of people that I was told to either "party with a PuG" or just shut up, because it was all "just me".

Unless you decided to leave the guild for some reason (I do remember inviting you and seeing your name appear on the roster), you've already got access to quite a few players who are more than willing to help out on any mission.  You just need to make use of the guild channel.  Usually the only time you might not see at least 4 of us on at once is during the 3pm - 9pm EST time block.  I've completed the game with 3 different characters, so, basically, when I'm signed on it's to help out people in the guild.

Again, I refer you to the guild channel.  Even when we're unavailable to help for missions (which would only be because we're in the middle of a mission/quest) we can still offer advice.

I haven't left to my knowledge, although I haven't found too many helpful faces, either. :P

I completely agree with you that the AI  is horrendous, the only way I was able to beat some of the missions was to put them off until I could get at least 1 other guildmate to help me complete them.

I can live with the bad AI most of the time. But the god-awful pathfinding just kills me. I play a R/E, and so tactical positioning is of the utmost importance to me. Being unable to move anywhere reliably because of horrendous AI, thus not being able to hit my enemies with spells or arrows is a real PITA.

[Minionman]

Actually, it is from a (normally) very helpful, friendly group of people that I was told to either "party with a PuG" or just shut up, because it was all "just me".
I haven't left to my knowledge, although I haven't found too many helpful faces, either. :P
I can live with the bad AI most of the time. But the god-awful pathfinding just kills me. I play a R/E, and so tactical positioning is of the utmost importance to me. Being unable to move anywhere reliably because of horrendous AI, thus not being able to hit my enemies with spells or arrows is a real PITA.
[right][snapback]88158[/snapback][/right]

with a ranger elementalist, try having your henchmen around you before attacking, so they ruhs in right away. You will attack from outside monster aggro range, so monsters a lot of the time will attack the warrior henchmen. Also, with mixed ranged/close combat creatures, attack the ranged if they are close together. The enemy close combats will attack the warrior henchmen more often, and things will sty more clumped.

[Roland]

with a ranger elementalist, try having your henchmen around you before attacking, so they ruhs in right away.  You will attack from outside monster aggro range, so monsters a lot of the time will attack the warrior henchmen.  Also, with mixed ranged/close combat creatures, attack the ranged if they are close together.  The enemy close combats will attack the warrior henchmen more often, and things will sty more clumped.
[right][snapback]88169[/snapback][/right]

Rarely does that ever work. The meleers ALWAYS split, half going after the Warrior, half after the Healer, or god forbid the Mage. Ranged attackers likewise always go for the Healer or Mage. I'm constantly having to babysit them all, but I can live with that. What kills me is when they rush headlong into a battle and drag half a dozen extra mobs into the fray. :P Running up close + Lava Font is a good tactic, but costly in mana and time. Firestorm is ok, but positioning is tricky, and it has a long cast time. I like Ignite Arrows + Dual Shot for a lot of AoE damage, but my spells definitely outweigh my bow attacks.

All the tactics you describe I use already. Believe me, it's not MY tactics. :P It's those of my henchmen, or the crappy game, that's causing me so much headache. And it's more the fact that I can't progress in the game with the henchmen, and the fact that the game is just so damn buggy (pathfinding, for example, and horrendous lag), that really makes life difficult and frustrating. The henchmen are the least of my worries, unfortunately.

Maybe I'll get lucky and get a good PuG next time I play, but I think for now I'll just wait it out. The game is truly just horrid right now, which is sad, because the PvP side was LOADS of fun the two times I played it. :P

[Minionman]

Try staying as far away as possible when first attacking. It is random who the monsters attack, but there are ways to get them more likely to attack certain monsters.

About aiming area effect spells, don't worry about perfect monster formations, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't. Pretty much what I do is if there are 2 or 3 monsters in an area for an area effect spell, I drop in on the monsters, since it will kill the monsters faster than waiting for a perfectformation. Alesia can almost always keep other people alive even if a couple of monsters go for mages.

If ranged attackers start near each other, or if they patrol that way, let them attack and hit them with area effect spells. They will just stand there and get beaten.

About it being your tactics or not, it is your tactics, notin the sense of you being really bad, more in the sense of not having learned yet the hard to see tricks that make a big difference. First time against ettins, they would wipe out my henchman party,later on, Icould kill them without a sweat, I still am not sure what the difference was, but I somehow have picked up timing and such that makes it a lot easier.

with henchmen running and atrtracting monsters, let monster movement take care of that for you. Monsters will split themselves up, so when you attack, the henchmen will go for the monsters you want and not rush off. If two groups seem to be moving towards each other, stop your attack, and run back, the henchmen should back off too. Otherwise, can't really help you, I have only had henchmen rush off from one group to another twice.

[Swiss Mercenary]

Well, at what specific point in battles do you have problems?

