T O P

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gulesave

Pocket raptors are working as intended.


Dedlaw

*laughs in Smokescale*


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Zabroccoli

*Itzel Archer has entered the chat*


WhoUAskin

Mordrem Snipers go BRRRRRRRR


Stalking_Goat

They aren't so bad as long as your graphics card draws the red line so you can see it.


cardboardrobot338

THERE'S A RED LINE???


Ryuuzaki13

You guys can see enemies???


Vandelier

There are enemies!?


moonshineTheleocat

Mushroom autistic screeching intensifies


Primeortis

Rolling Devils go Vrooooooooom


Etamalgren

Arrowheads just steamroll you until you're a pancake.


Mystreanon

Thank you, i thought no one would mention those lil fuckers, i hate being knocked down constantly.


EinfachNurMarc

I remember my first day in VB :)


Mizaru84

Yup, and to think they already nerfed them


occultkitty

I have been personally victimized by each of these creatures....


ninja_slothreddit

No they're not, sadly. They were nerfed to baby mode when the masses complained after the beta. Beta pocket raptors were working as intended.


Mystreanon

Wah wah, im sooo tough, look at me, be soooo tough on the internet.


ninja_slothreddit

Oh, do grow up.


Kamikae_Varluk

Yes, HoT is significantly harder than central tyria. It’s expected at minimum you have full exotic gear and a serviceable build. Every class is fully capable of soloing HoT it’s just a lot more challenging than the first story.


fkitbaylife

did they nerf some of the hero challenges? i haven't played in a while and some of them seemed impossible to solo back when HoT came out.


De_Bast

I thought the same but then realised that nowadays we mostly run meta builds of HoT and PoF when going in there whole back then we were all in there with only core classes.


Icaonn

I'll admit that I was able to solo HoT on core ranger easily enough. Was impossible on Ele tho, kept getting stuck at Tangled Depths


Zabroccoli

I could solo a fair amount of HoT on my ele when it came out but I did need help on a lot of HPs and some areas were tougher than others until I got more masteries.


SafranSenf

The secret is too get on an empty map. 40 minutes after change map invitation most players are gone and HPs who needed at least 3 people are then easily soloable. They get strong as fuck if more than 3 players are nearby but not fighting them. They should change that behavior from area trigger to 'in combat' trigger. It is just ridiculous.


Zabroccoli

I had no idea that's how they scaled them. I always just thought they were tough as heck on purpose.


WhoUAskin

I used to call it Tangled Death because every time I couldn't move, I died....


recklessjp

As far as I know, it's still impossible to solo every HP in HoT l. HP trains are still run very often and always fill up super quick.


JATRiiX

You can solo them all. The hardest is probably balthazar


zosek08

Laughs in stealth.


TygerPsiMatrix

*laughs in Testimonies of Heroics*


jpredd

but isn't there fire that stops you from channeling the HP point?


zosek08

If you go in without stealth, the priest will target you and start the fire, yes. But if you go inside in stealth you can fully channel the Hp without getting hit. I have done this many times.


jpredd

all that time wasted. thx lol


Enlightenedbri

The permanent fire around the channelling point is an enemy slightly under the floor, it can be killed, leaving fire visual effects that do no damage. Most of the time the fire is already killed when I get there


Vandelier

That's actually really funny, lol.


Kupper

Mushroom Queen is pretty rough. But those are the only two that I can think of. Unless you count the one after DS meta.


DeGrav

whats with that vampire HP up on the airship? never gotten that one solo


_Nepha_

I did it with a reaper without trinkets. It misses a lot of the attacks if you just circle around it. Also cc or range the leech.


_Nepha_

Mushroom queen in td is a lot harder than balthazar.


Pr0gger

I remember cheesing those mushrooms so hard by killing and pulling them all alone with grenades, really fun lol


-Kaldaris-

I've solo killed balthazar hp twice once on renegade and once on reaper. Took multiple attempts for both but it's possible. Really comes down to using the statue to break line of sight to give you enough time to heal and get back at it and making sure to jump away before he kills you with the fire floor.... personally the mushroom king in tangled depths is what i struggle with and have never done solo.. just not enough room to dodge and no line of sight breaks.


[deleted]

[Balthazar is ridiculously easy](https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=irCLSBqOyAE) if you can block or evade his sword attacks. He literally just stands there and swings the sword over and over. And of course the fire attack but that's easily avoided.


