One of the most exciting parts of any MMO is taking on some gigantic behemoth in a battle to the death, hopefully the big guys. In our latest Guild Wars 2 column, we take a look at epic battles with some of the massive beasts inhabiting Tyria and offer our impressions. Check it out and then leave us your thoughts in the comments.

As I grew up I spent a ton of my time playing video games.  Defeating goombas and slaying ninjas became an everyday activity.  But I lived for the boss fights!  It doesn’t matter what genre of game of you play, the big boss is always waiting around the corner  to put your skills to the ultimate tests.  With ArenaNet throwing dragons into Guild Wars 2, you will fight against one of the most powerful creatures in fantasy.  For me, the larger the enemy is, the more rewarding it is to bring them down. 

Read more of David North's Guild Wars 2: Not so Big and Bad.

Who wouldn’t be scared if this beast was looking down on you?!

Well that arcticle was just boring to read. (for me)

And you guys make me really hate this game, posting every 3days a new article about gw2.

Originally posted by mCalvert
I agree, its fun to take down huge bosses that require 50 people, in an open world. However, it doesnt feel very epic because the dragons respawn an hour later, and the whole event is very scripted and/or grindy.

Like Rift, WoW, etc. It happens.....

First off.. The Shatterer DOES NOT shift the ground as he flies above it...

The "branded path" you see in the world was made by Kralkatorrik which is the elder dragon...

The only BIG dragon which is available for us to fight is Zhaitan. The undead elder dragon, and he truly is MASSIVE...

I see alot of things in this article that bothered you, which would be understandable if you knew the role of the world pre-gw2.

Actually Korent1991, Despite your 'impressive' knowledge of GW2 lore, I think knowing that megatarantulah the third made the 'branded path' does not influence any of the things the author proposed about boss-fight mechanics at all.. So, while completely disregarding your amazing, but entirely redundant comment; I too think GW2 dragon fights could be made a lot harder; it know comprises nothing more than surviving the ocassional stomp, getting rezzed every now and then, and grabbing your generally crappy loot..

The devs could for example make these fights hard enough to at the least require coordinate group action to take it down rather than mass spamming the beast to death; something which in DAOC and other MMO dragon fights could take about 30 mins to an hour, and something that was rewarded with some really nice stuffy (generally).

Anyway, I love GW2! Best MMO in recent years to have been released. Cheers!

Then some good news. ANet want to revisit dungeons, bosses and other aspects of the game that suffer in long term and make them better. 

WOW - FD and Rockniss - I would think that you have had enough of the self-loathing type of behavior. Gouge my eyes out, over a game? Really? Hyperbole Alert!!! I am surprised you didn't say, 'Shoot myself in the head!'

As was stated, only one Elder Dragon can he fought, and that is in a Dungeon, not out in the open.

I guess the next updates to the game will include the other Elder Dragons - that will be interesting to see how they are developed.

Well at least one plus is there gonna rework them horrible dungeons..

I mean really these so called dungeon's, its basically who can rez and get back to fight the fastest before the mob resets....

Originally posted by nationalcity

Well at least one plus is there gonna rework them horrible dungeons..

 

I mean really these so called dungeon's, its basically who can rez and get back to fight the fastest before the mob resets....

 

 

 

I know quite a few peopel who have done the dungeons w/o dying. It can happen if you communicate and undersstand the mechanics. 

I agree. The dragon fights lack in action. The only impressive thing about the dragons the first time, is how they arrive. The fight after is way too easy.

The event with the giant that sometimes attacks a Charr stronghold (forgot outpost and area name) and stomps around inside it, killing everything in sight, was a lot more impressive to fight then some of the dragons.

Originally posted by botrytis

Originally posted by mCalvert
I agree, its fun to take down huge bosses that require 50 people, in an open world. However, it doesnt feel very epic because the dragons respawn an hour later, and the whole event is very scripted and/or grindy.

Like Rift, WoW, etc. It happens.....

Sadly, its far FAR FAR worse than Rift or even WOW.  I did 3 of the major boss fights in the game and everyone one of them involved 20 minutes of a huge zerg standing in one spot spamming one ranged ability, getting knocked back by something, running back to the same spot and spamming one ability.

There was 0 skill involved, and to try to make it feel more epic they just piled on the HP on the boss, so even with 50-100 people wacking on it, it still took for friggin ever.  It was literally the biggest joke of an excuse for boss fights ive ever seen in a game

Originally posted by Militant
/Agree on the dragon fights.. Visually the dragons look great and have nice entrances but the actual fights are brutally boring.. Spam charzooka/ranged abilities or get 1 shot.. Get knocked back/break barrier.. Spam again. Loot is utter garbage 99.999% of the time you dont even get a rare (and i got plenty of magic find.. Doesnt seem to effect chests).. If you cant even be gaurunteed a rare from a dragon chest it's an utter waste of time after doing it once for the experience.

Magic find doesn't work right now - they know about it.

Originally posted by makii

Well that arcticle was just boring to read. (for me)

And you guys make me really hate this game, posting every 3days a new article about gw2.

Who says you have to read them when they're posted? If it bothers you this much then don't click the link. Simple as that :)

Originally posted by BethelsBoy

Originally posted by makii

Well that arcticle was just boring to read. (for me)

And you guys make me really hate this game, posting every 3days a new article about gw2.

Who says you have to read them when they're posted? If it bothers you this much then don't click the link. Simple as that :)

If you don't like something, avoid it rather than complain about it!

imo, the main problem with making these bosses challenging is the size of them. The game is designed so we have to roll about a lot to avoid being hit, but these bosses are so large that our tiny rolls would not make any difference. The amount of hp thay have is also pathetic!

I fully agree with the Author, the 3 world boss dragons are epic to watch the first time zou fight them, but the actual encounters are very dull. It is next to impossible to die during The Shatterer and Teocatl The Sunless events. The Hand of Jormag is actually quite okay, but difficulty here is also only a question of player numbers. Biggest disappointment is the "climatic" fight against Zaitan. Despite being in a dungeon it is incredibly boring and doesnt require and actual player actions beside shooting him with cannons.

WoW did a much better job with Big Bosses and especially with Open World bosses. Classic had 5 world dragon fights on a weekly respawn per server and they couldn't be zerged down by numbers. They felt powerful and threatening, despite looking like crap by todays standards. The Shatterer looks amazing when you see him in action, but he is at no point a danger to the players and havin him on a 3 hour timer makes it very boring for repeated visits. ArenaNet should maybe try the WoW approach to worldbosses with new encounters, make them really hard, have them block a part of the map and respawn them on a 48 basis. However, most important they all need mechanics, that make them Zerg-resistant.