Post by buhwhyen on Apr 30, 2013 13:48:33 GMT -5
This is becoming more important to us as a group, and we aren't doing a lot of things to make this easier on ourselves. For dungeons such as Twilight Arbor and Arah, there are sections which can be skipped by running past mobs. These sections are particularly long unlike other dungeons where you still skip sets (Ascalon Catacombs, and Citadel of Flame).
Main ideas:
-Stick together. We do not do this well. If you do not stick together, it becomes more difficult for the people lagging behind to avoid getting downed (mobs tend to deaggro onto the same target, generally whoever is nearest and not beyond their tether range). The further behind someone lags, the more burdensome it becomes to navigate all the sets that people in front of them may have triggered (sets that spawn only when you first approach them). The classes that fall behind will also never really have a chance to catch up. They generally fall behind because they cannot maintain swiftness, and have no good mobility skills. Less likely, but potentially it might also be because they get crippled/chilled/stun/immobilize, etc. and don't have easy access to removal skills.
-Condition removal. Being able to remove cripples/chills/immobilizes quickly (and on demand) is quite important. Being slowed/not moving generally leads to death (pretty obvious), or falling behind the rest of your party (less obvious, but also generally leads to death). Self condition removal is good, but having aoe condition removal is suggested. Conditions also keep you in combat, so it can prevent you from regenerating part way through.
-Group buffs. There are a number of aoe abilities that grant swiftness, stability, protection, vigor, and regeneration. These help the less mobile classes who generally have a difficult (or impossible) time having 100% uptime on swiftness. More important ones give swiftness and/or vigor, though other protection oriented buffs are not a bad idea to have.
*Guardian staff 3 – aoe swiftness
*Warrior warhorn 4 – aoe swiftness and cripple/immobilize/chill removal
*Warrior warhorn 5 – aoe vigor
*Ranger warhorn 5 – aoe swiftness
*Elementalist staff/air 4 – aoe swiftness and cripple/immobilize/chill removal
*Mesmer focus 4 – aoe swiftness (doesn't stack – only works as the first swiftness)
*Guardian utility (retreat) – aoe swiftness + aegis
*Warrior (banner – inspire) – aoe swiftness
*Elementalist staff/air 5 + blast finisher = lightning field + blast finisher = aoe swiftness
-Healing/regeneration. The obvious self heal skill applies, however having a source of group/aoe healing and/or regen is good, especially for longer runs where you might have difficulty getting out of combat to heal.
-Stun breaks. You should almost always have one for longer runs. Generally there's at least one or two mobs that have some form of stun/knockdown that warrants bringing a stun break. Note: when you stun break knockdowns, do not hit the stun break until you stop bouncing. If you hit the stun break too early, it will have no effect.
-Avoid what you can. Just because you're running past mobs, doesn't mean you literally have to run through them. Taking a slightly longer path to remain outside their aggro range longer, or possibly avoid aggro'ing a set all together is always preferable.
-Crowd Control as you run. Similar to the last point. If you're running up to a set of mobs, you can try to go around. If that isn't possible... throw down a stun field or aoe cripple/chill of some sort as you approach, to help prevent them from catching you or in some way inflicting damage. Abilities that knockdown/knockback/pull enemies also work. Or something like Guardian staff 5 (line of negation) or Guardian Hammer 5 (ring of negation) also is helpful to prevent mobs from being able to chase you.
-Individual mobility. Interestingly, using individual mobility moves is generally a BAD idea for skipping sets in dungeons. It's simply selfish and usually detrimental to the group as a whole. This goes back to the idea of sticking together. If you use say ride the lightning and get really far ahead, this can cause trouble for the people following you if/when the mobs following you all re-aggro onto one person and potentially one shot them if they don't dodge. Keep the use of individual mobility skills to a minimum and try not to spread out too much.
Potential set ups
Not necessarily that these are skills/weapons that you have to or should run, but more an example of stuff you should consider bringing.
Guardian
Weapons
-staff + hammer. Heavy emphasis on not allowing mobs to chase you. Potentially good for mobs that have shadow step abilities, or ways to constantly catch up to you. Strong ability to help your party members avoid damage as well.
-staff + sword/focus. More selfish set up. Probably better if there are times where you know that you cannot avoid getting hit. Sword 2 aoe blinds and teleports you to your target, chained with focus 4, this can give 2 free misses in a row. Focus 5 allows you to have access to 3 blocks at least once during a run. You might not need both negation fields (and hammer ring of negation cannot be cast while moving – which might be undesirable).
Utilities
-Retreat. Pretty straight forward choice. Swifntess + aegis. Long cooldown, but still a very good skill for running around. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Hold the line. Aoe protection and regeneration. Good for helping to mitigate and heal damage taken. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Stand your ground. Aoe stability. Good for areas that have knockdowns and stuns. Or Arah where there might be rings of negation that require stability or teleports to get out of. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Wall of reflection. Good only in projectile heavy areas. If you use this skill, use it just after you pass the ranged mobs you're running past. Otherwise you'll probably run through it before it actually stops any projectiles.
