Guild Wars 2

Hello

Disclaimer: I am a returning player, so my observation is kind of a contrast between a year ago and now.

On several occasions now, I was in Wayfarer Foothills on a low level Norn, and I see downscaled players pretty much “one shotting” the champion Corrupted Wolfmaster. I mean they run to the champion, and kill it within 1-3 seconds.

This ruins the fun for the low level players. You barely have the time to get one hit in, and you don’t get a reward at all.

In my mind downscaling in Guild Wars 2 has been a strong point of the game. It makes it still fun to experience low level areas on a high level character, joining people in events, completing maps and so on, and I am worried that the continued power creep of high level character is going to affect the low level experience significantly.

I remember in Ever Quest II the downscaling was so bad that if you invited a higher level player in your group, it would ruin the group experience as that one player would carry everyone and destroy everything in a few hits.

TLDR : HoT is going to add even more powers to high level characters. I hope the developers keep this downscale mechanic in mind and downscale character skills and powers appropriately to make the low level events and champions fun for everyone (including downscaled players themselves!).

fabd.7026:

TLDR : HoT is going to add even more powers to high level characters. I hope the developers keep this downscale mechanic in mind and downscale character skills and powers appropriately to make the low level events and champions fun for everyone (including downscaled players themselves!).

At least in theory Anet is trying to make it so that HoT characters are not stronger than non-HoT characters. They are not increasing the level cap, nor are they adding a new level of gear above ascended / legendary. Masteries only increase power versus Mordrem and specializations increase the number of options available but not the power of the options. Whether this actually prevents power creep or not remains to be seen of course.

Yes, downscaling needs to be looked at again and have some balance work done on it. Hopefully after HoT launches they will take some time to do that, but I doubt anything will happen until that point. Colin has mentioned in almost every interview recently (when asked about changes to the base game) that right now their focus is pretty much completely HoT (and I can’t knock them for that).

its not the failed downscaling
they nerfed champions/enemies in starter zones

Grazden for example the champion in Plains of Ashford
is WEAKER than his adds

he litteraly dies 3x as fast!!!!!!!!!!

its so ridiculous!!
Anet made the NPE 10000x WORSE
because no new player can even hit him 1x because grazden dies instantly from any hit from another player with the lowest damage
tell me how that can lead to any good experience for new players??

Grazden was the perfect first champ for new players
with ruins around to fight him with the use of LoS and learn the need to dodge his big Aoe etc

but they nerfed him SO MUCH
in 1 patch
From Champion to Veteran
From Veteran to Normal Mob
From Normal Mob to WEAKER THAN THE NORMAL MOBS!!

Wtf anet??

^ You are talking as if NPE is throughout the whole game. After level 30 its back to basics.

Orangensaft.7139:

its not the failed downscaling
they nerfed champions in starter zones

Grazden for example the champion in Plains of Ashford
is WEAKER than his adds

he litteraly dies 3x as fast!!!!!!!!!!

its so ridiculous!!
Anet made the NPE 10000x WORSE
because no new player can even hit it 1x because grazden dies instantly form any hit from the player with the lowest damage
tell me how that can lead to any good experience for new players??

Grazden was the perfect first champ for new players
with objects to fight him with the use of LoS and learn the need to dodge his big Aoe etc

but they nerfed him SO MUCH
in 1 patch
From Champion to Veteran
From Veteran to Normal Mob
From Normal Mob to WEAKER THAN THE NORMAL MOBS!!

Wtf anet??

I’ve noted issues in other zones too though, not just starter zones. I mean, really, I should not be able to kill mobs in Bloodtide Coast with a single rotation of my auto attack (3 hits). There should be a little more to it than that. Granted, it’s great if I’m just running through farming, but it does get mighty boring that no further thought is required.

Welcome back to the game. Something you should know is that most (but not all) of the Champion bosses in the starter zones were demoted to veteran during the Great Train Nerf. So the former Champion Wolfmaster is now only a lowly veteran doomed to be slaughtered, quickly, by a any solo passerby. They are still events but they are pale reflections of their former power.

When HoT rolls out, there will be no new (higher) tier of gear. So the best gear available now will be the best gear available in the new expansion (may the gawds bless you ArenaNet for that). Level 80 will still be the max level in HoT (another blessing on you devs) so that will not creep the power either. There will be new weapons for each profession and the new mastery system but I doubt that those will cause a huge power spike to the players.

So head out and look up all those starter zone Champions that could make the lives of your new characters miserable and give them a good kicking.

To the OP:
Due to extensive “champion trains” in low level zones, ANet made a lot of champions veterans, elites or even normal mobs (e.g. the Wolfmaster).
This way they stopped those trains, farming champion loot bags. They also changed quite a few starter zone events to a more “easy mode”, e.g. herding cows by pushing “F” instead of picking up an item and using skill #1. This was part of the (IMO failed) New Player Experience.

I agree that some events are over far too fast, especially when it is a “map event daily”. Anet could address this by having people downscaled further than they are now (one or two levels closer to the level requirement might actually help), which they won’t do, because it requires development hours.
Players could change issue by not thinking too much about themselves, by finishing an event within seconds (e.g. once you tagged a boss with one or two damage skills, there is no need to kill him off, when you know people are coming to the event site).

One thing you will not change is the “loot efficiency” mentality we have right now, with no new content to explore. That’s why people run zerker meta in dungeons or kick people from explorable paths when they are too slow or died a few times. That’s why Anet tries to keep us happy with “way too good loot” in Silverwastes compared to other parts of the game.
Low level players with their needs don’t contribute to the greed driven part of the game, sad but true.