Everything the OP says about Orr is true. It is a very frustrating, unrewarding zone. I am someone who tends to be a PVPer in games and generally likes combat and a challenge. But Orr is not a challenge, it is a (B)Orring (Ch)Orr where cheap gimmickry and zombie swarms are used in lieu of sophisticated and genuninely interesting combat.
The main problem with mobs in Orr (and elsewhere in the game) is the massive amounts of crowd control you have to deal with. Many mobs have not one but TWO forms of cc which totally kills the feeling of fluidity in a fight, particularly when you are being swarmed. Instead of fast-paced, dynamic combat where you feel like you are in control and skillfully using your abilities, you feel like a passive punching bag being knocked down, reeled in and stunned constantly until finally you give up and run only to find you are crippled and slowed. Earth elementals have a 30 SECOND CRIPPLE. This is just ridiculous.
The other rnight in Malchor's Leap I went to defend that base in the sw where you have to protect the guys rebuilding the trebuchets. The mobs that attack the base tend to have the reel-in ability, so when a group of mobs attacked and I was alone in that part of the fight, they immediately reeled me in and then took turns tossing me back and forth like a beach ball for a full ten seconds easily. This wasn't combat, it was zombie volleyball with me as the ball.
Some might find this kind of "combat" fun, but I find it frustrating and demoralizing, partocularly when I am just trying to get to the Orichalcum and ancient wood nodes. Anyone can fill a zone with wall-to-wall zombies with mutliple ccs and say "look, hard mode!" but it really isn't that hard, just tedious, frustrating and unfun.
I have a ranger and a warrior so I know there is a huge difference in your ability to get through Orr easily between classes. It is a helluva lot easier as a warrior, as we have two anti-cc abilities, a cc-breaker and a 30 second long run speed increase on a 1-minute timer. The ranger pet on the other hand is an aggro magnet from hell. Stop when you see a group of zombies ahead and your pet runs 50 feet ahead of you to aggro them or he runs off at 45 degree oblique angles to aggro mobs while you are running in a straight line. This can get old real fast and I don't bring my ranger to Orr anymore except to farm DEs.
On the plus side mobs do tend to go for your pet rather than you, a point which can be used to your advantage. Always keep your pet on passive WHILE TRAVELLING or he will get bogged down in fighting everything that moves. I know passive mode sucks as pets are often unresponsive to the attack command which you have to spam sometimes, but it is still easier than being dragged into fights by your pet. Always start fights by sending your pet in first. I see so many rangers start fights by shooting first which aggros the mob onto you and then your pet has to hit a moving target which they suck at doing. Give your pet a chance to grab aggro and use his cc ability against the mob. I highly recommend the wolf for his excellent dps and knockdown and cripple abilities as well as aoe fear on the (dysfunctional) F2 button . Keep a tanky pet like a bear or Moa on reserve for pulling aggro off multiple mobs. I run with axe and warhorn for the run speed increase and aoe attack.
If you see zombies ahead you can send that tanky pet ahead to attack one or two and draw aggro and cc, then run through while your pet is engaged and then hit the "follow" button or whatever it's called to get him to follow you. If your pet gets too far behind or gets stuck in cc switch pets and a new one will be at your side to repeat the process.
Wall of text headache. Look 1 zone in 30 or so zones has been tuned for people with exotic gear, my suggestion to anyone not enjoying the zone is go to one of the other 29 zones and leave orr as something you can look forward to. Sometimes things are harder because they ate there to give a challenge.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Incidently week 2 I had same experience as op, I just hade the common sense to back away for a bit rather than bleeding like a list sheep. When I play Orr now on my ele I pretty much destroy mobs and easily manage and kill 3-4 mobs at a time when required. You need to adapt to the zone not vice versa.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Originally posted by Bladestrom Wall of text headache. Look 1 zone in 30 or so zones has been tuned for people with exotic gear, my suggestion to anyone not enjoying the zone is go to one of the other 29 zones and leave orr as something you can look forward to. Sometimes things are harder because they ate there to give a challenge.
I would love to do this, BUT... My storyline MAKES me go there. Put my storyline somewhere else and I would be happy
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
So do that bit of your storyline when you are at a level when it is fun for you. It would be pretty naff if the end of the storyline was in queensdale and you had to aoe you way through an army of rabbits e suspect
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Originally posted by Bladestrom Wall of text headache. Look 1 zone in 30 or so zones has been tuned for people with exotic gear, my suggestion to anyone not enjoying the zone is go to one of the other 29 zones and leave orr as something you can look forward to. Sometimes things are harder because they ate there to give a challenge.
