I have done the story mode for both AC and CM.

Story mode for AC was so rought at 30, the pug I was in barely beat it and had broken armor during the last fight but the exp was great.

Story mode for CM was not so hard at 40, the pug I was in died 4 times before we beat it,  So many loot chest, dear god that was nice.  

I have not done the exploration mode yet, waiting till I find a guild that wants to do tough dungeons and such.

I love how hard the dungeons are, it brings me back to EQ, where a single mistake killed the whole group.  Those were the days that got me hooked on MMORPGs.  I hope the Developers do not change them.  I hope it stays like this.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

must be a lie.. i know many people around here claimed everything in this game was a cakewalk:P

on topic couple of my guildys were doing AC explorable and getting their butts handed to them:)

Most likely because in most MMO's today world content is fairly easy. Most of them offer challenging content, but it is segregated as well as gated ( by playthrough(s)). This is necessary when creating games for the masses.

Did AC and CM with my guild. First time in story mode OMG!! butts handed to us on a plate! So we went away and had a look at our specas to see where we were going wrong.

Next night after trying for over an hour to get the whole party in the same instance we completed the whole of story mode, it was tough but we got there. Next night we took a couple of other guildys in with builds tweaked even further and it was awesome fun we did it had couple whipes but worked to gether well learning the synergies between our skills and combat rez.

We have run AC another 2 times in story and once in explorable, now it is still a challenge and nobody survives the whole dungeon without getting downed but its great so much fun and awesome challenge. We have done 1 explorable mode and now that we understand better how to work together it is a fair and great fun challenge.

Last night we did CM story made it first time it is even better than AC and what a fun challenge. We then did explorable mode and had a total blast it was just awesome awesome fun. Unfortuinately we failed when we got to the rescue sergeant part of our quest line but not cos we messed up but cos game bugged and gave an endless spawn on a group of 10 mobs.

So all I can say is dont think that they are too hard just realise you cannot play like a normal MMO dungeon team. Look at how your skills complement each other with extra damage or condition removal or life stealing etc. Dont get stressed if you die, dont think we stopped laughing all the way through the learning curve no matter how many times we died (first AC our elly was dead within 5sec of every mob agroing us). Your normal glass cannon MMO specs dont wrk there is nobody to goad the mobs so instead of worrying about your own DPs learn to work as a team.

If you can do as I have suggested you will rejoice in the challenge and old style dungeons will become a thing of the distant past for you.

Originally posted by gessekai332
yeah i dont understand what arenanet was thinking. all the DE and world PvE is so easy and then you have the dungeons which are just faceroll hard. is there no middle ground?? lol

One thing to keep in mind is that the explorable versions are a part of the endgame. There is not going to be a lvl 80 version of Ascalon Catacombs because a lvl 80 can just go do the explorable versions and get leveled to 35. Storymode is probably intended to be the puggable starter version of the dungeon. Explorable = heroic/expert mode. The difference is that you don't have to wait to level cap to do these hard modes. Remember, they said they didn't want the game to change significantly on reaching the level cap. So why would they hold back on people being able to do hard mode dungeons.

Exlorable Ascalon Catacombs, welcome to endgame half way though leveling.

Originally posted by gessekai332
LOL these dungeons are pretty fricking hard, theres probly 0.1% chance a pug can get through it. you are gonna need a guild/close group of friends and vent to get through them. prepare to wipe a LOOOOT!!

 i had a pick up group today and we beat ascalon. 2 guardians 2 rangers and a necromancer.

i do agree though, it was pretty difficult and we did wipe a fair bit.

Warned everyone of this, those dungeons are no joke. They're a little too hard, IMO, but I don't mind it since the stuff in it isn't necessary to compete. At this point I only go in if my guild wants to go and they need an extra hand, otherwise I ignore the dungeons past story mode. Even with coordinate and a well-geared team, you're going to die a lot. I promise you, you'll never see a "No deaths!" run on explorable mode without massive amounts of exploiting. At level 67 in AC explorable, the scavenger dudes still instantly kill me if they knock me down, and even down-scaled I have almost 5k hp and over 1500 armor (Mesmer). 

What makes the dungeons hard aren't the enemies, that's the easy part. Just pull, and you'll be fine. What makes them hard are the circumstances of the enemies' existence; i.e., having to protect something else from dying to them, having to fight off a swarm, time limits, infintie spawn (scavenger mounds), traps, jump puzzles, and bosses with specific mechanics (I pretty much go into AC expecting people to die plenty at the first Thief ghost boss in the middle that pulls then spins, takes a while for most people to figure out when to evade) that require precision timing rather than tanking/healing, like most are used to. It's very dungeons and dragons-ish. But it's not my thing, I don't enjoy that level of frustration from constant wipes, at least not for the price of the gear. I can't imagine running AC 20+ times to get the full set of stuff, considering I've only ever gotten 30-40 tears per run and the cheapest Epic I saw was like 150. No thanks ;x 

Originally posted by MindTrigger

Originally posted by Aerowyn

must be a lie.. i know many people around here claimed everything in this game was a cakewalk:P

on topic couple of my guildys were doing AC explorable and getting their butts handed to them:)

To be fair, most of the game seems to be that way if you even put in minimal effort.  Not saying that's a bad thing.  It's a fantastic casual game.

