Guild Wars 2

So I’m not the brightest person in the game, I don’t know all the terms and whatnot, I’ve been idle for a while and even before I didn’t do much dungeons.

But now with the group finder, I decided I’d get my hands onto some pretty armors.

Anyway, onto my question:

I’ve seen a lot of LFGs where they request you to have 5k ap, and I just assumed it was attack power or something, but with my warrior sitting in full zerkers stuff (no ascended) and not even hitting 4k it hit me, is it achievement points?

Am I missing something, what does the ‘AP’ stand for?

AP is achievement points. Some people believe that AP is a measure of player skill, even though you dont get much ap for doing difficult content, you get it mostly from living story and dailies.

If you see a lfg add asking for Xk AP its better to avoid it, even if you meet the requirement, those groups usually suck.

Lol thats hilariously low, I’ll make sure I keep avoiding them haha. Thanks for replying

AP is a terrible indicator of skill. Like Casmurro said, avoid those groups like the plague. Gear-checking for meta gear is generally a better indicator.

Casmurro.9046:

AP is achievement points. Some people believe that AP is a measure of player skill, even though you dont get much ap for doing difficult content, you get it mostly from living story and dailies.

If you see a lfg add asking for Xk AP its better to avoid it, even if you meet the requirement, those groups usually suck.

It is so true, if they are so dumb to think that AP points can measure anyone’s skill you better avoid them like pest. I’ve seen such pathetic, horrid, 10k+ap players in this game than 1ks. And this is sadly true. Also if you consider that you actually get so few AP from mere dungeon running, while the most of the AP come from mindless grinding . As an example: I was once bored to death lacking anything to do, so I decided to get those few 200 raptors kills I needed for raptor slayer. Went on my warrior, went to Metrica Province, spammed #1 gs while running around like a jerk and poof. (Just to express how dumb it is to give AP any importance, also considering how many AP you got months ago, when it was like 20 ap x daily)

I honestly would find a 1k AP helpful… Because it shows that they’ve blamed the game long enough to probably know what they’re doing. But because I’m not an AP farmer, I fully expect in 5 months to no longer qualify for any pug runs, because my AP really won’t increase much more.

It is achievement points and its just straight stupid. You know I believe that this kind of elitism is imported from WoW by people who were often kicked for being not good enough and now they somehow compensate by introducing the WoW manners here.
However in WoW you were kicked because your dps was not good enough or you were underequipped or slacking.
Here you have no way how to check dps or armor (well you can ask for pinging armor to the char but thats all) so people try to find some other criteria how to compensate.
Well, they found aps…
Shorty, I normally avoid groups where they ask for certain ap minimum, because they are likely morons.
And I have seen 7k+ chars who were obviously clueless and played by total beginners – so I’d say ebayed.

People just use it as a pretty poor way to filter out new players, I guess on average it does increase the chance of getting people who know what their doing but it’s still a pretty kitten way to do it.

I find as you get around 10k achievement points, players tend to be bad. I would never use this as a filter. But from my experience, people who have 5 digit AP, are generally bads.

Also I sit at around 3.5k AP, and could careless if others think I’m a newb for it.

I can say I’ve seen many people around the 10k+ mark that are also awful. They’re out there farming AP in open world and now they’re looking to get carried through dungeons for their dungeon master title AP. These same people also happen to scale up the Wurm events in Bloodtide and do jack kitten.

It’s better to gear check them and ask about their builds, likelihood of not being bad increases.

Had a 15k AP necromancer carry myself and my whole guild group through a lvl 49 fractal.

Every situation is unique, that’s why this filter is eh.

Indicator of skill?..No…Indicator of knowledge of the game? It’s the best we have. Basically it’s the same as a test in school. Is it a great measure?….No… Is it the best we have on a generalized basis? Yes..Abeit by 2k players have a general grasp of the game.

Heh, do NOT use AP as an indicator of skill. I have over 13k AP now, but I’m still a relative newb when it comes to dungeons. I’ve done AC and CM enough by now to consider myself experienced at them, and I’m just starting to learn TA now, but if you threw me into any of the other dungeons (or high level Fractals), I bet I’d faceplant soooo many times.

Essence Snow.3194:

Indicator of knowledge of the game? It’s the best we have.

Absolutely not.