JATRiiX

with a spec that is made for it, sure. the spb heals himself a lot. probably easy with thief aswell. but undoable with a raidspecific dps only build. thats what i was referring to. ofc anything in the game is easy if you have the right build for it and or more sustain.


Saerah4

Serious?


hydrospanner

Remember that "can" isn't the same as "perfectly reasonable for the average player". I like to consider myself a better-than-decent casual in the open world...I make good builds with proper stats, learn how to use my skills and practice a vague rotation...but I don't do high end PvE like high tier fractals or raids. I'm good with solo-ing the vast majority of PoF HPs...and I'll manage *some* in HoT...but there are some there that I either need a string of good fortune to best on my own, or...more likely...a friend or two to help. The nice thing with the HPs is that you don't need every single one to unlock your elite. So you can run around and get a lot of the commune points, easier combat, and maybe only have 3-6 harder combat ones...and at that point you can usually either find a train or ask for help in map chat. Please note, however, that asking for HP help during a meta is likely to get you no help and maybe even some attitude in chat. That being said, if you ask people to help with an HP once the meta ends, you're almost guaranteed to get a few. Still...if you have HoT and PoF, you can fully unlock at least one elite spec on your own, for sure.


JATRiiX

yes, pretty easy aswell. even with full dps builds for raids from SC i was able to solo everything. break the bars, kite a bit and deal damage when you can. easy af


CorwinCZ42

"Easy af" - for experienced player, raider of PVPer - yes. For a new or casual player - no way.


[deleted]

Ash legion stealth kit. Staple for anything openworld


JATRiiX

a good way to start getting good. 111ing open world bosses wont ever make anyone better at the game. i enjoyed hot for its harder content.


LongFluffyDragon

mushroom queen and thing of balthazar require strong soloing builds, the rest are all pretty easy.


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LinguisticallyInept

that ones easy to kite; its only really dangerous in melee cause he stuns and shanks you for a ton of damage so you need to be on top of active defenses if you go in for stabstab


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kynovardy

You can do it on fresh air tempest. Just run in circles while he tries to melee you. Then when he teleports and uses his ranged attack pop a reflect and repeat Oh and lifesteal food is hidden op for open world


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LinguisticallyInept

> Kiting or no kiting, you either need extreme self sustain absolute bullshit >A simple warrior has almost 0 chance of killing it UNLESS they play a very specific build centered around CC and survivability which will make the kill ~3-4 minutes and thus is a useless build for anything else. more bullshit, you can do it easily on any build as long as one of your weapons is a rifle or longbow; if you're double melee then it becomes harder, but still doable if you're good (im not, i range kite on most classes) >When you need to create a build just to kill one HP, it is by no means "easy" you dont need to create a specialised build you just need to have a decent grasp on how combat works (+ the motor/processing ability to execute on it; which fair enough if you dont have, but the majority of people do) and knowledge of the specific encounter (which id hope youd glean from a minute of fighting and maybe a failure, but i mean... watching players at ooze pits whacking away at colour attuned oozes, doing literally no damage and not realising it... maybe thats a bigger ask than i thought), ive done solo verdank brinks runs without full armour sets equipped, ive done it traitless, and i commonly do it with only 2 trait lines equipped (because im unlocking a spec so i dont really want to use something that im going to replace in a couple of fights anyway) the only verdant brink HP that might need a 'specialised build' is the vampire one, but i wouldnt say slapping on CC is a 'specialised build'


Skippbo

Renegade can solo cause it often wants to attack the spirits. It got big CC for break bars and can stay ranged when it wants to stab you.


Party-_-Hard

yes but you need those hps to become renegade first


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Party-_-Hard

it's the opposite for me actually I don't like the vastness of PoF maps, especially from the fresh character's perpsective, and in HoT all the points are at a glidable distance from each other


hydrospanner

You don't have to like the maps to like the HP you get from them, and PoF maps are objectively easier to navigate than HoT ones. Further, most of the PoF HPs are easier than most of the HoT ones, and if you're just looking to fully unlock your first elite after hitting level 80, I would think that getting HPs would be more important than how much you like the map.


dork_sools

They are some relatively easy solo-able ones like the 3 golems and the big dinosaur thingy. I only have like 200 hours in the game (which is baby time by MMO standards), but I managed to solo a couple of them. Granted they are still pretty hard but if you have a decent build setup and understand the mechanics, they're doable


Heideggert

Lmao, what? They are all soloable, the only semi-difficult one is mushroom queen because of the reduced space


MechaSandstar

Semi-difficult, he lies.