Honestly, I solo'd all of Orr map completion easily on my Necro, very easily, and I'm only wearing all greens. Unless Necromancer is somehow Overpowered that I don't know about I don't understand how it's a challenge. Annoying is a given though, that Crowd Control is super annoying.
Originally posted by Bladestrom Wall of text headache. Look 1 zone in 30 or so zones has been tuned for people with exotic gear, my suggestion to anyone not enjoying the zone is go to one of the other 29 zones and leave orr as something you can look forward to. Sometimes things are harder because they ate there to give a challenge.
Except Orr isn't actually "hard", whether running around in exotics or not (quite a lot of people don't use exotic gear for their magic find farms suits).
It can from time to time though be very annoying, through the sheer number of pulls and stuns which never actually threaten you, just inconvenience you.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."
Orr is tough for several reasons when you first enter it.
One reason that i think people tend to forget, is that alot so far comes there with there equipment and builds way to bad to shine or even just do the work, it that area. And you can easyly have played most other zones in the game without even realising
When i entered Orr first i had a mix of blue, green and yellow items simply because i just enjoyed using what i found and staying with it until i found something better. And i ran all they way down to cursed shore past the 2 other zones , as i was already lvl 80 and thought what the heck. Now each tier of equipment in GW2 until exotic increase the stats with 13%. Most of my equipment was not even close to lvl 80 putting me further behind in stats. I had not even bought the skill book that allowed me to pass 20 in trait lines and i was running a defense build. Until Orr i found the game easy
In Orr I really couldn't kill anything, couldn't even get a tag in a DE's. And understandable enough as i was playing a low and slow damage phantasm setup with a mesmer with less than half the statpoints i could have had. I could get around, but thats was just because i could drop illusions as bait everywhere, moving out of reach before they where killed.
To change that humbling experience i had to improve my gear and change my build, and then learn to use the buffs availeble.
I stayed in cursed shore, though i could have gone back , bought sigils of undead slaying. That was +10 % damage, stacked up undead slaying potions, +9% and 8% damage reduction. And always Used food .
And soon after i bought a full set of yellows, worked on upgrading trinkets, and gave the stats a focus. And my damage output was doubled, and then i could kill. Changing traits and playstyle made Orr something i could deal with.
Tl;DR alot of players meet a wake up call en Orr first time they enter it, that require them to gear up to deal with the zones there. And thats fine
I dont think any zone is hard, Orr is just a different style. I like the zone because it is inconvenient, i have 29 other zones to play in when I want convenient. Re mf yes I know this ofc, I also know inconvenient means slight delay in running between zergs to get your aoe mf opportunities. If you want convenience use your exotic gear, of you want to zero with mf in huge packs switch to mf at that point.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
To make it more explicit use you exotics when you are soloing about a zone designed for exotic gear and groups, and play smart/switch to mf when it is safe to do so.
The alternative is that somehow Orr magically tunes itself to be the perfect difficulty for all end game players at the same time lol
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Originally posted by Bladestrom So do that bit of your storyline when you are at a level when it is fun for you. It would be pretty naff if the end of the storyline was in queensdale and you had to aoe you way through an army of rabbits e suspect
Totally missed the point. I am happy that you find Orr fun and exciting. I don't. I will NEVER find running around in Orr "fun". It is not the type of gameplay *I* enjoy. Luckily, I think I am at the end of the storyline. My next point is at Arah. I hope this is the last chapter. Afterwards, I will leave Orr to those who like it, never to set foot in it again. The annoyance factor far outweighs any accomplishment for me.
Let me point out, since you think I want to AoE bunnies... Orr is NOT hard. Orr IS annoying. If I want to spend 60 minutes going from one waypoint to another, fighting every step of the way, this is the place. I don't. As my thread title stated, "I am tired of fighting."
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse. - FARGIN_WAR
Let me point out, since you think I want to AoE bunnies... Orr is NOT hard. Orr IS annoying. If I want to spend 60 minutes going from one waypoint to another, fighting every step of the way, this is the place. I don't. As my thread title stated, "I am tired of fighting."
Precisely. Orr is not hard or challenging, it is just frustrating and tedious. There is a diference. I rarely die in Orr, it's just that every battle is a frustrating chore dealing with zombie swarms, the randomly-triggered respawnathons and cc. It is more like work than playing a game, which is why I call it (Ch)Orr. The area is ugly and I find the whole "zombie apocalypse" theme played and repuslive. Most of the DEs are just zergfests or aoe meatgrinders.
