Guild Wars 2

I’m starting a guardian, using Woodenpotatoes’s hardcore permadeath rules, but I was wondering who else on this forum has attempted/succeeded in such an endeavor, and if so what are some experiences, knowledge, or stories that you’d like to share to help out us new perma-death expeditioners.

Thanks!

Current Class: Thief
Current Race: Sylvari
Current Level: 5
Current Goal: Unlock weapon skill 5
Long term goal: Defeat Zhaitan
Most recent achievement: I made a good looking character
Current Vote: vegan, or no?
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Ruleset that I’m using: https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/gw2/WoodenPotatoes-Hardcore-Guild-Wars-2-Rules/first#post5459741
Permadeath Guild: Not Yet Created
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Read the Latest Post!

Never jump off a cliff while thinking, “I’m pretty sure I’ve got that half falling damage trait slotted.”

With the game servers being as they are, do not attempt any kind of permadeath thing.

You arent hardcore unless you do this in sPvP.

Meh that would just kill half the fun of this game imo. But hey who am I to question other people’s play?

I wish you luck!

As a hardcore nuzlocke player, I whole-heartedly support this effort. Never give up, never forget, and grind like hell :P

I’m not sure what Woodenpotatoes’s hardcore permadeath rules are but I did manage to get 3 characters the GW1 ‘Legendary Survivor’ title by playing through the game and not using items to gain XP or ever intentionally logging off or mapping to avoid death.

My advice based on those experiences would be:

Never play that character when you are having connection problems.

Ensure your character has the best available armour and weapons at all times

Stay in areas longer then you normally would to level up and ensure that you are well over the minimum level requirement before entering new areas.

Always ensure that you totally familiar with a new area before entering, similarly any quests or stories you undertake – if they require a group (GW1 had heroes/henchies) team with friends or Guildies.

That’s all I can think of off the top of my head – GW1 was a lot more linear then GW2 so you had to complete certain missions or story elements in order to open up the map. In theory I would say that it is probably going to be easier to ‘stay alive’ in GW2, but if I was attempting it, there would certainly be certain events that I would not consider participating in with that character.

Good luck and have fun – I know that playing this way adds a whole new dimension to the game.

Having done this multiple times myself i can say, that that was several billion times easier in GW1. You had to micro-manage a protection monk (or play one yourself) but it worked quite nicely.

Okay, to overview woodenpotatoes rules real quick:

You cannot use your heal skill
You cannot dodge roll
You may not equip new armor you find, or replace armor that you already were given at the start
You may not buy items from the trading post

There are more, but these are the ones that effect gameplay. Something to note: you can unlock all of these abilities by putting gold into a ‘shop’ system that he has set up

More non unlock able rules

Your minimap is disables at all times.(I changed this one, you can look at your minimap after you have 100% map completion on a zone in that zone)
You cannot look at the world map unless you are in a city(counted as all racial cities, lions arch, ebonhawk, and fort trinity
You can only spend hero points after you finish hero challenges, one at a time
You must do personal story episodes solo
If you enter personal story three levels above recommended level, you forfeit the challenge
You start with no gold, no karma(optional b/c you have to spend it to get rid of it) and an empty crafting inventory in your bank(I just shuffled all of the low level crafting items onto a different toon, because I figure that I probably won’t be getting over 75 crafting until I hit 80)

There are more rules, and if anyone is interested in checking them out fully I can link them here.

People seem really suprised about this, as if it’s some massive challenge or something…
I need to tell you, it really hasn’t been a problem for me so far, I mean, i died once to the shadow behemoth, but the rules say that people are allowed to res you so that worked out and gave me a huge damage boost considering the weapons I got.

It’s great fun, and it makes me play differently and learn more about all aspects of the class.

So what’s the goal? To simply hit 80 or do you have to clear all dungeon paths or all JPs or something?

This sounds like a lot of fun. The no dodging thing is kind of weird. Gonna have to simply remove the key binding, it’s habit at this point.

Draknar.5748:

So what’s the goal? To simply hit 80 or do you have to clear all dungeon paths or all JPs or something?

This sounds like a lot of fun. The no dodging thing is kind of weird. Gonna have to simply remove the key binding, it’s habit at this point.

Typically stuff like this is meant to have you lose the challenge relatively quick, and the challenge is to see how far you get.

Not being able to upgrade equipment makes me think this is sort of a “quick” challenge since you probably wont get very far.

InsidiousWaffle.7086:

I’m starting a guardian, using Woodenpotatoes’s hardcore permadeath rules, but I was wondering who else on this forum has attempted/succeeded in such an endeavor, and if so what are some experiences, knowledge, or stories that you’d like to share to help out us new perma-death expeditioners.

Thanks!

In every other game I played, this was referred to as “Iron Man” (some games even hard code the ability to toggle this per character). “Permadeath” sounds like a bug; “Iron Man” sounds like some sort of crazy challenge only attempted by insane gaming triathletes.

I tried it early in the game’s tenure & got up to ~L40-50 before accidentally dodging off a cliff. That character mostly was doing hearts and traveling with a group otherwise, so it wasn’t necessarily that risky.

StrangerDanger.3496:

Draknar.5748:

So what’s the goal? To simply hit 80 or do you have to clear all dungeon paths or all JPs or something?

This sounds like a lot of fun. The no dodging thing is kind of weird. Gonna have to simply remove the key binding, it’s habit at this point.

Typically stuff like this is meant to have you lose the challenge relatively quick, and the challenge is to see how far you get.