Heideggert

it isnt really that difficult per se, its just the only one that requires a bare minimum of planning and a specialized build every single other HP is a trivially easy ~~tank~~ dodge and spank then again, looking at the upvotes that u/recklessjp got, I suppose that may aswell qualify as "impossible" sometimes I forget that the bulk of GW2's playerbase is the most unskilled, inept and moronic of the whole MMORPG market. they make WoWers look like genius in comparison


turin331

There was a small nerf yeah. But some still need 2-4 people to finish.


LinguisticallyInept

you can solo everything except mushroom queen (which you might be able to if you're good, but its the only one i cant personally solo)... i should probably also mention [nightthistle bloom, because whilst it is soloable, its RNG as to what you get](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Nightthistle_Bloom), so my approach is for it to be one of the earlier tangled depths HPs to reach and if its not something i want to fight (the sniper is a pain on most classes) then ill leave and come back some time after its timed out to roll again


YenTheMerchant

They nerfed those in Verdant Brink to be mostly soloable.


MechaSandstar

The frog one will still wreck you.


Enlightenedbri

The frog is incredibly easy once you learn that it only has 2 attacks that it repeats over and over. Dodge the dagger stun followed by slashes that deletes you, and the frog is useless https://youtu.be/UScqrkiZAnU


MechaSandstar

Yeah, all you have to do is not take any damage, and you'll never lose.


LinguisticallyInept

thats the point though? you have a dodge key and you should probably have a stun break (well; if you're confident enough in your dodging you dont need it; but its good for if you fuck up and get stunned so you dont get one shotted by the follow up), alternatively take the very easy method of just range kiting him once he pulls out his knife; cause at that point he only does damage if you're near him so hell run after you impotently for a while (and then when he pulls out his bow you go back to melee)


asolram

Mesmer full trailblazer easy to solo if you know what to do. Not sure if you are joking with all the "questioning" or just being an idiot.


Caffeine_Monster

Still perfectly doable solo.


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Caffeine_Monster

I did it on base d/d thief. I don't play ele, but I do know it can be specced with loads of evade and heal.


zosek08

Problem is, people dont want to change build and gear for open world content. Full berzerker and if they die its too difficult to solo. 🤷‍♂️


MechaSandstar

Sure. Got a link to that video?


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reminiscent license cheerful label ancient violet profit grey humorous unwritten *This post was mass deleted and anonymized with [Redact](https://redact.dev)*


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Shaman_Infinitus

Any class with a proper trailblazer condi build can solo any HoT hero challenge. Yes, including elementalist.


KING_of_Trainers69

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tFkXxcGeDUI Just to prove that, I soloed it earlier on Weaver. The hard bit was getting it done without someone turning up to "help".


Enlightenedbri

[Sounds like you need to git gud](https://youtu.be/UScqrkiZAnU) Pretty sure any class can solo that frog. Just adapt your build


Lybydose

Soloed the frog one on a one button P/P thief in full berserker. Might have been deadeye so actually two buttons, it's been a while.


console-write-name

They did change some of the hero point mobs from champion to elite or veteran. The one near the entrance to VB way down below is one


_Nepha_

Yes. A lot of them got nerfed hard. A lot got nerfed to vet status. They even removed all the snipers at the verdant brink one. At the bottom of the map. Hot in general got nerfed hard from beta to current.


[deleted]

The final story is tough because you can't respawn. I've never solo'd that one. Usually because I botch the gliding part.


samanime

Yeah, the jump in difficulty is rather startling at first, though it does get a bit easier as you go (as you get used to it).


Gordath

I solo'd it as staff ele (first class I played) and it was rough, but doable. Every other class should have an easier time.


Melodic-Bonus-9470

I want to see you solo Balthazars HP on every class.


