Raiding.

sanders01

So I've been thinking about trying this game, hear it's one of the best, if not the best, PvE game. And I was wondering, how is the raiding? Is it basic tank and spank? Or complex enough to get a good bit of fun out of it?

Vosen

Raiding in Vanguard is very fun and challenging. None of the fights are simple tank and spank fights and each required a strategy. In the current raid zone (Ancient Port Warehouse) there are a number of wings which grow in difficuluy. The bosses in the entrance wing are designed as a "warm up" and although require a strategy, are pretty easy. As you progress through each wing the difficulty level gets higher.

The guild I'm in are roughly halfway through the zone and are stuck on a particular boss. It's all about learning the fight and defining the perfect strategy. So I'll say that the zone is no walk in the park, and is fun, which is the main thing.

Although APW is the only raid zone in Vanguard at the moment, it's quite enough to keep a guild busy for months as it's so large. There is also approximately 6 "overland" raid bosses that roam the world. Similar to Lord Kazzak or the dragons in WoW.

There's also a new raid zone being introduced in GU6 which will be out sometime in August.

I've written a short blog about the lore of the Ancient Port Warehouse that you can read here...

Hope this helps.

sanders01

Sounds great!  I'll have to buy it and try it out I guess then.

oTinyo

Raids are just great fun. The main raid zone and the overland raid targets have clearly been a labour-of-love for the Dev team.

Yes, some bosses are tank and spank - it's going to happen I think in all raids at some point. But even then there is usually some sort of timer that, if you don't spank quick enough, you wipe.

Some of the mid to later bosses in APW -  a huge raiding zone - require such wickedly complex tactics that it can take many, many tries for everyone to get their role just right. But boy it's a good feeling when everyone comes together.

Even many of the trash mobs are great fun. One mob - Graviton - plays havoc with gravity as you fight them. Another plants eggs in random party members that have to be god rid of before they hatch. You also get to mass slaughter gnomes...now, which gamer in their right mind wouldn't enjoy that?

There is also 6 man raid-like content (the Griffon questline). Normal groups only, but raid levels of group make-up and tactics required. Really good fun.

Last thing, the small(ish) 18 man raids sometimes get slagged off. But having a relatively small number means that everyone has to play well. It is so obvious when someone is half-asleep or not listening to the RL.