Guild Wars 2

Apparently yes, but

WHY???

Level 80 players are stronger than up-scaled players due to Superior Runes/Sigils, more trait points, exotics etc etc.

Do you HAVE to be 80?
No.

Would I recommend being 80?
Yes.

Would I take a sub 80 into my group?
No.

Because it is end-game content.

Sure ill agree the loot is end-game, but that doesn’t mean the dungeon has to be.

GW2 auto levels you last time i checked.

question still up in the air. anyone?

It still auto-levels you? They said they removed that at the tail end of the free trial in the patch notes.

It may not be necessary (assuming you still get upscaled), but I think it’s certainly helpful. Gear aside, level 80 typically indicates you can bring the max potential of your profession into an encounter; which becomes greater in importance as you go higher in levels.

You do get upscaled. It was upscaling in the new level 80 zone that was removed.

Based on the research that I have heard of and participated in, scaling is far simpler than most people realize. There is some minor variation, however, barring the influence of ascended gear (on the to-be-evaluated list, but currently estimated as a paltry 3% boost over exotics), a player in a full set of top-shelf gear for their level will scale to a player in a full set of top-shelf gear for the scaled level.

The curves for the impact of different stats at a given level are not constant; trait points have the largest effect around level 38-39, which means an upscaled 38 gains more impact from their traits than a level 80 does, desite having fewer points to spend.

Higher level players gain acces to more major and minor traits, but this comes at the cost of specialization.

Higher rarities of gear are used to offset declining contributions from other facets. Exotic isn’t better, it maintains the status quo.

If a level 11 character puts 1 trait point into a line that benefits power, these 10 points of power scale up to 147. A level 20 with 10 points in the line would get 738. A level 80 will only get 300—because they are capped at 30 points in the line.

Looking at a rune of the eagle, a minor gives +10 precision for the first ability, while a superior gives 165 total across 5 runes. The minor rune can be equipped at level 1 at which point it scales to +381. By level 20 this has fallen to a scaled 73, but it is worth noting that you have 4 unused rune slots available if you are comparing a full set of runes—mking it effectively +219 when you count the other 2 sets of runes you can wear (obviously you need to wear different sets).

Where do you have actual differences?

Before level 30 you don’t have access to all of your skill bar—no stats can compensate for this.

A sub-80 character tends to not wear top-shelf gear. It is prohibitive to upgrade every level. that said, it can be done, and a close approximation is still close.

An 80 has access to more major and minor traits which can provide benefits that create build synergies, which augment stats instead of contributing to them.

An 80 tends to know more about how to play the class and the game effectively than a lower level does. Not a guarantee, but there is certainly a correlation between time played and skill.

Boon duration, critical damage multipliers, and other stats that are not available on gear (crit multiplier is not available on very low-level gear although it is available on higher level items) don’t benefit as well from scaling. (I believe but need to confirm they do not scale at all).

Sub-80s will probably have trouble in fractals with agony resist. Assuming you don’t need it, however, there is no reason to reject a player on basis of level. My daughter plays a level 13 warrior in fractals and she has better defensive stats than an 80 in full defensive exotics.

Disclaimer: to date, downscaling has been the focus of my group’s efforts, but the limited upscaling we have looked at is consistent with the downscaling model.

Bubby.6475:

Sure ill agree the loot is end-game, but that doesn’t mean the dungeon has to be.

GW2 auto levels you last time i checked.

question still up in the air. anyone?

Sure the dungeon up levels you, however as said by the person who answered first: You do not gain the traits, weapons, armor, or trinkets that a level 80 has. being “up-scaled” in this game simply means you have the same BASIC stats as a level 80.

my level 35 mesmer had the following stats after i entered fotm (with cheap masterwork stuff and lvl 30 buff food):

-2.8 attack
-55% crit
-18k hit points
-2.3k defense
-900 weapon damage

having all the important utility skills and these stats, i dont see a problem to run the lower tiers of fotm with a low level toon. at a certain point you want level 80 in exotics, but until then running with up-leveled player doesnt make such of a difference and will make group finding much easier.