My Build Conundrum: Are dungeons a necessity to progress? PvE and PvP

Tolmos · August 2017

Hey all! So I've been away for a good while and upon coming back, I found myself stuck with a bit of a problem and unsure what the best next step to handle it was.

For the most part, my interest in this game lies in PvP and solo/open world PvE. I've noticed a lot of people talking about dungeons, and the general talk about the trinity of healer/tank/dps, and how DPS characters (like most MMOs) have a longer wait to find groups.

Now, in most games where dungeons are an integral part of the game, I usually run a tank or healer class to more quickly get into groups. The issue here is that playing a healer/tank when you are not in a group in this game is a bit boring, and because there are no dual specs that I can see, I kind of have to make an important decision on what sort of build I will be.

So my thought is that if dungeons are not a big deal to the game, I will probably run some fun little DPS build for PvP and some solo combat... but if dungeons are a pretty big part of progression (gearing up for PvP, gearing up for open world content, etc), then I will likely run a tank or healer build.

What do you all think? Is it possible to progress meaningfully without running dungeons?

disintegr8 · August 2017

No need to run any dungeons to progress as they are not a part of any story line. You can always go through the widely available lists of gear sets and if you want something that drops from a particular dungeon, just run that until you get what you want.

MarzAttakz · August 2017

If you have a MagSorc you can cover pretty much everything other than srz tanking in the harder dungeons...

PVP BEAST: check
PVE DPS: check
PVE HEALER: check
SOLO OPEN-WORLD: check

Granted you'll be frowned upon if you're wanting to do harder dungeons as a healer but so what, you'll be adding more than enough dps to speed things up.

Alternatively you can consider a MagPlar, they got hit quite hard but are still versatile enough and can function as a both a healer and dps in both PVE and PVP.

With the changes coming up, yes you will need certain dungeon sets and monster helms, but the gap will be smaller, sadly you won't be able to avoid dungeons altogether if you're aiming at optimal builds.

If you don't mind working on multiple characters you could always level a pure tank, a healer and a dps since dungeon drops are account bound, not character bound - that way you can do the grind when it suits in whichever role you feel like playing at the time...

Got a pocket healer? Queue with your dps or tank.
Got a pocket tank? Queue with your healer or dps.
Feel like playing some dps? Chilling and overland while in queue.

Also with CP being shared the only real grind is to CP160, thereafter it's levelling your alts to 50 and instant CP160 for them, any gear you get will be max level, any xp you gain pushes CP for all your characters.

AlMcFly · August 2017

It depends on what you mean by "Progress":

IF "Progress" = Finishing all content in the game EXCEPT dungeons and trials, than NO, you do not need to run a single dungeon for gear because the rest of the content is laughably easy.

IF "Progress" = Finishing all content in the game INCLUDING dungeons and trials at all difficulty levels, than YES, of course dungeon gear is likely necessary.

Come on now...you already knew the answer to this.

P.S.

PvP is situational and you can do fine in 100% crafted gear since you will likely be zerging or small-group ganking most of the time. One can argue that there is no such thing as "PvP Progression" as an in-game tangible mechanic. You just get better and play more.

Betsararie · August 2017

You absolutely need to do group dungeons to progress in the game, because much of the best gear drops there.

Doing pledges (which are dungeons), also will get you undaunted keys and level your undaunted skill line, two essential aspects to the game.

If you're not going to do dungeons, there's no use playing.