Yeah take a walk through a level 80 area with no backup and try a de, let me know how that works out or ya ;)

Originally posted by MindTrigger

Originally posted by Aerowyn

must be a lie.. i know many people around here claimed everything in this game was a cakewalk:P

on topic couple of my guildys were doing AC explorable and getting their butts handed to them:)

To be fair, most of the game seems to be that way if you even put in minimal effort.  Not saying that's a bad thing.  It's a fantastic casual game.

I know I sound like a broken record, but PvE could use some more difficult PvE content besides explorable dungeons. I'm not  talking 1-shot kill kinds of mobs but mobs that require teamwork or thinking or reflex or all three or you are dead. I'm not hardcore at all - I consider myself casual. I just want more of a challenge.

Originally posted by gessekai332
LOL these dungeons are pretty fricking hard, theres probly 0.1% chance a pug can get through it. you are gonna need a guild/close group of friends and vent to get through them. prepare to wipe a LOOOOT!!

Wow. the first game since years, where you cant go through any content the first time? Welcome back old time, i will enjoy it.

Running the dungeons with full Power / precision builds is a death sentence. I ran AC in a leveling build (Power / Precision) and man was it BAD. Bosses could pretty much one-shot with alot of thier abilitys and your constantly praying that your heal comes off cooldown !

Still it was fun as hell to not just faceroll the content. I agree with other posters that the Elementalist / Monk pulls are brutal. We ended up trying to split them with leashing one / kiting and focusing one at a time. Worked pretty well. However we were all in leveling builds which proved painful whenever anything hit us. Bosses seemed well tuned although the Lovers were abit tough (ruffest fight in there for us, the King was a joke after those two)

We're intending to run again this weekend in more group friendly and suvial based builds (Adding some toughness / vitality) and seeing how that goes.

Originally posted by Wrender
That is the most awesome thing I have heard about GW2 yet. Count me in! I'm going out to buy the game tonight before they give in to all the whiners and dumb down the game like so many other game companies seem to do these days....

 I have read through this thread a couple times today.

I might not be ready to "run down and get a copy" yet, but this makes me think maybe I should.

Too bad it seems I'd have to join a guild, use vent, yadda yadda.. I really prefer PUGS. For me PUGS are exactly why I play MMOs.

Originally posted by Four0Six

Originally posted by Wrender
That is the most awesome thing I have heard about GW2 yet. Count me in! I'm going out to buy the game tonight before they give in to all the whiners and dumb down the game like so many other game companies seem to do these days....

 I have read through this thread a couple times today.

I might not be ready to "run down and get a copy" yet, but this makes me think maybe I should.

Too bad it seems I'd have to join a guild, use vent, yadda yadda.. I really prefer PUGS. For me PUGS are exactly why I play MMOs.

 

You can pug the story modes not too bad. Once people get used to the fact that you have to approach dungeons in a different maner from over-land questing / events. Exploration modes will eventually be pugged I'm sure, just atm its new and no one really knows the content well enough.

Of course then you get the *Must have X-gearz* or *must have X-achievement* groups that will start poping up. So its a pick your posion kinda situation.

Originally posted by Four0Six

Originally posted by Wrender
That is the most awesome thing I have heard about GW2 yet. Count me in! I'm going out to buy the game tonight before they give in to all the whiners and dumb down the game like so many other game companies seem to do these days....

 I have read through this thread a couple times today.

I might not be ready to "run down and get a copy" yet, but this makes me think maybe I should.

Too bad it seems I'd have to join a guild, use vent, yadda yadda.. I really prefer PUGS. For me PUGS are exactly why I play MMOs.

 

Guild, mostly yes, vent not so much. I don't use it in my guild, and since you can join as many guilds you like (at the same time, you just choose the one you want to represent) it should be easy enough to find one that floats your boat.

Originally posted by Purutzil
Eh... they are a bit more tricky though not THAT hard. More annoying to me then anything with some of the stuff you see.

I guess you could clasify it as tricky and that's where the difficulty comes from. Makes you change strategies, skills, major traits, to get through certain fights, especially in explorable. Gets easier when you figure a good tactic, but it's still not a cake walk.

Also, if someone figures out how to avoid the breath attack from the last lizzard boss in AC explorable (forgot its name), let me know :P.

Originally posted by Aerowyn

must be a lie.. i know many people around here claimed everything in this game was a cakewalk:P

on topic couple of my guildys were doing AC explorable and getting their butts handed to them:)

One of my concerns before release was that all the PvE/dungeon video I was seeing looked too easy.  I'm so glad my concerns were put to rest because out of the two dungeons I've done so far, their content was very difficult.  I'm pleasantly surprised about this because it made it extremely fun.