Guild Wars 2

Ok, I’m stuck. There are hundreds of MF/RNG/DR threads, and this is not a whining one. Here’s the deal.

• I’m working on map completion for the legendary, which also means selling mats (to raise gold for the runestones) and doing most events (for the karma for obsidian shards).
• I don’t do the champ zergs unless it’s for a daily or just for maybe 15 minutes for the heck of it.
• I do Scarlet
• I play about 8 hours a day.

Before the change to MF, I had 3% and received a nice variety of blues, greens, and yellows with the rare occasional white or exotic. (I averaged about 3 exotic drops per week, usually cheap ones but that’s ok because I collect uniques for fun.)

I started this character about 20 days ago and have played 163 hours. In that time, the only exotics that I have seen drop have been from Scarlet. But even Scarlet champs lately have been dropping mostly blue bags/chests. I’m at 87% MF, and when I do maps, I’m getting almost entirely….not blues….whites!! (And by the way, those are rarely salvaging into more MF essences anymore, which I guess is ok given that I don’t think MF actually does much and did better at 3%).

I don’t really want to hear anything about rng. I’ve written a doctoral dissertation heavily reliant on comparing codes for different pseudo-rngs and also know that, at the end of the day, subjective decisions are made from all of this. I understand runs and all of that, but at some point (now), I’m ready to say, “Show me the code or I ain’t buyin’ it anymore”, which they aren’t going to do.

Also, I’m not looking for suggestions on where to farm this stuff. I’m not interested in farming it. If I want to farm stuff, I’ll go play something like D3. I enjoy doing maps, working toward the legendary that way, and don’t see anything written about where MF or DR is linked to what you are farming and where.

I am curious about two possibilities. Someone is playing my account when I’m offline thus driving at DR. A bit of conspiracy theory. Second possibility…DR really is that hurtful at 8 hours a day and you need many days off to reset it. (?) That’s what I want to know because then I would gladly go play something else for a week if that’s what it takes.

Any ideas or suggestions?

RNG and I don’t care if you don’t like the correct answer…

Obviously…you don’t even have an active account.

Actually, Meglobob, that response says it all. From now on, vendoring and TP’ing everything. Then I’ll just buy the ectos. Essences were just for idiots like me who actually thought that increasing MF would bump up bad luck a little bit. But like I said…I swear that drops were better at 3% before the patch, and I didn’t really care about MF either. I’m ok believing that MF goes up but I’m also ok with believing that they reduced all drop rates…kinda’ like how stores increase prices right before the big sale. Thanks!

mmmm… get a second job …or a first, buy gems, exchange for gold, buy out the TP? time vs time, you could buy a pizza too, eat with one hand and click with the other

As for drops, the only difference I see is less such as from champ boxes. I still walk away from invasions with just as much as before, other than less champ boxes… say 20 instead of 30 with 1/2-3/4 orange. Before the MF change, I usually ran with 150%MF base, mostly got greens with a few blues, few yellows, few exo drops a week. Now at ~110 base (+ infusion), I get about half and half blue/green, occasional white. By 150 base I expect to see just what I had before as it looks. Also have been seeing exo drops at this level, depending on the content I’m doing (e.g. bosses, temples, all prees). So, the only real change I’ve seen is with champ boxes, which I never really focused on amassing. But just some mods drop things while others dont. Such games have loot tables on mobs, ya know?

@ OP

I’ve had significantly better drops since upping my MF past 100%. I don’t know why, but that seemed to be a major tipping point for the quality of loot.

It went up significantly again after 150%

In between 0-100 and 100-150 I didn’t notice the changes much though. I guess I’ll see once I hit 200% (won’t be for quite some time).

I have no idea if there is something to this or if it’s just personal experience/RNG.

Yeah, I’m at 122% myself, and I find my lucky streaks seeming to come more often and lasting longer, so I’m thinking that it definitely helps as you get it up.

Although, it’s probably not worth working towards in the long run, unless you start with a mountain of gold, power it up as high as you can, and then farm for the rest of the games life. Then maybe.

Piecekeeper.4361:

Yeah, I’m at 122% myself, and I find my lucky streaks seeming to come more often and lasting longer, so I’m thinking that it definitely helps as you get it up.

Although, it’s probably not worth working towards in the long run, unless you start with a mountain of gold, power it up as high as you can, and then farm for the rest of the games life. Then maybe.

It doesn’t get too bad until later on. 150% MF is like 5-10% of the MF you need to get to 300. I’ve slowed down since I hit 160ish by choice. It doesn’t cost a mountain of gold unless you buy a ton of ectos to try to get it up asap. There are far better ways, but they do take more time.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Luck <- How much luck you need for +1% MF

Well, clearly the problem is that I’m doing map completion and am currently in mid-level zones. Tonight was Fields of Ruin…one yellow total. Now someone is going to say, “duh…you want lootz, you need to be champ-training and taking temples!”. I just find it odd that the one thing that ANet consistently preaches (go and explore the open world!) is the least rewarding part of the game (unless you’ve never seen these zones and that fancies you). But, I have a feeling that if I was doing the zergs, this post would have never started.

