sly_1
23-06-2005, 21:49
There are a lot of complaint threads about how people don't grasp basic strategy in Guild Wars. Rather than adding fuel to the flames, how about something constructive instead?
So in the interest off being constructive, I'll post what I consider to be the basic framework for successful PvE strategy. Hopefully others can add constructive advice to this thread, and maybe if it's actually usefull enough it can become a sticky and/or guide for players new and old alike who need help with PvE.
Part 1: "Rule #1"
The single most important thing to understand about PvE in Guild Wars is that it's always better to fight exactly one group of foes at a time. The importance of this idea, which I like to call "Rule #1", cannot be overstated. Probably 95% of the failed missions and wiped out parties in GW stem from people taking on more than one group of foes at a time.
Part 2: The aggro sphere and aggro sphere management.
One of the main reasons groups fail to face one group of foes at a time is because of not understanding the concept of the aggro sphere and how to manage it. So let's look at what the aggro sphere is and how it impacts PvE.
When looking at the radar, you will see a green dot surrounded by a white circle that represents your characters aggro sphere. While out in an explorable area, you will see red dots representing monsters. If a red dot (a monster) is close enough to your characters green dot that the monster (red dot) is within the white circle, that monster is now "inside your aggro sphere".
Monsters that are within your characters aggro sphere will become aware of your characters presence and attack. Monsters outside of your characters aggro sphere will typically not be aware of your characters presence and not attack.
The rub is that when one monster who is part of a group of monsters "notices" a character by entering his/her aggro sphere, all the rest of the monsters in the group also become aware of the character. Therefore, try to make sure that only monsters that are part of a group that you wish to face are allowed to enter your aggro sphere.
Please be aware that it is possible for monsters to enter your aggro sphere through no action of your own. For example, some monsters go on "patrol". A patrol is any group of monsters that proceeds along a predetermined route. If that patrol route intersects your aggro sphere, the monsters will attack. Also, monsters often meander about in the general area in which they spawn. Again, if the monster wanders into your aggro sphere, it will attack along with the rest of it's group.
Part 3: Pulling
So we have established under rule#1 that it's best to face one group of foes at a time and we've explained the aggro sphere. So knowing all of this, how do we go about actually implementing Rule #1 and only face 1 group at a time? After all, sometimes 2 groups of monsters are close together, and sometimes you go to fight 1 group only to have another group that's on patrol come by and join the battle.
The solution is called "Pulling".
Pulling is the technique of luring one group of monsters into a position where it is to the party's advantage to fight them, rather than simply accepting the monsters current location as the best site to face them.
As a general rule, it is best to try to pull monsters towards the area you just came from. This has 2 advantages: 1) you probably have cleared the area you just came from allowing you to fight the group without interference from other monster groups meandering around or any patrols, and 2) if the battle goes badly you will need an escape route. It is usually better to retreat towards a safe area than to retreat into an area accupied by a bunch of angry monsters.
So when a group of monsters is encountered, pulling would be implemented like so:
- the party will remain a distance from the monsters equal to about 1.5-2 inches on the radar screen (usually, but this distance depends on the situation, of course).
- One member will proceed alone towards the closest group of foes, taking care to not allow any monsters from any group other than the one he's trying to pull into his aggro sphere.
- the one member will then attract one of the monsters in the target group by using one of the following techniques:
a) attack the monster with a ranged weapon (a bow, wand, or staff)
b) cast a spell against the monster (DoT's work well like conjure phantasm, life siphon etc work well, as do direct damage spells like fireball, stone daggers, banish, etc), or
c) simply run towards the enemy until one of them enters your characters aggro sphere.
All of these actions will cause the entire group of monsters to attack the once character who is pulling. For this reason, make sure the team only uses a character that will survive the manouver. Rangers or warriors using a defensive stance are prime candidates for pulling monsters. It might be wise for the monks to enchant the puller with spells like mending and so on to further insure they will survive.
- The puller then simply leads the group of monsters to the rest of the team, and then the entire party attacks all at once.
Please note that sometimes a group of monsters will lose interest inthe puller and return to their original position. This is why I strongly recomend the puller have a ranged weapon, preferable a bow with a long range. The puller should use the ranged weapon to attack the enemy as soon as they start to return to their original position in order to keep them focused on attacking him/her. It doesn't matter if the ranged weapon is very powerful, the idea is to keep the monsters focused on the puller until he can steer the enemy into the teams trap.
Part 4: Energy/recast management.
Another critical aspect of PvE success is energy and recast management. If a team goes into a battle and the monk has no energy left to heal with, the results are usually bad. Also, elementalists, mesmers, and necromancers are capable of unleashing extremely powerful and effective spells that can often turn the tide of battle, but only when they have enough energy and their recast timers have reset from the previous battle.
Therefore, after long battles, it's best to display a measure of patience and wait for the monks and elementalists to regenerate energy and for their recast timers to reset. Skills such as blood ritual, well of power, etc can help speed this process up.