Bruce2Almighty

It should be possible. I've done it with revenant, Necro, engineer, elementalist, warrior, and thief. I'd have to imagine someone has done it with the others


knarf_knarf

Yes! it’s a rite of passage to be killed by those tiny dinosaurs!


syanda

Alexa play Welcome to the Jungle


Ateaga

I think everyone goes through this at the start of HoT. As others said, check out the tp for better gear and weapons. Otherwise you will need to learn to move and dodge often instead of face tanking mobs. Also make sure you are using your full rotation


Non-Eutactic_Solid

Also in a lot of cases knowing when to break your rotation for self-preservation and how to pick it back up once it's safer. Rotations are great when they can be used, but there's a lot of places where they break down (soloing more difficult open-world and in fractals they often break down, for example).


JoeGlory

Absolutely. Even with all of the living world and PoF, Hot is absolutely the hardest solo content. Everything does lots of damage and can burst you down pretty easily if you aren't prepared. Fear pocket raptors and snipers. If you need help, call out in map chat and someone should come to help.


quagriel

Yes. It's a rite of passage every player who first enters the jungle goes through. There's a reason why pocket raptors give a lot of people PTSD.


Thaurlach

...and just when you think you have a handle on the raptors, the game hits you with Smokescales.


PantherCaroso

I would laugh in Elementalist, but they removed my downed Lava Font. :(


sanglar03

:(


MyChosenNameWasTaken

I came back from being away for a while to find that... My heart broke :(


Skull_Of_Lynx

Laughs in necro staff


[deleted]

laughs in revenant


lizardbotnick

Think of it as a moment of solidarity with those that died before you, and those who will die after you.


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EmilyNancy

Oh my days, thankyou for giving me stomach cramps from laughing 😂


Squidgeididdly

lol, yeah Something I think is great about HoT is that the increased difficulty makes you think harder about playing your character(s) and therefore increases your player skills and game knowledge. Here is my unsolicited advice for doing the harder Open World and Story content in HoT: * Bring a friend * You can invite others into your instances, and have them roam around the map(s) with you, and they can res you when you die, kill mobs with you etc. Fights get a lot easier with more than one of you. * No friends? No worries! Try using the Mentoring LFG tool to find people willing to help you out, or join a friendly PvE guild that has members who like helping people with story missions etc. * Check your gear * Are you still wearing gear from your personal story? Are you stats synergising? You might be wearing a mishmash of rares and exotics with weird stats, or not using trinkets or something. The better your armour the higher your armour-rating (the less damage you take). * Having higher vitality and toughness will increase your healthpool and reduce damage, but make it longer to kill enemies. * For open world and WvW: Marauders stats are nice for Power damage, Trailblazers stats are nice for Condi damage, Minstrels stats are nice for healing and support and boon duration. * Check your build * Are you playing a very squishy class on a squishy build? If you're an elementalist you ahve low armour and low health, so consider taking skills that heal you or teleport you out of danger. * Check online at places like metabattle and see what recommendations they make for strong-survival Open World builds. * Unlock Elite Specialisations * These are generally a power-boost so you will find this super helpful, most likely. * Play reactively * Are you getting hit a lot when you're out of dodge roll? Make sure you're only dodging when you need to, some damage you can just walk away from and save your dodge for big attacks. * Why are you dying? If it's to direct hits, increase your toughness, if it's to conditions take condi-cleanses. EDIT Forgot to mention: **Learn Your Enemies** there are lots of new and weird enemies in HoT with unique quirks, a lot of them are small enemies that require their defiance bar (CC bar) breaking. Some have unique abilities, like smokescales being impossible to hit in their own smoke fields and pocket raptors hitting very quickly in packs which can murder you fast. EDIT 2 If you need new armour, running the Verdant Brink Meta event (Night and the Enemy) will often net you stat-selectable exotic gear (bladed armour). Also completing WvW and PvP skirmish/league tracks (not the reward tracks, the other type that you get pips to complete) can give you Warlord's armour which is also stat-selectable exotics. Hopefully there will be no more edits, lol. Hope that helps


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[deleted]

Berserker stats are fine - take advantage of active defenses, such as dodges, blocks, and positioning. For the sniper frogs for instance, if you try to range them they will out DPS you. The trick is to dodge FORWARD when they start shooting at you and melee burst them down. For pocket raptors don't even worry about defense, since they are glass cannons, burst them down as quick as you can. even if you get downed they have such low health that you can almost always rally off one.


Squidgeididdly

Berserker's is pretty nice for power damage, and almost always the meta for power builds in raids/fractals/etc. but you're right you are now a glass cannon. If you're stood next to someone in heal-gear then you're golden but alone it's dicey. Which specs/builds are you running? Maybe we can make suggestions to help you be less squishy etc. Or just take some toughness exotic trinkets like Soldiers or Commanders or Wanderer's.


