Doing PvE with only Nightfall and Heroes

Hello there, forum!

I just recently installed Guild Wars after a huge break so I would get warmed up until my reserved copy of GW2 arrives. I decided to dip a bit in PvE content since there is not much PvP left nowadays.

Since I am not a very experienced player, I decided to look for help here. I tried searching but there were no results that matched the restrictions that I am about to make. So, GW community, here is a challenge for those most experienced of you:

Quote: Goal: Clearing Domain of Anguish (all wings, starting with the City of Torc'qua). Also aiming for stuff like FoW and UW but I am not certain which is a better starting point.
GW parts available: Nightfall + Core only
Player profession: Dervish
Party restriction: Heroes only Questions for those that decide to help me on this matter:

1. Is it even possible to clear the areas that I mentioned with only heroes/Nightfall?
2. Could you please suggest me the team composition and the builds for my heroes and me?
3. Would you care to point out how I should gear my group's members?

I am looking forward to you helping me. I would appreciate any piece of advice you would like to share with me!

I tried to make a team build with your restrictions but I noticed you would be missing some fairly powerful skills like Panic, Discord, and many Monk and Ritualist skills. Also, you probably have access to very few heroes. So how about we try to meet up in-game and I'll do my best to remember how I completed those areas? FoW would be very easy to do and DoA would also be possible. However, UW would be very difficult and I have never finished that areas without an expert guiding my team (and even they sometimes failed).

You could probably do it on your own but it would simply be tedious, in my opinion.

First of all, thank you for the answer and taking your time to actually analyze what I wrote!

Ok, I am planning to give it a shot with the following comp:

2x Hundred Blades Warriors (I presume that absence of Sun and Moon Slash will hurt quite a bit)
AoE Dervish using Balthazar instead of VoS for added tankyness
2x WoH Hybrid monks
Motigon with support for physical damage and aoe heals
Minionmancer with Barbs and Mark of Pain to complement already huge AoE damage
Possibly either Barrage Ranger or Fire Elementalist

I am slowly making their builds and equipping them with decent gear. I am actually noticing a difference when I give City of Torc'qua a shot. I managed to clear up to those walls (first three group of Margonites :PPP) so far. However, only Monks, dervish and Necro have full builds and only one of the monks has fully optimized gear. I am pretty optimistic about this.

I appreciate you offer very much but I wouldn't like to be a burden to anyone because I am not too experienced. However, I would like to ask you to rate the mentioned dungeons by difficulty so I would know which one is a good starting point.

And I would like a tip on farming Unique (Green) items. From what I know, running bosses that drop target items on Hard Mode does not increase the drop of greens, only gold items. If there is any way to increase the drop rate, I would highly appreciate it since getting green items to drop seems like the fastest way to get my heroes geared.

I wouldn't bother with that Paragon and 2 Warrior heroes, get an Energy Surge Mesmer (or three) instead. And yes, Barrage Ranger or Searing Flames/Invoke Lightning Elementalist should work ok. Many players would agree that melee heroes have a really bad AI in this game and casters or ranged heroes are far more reliable.

Also, what do you consider "fully optimized gear"? I could give you some advice if you tell me what you're looking for.

The best way to farm greens is to be alone when you kill a boss (so no heroes or henchmen, just a party of 1). One of my favourite greens is the The Mindclouder since the stats are pretty decent and the boss is very close to the Dajkah Inlet outpost. Keep in mind that you don't have to meet the requirement of a staff in order to get the energy/health/whatever bonuses.

Lastly, judging by how much effort you've put in learning and preparing for all of this, I can pretty much guarantee that you would be far more useful than most heroes and you definitely wouldn't be a burden on any team. So if you feel like you've hit a brick wall, my offer still stands. So far I have 50/50 points in my Hall of Monuments and I even got Legendary Guardian and Legendary Master of the North on each of my 11 characters so, really, I'm only playing for the fun of the game; there isn't much that I still want to achieve in GW. But I am interested in getting the FoW statue on my Monk and DoA on my second Necromancer. My ign is Schmerdro Ravissen

Oh, and as for difficulty: FoW is easiest (just somewhat long; I think a mostly counter-clockwise direction is the fastest) and UW is the hardest. I haven't completed DoA in a very long time but I think the order, from easiest to most difficult, would be:
1) City
2) Stygian Veil
3) Ravenheart Gloom
4) Foundry
Mallyx obviously has to be done last but it should be about as hard as Gloom. Actually, I really don't know... it's been a long time XD

Unfortunately, I believe I am limited to Norgu as far as primary Mesmer goes. However, I could easily make a secondary mesmer. Do you think the most useful first class for those 3 mesmers would be Elementalist? Energy storage seems pretty good for that purpose. Also, I would appreciate if you would take the time to suggest me a build for those mesmers and the optimal equipment. If that is too much work for me to ask from you, I would gladly do a bit more research and brew up some decent Energy Surge build.

Well, "fully optimized" depends from class to class. For example, here is what I consider optimal for my Balthazar AoE Dervish:
1) Zealous (considering Furious atm) Scythe of Fortitude, customized ofc
2) Full Blessed Insignias (I do not have enough enchantments constantly reap the benefits of Windwalker insignia. I may be wrong on this one)
3) Rune of Vigor, Minor runes of Mysticism, Scythe Mastery, Earth Prayers, rest Vitae

Thank you for opening my eyes about being solo for greens to drop the most. I haven't run into that info while looking for strategy, for some reason.