About the TP though, I have spent based on your philosophy about it. I bought up all crafts to 400 just so that I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Now, I can sell mats in order to buy the icy runestones. But I prefer the sub model meaning that I’m ok with spending the same budget…actually $5 more per month since I’m surprised they never raised the fee. Spending $20/month on top of the box is fine, but I don’t have the income to throw this company the kind of money I’ve been spending lately.

I’m moving on to another game….quitting, taking a break…I don’t know. I just need to find something that’s a little more rewarding. Sad to say that they best part of Fields of Ruin was selling the 40 seasoned wood logs at the end. There are plenty of other games that include rng but are a little bit more stable, scaled, predictable, and rewarding.

gumoor.5674:

Well, clearly the problem is that I’m doing map completion and am currently in mid-level zones. Tonight was Fields of Ruin…one yellow total. Now someone is going to say, “duh…you want lootz, you need to be champ-training and taking temples!”. I just find it odd that the one thing that ANet consistently preaches (go and explore the open world!) is the least rewarding part of the game (unless you’ve never seen these zones and that fancies you). But, I have a feeling that if I was doing the zergs, this post would have never started.

*About the TP though, I have spent based on your philosophy about it. I bought up all crafts to 400 just so that I wouldn’t have to deal with it. Now, I can sell mats in order to buy the icy runestones. But I prefer the sub model meaning that I’m ok with spending the same budget…actually $5 more per month since I’m surprised they never raised the fee. Spending $20/month on top of the box is fine, but I don’t have the income to throw this company the kind of money I’ve been spending lately. *

I’m moving on to another game….quitting, taking a break…I don’t know. I just need to find something that’s a little more rewarding. Sad to say that they best part of Fields of Ruin was selling the 40 seasoned wood logs at the end. There are plenty of other games that include rng but are a little bit more stable, scaled, predictable, and rewarding.

I’m super confused right now. What subscription model? Why are you spending any money on this game if you aren’t enjoying it the way you want to? Other than box price, there is nothing that you have to pay for here. This is beginning to sound like a trap.

No, I was responding to Daywolf’s fair “time is money” statement. I was just saying that I’ve already spent more on crystals than I promised myself when I found out it was possible to convert gems to gold. I knew right away that I would be spending a little bit more than the box when I saw how fast initial bank space can fill up. But, I wasn’t complaining because other games have a cash shop on top of the box purchase, and I liked the attitude of “we won’t drive you to the cash shop but hopefully you’ll thank us in that way from time to time”. Anyway, this is derailed from the original point of the thread. I was just saying that I can’t afford to go with that philosophy, which at the far extreme, means “heck, just skip map completion and rng worries…just buy that legendary!” Nope…even if I could afford it…not sure how that is legendary. Sorry for the confusion.

What I want to know is why I just did an entire map to come out with a few crafting mats, a LOT of whites (mostly duplicates of the same one), a couple of salvage things, and some moldy bags or whatever. There was one yellow and three greens (plus a few more from killing the big wasp and guard). I’ve taken characters through Fields of Ruin several times, all before the patch and at 3% MF, and come with a heck of a lot more than that.

DR shouldn’t kick if if you’re not standing in the same zones. You don’t get DR unless you kill the same stuff over and over. If you’re moving around, DR shouldn’t be an issue.

I have a question. Do you have another character on your account that you can play and test to see if you’re getting different drops on it.

I’ve heard the theory that some characters have better “luck” than others. Not to say it’s true, but it would be interesting to test.

I sort of think I have luckier characters and unluckier ones.

I can’t tell you how many branded charr and humans I killed with my jaw just opening further and further. I was killing them ad nauseum just as a joke because they would drop something like every 30 kills….and it would be a radiant dust. Something is very wrong here.

I guess I have to read up on the loot table for every mob in every zone.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Branded_Charr

Vayne, I have a second account…long story…I never play it. But I’m tempted to test out the theory that luck is connected to accounts. Of course, if it’s connected IP’s then it wouldn’t make a difference.

But yes, I have three crafting alts all at 19-20 (post-patch), which gives people an idea of how many levels to expect if crafting both to 400 starting right away at level 1 and without crafting buffs.

I know I’ve gotten rares off of all sorts of random mobs. I’ve even gotten a rare off of a moa in the norn starting area… and he was level 2 or 3.

Your chance at getting loot is increased by how long the mob has been around (along with bonus XP). I don’t know what the base chance to get a rare off of a typical heart mob is though.

Crafting buffs don’t increase the total character XP you get from crafting. It increases the chance at getting a bonus to the crafting level (thus in the end it’s a cash/material saver).

If you were to do all of the crafts to 400 you would go up to level 58 now since the changes (which I don’t like). If you start off by using the 1-20 leveling scroll from the birthday stuffs, it’s up to 78. For those 58 levels you would pay 83g.

(http://gw2crafts.net/total.html)

hmmmm well I don’t zerg at all. I mostly run temples and world bosses, some wvw, a dungeon once in a while. Only zerging I do, maybe once a week, is while waiting for SB for 30m to an hour if I just feel like it for something different so zerg there.

But you see, yes you are working on a trade off. You are just working on a legendary, which is just for looks btw. You are limiting your game play to one thing, and that doesn’t really lead to having everything, including MF.

See? Me? not working on world completion, never at all, not after any legendary anything, never have never will. No world completion, no farming for legendary mats, no zergs to get those mats, nothing. So someone like me, I can just play the game and get out of it what I want or need. You? What does it matter? You are getting a legendary, or trying to.

It’s sort of like life, you do something, but you don’t get everything. Working on my motorcycle doesn’t make my truck run. I pay my electricity bill, it doesn’t cover my water bill. You stopped reading yet? hehe. Now I could get into some political perspectives that would maybe disagree, but this is a game forum so I won’t/can’t. But trust me, when you set out to do one thing, it doesn’t necessarily lead to getting or having all things But with what you do earn, you should develop a sense of accomplishment over. It’s not something given to you, or taken away from someone else and given to you, or just some insignificant door prize that means nothing. You sacrificed and worked hard to get it, it’s what it takes to get anything, really.

Well, now I’m wondering if I should guest to a lower population server for this. I mean, in Fields of Ruin, I might have seen two other players and a few hanging out at the Ebonhawk TP. But that’s not to say that someone isn’t farming the zone at other times.

58 on one character sounds right. Between all four characters, I got 79 levels. (The AS/WS didn’t hit 20.)

I’ve only used that scroll once, and it was on accident. Leveling is already fast enough, and I can’t figure out how there can still be people asking “what’s the fastest way to level?” I seem to get 500 XP every time I take a sip of coffee in this game!

It would probably help, but I don’t know what the base chance is, nor how much chance is added for how long the mob has been there.

Quite a while ago this info was told to us in a non-direct way. People were asking what the best chance to get a precursor to drop was and the dev replied it would be best to find a large group of mobs that hadn’t been killed in a very long time and have max MF gear on (back when we had MF gear lol).

(To get a precursor you would need to find a named exotic and have it be one of those specific ones from the POV of the game).

As far a leveling speed… I have multiple 80’s. I could make 83g faster than I could level a character 78 levels. I don’t want to go do PvE again. In fact that’s part of what is keeping me from making my 2nd legendary… if they come out with a new one that I want… I really don’t want to have to go do PvE map completion again (lol).

gumoor.5674:

I can’t tell you how many branded charr and humans I killed with my jaw just opening further and further. I was killing them ad nauseum just as a joke because they would drop something like every 30 kills….and it would be a radiant dust. Something is very wrong here.

That’s all I get from branded creatures too for the most part.

Best chance to get a precursor is what I do, not that I do it for that, but it would be a nice bank load after quickly selling it But still, so rare, you’ll probably do as most do and buy it. Even if you do pull one out of a chest, or a very rare drop, you’ll still probably sell it and buy the one you want. And it’s not like it’s very hard to get the gold for one in this game, just the gear on my Asura fire ele is worth around the price of a precursor (all sorts of expensive stuff), just form normal play. Not even mentioning the gear on my other seven 80’s (of 8 ).

It’s not hard but it is time consuming to get like 800g or whatever without getting lucky. Even through the tp that would take a while unless you have something helping you like ascended armor being introduced which you could quickly and easily capitalize on.

Aberrant.6749:

It’s not hard but it is time consuming to get like 800g or whatever without getting lucky. Even through the tp that would take a while unless you have something helping you like ascended armor being introduced which you could quickly and easily capitalize on.

Yeah, well you can get a trident for cheap hehe. It’s like what 40-80g. Popularity plays a factor of course. Then who knows what this precursor crafting will bring. lol 600-700 crafting probably, and account bound. Of course my gear example, I was thinking much more than 40g, yes. Easily spend 100g just on basic equipment.

I don’t know. I had already resubbed to “the other game” for one month…logged in, yep characters still there, yep bank stuff and guild still there, nope I don’t want to do this again. Checked the forums here. Chatted a bit with one forum poster and ran some dungeons with another…had a blast.

I just now know that these mobs do have loot tables that Anet does disclose. Didn’t know the wiki had that kind of detail for mobs. But I still think they should make maps more rewarding since map completion is getting people out in the open world. Kinda’ odd that they want people out in the world but the people getting rewarded are the champ-zerg-grinders. Anywho, people were making this complaint many months ago…so nothing new there.

I did have a great time afterwards….maybe just needed to do something other than hearts for awhile. Maybe needed to find a good group.

Oh, the focus precursor is pretty cheap too. I bought that because I like it and saw that mystic casino as nothing but trouble from day one. I don’t even like real casinos. So if we can get that precursor out of the way, there’s a lot more to do but it doesn’t have that “impossible” feel to it anymore. Of course, that doesn’t help when the price of many precursors is way inflated.