Do you get completely overwhelmed by the number of monsters coming? If so, then I second the "Wait for two groups to seperate, and then take a pot shot at one of them, then move back, so as to pull it away from its buddy group" idea.

Is it that? Powerful monster self-heals? Maybe the mission you are stuck on has an easier path to take.

And as for the monster target selection AI - it tends to follow the following rules (Which are consistent with what you have observed.)

If possible, attack the softest targets.

If possible, attack the target with the most -% Death Penalty.

If there is a meleer preventing you (The monster) from getting to the target, by physically blocking you, select the next best target, or attack the meleer.

If you are currently engaging the meleer, and he does not move, do not peel off to attack any other target, unless it comes within melee range.

If attacks cause conditions, try to spread them out.

If you have interrupts, use them whenever you can.

If the target carries an item in its hands, make it your #1 priority, regardless of anything else.

[Occhidiangela]

Rarely does that ever work. The meleers ALWAYS split, half going after the Warrior, half after the Healer, or god forbid the Mage. Ranged attackers likewise always go for the Healer or Mage. I'm constantly having to babysit them all, but I can live with that. What kills me is when they rush headlong into a battle and drag half a dozen extra mobs into the fray. :P Running up close + Lava Font is a good tactic, but costly in mana and time. Firestorm is ok, but positioning is tricky, and it has a long cast time. I like Ignite Arrows + Dual Shot for a lot of AoE damage, but my spells definitely outweigh my bow attacks.

All the tactics you describe I use already. Believe me, it's not MY tactics. :P It's those of my henchmen, or the crappy game, that's causing me so much headache. And it's more the fact that I can't progress in the game with the henchmen, and the fact that the game is just so damn buggy (pathfinding, for example, and horrendous lag), that really makes life difficult and frustrating. The henchmen are the least of my worries, unfortunately.

Maybe I'll get lucky and get a good PuG next time I play, but I think for now I'll just wait it out. The game is truly just horrid right now, which is sad, because the PvP side was LOADS of fun the two times I played it. :P
[right][snapback]88189[/snapback][/right]

Yes, indeed, when the lag started going up consistently on Power Gerbil, my warrior, I stopped playing. The pathfinding is a bit of an irritant here and there, and the invisible walls too. I had the same problem with WoW, being on Stormrage. The first person "over the shoulder" view and lag and the whole rhythm left me desiring to do pretty much anything else with my time.

Occhi

[roguebanshee]

Rarely does that ever work. The meleers ALWAYS split, half going after the Warrior, half after the Healer, or god forbid the Mage. Ranged attackers likewise always go for the Healer or Mage. I'm constantly having to babysit them all, but I can live with that. What kills me is when they rush headlong into a battle and drag half a dozen extra mobs into the fray. :P Running up close + Lava Font is a good tactic, but costly in mana and time. Firestorm is ok, but positioning is tricky, and it has a long cast time. I like Ignite Arrows + Dual Shot for a lot of AoE damage, but my spells definitely outweigh my bow attacks.
[right][snapback]88189[/snapback][/right]

Try using ctrl-shift-space to call your target once you're close but not yet within aggro range. Stefan (the warrior) should charge ahead and gather most of the aggro first due to proximity. You could also try a different group of henchmen, the holy trinity isn't required in GW.

Most spawns are somewhat static in their location and somewhat predictable. If you see a long stretch with no enemies you should expect an ambush or patrol if you haven't been there before.

My early explorations of post-Searing Ascalon had me fall over in many places due to my lack of experience with my skills, the mobs, pathing, equipment and the Stupid Squad (henchmen). Remember that you're new to the game. Just like in Diablo you'll meet things you can't figure out how to beat the first time around ("Ahh! Fresh meat!") but once you get some more experience the solution will be clear.

If you have a specific location or encounter that gives you problems then try to describe it. Asking for assistance on the guild channel may help too, unfortunately the 4 characters/account limit prevent some of us from teaming without completely overpowering the low end stuff.

[Roland]

Try staying as far away as possible when first attacking.  It is random who the monsters attack, but there are ways to get them more likely to attack certain monsters.

About aiming area effect spells, don't worry about perfect monster formations, sometimes you get them, sometimes you don't.  Pretty much what I do is if there are 2 or 3 monsters in an area for an area effect spell, I drop in on the monsters, since it will kill the monsters faster than waiting for a perfectformation.  Alesia can almost always keep other people alive even if a couple of monsters go for mages.

I haven't bothered waiting for the "perfect" formation since about half an hour into the game, when I truly started to see the limitations of AoE spells (I laugh at that phrase; AoE in GW is a joke - half the time if two mobs are standing equally apart from a central mob only one will take damage). I fire off what I can, when I can, depending on what is posing the biggest threat. The problem is, once my Henchmen start to crumple, the battle can very quickly go south, despite me being much stronger than them and my opponents, generally.