I use AP as a dungeon requirement, (or you can ping gear). The reason I use this is to hope that by gaining that much AP they are familiar with their class by now. This like everyone says is not set in stone but that’s why I run with at least 3 guildies. The AP requirement gets you into a path. It doesn’t guarantee a spot on the next path.

Two months ago I had 7397 AP, yet I’m not even close to reaching 7500. Dailies are my only AP source and I don’t do dailies. You don’t get any points for playing (comparatively) ‘hardcore’ content. I know some great players with up to 13k (you’re all dirty achievement whores and living story farmers) but I can’t say 15k+ AP players are any better than 2k AP ones.

I never have used it as a filter but here’s my take…

It’s not an accurate, but assuming you don’t know both people, who would you rather take, assuming they both pass your gear, trait and class check – a person with 800ap or with 15k ap?

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

The first thing I do after joining a group is checking their AP points when I see something below 1k I pm him and ask him if he knows what to do. If he doesn’t respond I know that that run won’t be as smooth as it normaly goes but I wont kick him.
If you just want to get things done you should use AP as an indicator of how well your group will do. Everything below 2k might never have done this dungeon before.

I have found that where AP doesn’t show skill, it can show if someone has done some of what anet class as harder content, when running a lvl 49 fotm, and you get someone with 700AP joining theres a fairly good chance they haven’t done it, and where I would always give someone a chance, as points don’t reflect skill, when you ask them what there AR is and they ask what is AR, its a fairly clear indicator this person isn’t going to do well.

But personally id never join a group where they ask for a pre set, such as AP, or zerkers, or heavies etc, I have always found a more balanced team works well.

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

kitten right!

Although no matter the case, I always take the better looking.

Anicetus.1253:

Two months ago I had 7397 AP, yet I’m not even close to reaching 7500. Dailies are my only AP source and I don’t do dailies. You don’t get any points for playing (comparatively) ‘hardcore’ content. I know some great players with up to 13k (you’re all dirty achievement whores and living story farmers) but I can’t say 15k+ AP players are any better than 2k AP ones.

Deffo jelly of our AP dub.

“I remember when I kicked you for continuously kicking path sellers and admitting to continue so. And that you begged me to let you stay in [SOLO].”

How was this offending, rude and inflammatory?

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

So you interview people for some time before getting inside?

Sometimes it could be a useful indicator, I got stuck with Dungeon Master title at Aetherblade path / TA . Noobs were coming in all directions, with their aetherblade keys and no knowledge of game mechanincs, after 6 split up groups, I got fed up. Posted 4k AP+ only and managed to beat the Aetherblade path smoothly.
Most of the group were between 4 and 8 k , that is the best indicator we got so far at a glance.
Altough, I’ve played with 10k+ groups in fractals, but they very often blow, don’t know where to stack / what and when to do etc.
It would be great to have something like a dungeon lvl/rating .

RolandMode.2749:

Sometimes it could be a useful indicator, I got stuck with Dungeon Master title at Aetherblade path / TA . Noobs were coming in all directions, with their aetherblade keys and no knowledge of game mechanincs, after 6 split up groups, I got fed up. Posted 4k AP+ only and managed to beat the Aetherblade path smoothly.
Most of the group were between 4 and 8 k , that is the best indicator we got so far at a glance.
Altough, I’ve played with 10k+ groups in fractals, but they very often blow, don’t know where to stack / what and when to do etc.
It would be great to have something like a dungeon lvl/rating .

This could be true.

People with so much AP means they participate in events – could probably mean they have less time to do dungeons.

People with “average” AP tend to do only what they wanted – could probably mean they do dungeons every now and then.

People with “low” AP could mean they have no interest in world events OR they are total noob/newbies.

Having 4959 AP currently im prety close to the 5k ap and lets be honest i easily made a good 1k AP from deconstructing stuff another part of my AP from running all the dungeon and the rest from LS. However its not impossible for some guy to just do LS event like lunatic inquisition until he is way above the 7k standard. AP is totaly meaningless. Title might actualy mean more already and thats if the player werent carried.

AP is a plague on this game, the only thing Achievement Points indicate is how much time the player has spent gathering them. I’ve seen players with low AP do really well where 10k plus AP players have failed laughably. I’ve also seen the opposite. It’s judging a book by its cover.