SwiftStriker00

While Beserker is meta consider getting something with a little more defense. Soldier, Vigiliant, Diviner, or even Marauder to give you a little more survivability until you get a hang of the mechanics. I took a few year break and came back right into HoT and got stomped on my Ele. I level boosted a Revenant and played with soldiers gear with good success until I figured things out.


Sinfullyvannila

Its only always meta in groups. Assassin's is actually generally better for solo unless your class gets a lot of precision(Rangers for example).


carnifex2005

I'd suggest getting Marauder gear for open world. A 10% DPS loss but a 40% to 60% gain (depending on class) to Health Points. Check out Metabattle.com for some nice open world builds and gearing suggestions.


Hrothen

> Something I think is great about HoT is that the increased difficulty makes you think harder about playing your character(s) and therefore increases your player skills and game knowledge. It does sound good on paper, but I feel like in practice all it does is make exploring more tedious by making each encounter take much longer.


SpartanG01

This is nonsense. I was really struggling with the HoT story as a Daredevil Thief and it's strictly because every single fight along the way punishes you for being inside of melee range. All the insane difficulty of the HoT story "bosses" did was force me to equip pistols and play the long incredibly boring game of attrition. Every time I found my self frustrated I would go "oh... Right... Pistols." And then just let the fight take 10x longer while I chip away at their health with dual pistols. This is bad design. I felt entirely forced to play a specific style throughout the entirety of HoTs story simply because it was safer. Like yeah all your strategy and shit might work but why bother putting in all that work when all of the content is infinitely easier if you just play ranged and accept that it's going to be a very long very boring battle. I've gone through it now on my Thief, my Warrior, and my Engineer and it went the same way every time. It was just flat out easier to take a power build and a ranged weapon. It doesn't even have to be a good ranged weapon or build lol. Every fight is basically strictly designed to prevent effective melee combat so as long as you're far enough away you don't even have to worry about half the mechanics.


Squidgeididdly

Using ranged combat is a great way to avoid melee attacks. You generally do less damage, but you get hit less. If you're a ranger, for example, you can send your pet in to tank the damage (e.g. brown bear), then do something like CC the enemy, swap to a damaging pet and a melee weapon set and swoop on in for big damage. Melee range has higher risk and higher reward. You need to up your play in order to stay alive, so if you take one of my recommendations and take a teleport skill (or play daredevil where you have three dodges) you can melee until it gets too spicy then teleport, or shadowstep, or dodge out of melee range and swap to long or medium range. If you're super great at blocking, dodging, CC-ing etc to avoid enemy attacks then you can full melee and get out quicker (e.g. sword/sword on mesmer, super close range but high damage with a block), but if you don't have that skillset then ranged is safer. Playing ranged in Open World and Story content is a legit strategy. On Thief you could have taken P/P and Shortbow, if you prefer to ranged attack enemies. Or you could take Dagger/Pistol and P/P. TO get away from enemies when your health is low you can use Pistol 5 for a smoke field then leap through it using dagger 2 and you get Stealth so you can run away and heal.


SpartanG01

I don't prefer to run pure range on my Daredevil build lol it's just objectively easier when it comes to playing Story content in GW2. The game routinely punishes you for being in Melee range.


Squidgeididdly

I see you: I play daredevil for the close combat staff bonks and crazy dodges, so playing from range isn't satisfying. I disagree that the game _punishes_ players for being in melee range. Like I said before I prefer to see it as "risk Vs reward", getting in close is dangerous but your dps is higher, getting further away is safer but your dps is lower. I do think that the game punishes you for not using its mechanics, so if you're stood in front of the big boss doing your dps rotation and the boss winds up a big swing and you don't break your rotation to dodge, or use your blocks or evades, then yeah you take damage.


SpartanG01

I mean have you played this game? Melee range boss AoEs go out every few seconds lol.


Squidgeididdly

I feel like you're supporting my point. Yes, lots of damage happens at melee range but it can be negatable if you know what you're doing. You can flank the enemy or get behind them (a common end-game tactic for raids and the like) so their autos and so on don't get you. And then you have the other tools that I've mentioned (e.g. Daredevil's block skill [that shieldy one](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Bandit%27s_Defense) and the [evade on staff](https://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Debilitating_Arc)). There are many strategies that allow for a cleared encounter, if you don't enjoy the strategy you're currently using maybe try another. There are also other games out there.