The only thing challenging abour Orr is trying to kill some zombies at Penitent Path before they are instantly obliterated by aoe from all the bots there. It is like trying to spear a piece of carrot in a food processor without hitting the spinning blades and before the carrot is reduced to mush. It requires perfect timing. Now THAT is a challenge.
Let me point out, since you think I want to AoE bunnies... Orr is NOT hard. Orr IS annoying. If I want to spend 60 minutes going from one waypoint to another, fighting every step of the way, this is the place. I don't. As my thread title stated, "I am tired of fighting."
Precisely. Orr is not hard or challenging, it is just frustrating and tedious. There is a diference. I rarely die in Orr, it's just that every battle is a frustrating chore dealing with zombie swarms, the randomly-triggered respawnathons and cc. It is more like work than playing a game, which is why I call it (Ch)Orr. The area is ugly and I find the whole "zombie apocalypse" theme played and repuslive. Most of the DEs are just zergfests or aoe meatgrinders.
The only thing challenging abour Orr is trying to kill some zombies at Penitent Path before they are instantly obliterated by aoe from all the bots there. It is like trying to spear a piece of carrot in a food processor without hitting the spinning blades and before the carrot is reduced to mush. It requires perfect timing. Now THAT is a challenge.
Exactly. Some people no doubt find having to fight non challenging mobs for every single square inch of ground fun. But it seems a few on here are confusing "tedious" with "difficult".
The issue a few of us seem to have is not that Orr is hard (it is far from that), the issue is that the countless mobs offer no challenge, just a lot of unnecesary pulls that serve to do nothing but get on your wick end.
Yes, others might find it fun, but using "it is meant to be hard" as a counter is not in the least viable because, well that's not what we are decrying, it's easy but tedious.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."
Comments
Everything the OP says about Orr is true. It is a very frustrating, unrewarding zone. I am someone who tends to be a PVPer in games and generally likes combat and a challenge. But Orr is not a challenge, it is a (B)Orring (Ch)Orr where cheap gimmickry and zombie swarms are used in lieu of sophisticated and genuninely interesting combat.
The main problem with mobs in Orr (and elsewhere in the game) is the massive amounts of crowd control you have to deal with. Many mobs have not one but TWO forms of cc which totally kills the feeling of fluidity in a fight, particularly when you are being swarmed. Instead of fast-paced, dynamic combat where you feel like you are in control and skillfully using your abilities, you feel like a passive punching bag being knocked down, reeled in and stunned constantly until finally you give up and run only to find you are crippled and slowed. Earth elementals have a 30 SECOND CRIPPLE. This is just ridiculous.
The other rnight in Malchor's Leap I went to defend that base in the sw where you have to protect the guys rebuilding the trebuchets. The mobs that attack the base tend to have the reel-in ability, so when a group of mobs attacked and I was alone in that part of the fight, they immediately reeled me in and then took turns tossing me back and forth like a beach ball for a full ten seconds easily. This wasn't combat, it was zombie volleyball with me as the ball.
Some might find this kind of "combat" fun, but I find it frustrating and demoralizing, partocularly when I am just trying to get to the Orichalcum and ancient wood nodes. Anyone can fill a zone with wall-to-wall zombies with mutliple ccs and say "look, hard mode!" but it really isn't that hard, just tedious, frustrating and unfun.
I have a ranger and a warrior so I know there is a huge difference in your ability to get through Orr easily between classes. It is a helluva lot easier as a warrior, as we have two anti-cc abilities, a cc-breaker and a 30 second long run speed increase on a 1-minute timer. The ranger pet on the other hand is an aggro magnet from hell. Stop when you see a group of zombies ahead and your pet runs 50 feet ahead of you to aggro them or he runs off at 45 degree oblique angles to aggro mobs while you are running in a straight line. This can get old real fast and I don't bring my ranger to Orr anymore except to farm DEs.
On the plus side mobs do tend to go for your pet rather than you, a point which can be used to your advantage. Always keep your pet on passive WHILE TRAVELLING or he will get bogged down in fighting everything that moves. I know passive mode sucks as pets are often unresponsive to the attack command which you have to spam sometimes, but it is still easier than being dragged into fights by your pet. Always start fights by sending your pet in first. I see so many rangers start fights by shooting first which aggros the mob onto you and then your pet has to hit a moving target which they suck at doing. Give your pet a chance to grab aggro and use his cc ability against the mob. I highly recommend the wolf for his excellent dps and knockdown and cripple abilities as well as aoe fear on the (dysfunctional) F2 button . Keep a tanky pet like a bear or Moa on reserve for pulling aggro off multiple mobs. I run with axe and warhorn for the run speed increase and aoe attack.