Achievement Points themselves are just one more carrot you can opt to chase in this game. It’s much easier to come up with minimal content that involves to-do lists with AP rewards than it would be to come up with content that actually has substance to it. I would stay away from any group requiring a minimum AP, simply because they probably can’t carry their own weight in a dungeon run.

Fext.3614:

Essence Snow.3194:

Indicator of knowledge of the game? It’s the best we have.

Absolutely not.

Care to elaborate why not and or what may be better?

AP just means you’ve been around the block a few times and played enough different content. The hope is that you may have learned a thing or two. This isn’t always the case.

I tend to stay away from anyone sub 1,000 and am leery of people with more than 10,000. That said, the best way to tell for me has been to ask them:

1. What gear setup/utilities they are planning to run and swap
2. How well they know the path

Generally, bads don’t answer. Anyone who will not answer, gets a kick. Someone who says “I am learning” can still keep a spot more often than not. We have enough solid people to carry and teach someone. We will not tolerate a scrub who refuses to even cooperate and respond (thinking somehow he will sneak by un-noticed in a party of 5).

AP isn’t an indicator of skill, it’s an indicator of dedication. Ideally, someone who puts in a lot of effort getting a lot of achievements will put a lot of effort into other meaningful endeavors in the game, hopefully therein including being skilled at playing your class.

I never use AP as a requirement in my group, but I definitely bias based on AP slightly. The way I see it, as long as you have 2000 AP or something around there, you’ve played the game enough to hopefully know the most basic of mechanics (and hopefully have the ability to read).

knives.6345:

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

So you interview people for some time before getting inside?

Yes.

Anicetus.1253:

knives.6345:

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

So you interview people for some time before getting inside?

Yes.

You have to at least take them to dinner before getting inside. What kind of manners do you have!

I think the AP are a kind of indicator. This give a really bad view on how much time the guys spent in the game. But it only work for the extreme. Someone with less than 1K AP probably just have level 80 so he probably never really done dungeon (at least the higher ones). But someone with 5k+ is probably in the game for some time at least. But for dungeon that don’t really help. Like some people said themselves, people with 10K AP can never had put foot in some dungeon, while some with 1k AP could had went directly into dungeon and have more experience. The AP can give you a rough estimate of the time spend in the game, but its won’t help at all to check if someone is good in dungeon or not. The only reason why i check the AP is when i ask for a speed run and someone with less than 1K AP show up. I just ask them if they know that’s a speed run and do they know the path well enough.

AP is not an indicator of skill but rather experience or length of play. Someone who’s played this game for long enough to get 5k+ ap will most likely have some level of experience doing most of the events and dungeons. And at the end of the day experience is what is needed for most encounters.

Anicetus.1253:

knives.6345:

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

So you interview people for some time before getting inside?

Yes.

Oooookay….

Sample questions? Do they need to send their resume too?

Only if they are hot chicks.

Cat Has Ducks.1982:

Anicetus.1253:

knives.6345:

Anicetus.1253:

I’d take the one with the better communicational abilities. And if both understand english, I take the one with the more fashionable armor.

So you interview people for some time before getting inside?

Yes.

You have to at least take them to dinner before getting inside. What kind of manners do you have!

“Shamed be he who thinks evil of it.”

I can certainly advocate the advice on ignoring the XK AP groups – I joined one also not knowing what that message meant, and was greeted with a right load of abuse before being kicked.

I’d recommend joining a guild and doing dungeons with your guildies.

Considering you get most of your AP by doing the least challenging content this game has to offer (living story and daylies) groups that require certain amounts of AP to join should be avoided in general. Of course having AP isn’t bad, but having AP wont make you a good player either and I bet most players that start AP groups are not that good in the first place. The same goes for “exp only groups”. Looking for zerk/melee only groups is more promising if you want to have a decent run, although still no guarantee to success.