As for your offer, let it be like this - if you are ever bored and don't have anything better to do IRL, you just might help a noob experience some high-end content of Guild Wars. Only under that crucial condition!

Also, thank you for ordering those dungeons. If I recall correctly, FoW requires some kind of fee to enter so I guess I chose the best starting point.

Thank you so much for taking your time to answer my numerous questions.

Oh right, NF-only heroes, forgot about that XD
Anyway, here is the build I would recommend:
Power Drain, Leech Signet, Cry of Frustration, Energy Surge, Mistrust, Empathy, Drain Enchantment, and Signet of Return.
Heroes have godlike interrupt abilities so it would be a good idea to exploit that. Signet of Return is a Paragon Leadership skill but it will resurrect for 30% ~ 35% health and 6% ~ 7% energy as long as you have 6-7 party members alive. You may consider replacing it with Rebirth, whichever you prefer.
An Elementalist primary should work fine, just replace Signet of Return with Aura of Restoration.

And you could also try a team with 4 Searing Flames heroes: 2 Ele, 1 Mes, 1 Razah. Did you know you can change Razah's profession to anything? Just go to Isle of the Nameless (from Great Temple of Balthazar) or the Command Post and talk to him while he is NOT in your party.

By the way, I just realized that you can't use Splinter Weapon, so I would't bother with Barrage Rangers. And, if you want me to easily find you, give me the name of one of your characters (either in a reply or in a personal message). I'll see you in-game

Whoa, thank you for this much info, fine gentleman!

Do not get me wrong on this one but I have to ask for more detail. The problem is that I am really inexperienced in build brewing and all I can do is look for synergies but that is pretty much it. I am not familiar at all with the effectiveness of individual skills so I just might make a build that has a very weak link in it.

Without beating around a bush anymore - what would you actually suggest that I run? Besides Dervish (me), two Monks and three Mesmers (or four Elementalists), what would you suggest me that I take for the remaining two or one slots, respectively?
I believe that a 40/40 set for weapons would be equally effective on Mesmers just like it is on Monks, right?

It all depends on what area you're doing and your play-style. Yes, 40/40 sets are nice but I always give my caster heroes a staff of some sort (and full radiant + Attunement runes) and it has a worked out fine.

You should also consider that I have never actually used the exact builds that I will give you since I've never been restricted to NF-only.
For your Monks:
Word of Healing, Words of Comfort, Healing Seed, Signet of Devotion, Divine Intervention, Deny Hexes, Remove Hex, Renew Life.
Zealous Benediction, Protective Spirit, Shield of Absorption, Shielding Hands, Guardian, Aegis, Dismiss Condition, Rebirth.
I'm not really happy with either of those builds but they should work ok.

For your Necromancer:
Toxic Chill, Animate Shambling Horror, Animate Bone Minions, Death Nova, Enfeebling Blood, Rip Enchantment, Envenom Enchantments, Signet of Lost Souls. Use 12 Death Magic, 10 Soul Reaping and 8 Curses.
Or if you won't have corpses for minions, try:
Lingering Curse, Meekness, Mark of Pain, Barbs, Weaken Armor, Enfeebling Blood, Suffering, Signet of Lost Souls.

For a Searing Flames Ele:
Glyph of Lesser Energy, Searing Flames, Glowing Gaze, Liquid Flame, Meteor, Aura of Restoration, Fire Attunement, Signet of Return.
With a Mesmer primary, take out Aura and the signet for Power Drain and Leech Signet.

Again, these are only suggestions that are supposed to point you in the right direction. Feel free to modify them as you see fit.

Oh, and could you give me your In-Game-Name?

Okay, I will use this as a guideline to try and make something happen!

My Dervish's in-game name is Omni Slicer.

After quite a bit of hassle, I was able to do City of Torc'qua completely while following the restrictions I mentioned. The builds I used are far from optimal, but they served their purpose. The progress was very slow but, unexpectedly, very rewarding because I even got unique Turep's Spear, which made me very happy!

If someone is interested, the builds I used are:

Player D - OgCikysMtdJd1cFg9cJu1DixBA
Koss W - OQkSEZKP9F/CghvaYNMXF5N
Goren W - OQkSEZKP9F/CghvaYNMXF5N
Dunkoro Mo - OwUUMsG/E4OaE66mWiUPaJ9gMAA
Tahlkora Mo - OwUUMsG/E4OaE66mWiUPaJ9gMAA
Norgu Me - OQlDAqwDOngpnGIHQE6BZA5N
Morghan P - OQCkUqmx5iqTQ2CvurwcYNs7WeD
MoW N - OAlDUshnOL1qAawOUGsEVV5N

I actually believe my team build is not very good. I think that maximum single target burst might be the right way to go, which is an option I will have to explore. Namely, a few times, especially at the very end, the fight came to - run in, burst the Kis or Kayas and then run out, res if needed and then go fight head on.

I will still take any suggestions that you give me. Schmerdro was so nice to, not only give me invaluable tips, but he also run me through City for the first time, prior to this solo clear of mine. Even though his 4-ele suggestion did not work out too well, I believe a crucial part of this team was his Mesmer build. For that, I thank you Schmerdro!