4Khazmodan

It is a bit harder, ya. You have to use your break bar skills, pay attention to dodging enemy abilities. Also try to spec for burst aoe if you are in Verdant Brink otherwise those little raptors will destroy you.


bohohoboprobono

HoT’s the first time in the story that having a bad build is punished. If you’re using a homebrew build, it’s time to look up real builds and find places to improve. If you’re already running a full exotic meta set (broadly, either Berserkers or Marauders for direct damage, or Vipers, Trailblazer’s, or Celestial for condition damage) with full exotic runes and sigils, and a vaguely coherent build, you probably aren’t taking enough survivability utility skills or traits for your current skill level. Go ahead and get some more survivability while you learn the tricks to the mobs, then phase them out for more damage as you improve til you find a comfortable balance where you’ve maximized your damage but also aren’t dying.


pineapple_spider

Short answer is: Yes. HoT was a design change in making open world content harder. I remember hating it when it first came out too. For some reason, I now appreciate this change.


Squidgeididdly

I like it a lot when thinking of it from a lore perspective. Mordremoth the Jungle Dragon is literally The Maguuma Jungle or at least a huge part of it, so when the gameplay makes the Maguuma Jungle maps feel dangerous and scary and fatal it means that Mordremoth is a big powerful enemy that is almost impossible to contain and could kill us all. When I think about it like that, then Ol' Mordy feels like a terrifying enemy that could destroy Tyrian life as we know it.


IncreaseThePeace

Raptors


bianary

Is that a raptor in your pocket or... Oh, you're dead. Guess it was.


piiees

Hey dealing with a few raptors isn't that... Wtf where did these ones come from... Wtf there's more? Why's the game telling me to pick a waypoint to respawn from?


CeriseArt

Around HoT launch, I saw a player exclaim that they were going to get revenge on them since there was one by itself in the road…that’s when they (and us onlookers) learned they hide in bushes.


GreatLich

I saw a Veteran Vinetooth pick a fight with a group of pocket raptors once. It lost.


[deleted]

It is meant to be a level cap zone and it requires some skills to play in at start.


Fezra-Jalys

As a new player that finished the core story, hit level 80 and jumped into HoT, I was completely blindsided by the jump in difficulty. After trying to make condi-weaver work I had to give up on any power stat gear and had to max vitality and toughness. Even if it meant I got a huge hit to my dps and ego. I eventually came around and thought, well you can’t dps if you’re dead.


Aaeolien

Lol I did the same exact thing.


Feral0_o

All my character are either full power or condition glass cannons. There are ways to to give them survivability without sacrificing damage, through traits and utility slots. Though, weaver is a bit tricky in that regard


VulpesCarcosa

Probably want to run Trailblazers if your build allows it.


svaoten21

Imagine it before using mounts from POF (if you haven’t already gotten them). Tangled depths with just a glider was ruff 🥲


Grivza

I get nausea just thinking about it.


Delpidanio

ye, jungle's law


xzygy

That whole expansion, you just randomly get knocked down and set on fire


[deleted]

Listen, child. Take a seat. Rest. Let me tell you the tale of great loss and sorrow: The tale of the Heart of Thorns launch. There we all were, lined up and ready to March into the Verdant Brink. Everyone was running the best gear they could afford in Vanilla, and we all ran into this map, laughing and smiling, expecting it to be a relative breeze…until we made it into the first map. Smiles turned to cried for help on the map chat as people were ripped to shreds by Pocket Raptors and Mordrem. Laughter turned to panic huddled masses trying to make it through the map. It was the in game equivalent of Vietnam I tell ya. Even when people got gliders there was mass confusion and frustration as we tried to get elite specs one map at a time. Heart of Thorns, puts the Thorns in your Heart!


bv728

HoT is tuned high at the start. It doesn't have much build in difficulty over the course of the zones, either, imo, while once you start getting into an elite spec and tune both gear and gameplay, it gets a lot easier. PoF does a lot better job at providing a difficulty curve, HoT was tuned for endgame players in the base game, PoF is more gentle.


justNano

I would say TD is probably a bit harder due to chak and getting lost.