I agree, but I still generally stand by being a little prejudiced against players with less than 1k, unless it’s an alt account, because I’m just not convinced that at that point they have the handle of the game that a speed run requires. There are always exceptions, but I guess I’m always a little wary of those <1k AP. ^^

It isn’t a great indicator, but then again anybody lower than 1K AP probably means they don’t have a whole lot of knowledge and know how about the game.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

I agree, but I still generally stand by being a little prejudiced against players with less than 1k, unless it’s an alt account, because I’m just not convinced that at that point they have the handle of the game that a speed run requires. There are always exceptions, but I guess I’m always a little wary of those <1k AP. ^^

I started farming Arah ~700 AP. By 900 I ran it a ton of times. So whenever I see low AP person join. I do gear check. If they have zerker gear, with the proper weapons and they had a meta build. Then I trust they know what they are doing. If not, das boot!

Cat Has Ducks.1982:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

I agree, but I still generally stand by being a little prejudiced against players with less than 1k, unless it’s an alt account, because I’m just not convinced that at that point they have the handle of the game that a speed run requires. There are always exceptions, but I guess I’m always a little wary of those <1k AP. ^^

I started farming Arah ~700 AP. By 900 I ran it a ton of times. So whenever I see low AP person join. I do gear check. If they have zerker gear, with the proper weapons and they had a meta build. Then I trust they know what they are doing. If not, das boot!

Like I said, exceptions!

I know at 700 AP i was still in cleric gear and not understanding how to skip parts of dungeons and had 1 title, combat healer.

the more achievement points you have, the longer you’ve been playing. chances are the longer you’ve been playing the better you are. pretty simple reasoning. personally i’d rather run with a 10k AP condi build over a 1k AP full zerk.

Lilith Ajit.6173:

Cat Has Ducks.1982:

Lilith Ajit.6173:

I agree, but I still generally stand by being a little prejudiced against players with less than 1k, unless it’s an alt account, because I’m just not convinced that at that point they have the handle of the game that a speed run requires. There are always exceptions, but I guess I’m always a little wary of those <1k AP. ^^

I started farming Arah ~700 AP. By 900 I ran it a ton of times. So whenever I see low AP person join. I do gear check. If they have zerker gear, with the proper weapons and they had a meta build. Then I trust they know what they are doing. If not, das boot!

Like I said, exceptions!

I know at 700 AP i was still in cleric gear and not understanding how to skip parts of dungeons and had 1 title, combat healer.

I still rock the Combat Healer to this day, my proudest title!

ellesee.8297:

personally i’d rather run with a 10k AP condi build over a 1k AP full zerk.

So you’d rather run with someone who knows the game but still runs pure crap. As opposed to someone who is clearly trying to be good at it?

Lol I have never seen people asking for ap requirements for dungeons this is so sad xD But I run Arah a lot and this guy kept trying to say I sucked because my ap was barely over 2k. I have played this game for over a year now and I am actually pretty darn good at this game. The guy had like 15k and kept trying to say it meant he was better than me when he kept kitten dying. Bottom line is I would avoid those kinds of groups because they probably suck. If you do mostly dungeons you aren’t going to want to ask for people with high ap anyways considering you don’t even get much ap from dungeons lol.

ellesee.8297:

the more achievement points you have, the longer you’ve been playing. chances are the longer you’ve been playing the better you are. pretty simple reasoning. personally i’d rather run with a 10k AP condi build over a 1k AP full zerk.

And no that is not true at all. I know people who have played this game constantly and do just dungeons and are hella good at it and only have like 3k ap

Well unlike 1-1,5 years ago there are already plenty of guides of how2pve out there.
Of course a player with less than 1k AP might lack some experience in reading boss animations, but it is less likely that he will run some awful stat combination compared to 1 year ago. I honestly would gear and weapon check players if I want to increase my chances for a smooth run.
Even if the low AP person would “faceplant” at lupi for example, his general contribution to the dungeon is still higher than some cleric guard or shoutheal warrior (shoutheal deals 50-60% of a proper zerker build, heal cleric even less keep that in mind).
Also I’m up teaching players playing better in dungeons. If he’s willing to run melee zerk, I’m willing to take him with me, even if he does not know everything yet. If he’s unwilling to contribute as best as he can, well then I’m not too keen on taking him with me either-

Omagad, all this time i thaught AP was attack power

Thanks for this post, now i know why i can’t get these values, and why people of these parties are so flamers, personally i got 1500 ap, i am new to game, and most party ask for 6k ap. 6k ap? I got 1500, so i need to play everyday till 6k to play with other players? xD So shamefull that these parties ask AP requirements