If you see zombies ahead you can send that tanky pet ahead to attack one or two and draw aggro and cc, then run through while your pet is engaged and then hit the "follow" button or whatever it's called to get him to follow you. If your pet gets too far behind or gets stuck in cc switch pets and a new one will be at your side to repeat the process.
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Honestly, I solo'd all of Orr map completion easily on my Necro, very easily, and I'm only wearing all greens. Unless Necromancer is somehow Overpowered that I don't know about I don't understand how it's a challenge. Annoying is a given though, that Crowd Control is super annoying.
Except Orr isn't actually "hard", whether running around in exotics or not (quite a lot of people don't use exotic gear for their magic find farms suits).
It can from time to time though be very annoying, through the sheer number of pulls and stuns which never actually threaten you, just inconvenience you.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."
Orr is tough for several reasons when you first enter it.
One reason that i think people tend to forget, is that alot so far comes there with there equipment and builds way to bad to shine or even just do the work, it that area. And you can easyly have played most other zones in the game without even realising
When i entered Orr first i had a mix of blue, green and yellow items simply because i just enjoyed using what i found and staying with it until i found something better. And i ran all they way down to cursed shore past the 2 other zones , as i was already lvl 80 and thought what the heck. Now each tier of equipment in GW2 until exotic increase the stats with 13%. Most of my equipment was not even close to lvl 80 putting me further behind in stats. I had not even bought the skill book that allowed me to pass 20 in trait lines and i was running a defense build. Until Orr i found the game easy
In Orr I really couldn't kill anything, couldn't even get a tag in a DE's. And understandable enough as i was playing a low and slow damage phantasm setup with a mesmer with less than half the statpoints i could have had. I could get around, but thats was just because i could drop illusions as bait everywhere, moving out of reach before they where killed.
To change that humbling experience i had to improve my gear and change my build, and then learn to use the buffs availeble.
I stayed in cursed shore, though i could have gone back , bought sigils of undead slaying. That was +10 % damage, stacked up undead slaying potions, +9% and 8% damage reduction. And always Used food .
And soon after i bought a full set of yellows, worked on upgrading trinkets, and gave the stats a focus. And my damage output was doubled, and then i could kill. Changing traits and playstyle made Orr something i could deal with.
Tl;DR alot of players meet a wake up call en Orr first time they enter it, that require them to gear up to deal with the zones there. And thats fine
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
The alternative is that somehow Orr magically tunes itself to be the perfect difficulty for all end game players at the same time lol
rpg/mmorg history: Dun Darach>Bloodwych>Bards Tale 1-3>Eye of the beholder > Might and Magic 2,3,5 > FFVII> Baldur's Gate 1, 2 > Planescape Torment >Morrowind > WOW > oblivion > LOTR > Guild Wars (1900hrs elementalist) Vanguard. > GW2(1000 elementalist), Wildstar
Now playing GW2, AOW 3, ESO, LOTR, Elite D
Let me point out, since you think I want to AoE bunnies... Orr is NOT hard. Orr IS annoying. If I want to spend 60 minutes going from one waypoint to another, fighting every step of the way, this is the place. I don't. As my thread title stated, "I am tired of fighting."
- Al
Personally the only modern MMORPG trend that annoys me is the idea that MMOs need to be designed in a way to attract people who don't actually like MMOs. Which to me makes about as much sense as someone trying to figure out a way to get vegetarians to eat at their steakhouse.- FARGIN_WAR
Precisely. Orr is not hard or challenging, it is just frustrating and tedious. There is a diference. I rarely die in Orr, it's just that every battle is a frustrating chore dealing with zombie swarms, the randomly-triggered respawnathons and cc. It is more like work than playing a game, which is why I call it (Ch)Orr. The area is ugly and I find the whole "zombie apocalypse" theme played and repuslive. Most of the DEs are just zergfests or aoe meatgrinders.
The only thing challenging abour Orr is trying to kill some zombies at Penitent Path before they are instantly obliterated by aoe from all the bots there. It is like trying to spear a piece of carrot in a food processor without hitting the spinning blades and before the carrot is reduced to mush. It requires perfect timing. Now THAT is a challenge.
Exactly. Some people no doubt find having to fight non challenging mobs for every single square inch of ground fun. But it seems a few on here are confusing "tedious" with "difficult".
The issue a few of us seem to have is not that Orr is hard (it is far from that), the issue is that the countless mobs offer no challenge, just a lot of unnecesary pulls that serve to do nothing but get on your wick end.
Yes, others might find it fun, but using "it is meant to be hard" as a counter is not in the least viable because, well that's not what we are decrying, it's easy but tedious.
"Come and have a look at what you could have won."