Oh, and Alesia can't do jack. :P She spends more time using her wand then she does healing, and if someone goes down, it'll usually be half a minute before she even attempts to start her 8-second resurrect spell. Orion always casts Firestorm right as the mob is dying, so that by the time he finishes casting, the mob has been dead the whole time and the spell is completely wasted. The Warrior, at least, is somewhat useful, able to dish out decent damage and take a fair bit, too. Maybe I need to start carrying around two Warrior henchmen? :P

If ranged attackers start near each other, or if they patrol that way, let them attack and hit them with area effect spells. They will just stand there and get beaten.

Yeah, you know, I know that. That hasn't changed much in video games at all over the last 20 years. It's no different here. Only players in PvP bother to move around to avoid spells. See my comments above: I don't bother waiting to hit them if I feel they are a sginificant threat. And ranged-attackers are ALWAYS higher than tanks, especially healers, because they always hit MY mage and healer.

About it being your tactics or not, it is your tactics, notin the sense of you being really bad, more in the sense of not having learned yet the hard to see tricks that make a big difference.  First time against ettins, they would wipe out my henchman party,later on,  Icould kill them without a sweat, I still am not sure what the difference was, but I somehow have picked up timing and such that makes it a lot easier.

That's really helpful. Thank you. Somehow, I still doubt it's my tactics. Perhaps there are times where I could have backed off to avoid adds, but generally it seems that adds use the aggro radius of the mobs I am attacking, rather than MY aggro radius, thus it does me no good to stand as far back as I can. After all, I do that anyway - I'm a R/E. I only get up close to take the heat off someone else who's getting maimed, because I can tank better than any of my Henchmen, and dish out more spell-damage. What sucks is not being able to pull attention off a mob that's beating on someone (like my Mage or Healer), and having him/her run away just as I get right next to the monsters to unleash a point-blank AoE, only to have to cancel it and move to the mobs new location because they followed. There's just no way for me to pull attention off one of my party members like there is in WoW, therefore, whoever is getting maimed will die 99% of the time. That's NOT MY tactics. That's poor game implementation. :P

with henchmen running and atrtracting monsters, let monster movement take care of that for you.  Monsters will split themselves up, so when you attack, the henchmen will go for the monsters you want and not rush off.  If two groups seem to be moving towards each other, stop your attack, and run back, the henchmen should back off too.  Otherwise, can't really help you, I have only had henchmen rush off from one group to another twice.

Generally, this is the case. Not always, however. Henchmen, once they have their target, will NOT go for what I want if I switch targets. It usually takes them upwards of 10 seconds to switch targets, and even then, most of the time I don't want them to switch! I want them to fight what they are fighting so I can take down the really important mobs, like Healers, not have them rush off to the healer in the back, only to drag every other mob they were fighting with them, and then get totally destroyed because of it. Worse, them running off like that often brings in unexpected visitors, sometimes from the very ground. Every been walking along and been ambushed by 6 monsters at once, who were not on your radar? Yeah, happens to me. And even when I try to be cautious, I still get ambushed, although usually I can pull out ok in the end these days. Not my tactics, just the way the game is, however frustrating.

I'm really getting tired of people saying "it's your tactics", or "use these skills", when a) it's NOT my tactics, it's just a poor game, and B) I don't have any of those skills because I can't complete the quests to get them.

[Roland]

Yes, indeed, when the lag started going up consistently on Power Gerbil, my warrior, I stopped playing.  The pathfinding is a bit of an irritant here and there, and the invisible walls too.  I had the same problem with WoW, being on Stormrage.  The first person "over the shoulder" view and lag and the whole rhythm left me desiring to do pretty much anything else with my time.

Occhi
[right][snapback]88205[/snapback][/right]

I must be spoiled by WoW, even on Stormrage, because lag is hardly an issue anymore. Oh, it certainly happens from time to time, and when it does it's usually pretty bad (generally involving "item lag", or "gathering lag" as I like to call it), but not game-breaking. In GW I'll get teleported around the map three times in the middle of a fight. And don't get me started on just trying to navigate along the map, or through town.

And before anyone says it's my connection, I have a 3Mbs cable connection that has given me NO problems with lag in any other game that was not server-related. AND the service has been VERY reliable over the years, with minimal problems and always being fixed in short order. I do not live in the boondocks. :)

[Roland]

Try using ctrl-shift-space to call your target once you're close but not yet within aggro range. Stefan (the warrior) should charge ahead and gather most of the aggro first due to proximity. You could also try a different group of henchmen, the holy trinity isn't required in GW.

I'll have to try that, although usually I fire off an arrow and by the time it's launched Stefan is off and running like a rabbit, heading for the very same target I was going to hit. They generally make contact at about the same time. ;) My biggest problem is getting them to continue attacking something while I attack something else. They just can't seem to do this, AND it takes them WAY too long to switch targets (this is without using the above command, though; I'll try that and see if it works).