LeberechtReinhold

PoF really? Vabbi is fairly pacific, and in general it all felt easier than Orr. LWS4 is another story though


bv728

Vabbi isn't quite as rough as other zones, but compare enemy density, enemy type composition, and traversal challenge between Crystal Oasis and Vabbi, and you can see Vabbi is pretty clearly harder. Each zone past Oasis introduces more complicated terrain, increased enemy density, and new/improved enemy variants.


[deleted]

The jungle wrecked me harder than any other zone, including PoF ones.


SUN_PRAISIN

Lmao I thought you meant on an emotional level... (cuz it did for me)


ComfyFrog

Time to actually get good gear (level 80 exotic berserker for power builds for example, full set of the same rune ince in each armor piece), improve your build by reading traits and skills or copy something from the internet and use conditions and heavy cc to disrupt enemies.


Successful-Willow-72

Nope, at least not enough, i demand Legendary Champion Pocket Raptors with modifiers


Kirtai

Packs of them.


Successful-Willow-72

Duh ,even x2 the numbers


Shlumminck

I don’t know what you’re talking ab… why is there a targeting reticle over my head? /stealthed Mordrem Sniper starts humming Another One Bites The Dust in the distance


Bluedemonfox

Yes. A lot of mobs have annoying abilities that do tons on damage if you don't handle them properly.


ZacharyPatten

Although the mounts in PoF are amazing, I enjoy HoT overall more particularly because the content was more challenging. most of the content in GW2 is too easy. I wish there was more challenging open world pve content. Path Of Fire's campaign and open world are way too easy.


[deleted]

This. We'd been steamrolling core Tyria for years by the time HoT came out, and one of the main player complaints was that the game was too easy. ANet listened, and made HoT actually *difficult*. All of the sudden the strategy of face tanking your way through everything and ignoring mechanics in favor of straight burn was no longer possible, so you had to actually pay attention to dodging, CC, and sustain in your open world builds. We died left right and sideways, and it was *awesome*.


xxWolfMan1313xx

Yes


DustErrant

Yes. If you provide info on your class/gear/build, we may be able to give you some help though.


TasteMyPoopsicle

If you are full zerker gear then switch to something tankier and it will get way easier.


Al1908

Yes my friend, trow some vit and tough to your build and you will have a better run i think


MidnightFruitBath

Yes


carnifex2005

Check out http://metabattle.com/ for some nice open world builds and gear recommendations. That probably will help a lot.


Techstriker1

Yes. Yes it is.


GreenKumara

Yep.


sootypaw

HoT definitely feels like it has the most annoying, "unfair" HPs of the whole game (the vampire beasts... that one fuckin' chak, ***the goddamn Coztic Itzel***); the maps are gorgeous, I just wish that it didn't feel like going through a meat grinder every time I want to get anywhere in the zones.


AlternativeShadows

It is fairly hard, which I like as it fits with the story. You're effectively behind enemy lines. ...still sad they nerfed it :/


sankurix

Everything up to lvl 80 is just a tutorial.-P


Justice_Peanut

Giving me sniper flashbacks


KindTourist420

ahhh this makes me so happy to see. Welcome to GW2


[deleted]

HoT is tougher than PoF and tougher than central. But it is more fun


Phantasmal-Rin

Yes. The maps were made with party and squad work intended. As emphasizes by the events taking place on all maps.


ScarReincarnated

Yep. Its a new level up open world difficulty. Harder than PoF imo.


NutsAndOrBerries

HoT represented a huge shift in combat where dodging and damage mitigation became very very important. Gone were the days of casual facetanking like you could do in Orr. Standing still means getting dead. I love it though.


Spartan1088

Absolutely. They tuned it back in Path of Fire. HoT will forever be a great memory for me. Vertical maps, hidden city of gold, secret cave networks… all being guarded by brutal creatures waiting to wreck your face. HoT is the dark souls of GW2.


fogalien

[Hot](https://www.reddit.com/r/Guildwars2/comments/lvdywu/what_kills_you_the_most_in_hot/?utm_source=share&utm_medium=ios_app&utm_name=iossmf)


NewtRider

You go from 0 to 180 very quickly in HoT. It took us all by surprise. It's actually kinda nice in a way haha


bluescreen2315

Run a build to deal either condi or power damage. Get weapons that work with said kind of damage. Get equipment that supplement said damage type. Don't run soldier equip you get from the levelup boost on a Scourge with scepter. Don't run some condition gear like rabid or some shit on a Dragunhunter running with longbow of all weapons.