Elite
-Tome of courage. Pop this and heal allies and yourself as you run. Potentially useful, depends if you really need the healing or not.
-Renewed Focus. Probably my choice for elite for Guardians in the majority of situations, including running. Gives an extra aegis cast and heal off the virtue of resolve for you and your party. Virtue of resolve can also be condition removal if traited.
Warrior
Weapons
-Greatsword + Sword/warhorn. Honestly main hand doesn't really matter too much. Might as well have sword just in case you need the leap, though. Warhorn for obvious group swiftness/vigor and cripple removal. Greatsword gives you another dodge with bladetrail and ranged cripple.
-whatever/shield. More defensive set up. Good for shield stance and extra blocks. Long cooldown on shield stance, though.
-Hammer. Depending on your starting adrenaline, earthshaker can be a useful aoe stun. And hammer 4 can be useful to help push mobs back if need be. Hammer 4 cannot be cast while moving, though.
Utilities
-Shake it off. Pretty much a staple skill regardless of build/situation. Aoe condition removal + stun break. Heals if you trait it.
-Balanced stance. Staple stability skill + stun break.
-Banner of Defense. Banners all have aoe swiftness on the 3 ability. As well as a dash on the 4 ability (if you ever need it). The 2 ability for the defense banner is aoe knockback, which is situationally useful.
-Banner of Tactics. Similar to above, except the 2 ability is an aoe heal. Generally more useful for running.
-Endure pain. I probably wouldn't take this to run, duration isn't very long and there shouldn't be too many situations where you need to absorb huge amounts of damage (and can't just dodge instead).
-Dolyak signet. This skill actually sucks, completely. Inferior version of the Guardian signet that reduces damage. Dolyak signet increases toughness, the Guardian version is straight up take 10% less damage. Dolyak is not a stun break, and floats a long cool down. Do not use this.
-Signet of stamina. If you really want to dodge a lot, sure. Generally not a good (necessary) choice. Vigor should be enough for your dodging needs and warriors have easy access to vigor off warhorn.
-Bull's charge. Definitely do not need this. Staying together as a group is more important. And even if you need to have some sort of mobility skill, greatsword and sword both have options that are better (same general distance coverage but also has shorter cooldowns - bladetrail also has built in evasion).
Elite
-Signet of rage. The generic warrior elite. Honestly this elite is never a “bad” choice. Though there are times where battle standard is just straight up a better choice. You don't need the swiftness if your group helps you with aoe swiftness abilities.
-Battle standard. This elite is really good for grouping. It does have a hefty cooldown, but when its out, the effect is massive. Stability for its entire duration (65 seconds) is retardedly good. As well as 10s swiftness every 15 seconds. With increased boon duration, you can keep perma swiftness and stability with this alone.
Main ideas:
-Stick together. We do not do this well. If you do not stick together, it becomes more difficult for the people lagging behind to avoid getting downed (mobs tend to deaggro onto the same target, generally whoever is nearest and not beyond their tether range). The further behind someone lags, the more burdensome it becomes to navigate all the sets that people in front of them may have triggered (sets that spawn only when you first approach them). The classes that fall behind will also never really have a chance to catch up. They generally fall behind because they cannot maintain swiftness, and have no good mobility skills. Less likely, but potentially it might also be because they get crippled/chilled/stun/immobilize, etc. and don't have easy access to removal skills.
-Condition removal. Being able to remove cripples/chills/immobilizes quickly (and on demand) is quite important. Being slowed/not moving generally leads to death (pretty obvious), or falling behind the rest of your party (less obvious, but also generally leads to death). Self condition removal is good, but having aoe condition removal is suggested. Conditions also keep you in combat, so it can prevent you from regenerating part way through.
-Group buffs. There are a number of aoe abilities that grant swiftness, stability, protection, vigor, and regeneration. These help the less mobile classes who generally have a difficult (or impossible) time having 100% uptime on swiftness. More important ones give swiftness and/or vigor, though other protection oriented buffs are not a bad idea to have.
*Guardian staff 3 – aoe swiftness
*Warrior warhorn 4 – aoe swiftness and cripple/immobilize/chill removal
*Warrior warhorn 5 – aoe vigor
*Ranger warhorn 5 – aoe swiftness
*Elementalist staff/air 4 – aoe swiftness and cripple/immobilize/chill removal
*Mesmer focus 4 – aoe swiftness (doesn't stack – only works as the first swiftness)
*Guardian utility (retreat) – aoe swiftness + aegis
*Warrior (banner – inspire) – aoe swiftness
*Elementalist staff/air 5 + blast finisher = lightning field + blast finisher = aoe swiftness
-Healing/regeneration. The obvious self heal skill applies, however having a source of group/aoe healing and/or regen is good, especially for longer runs where you might have difficulty getting out of combat to heal.
-Stun breaks. You should almost always have one for longer runs. Generally there's at least one or two mobs that have some form of stun/knockdown that warrants bringing a stun break. Note: when you stun break knockdowns, do not hit the stun break until you stop bouncing. If you hit the stun break too early, it will have no effect.