Most spawns are somewhat static in their location and somewhat predictable. If you see a long stretch with no enemies you should expect an ambush or patrol if you haven't been there before.

Yup, this I've come to expect. The problem arises when I'm faced with 6 different groups of mobs all packed tightly together, and on ledges so I can't get a clear shot at them. There's just no way for me to attack them without dragging in more than I can chew, or ending up dying slowly because out damage cannot outpace their healing. Take the end of Althea's Ashes, for example. By the time I even get there, I've always died 3+ times because of my henchmen screwing around too much, and me being unable to get off damage spells in time to save their hides (Alesia is almost USELESS when it comes to healing; too many times I've seen myself or the Warrior get below 20%, only to be healed 10 seconds later when the mobs we were fighting are finally dead :P), thus they crumple and I'm left to pick up the pieces. A R/E cannot do jack against three warriors who can knock me down and counter EVERY one of my spells at will. It's like stunlock in Diablo - it's just unavoidable sometimes.

Maybe I need to take two tanks and a healer, instead of a Mage? Might help some.

My early explorations of post-Searing Ascalon had me fall over in many places due to my lack of experience with my skills, the mobs, pathing, equipment and the Stupid Squad (henchmen). Remember that you're new to the game. Just like in Diablo you'll meet things you can't figure out how to beat the first time around ("Ahh! Fresh meat!") but once you get some more experience the solution will be clear.

I know I'm new to the game. I also know what I see. This game is simply not a good game. It's one of the most noob-unfriendly games I've ever seen, it has horrendous bugs and gameplay issues that cripple the overall enjoyment of the game, and just overall it feels unpolished and unfinished. Not much has changed since beta, and that was 8 months ago. That is just bad. The same BS problems that aggravated the hell out of me then are still in the game, and that is purely unacceptable.

Maybe I'm just setting my standards too high, but personally I think it's more that the industry's standards are too low. Oh, sure, everyone gets on their soap box and preaches "Speak with your wallet, not your mouth", but it's kinda hard to do that when you can't return opened merchandise! Classic case of the sellers helping the creaters. You just can't win. If you don't buy it, you'll never know what it's like, but if you DO buy it, you're screwed if it's terrible, because you can't return it. Money spent, damage done, so sorry, move along. :P

If you have a specific location or encounter that gives you problems then try to describe it. Asking for assistance on the guild channel may help too, unfortunately the 4 characters/account limit prevent some of us from teaming without completely overpowering the low end stuff.

See, that's just it. My gripes with the game aren't about specific encounters. They are about fundamental problems with the game that those still playing seem to either ignore or have completely forgotten about, and those that don't play the game all say "Yep, that's how it was in beta, that's how it was for the first 3 days I played out of retail. I haven't gone back since." Classic ostrich syndrome, if you ask me.

Yes, I am stuck at one point in the game right now (Althea's Ashes), but I'm sure I can do it without advice. Advice isn't gonna change how difficult the quest is, and besides, all the advice I've gotten thus far when asking has been useless or insulting. So I don't bother anymore.

My fears about this game have already been confirmed. I just wanted to see if I was the only one who felt this way, as everyone in the game that I talk to seems to think (it's just me, it's all in my head, right....). I was right, it's NOT just me, and the game does have serious issues. The only difference between everyone else here who says the game is dull or broken and myself is I actually WANT to do the PvP side of the game. I hate PvP in any RPG because it's always broken or just stupid, but in this game it's FUN. So I decided to dredge through the PvE aspect of the game, only to find that it's just so horrendous as to not even be worth it. Truth be told, I forced myself to play it for the first few days more because I just wasted my money on it when I shouldn't have bought it in the first place. That was my main driving force, with the PvP aspect being second. But I can see it was a wasted effort, as well as a wasted investment, so I'm shelfing it for awhile to see if ANY good comes from waiting a few months. I doubt any will. Meanwhile, I'll go back to playing on my Gamecube and Xbox, enjoying QUALITY games that aren't bug-ridden and laiden with enough frustration to give you an embolism.

BTW - no matter how much I play them, Super Smash Bros. Melee and Halo 2 just never get old in groups. SP-wise, they have minimal replay, but get together 4 (or 16) players in a single room, and you have some seriously fun gaming. The saving grace of console games is that mini-lan (and even the old NES had that same "idea", just that it was built into the system, with only 2 players) magic. Playing with 2, or 4, or 16 players all together in the same house / room just beats the pants off playing with a bunch of strangers across the globe. The atmosphere and social interaction are just so much better, and so much more fun. I've been a hardcore PC guy for a long time, ever since the death of the SNES, but consoles still have that one edge, and I'm glad to see it hasn't changed. :)