I simply can't get my head wrapped around how impossibly difficult aspects of this game are and why they're written this way in the first place. Not every player is an op grinder with max gear ... that being said, I expect to die, a lot playing the Fires/Thorns xpacs b/c, as I was told, they're not meant to be solo content. I've got level-400 self-crafted gear but even that seems to be insufficient. The game, apparently, penalizes, harshly, for being a solo player. (Yah, yah, sure, GUILD Wars... I get it...) Ok. Fine. Expectations set. But, when I'm doing a personal story in PoF, I don't expect to get my fanny waxed repeatedly resulting in a reset (go back to the beginning) of the story's chapter (Path of Fire::The Sacrifice) either. That's asinine behavior and incredibly poor design, imo. Exacerbated by the NPCs, literally, just standing around during mini-boss and boss fights. Oops. Sorry. AI taking a break... I'd rez you but I'm too busy scratching my butt... Do they not play test? With normal toons? Or, if this level of difficulty (remember, games are supposed to be challenging and fun) requires doing the LW stories first, then where's that intuited/taught? First game I've ever played, in literally decades, where the designers work this hard to discourage my in-game spending and investment in additional xpac content. I know this post will get all the fanbois riled up... "noob!", they'll shout! And they'd be right and that's my entire point. You level up/down for zones changes, why don't you do the same for personal stories based on gear?