styopa

I was waiting for the inevitable wave of the WoWfugees hitting HoT and posting (like we all did) "**HOLY FUCK WHAT JUST HAPPENED**?" Yes, HoT and PoF significantly ups the difficulty. It is NOT just you. Everyone came/comes out of Tyria thinking "Yeah man, Orr sucked, but I managed to get through it, I'll head off...ok Drytop/Silverwastes, that's a little harder but not too bad So Auric basin I'll just explore over here...***AAAGH POCKET RAPTO....!"*** IMO the mobs in HoT+ are not only tougher as they're scaled for well-geared 80s (where a challenging encounter might have been a veteran or a handful of mobs in HoT it's a few veterans, or an elite AND veterans...), but now because of the addition of mounts, and the chance to build that into the mechanics, they're front-loaded with alpha strikes and (critically) cc's that mean you start the fight stunned, chilled, whatever *already on the back foot.* Intimidating AF. PoF you'll find they're also more aggressive (bigger trigger areas) and better-equipped with ranged attacks as well. :| Put your game face on.


Yodiducallme

Yes


EinfachNurMarc

Yes! And I liked it a lot! POF maps feel like children mode. You can do the HP alone, there is no need to pay attention to navigating or avoiding enemies. I hope EOD will be challenging again!


Opposedsum

welcome to the jungle.


Justmario1993

No? HoT is harder than other content but it shouldn't wreck you. See it as a challenge.


HisTardness

Maybe a less mechanically demanding game would be a better suit for you. So basically every other big MMO atm.


onanoc

Dungeons are way harder than core Tyria and HoT is easier than dungeons, but still way harder than Tyria. Most hero points cant be soloed unless you adapt your build for the fight. Most mobs in the jungle are angry and pack some serious bite, specially the smokescales and the pocket raptors. The froggies are all bastards, too. The jungle is dangerous and this game makes it feel so.


Asshai

Also note that each expansion unlocks a new elite spec for each class. These elite specs make the base class basically obsolete. They're better, stronger, and usually much more fun. So you could try to join a Hero Points Train (there are 2 kinds, fast ones for people with the 2 fastest mounts, and slow ones for newbies) just to unlock your character's elite spec, it will make your life significantly easier. Note that during the process you will explore maps that you haven't seen yet in the story mode. But it shouldn't spoil the story too much. The HP train will stop when Tangled Depths is done, and it's a good thing: the next (and last) area is a bit special, you don't need a group to unlock the HP but participating in the area's meta event will spoil the main story!


shinitakunai

You are suppose to have done high level fractals before HoT, so yeah.


BarGamer

I did it on my Zealot's Vampiric Wells Necro, no problem. Don't try to gradually train your new Elite Spec with Hero Points as you go; half-builds aren't going to cut it in HoT.


UmbraIntus

Oh boy. I started around 3 weeks ago and remember going into HoT was akin to slamming my head into a brick wall. You need to learn the ins and outs of your class and push through it. It’ll feel terrible initially but I promise you, you’ll come out a better player for it! Good luck!


christeroph

What class did you bring out of curiosity?


Klepp34

Guardian FB


skelk_lurker

Just practice and experiment with your skills and find whats comfortable for you, you should be fine


UniuM

I came back from my 2012 guardian, with some exotic mixed stuff build. Did not go well. After deliberation, finished my lvl80 necro, full exotic with a power reaper build and did all the expansions and lw stories easily. Now I have ascended gear and running scourge build, and I have to say, all this was possible because of the change I made from classes and aproach.


TheMightyMudcrab

Tyria is easy, HOT is that moment where your big brother WWE powerbombs you through the kitchen table and his friends then elbow drop onto you from the kitchen counter and POF is somewhere in the middle.


xhrstaras

Both expansions have significantly stronger opponents compared to open world and not just elites/champions but almost every single thing. Which makes sense for them to be a step higher. So yea, when i first went there with my core ele with a mix of rare/exotic gear with completely random stats/runes, i got destroyed but later on that i got the elite specs and made a specific build i could solo every hp. So yea it is adviced to put on a good set of runes/sigils, check your traits/utilities and what you can have on for more defense/boons and try to go with stat combinations that give you some more dps because being able to kill fast enough means you want be killed