-Avoid what you can. Just because you're running past mobs, doesn't mean you literally have to run through them. Taking a slightly longer path to remain outside their aggro range longer, or possibly avoid aggro'ing a set all together is always preferable.
-Crowd Control as you run. Similar to the last point. If you're running up to a set of mobs, you can try to go around. If that isn't possible... throw down a stun field or aoe cripple/chill of some sort as you approach, to help prevent them from catching you or in some way inflicting damage. Abilities that knockdown/knockback/pull enemies also work. Or something like Guardian staff 5 (line of negation) or Guardian Hammer 5 (ring of negation) also is helpful to prevent mobs from being able to chase you.
-Individual mobility. Interestingly, using individual mobility moves is generally a BAD idea for skipping sets in dungeons. It's simply selfish and usually detrimental to the group as a whole. This goes back to the idea of sticking together. If you use say ride the lightning and get really far ahead, this can cause trouble for the people following you if/when the mobs following you all re-aggro onto one person and potentially one shot them if they don't dodge. Keep the use of individual mobility skills to a minimum and try not to spread out too much.
Potential set ups
Not necessarily that these are skills/weapons that you have to or should run, but more an example of stuff you should consider bringing.
Guardian
Weapons
-staff + hammer. Heavy emphasis on not allowing mobs to chase you. Potentially good for mobs that have shadow step abilities, or ways to constantly catch up to you. Strong ability to help your party members avoid damage as well.
-staff + sword/focus. More selfish set up. Probably better if there are times where you know that you cannot avoid getting hit. Sword 2 aoe blinds and teleports you to your target, chained with focus 4, this can give 2 free misses in a row. Focus 5 allows you to have access to 3 blocks at least once during a run. You might not need both negation fields (and hammer ring of negation cannot be cast while moving – which might be undesirable).
Utilities
-Retreat. Pretty straight forward choice. Swifntess + aegis. Long cooldown, but still a very good skill for running around. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Hold the line. Aoe protection and regeneration. Good for helping to mitigate and heal damage taken. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Stand your ground. Aoe stability. Good for areas that have knockdowns and stuns. Or Arah where there might be rings of negation that require stability or teleports to get out of. Also potentially condition removal depending on trait spec and rune choice.
-Wall of reflection. Good only in projectile heavy areas. If you use this skill, use it just after you pass the ranged mobs you're running past. Otherwise you'll probably run through it before it actually stops any projectiles.
Elite
-Tome of courage. Pop this and heal allies and yourself as you run. Potentially useful, depends if you really need the healing or not.
-Renewed Focus. Probably my choice for elite for Guardians in the majority of situations, including running. Gives an extra aegis cast and heal off the virtue of resolve for you and your party. Virtue of resolve can also be condition removal if traited.
Warrior
Weapons
-Greatsword + Sword/warhorn. Honestly main hand doesn't really matter too much. Might as well have sword just in case you need the leap, though. Warhorn for obvious group swiftness/vigor and cripple removal. Greatsword gives you another dodge with bladetrail and ranged cripple.
-whatever/shield. More defensive set up. Good for shield stance and extra blocks. Long cooldown on shield stance, though.
-Hammer. Depending on your starting adrenaline, earthshaker can be a useful aoe stun. And hammer 4 can be useful to help push mobs back if need be. Hammer 4 cannot be cast while moving, though.
Utilities
-Shake it off. Pretty much a staple skill regardless of build/situation. Aoe condition removal + stun break. Heals if you trait it.
-Balanced stance. Staple stability skill + stun break.
-Banner of Defense. Banners all have aoe swiftness on the 3 ability. As well as a dash on the 4 ability (if you ever need it). The 2 ability for the defense banner is aoe knockback, which is situationally useful.
-Banner of Tactics. Similar to above, except the 2 ability is an aoe heal. Generally more useful for running.
-Endure pain. I probably wouldn't take this to run, duration isn't very long and there shouldn't be too many situations where you need to absorb huge amounts of damage (and can't just dodge instead).
-Dolyak signet. This skill actually sucks, completely. Inferior version of the Guardian signet that reduces damage. Dolyak signet increases toughness, the Guardian version is straight up take 10% less damage. Dolyak is not a stun break, and floats a long cool down. Do not use this.
-Signet of stamina. If you really want to dodge a lot, sure. Generally not a good (necessary) choice. Vigor should be enough for your dodging needs and warriors have easy access to vigor off warhorn.
-Bull's charge. Definitely do not need this. Staying together as a group is more important. And even if you need to have some sort of mobility skill, greatsword and sword both have options that are better (same general distance coverage but also has shorter cooldowns - bladetrail also has built in evasion).
Elite
-Signet of rage. The generic warrior elite. Honestly this elite is never a “bad” choice. Though there are times where battle standard is just straight up a better choice. You don't need the swiftness if your group helps you with aoe swiftness abilities.
-Battle standard. This elite is really good for grouping. It does have a hefty cooldown, but when its out, the effect is massive. Stability for its entire duration (65 seconds) is retardedly good. As well as 10s swiftness every 15 seconds. With increased boon duration, you can keep perma swiftness and stability with this alone.