While successful PvE strategy is a lot more complex than what I've outlined, these are the fundamentals that will get you started. Feel free to contribute in a constructive way so that anyone wanting help can find it, and hopefully this thread can become a resource that will help educate people making them better PvE'ers and in turn better team mates. :thumbsup:
So in the interest off being constructive, I'll post what I consider to be the basic framework for successful PvE strategy. Hopefully others can add constructive advice to this thread, and maybe if it's actually usefull enough it can become a sticky and/or guide for players new and old alike who need help with PvE.
Part 1: "Rule #1"
The single most important thing to understand about PvE in Guild Wars is that it's always better to fight exactly one group of foes at a time. The importance of this idea, which I like to call "Rule #1", cannot be overstated. Probably 95% of the failed missions and wiped out parties in GW stem from people taking on more than one group of foes at a time.
Part 2: The aggro sphere and aggro sphere management.
One of the main reasons groups fail to face one group of foes at a time is because of not understanding the concept of the aggro sphere and how to manage it. So let's look at what the aggro sphere is and how it impacts PvE.
When looking at the radar, you will see a green dot surrounded by a white circle that represents your characters aggro sphere. While out in an explorable area, you will see red dots representing monsters. If a red dot (a monster) is close enough to your characters green dot that the monster (red dot) is within the white circle, that monster is now "inside your aggro sphere".
Monsters that are within your characters aggro sphere will become aware of your characters presence and attack. Monsters outside of your characters aggro sphere will typically not be aware of your characters presence and not attack.
The rub is that when one monster who is part of a group of monsters "notices" a character by entering his/her aggro sphere, all the rest of the monsters in the group also become aware of the character. Therefore, try to make sure that only monsters that are part of a group that you wish to face are allowed to enter your aggro sphere.
Please be aware that it is possible for monsters to enter your aggro sphere through no action of your own. For example, some monsters go on "patrol". A patrol is any group of monsters that proceeds along a predetermined route. If that patrol route intersects your aggro sphere, the monsters will attack. Also, monsters often meander about in the general area in which they spawn. Again, if the monster wanders into your aggro sphere, it will attack along with the rest of it's group.
Part 3: Pulling
So we have established under rule#1 that it's best to face one group of foes at a time and we've explained the aggro sphere. So knowing all of this, how do we go about actually implementing Rule #1 and only face 1 group at a time? After all, sometimes 2 groups of monsters are close together, and sometimes you go to fight 1 group only to have another group that's on patrol come by and join the battle.
The solution is called "Pulling".
Pulling is the technique of luring one group of monsters into a position where it is to the party's advantage to fight them, rather than simply accepting the monsters current location as the best site to face them.
As a general rule, it is best to try to pull monsters towards the area you just came from. This has 2 advantages: 1) you probably have cleared the area you just came from allowing you to fight the group without interference from other monster groups meandering around or any patrols, and 2) if the battle goes badly you will need an escape route. It is usually better to retreat towards a safe area than to retreat into an area accupied by a bunch of angry monsters.
So when a group of monsters is encountered, pulling would be implemented like so:
- the party will remain a distance from the monsters equal to about 1.5-2 inches on the radar screen (usually, but this distance depends on the situation, of course).
- One member will proceed alone towards the closest group of foes, taking care to not allow any monsters from any group other than the one he's trying to pull into his aggro sphere.
- the one member will then attract one of the monsters in the target group by using one of the following techniques:
a) attack the monster with a ranged weapon (a bow, wand, or staff)
b) cast a spell against the monster (DoT's work well like conjure phantasm, life siphon etc work well, as do direct damage spells like fireball, stone daggers, banish, etc), or
c) simply run towards the enemy until one of them enters your characters aggro sphere.
All of these actions will cause the entire group of monsters to attack the once character who is pulling. For this reason, make sure the team only uses a character that will survive the manouver. Rangers or warriors using a defensive stance are prime candidates for pulling monsters. It might be wise for the monks to enchant the puller with spells like mending and so on to further insure they will survive.
- The puller then simply leads the group of monsters to the rest of the team, and then the entire party attacks all at once.
Please note that sometimes a group of monsters will lose interest inthe puller and return to their original position. This is why I strongly recomend the puller have a ranged weapon, preferable a bow with a long range. The puller should use the ranged weapon to attack the enemy as soon as they start to return to their original position in order to keep them focused on attacking him/her. It doesn't matter if the ranged weapon is very powerful, the idea is to keep the monsters focused on the puller until he can steer the enemy into the teams trap.
Part 4: Energy/recast management.
Another critical aspect of PvE success is energy and recast management. If a team goes into a battle and the monk has no energy left to heal with, the results are usually bad. Also, elementalists, mesmers, and necromancers are capable of unleashing extremely powerful and effective spells that can often turn the tide of battle, but only when they have enough energy and their recast timers have reset from the previous battle.
Therefore, after long battles, it's best to display a measure of patience and wait for the monks and elementalists to regenerate energy and for their recast timers to reset. Skills such as blood ritual, well of power, etc can help speed this process up.
While successful PvE strategy is a lot more complex than what I've outlined, these are the fundamentals that will get you started. Feel free to contribute in a constructive way so that anyone wanting help can find it, and hopefully this thread can become a resource that will help educate people making them better PvE'ers and in turn better team mates. :thumbsup: