Guild Wars 2

There are no bottlenecks of danger, no deadly enemies thwarting advancement, anywhere.

Players can traverse/reach 100% of the area within a map, without facing a deadly enemy(s) blocking said access. The same holds true for the travel between between maps.

All of the maps are sparsely populated with face-roll easy mobs. There are no “holy crap! … run!” moments, or, requests for others players to escort one another through danger zones. —Dungeons/Raids excluded.

It is often said, that it is not the destination, but the journey itself that holds the most reward. I feel that this is, in part, missing from Guild Wars 2 for said reasons.

I hope that in future expansion packs, the open areas themselves will present more of a challenge. Heart of Thorns was definitely a step in the right direction!

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

No thank you. Open world should be open to everyone. You may have as many “Holy crap!”-moments as you wish inside raids etc., but I see no good coming from it elsewhere. Sorry.

I’m goin to write that wish for harder mobs that make areas impassable down on a sheet of paper, put it in an stamped and addressed envelope and then I’m goin to put it in its proper spot.

If you want a challenge, start exploring maps above your level.

The original maps are made this way by design – they wanted it to be accessible to everyone.

When they made HoT they gave in to demands to make harder open-world content because players said it would be fun. Now they’re working on making it easier because players complained it was hard.

I have 2300 hours logged and completed all Heart of Thorns maps.
That said, I would like to clarify my original post;

I am not suggesting the open world be riddled with impassable obstacles and enemies.
It is however currently the exact opposite — a massive barren wasteland with not a single deadly enemy blocking a path anywhere in the entire continent.

Other than the enjoyment of a scenic tour, there is absolutely no challenge and therefore little reason to revisit the zones for purposes of, well, combat – which is what the majority of this game revolves around.

Why people have to be so ‘extreme’ I don’t know.

Oh yeah .. please make all Maps like in HoT so that you have to play Forrest Gump
all the time .. just run .. run .. never stop before some Mushrooms in party with
beetles will perma stunlock you until your dead.

Exactly those requests are one of the reasons i hated HoT and why i gave up after
maybe 4-5 hours playing the first map .. it was just NOT FUN (for me).

This does not need harder enemies, it does need the strongest builds made weaker.

I have been everywhere with my rangers, nothing really stops them unless I am really outnumbered or run out of time killing a Champion. at a HP.

It is true that there is very little challenge in the Central Tyria regions, that is because players were buffed out of all proportion when the specializations came out.

If you want it harder though just take your toon’s armor off.

Serious, you serious?
I want to play in my great gear, that’s a major point in playing the game.
The mobs are sparsely placed over the map, alone or in groups 2 or 3 — the point is, even if they were harder to take down, you don’t have to engage them. You can run right past them and get wherever you want to to get to…

Pure Heart.1456:

Serious, you serious?
I want to play in my great gear, that’s a major point in playing the game.
The mobs are sparsely placed over the map, alone or in groups 2 or 3 — the point is, even if they were harder to take down, you don’t have to engage them. You can run right past them and get wherever you want to to get to…

I completely agree with Serious. Go grab some whites, blues, and greens… then your wish will be granted.

A “major point of the game” is finding the engagement you enjoy… and you’ve created this entire thread about how you’re missing the engagement from difficult mobs. You can skin any weapons/armor to look like anything, so no one is going to know you’re sporting whites/blues/greens… you can have the bad-kitten look from the gear you’ve attained, and not have to wear that specific gear. You still attained it, so you can still have pride in that you have it even when not using it.

Also, if you’re going to run away anyway in whatever armor your in, your thread is pointless. And, if you’re stopping to gather, do hearts, and whatnot… that aggro train is gunna catch up to you. You might find out that you can’t “run right past them and get wherever you want to get to” all the time.

It’s better to find ways to fix things for yourself, then to want the devs to change the game to fix things for you.

~EW

Ariachi.8096:

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

Ummm, I’m sorry to say but just cause you find it impossible to do doesn’t mean it can’t be done – gotten 100% comp on all maps without grouping up. Obviously except metas.

On topic , I think tbh it would be pretty cool something like champion/legendary mobs with a broader array of abilities that perhaps spawn in random areas. The however should be rare if they are introduced, as others have mentioned, not all players enjoy this sorta thing and they should not feel that they are being pushed into something that the do not want . Basically map completion and those mobs should not be tied together , but I think it would cool to have a few around .

My main can handle most things, but I know some specific parts of Orr that my alts aren’t crazy about. The risen horror in Karst Plains, the Eye of Zhaitan in King’s Passage, and the maze on Winterknell Isle are pretty rough.

I like that most places allow me to disengage, though, if I -really- need to get out. Let’s me recognize when I’m in over my head, fall back, and think of a different strategy, instead of just dying and waypointing. It’s not always -easy- to disengage, but it lets me control my own challenge.

Redenaz.8631:

I like that most places allow me to disengage, though, if I -really- need to get out. Let’s me recognize when I’m in over my head, fall back, and think of a different strategy, instead of just dying and waypointing. It’s not always -easy- to disengage, but it lets me control my own challenge.

Wanna know a neat alternative to disengaging? The heart vendor Kyra Sharptracker in the Plains of Ashford sells an Ash Legion Spy Kit for 28 karma (single-use). If you use it you become camouflaged (movement will break it)… but mobs will immediately disengage. The only drawback is you have to equip the kit, and then use it, you can’t just auto-use it from your inventory.

Best part is the kit is usable by all classes.

~EW

I think that the OP is missing a point. In GW2 it isnt getting to another zone, etc, that is blocked by some big bad monster to produce that oh kitten moment, its access to event chain completion, achievements, or waypoints, etc. The temple events in Orr for example.

So, if you just want to run around and sight see, not much will get in your way. But completion will bring you face to face with fights that will require more than you alone will be able to manage.

That said, I would love to see more strategically placed challenging encounters in the open worlrd.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Redenaz.8631:

I like that most places allow me to disengage, though, if I -really- need to get out. Let’s me recognize when I’m in over my head, fall back, and think of a different strategy, instead of just dying and waypointing. It’s not always -easy- to disengage, but it lets me control my own challenge.

Wanna know a neat alternative to disengaging? The heart vendor Kyra Sharptracker in the Plains of Ashford sells an Ash Legion Spy Kit for 28 karma (single-use). If you use it you become camouflaged (movement will break it)… but mobs will immediately disengage. The only drawback is you have to equip the kit, and then use it, you can’t just auto-use it from your inventory.

Best part is the kit is usable by all classes.

~EW

I may have purchased a hundred of those to have on hand for skill points, chests, and general shenanigans. ;D

Redenaz.8631:

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Redenaz.8631:

I like that most places allow me to disengage, though, if I -really- need to get out. Let’s me recognize when I’m in over my head, fall back, and think of a different strategy, instead of just dying and waypointing. It’s not always -easy- to disengage, but it lets me control my own challenge.

Wanna know a neat alternative to disengaging? The heart vendor Kyra Sharptracker in the Plains of Ashford sells an Ash Legion Spy Kit for 28 karma (single-use). If you use it you become camouflaged (movement will break it)… but mobs will immediately disengage. The only drawback is you have to equip the kit, and then use it, you can’t just auto-use it from your inventory.

Best part is the kit is usable by all classes.

~EW

I may have purchased a hundred of those to have on hand for skill points, chests, and general shenanigans. ;D

There’s also the harpy feather. 3 seconds of invisibility and it works while moving. Its sold by a merchant after an event so it’s not as easy to get but its more useful for disengaging.

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There’s also the harpy feather. 3 seconds of invisibility and it works while moving. Its sold by a merchant after an event so it’s not as easy to get but its more useful for disengaging.

I’d debate the harpy feather being more useful only because the stealth it gives lasts 3 sec, where the camouflage lasts 10. With the camo you’re guaranteed to get a chest or PoP, and there’s more distance the mobs could potentially cover when they leave you alone. But, both are very useful, aye. (I really need to equip ’em in my shared slot… been putting that off)

~EW

i partially agree with the op and here is why:

Here is the rundown of the enemies you will face in tyria:

1) the core tyria is filled with animals that attack you once per 2-3 seconds, eventually using their fast pecking attacks, call a fellow wolf, shreek to stun abilities.

2)it is also filled with other “zone specific archtype” enemies such as sons of svanir, the bandits, pirates, flame legion,ghosts of ascalon ect.

these are a bit more interesting cause you can notice they have different professions and each profession has 1-2 “unique” attacks.
however most often you kill them faster than they could use those attacks, and even if they do it doesnt deal that much dmg.

you might get downed if you face several of those types of enemies and they suddenly all use their speciall attack on you..but then again people dodge and cc.

3) Veterans usually just have more hp and defense, maybe a additional effect/attack can still be dodged and bursted down.

4) Champions require at least 2 player watching their backs when confronted, their attacks can deal lots of dmg and the fight lasts quite a bit compared to other mobs.

Silverwaste and drytops(specially hot maps) offer a large varirety of mobs that actually pose a threat. most of them come with events that further requires you to group up in order to survive.

Abilities and skills such as immune when atacked from front, deadly when flanks you, heals and buffs allies is something simply unseen in core tyria. Not to mention enemies that apply conditions and cc that actually pose a threat to you constantly and not just once every 10 seconds.

As for “blocking” paths with hard mobs, ive seen it only in a few JPs where there are a group of veterans or a champion guarding the end chest. Or the entrance to drytops it has events that require you to clear them out from both sides in order to continue to drytops.

And then theres also the issue where the entire playerbase is facerolling trough the entire core tyria by pulling 10 moas, 15 rizen ,cc them and blast them with meteorshowers before you get downed 3 times without any problem..and then they come into zones where it gets harder to pull off such a stunt and then they cry things are hard and dumb cause their 0 defence gear and build cant survive mobs that attack you more than once every 3 second.

Another problem is that dungeons have such mobs inside as well, making people speed clear them for easy gold..untill they droped down the gold reward and now people went doing other profitable things. (cant wait for that gold rise tho)

Every ‘naysayer’ to the this post is entirely missing my point, and it’s frustrating.

One really lame thing about MMOs to date is that the ‘mobs’, are sparsely sprinkled around the maps, they are just waiting for you to go and kill them. They’re just idly standing there, looking dumb, that’s it. They don’t serve any other purpose. One person suggested here that if I wanted a challenge I could take my gear off and go hunting these ‘dumb’ mobs. This is precisely not what I want to do.

I am proposing that at least in some areas of the game, there be mobs that _serve the purpose of making your access to a location challenging. Bridge guards would be one example.

Currently, players can just run right past every single mob everywhere, anywhere in Tyria. Lame, boring.

i kinda agree we do lack the “OMG it’s one of those!” kinda mobs in core Tyria.
champion risen gorillas only thing i can think of off the top of my head. but they never appear outside of scaled up events

I agree with you OP, that would be a cool thing to have in GW2

Pure Heart.1456:

Every ‘naysayer’ to the this post is entirely missing my point, and it’s frustrating.

One really lame thing about MMOs to date is that the ‘mobs’, are sparsely sprinkled around the maps, they are just waiting for you to go and kill them. They’re just idly standing there, looking dumb, that’s it. They don’t serve any other purpose. One person suggested here that if I wanted a challenge I could take my gear off and go hunting these ‘dumb’ mobs. This is precisely not what I want to do.

I am proposing that at least in some areas of the game, there be mobs that _serve the purpose of making your access to a location challenging. Bridge guards would be one example.

Currently, players can just run right past every single mob everywhere, anywhere in Tyria. Lame, boring.

There’s other games out there with exactly what you want. Go play them.

EphemeralWallaby.7643:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

There’s also the harpy feather. 3 seconds of invisibility and it works while moving. Its sold by a merchant after an event so it’s not as easy to get but its more useful for disengaging.

I’d debate the harpy feather being more useful only because the stealth it gives lasts 3 sec, where the camouflage lasts 10. With the camo you’re guaranteed to get a chest or PoP, and there’s more distance the mobs could potentially cover when they leave you alone. But, both are very useful, aye. (I really need to equip ’em in my shared slot… been putting that off)

~EW

Both items are soulbound and can’t be equipped in the shared slots. (I wish they would make these things account bound so I can get them on one and give them to my low level alts at least, or take from chars I no longer play).

The harpy feather I brought up as being more useful for disengaging, not getting a chest or poi. I’ve noticed that if you use the spy kit the mobs stop attacking, but they don’t move off. So when it wears off you’re still in the same position to each other. With the harpy feather, you can disengage by moving away.

Just make skill challenges where a player’s stats are set to a certain armor type. Commence tomfoolery.

I agree that people are misunderstanding the OP’s proposal. However, I think that’s because the OP misunderstands the source of people’s concern. In a single player game, nearly impassable obstacles that require skill & cunning are critical to good game play. In an MMO, it’s the opposite: the community benefits by everyone being able to navigate maps ‘reasonably quickly’, to participate in group events (especially the so-called meta event chains) and by people feeling that the maps themselves are ‘accessible’.

Adding amazingly difficult foe-based barriers is a form of gating content, every bit as frustrating as the current gating, at least for a huge portion of the population.

Accordingly: I can’t support the OP’s proposal.

Some history:
Orr originally had a greater density of foes. It was virtually impossible to stand anywhere (let alone go anywhere) without dealing with them. Based on player feedback, ANet reduced the number of mobs and the respawn rates, although today there are still certain hero points that require clearing mobs.

With the introduction of HoT, again there are tons of mobs on the map in certain places with rapid respawn rates and again there are a lot of complaints from those frustrated that it’s difficult to navigate the map.

im for more challenging events, and i outlined some here . this is totally an ad for my thread.

In traditional RPGs (non-MMO’s), when you die you pretty much have to restart from scratch. All the mobs/npcs respawn/reset and you have to keep going till you’re “good” enough or figure out the “trick” to make it through.

This makes progression in traditional RPGs feel more accomplishing.

And I don’t really see a way to replicate it in the open world of a MMO, sadly.

I wish at the very least, in story, dungeon, and fractals the entire thing would reset to a check point. Without that “hard” reset after a full wipe, finishing these things make this game feel very easy. Even if the content is considered hard.

Though, I think it’d be really cool if events threw out or cycled through a set of instabilities to make them a bit more interesting and less stale. Like the “every crit grants random boon” or “dodging losing all your boons”. I think it’d shake things up a fair bit, especially with world bosses.

But just scaling up the number of mobs or their class (vetran, elite, champion) would make it that much more difficult or fun.

I think in HoT, adventures are a great and mimic that progression blocking feeling you get in traditional RPGs, and hope they’ll add more to core Tyria with more variety.

There are cases where exploration is blocked by deadly enemies, at least for the intended level. In most cases however, these areas are either entirely optional or you can simply run past them or stealth. There are many hidden areas in the game for example where a champion, elite or veteran pack may be guarding something such as a chest or rich node. In Orr for example, some of the hero challenges are blocked by champions/group events.

Keep in mind that playing an undergeared character at the zone’s intended level is a much different experience than playing while a downscaled 80. In some cases, even regular enemies can be a threat, though not for all professions.

Forcing impassable obstacles is a bad idea. As maps become less active, any obstacles intended for groups will become impossible to pass for the majority of players. Look at any of the mid zones for example where you may only see a handful of players throughout the entire area. In its current state, imagine what HoT’s going to be like in a few years when most have moved on. It’ll be mostly unplayable. That’s why MMOs either end up going back and nerfing that content, or cutting it to begin with.

If they just throw in challenging enemies, all it’ll do is cause people to see it as group content regardless of if it actually is or isn’t. What might be challenging solo isn’t challenging to a group and what’s challenging to a group isn’t challenging to a zerg. That has been a problem for a while now, where people can’t handle the difficulty so they think it’s all zerg content.

The phrase challenging content is a problem.
Challenging for some players = impossible for other players.
You cant put anything in the open world maps thats challenging for some but impossible for others, as then some players simply wont be able to get map completion.
MMOs have to cater for all standards of skill and game play, not just players with top end gear and 1000s of hours of game playing time.

Ariachi.8096:

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

uh… aside from the meta-event blocked hero points of DS and AB I don’t know what you’re talking about? I’ve done HoT map completion on like 6 characters already solo…

I want a colossal Tyranosaur like Saurian roaming randomly through Magus Falls without timer, wich becomes a proper group event when enough random people is there to confront it, but otherwise just downs you and continues its way.

Oh I forgot to add what I want, I want dungeons that are actually rewarding.

I want more pantsless options for charr characters.

Sartharina.3542:

I want more pantsless options for charr characters.

You sound like my roommate, lol.

~EW

Ummmm call me stupid or whatever but I have the opposite view than the OP on the game world especially central tyria.

That being even tho the world does seem sparse of real threats and that the mobs are spread out far and wide sometimes. I still think there are too many pointless mobs all over the place that really serve no point other than to hinder and annoy us at times.

I am not saying that I don’t like combat or want to avoid ALL mobs just to get o my goal. No, certainly not. What I am saying is what’s the point of having them EVERYWHERE or in between EVERYWHERE that you want to go to if they are indeed nothing more than a hassle, hindrance and will just take a little bit of time to deal with?

Sometimes it also just breaks immersion. I mean you are walking along and see various creatures just minding their own business and there could be a number of them and all different types. Just doing their thing, not fighting each other when they could/should be. But hello as soon as you come within range of them and indeed sometimes even out of sight of them it just does not matter. They will ALL instantly spring into life and chase you down until either you or they die. They will not engage each other unless you manipulate it in a way where they hit each other and that may only be possible if one of them ranges.

I say get rid of a LOT of the unneeded mobs that are just filler. Put some real content in their place (or more stunning visuals) and MOVE the mobs to places that are out of the way but are there for those who want to go and fight them. Update the mobs, move them and most of all work on their DROPS/REWARDS.

Have them be more of a challenge and possibly in groups/compositions that will challenge the players and make them worthwhile killing. I don’t know maybe the OP and myself are more on the same page than I thought but just looking at it from a different angle?

Remove the filler! Make the mobs seem worthwhile to kill and or more fun and not just a hindrance in my way trolling me just for the sake of it.

Kastiel.1947:

Ariachi.8096:

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

Ummm, I’m sorry to say but just cause you find it impossible to do doesn’t mean it can’t be done – gotten 100% comp on all maps without grouping up. Obviously except metas.

Out of curiosity did you solo the Mushroom Queen, the champ Arrowhead, the Chak in the Ogre lane, etc, or were there other players also fighting them that just didn’t happen to be in your party? Did you solo all of them without any other player hitting them at all in order to do your 100% solo clear?

Dinks.2478:

Oh I forgot to add what I want, I want dungeons that are actually rewarding.

Dungeons are actually rewarding. They just aren’t as rewarding as they used to be a few months ago (that still makes them a lot more rewarding than they were before ANet added guaranteed-gold rewards).

Donari.5237:

Kastiel.1947:

Ariachi.8096:

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

Ummm, I’m sorry to say but just cause you find it impossible to do doesn’t mean it can’t be done – gotten 100% comp on all maps without grouping up. Obviously except metas.

Out of curiosity did you solo the Mushroom Queen, the champ Arrowhead, the Chak in the Ogre lane, etc, or were there other players also fighting them that just didn’t happen to be in your party? Did you solo all of them without any other player hitting them at all in order to do your 100% solo clear?

It’s an MMO; I don’t expect to be alone for any event.

Ariachi.8096:

Have you played HoT properly? If at all? I challenge you to get map completion on one single Magus falls map solo. Oh sorry no you can’t it’s near impossible….

I’ve completed all but Dragon Stand solo with the exception of some of the Champions in VB and TD, like the annoying vampire one and the arrow frogger. Those champs are such a pain. I can solo all the AB Champions on condi Teef.

Sartharina.3542:

I want more pantsless options for charr characters.

Everyone needs pantsless option. Need toggles for all armor slots. Or Lord Faren, King of the Jungle can create a fashion store.

I think I understand. Threw me with the title for a minute.
You actually want an element of gameplay missing.
The first 50 or 60 levels designed for new players.
Gonna be a lonely game sooner that way.