Not being able to upgrade equipment makes me think this is sort of a “quick” challenge since you probably wont get very far.

Actually, the objective is to defeat zhaitan, and you can get the ability to equip new armor… I’ll just copy paste his rules here to alleviate confusion

Edit: Linked full rules in OP

I can’t survive playing without my map. I’m opening it constantly, so I haven’t opted to try his permadeath challenge.

My advice is always use ranged weapons. If kitten hit the fan u have a head start with running like hell.

Update:
Hit level 14, found some more stuff to help others who care to try this challenge.

Farmer Diah sells loaves of bread for cheap that increase vitality by 20
the Carny vendors in div reach sell cotton candy that give passive health regen(it does stack with normal regen)
Cristina(a merchant in Beetletun) sells Slices of Watermelon for 16 copper each. They increase down state health by 20%, which i find useful for doing world bosses and champ fights

thats all for today

Even without those rules i sometimes wish people simply cared more about dying.
Personally as an old D2 Hardcore player i simply hate each death and try to avoid
it, and never understand when people cry that everything is sooooo easy, since
you can die here much faster than in most other MMOs i have played.

Update:
Hit level 17 today, started crafting in chef and huntsman(for utility effects)
Found that you can craft buttered biscuits (which do the same thing as loaves of bread, for twice as long) ,
As well as grilled mushrooms which give you +20 condi damage
Working on finishing map completion and leveling to 20 in queensdale before personal story lets me go to kessex hills.

On that note, most of you know that the Mordrem will be attacking kessex hills very shortly, and I wanna allow people to vote down below on if I participate in that event with my hardcore character or not, so tell me what you want, I live to please.

Update: level 22 now, went down state to a champion, but someone started resurrecting me before I went full on defeated, so when the boss nuked by body and I went defeated my bar was still half full, so I didn’t count that as a wipe because I was gaining health through the whole thing.
I also had a moment of terror in which I fell through the ground to my death(ping of 250 ftw) so I didn’t count that either.

In other news, I finished personal story chapter 2, and have entered kessex hills as well as the fact that I accumulated 2 good today, bringing me up to 3 good total. I’m debating whether to unlock the ability to buy a piece of armor, or save my money until I can afford my healing skill. Maybe I’ll have you all vote on it…

Dawdler.8521:

You arent hardcore unless you do this in sPvP.

That would be awesome, honestly. Play the game modes as intended, but, don’t die. No second chances.

If all three caps are claimed, game over. If the enemy team is wiped, game over. Give bonuses, refuge, etc for each individual cap point.

I think custom arena’s have such an option (turn off respawning) for those inclined.

That’d be a good idea actually, it might encourage tankier builds in order to stay alive longer.

aaaaaaaaaand I died
got charged by a risen abomonation, went down state, and then he gt stuck on geometry and kept pulsing damage on me… rip
I was level 23, about to hit 24 if I had finished the event
Heres some screens

Beldin.5498:

Even without those rules i sometimes wish people simply cared more about dying.
Personally as an old D2 Hardcore player i simply hate each death and try to avoid
it, and never understand when people cry that everything is sooooo easy, since
you can die here much faster than in most other MMOs i have played.

Sounds about right – I’ve lost count of the number of times I’ve been the last man standing in a dungeon and everyone is screaming at me to to get killed.

CETheLucid.3964:

Dawdler.8521:

You arent hardcore unless you do this in sPvP.

That would be awesome, honestly. Play the game modes as intended, but, don’t die. No second chances.

If all three caps are claimed, game over. If the enemy team is wiped, game over. Give bonuses, refuge, etc for each individual cap point.

I think custom arena’s have such an option (turn off respawning) for those inclined.

To get out of the starter area in GW1 Prophecies you had to participate in a PvP game I took 2 eventual legendary survivor characters in there – It was possible to skip it, but I never did – great fun!

I did this as well and died at lvl 47 against a giant mob of pirates in Bloodtide Coast. (Immob, poison, bleeds) Cry….

May start a F2P account to try this, however I doubt I would use the same rule set. Doing a Iron Man challenge would be interesting.

BrooksP.4318:

May start a F2P account to try this, however I doubt I would use the same rule set. Doing a Iron Man challenge would be interesting.

I would suggest trying to play through to level 80 and completing all the personal story solo without dying (downed is o.k) would be challenging but doable now that Zhaitan Arah personal story scales for one person.

Obviously no tomes or other instant leveling items to be used and no leveling by crafting.

Daroon.1736:

BrooksP.4318:

May start a F2P account to try this, however I doubt I would use the same rule set. Doing a Iron Man challenge would be interesting.

I would suggest trying to play through to level 80 and completing all the personal story solo without dying (downed is o.k) would be challenging but doable now that Zhaitan Arah personal story scales for one person.

Obviously no tomes or other instant leveling items to be used and no leveling by crafting.

Yeah it would be similar to the OP goals, solo through to Arah, maybe 100% map completion before moving on to next zone.

However the rules I would follow are more simplified.
-Only vendor whites and maybe karma trinkets/accessories.
-Only Karma consumables, no crafted
-No Crafting
-No WPs/TP/Bank
-Respeccing only allowed after a PS arc. So only 3 times I think(Intro, Order, Pact).
-Can only log out in a town/city/village
-If killed then delete

-

InsidiousWaffle.7086:

I also had a moment of terror in which I fell through the ground to my death(ping of 250 ftw) so I didn’t count that either.

Only 250? I would kill for that as an average!

I usually don’t count lag spike deaths as genuine either. It’s something completely out of my control, whereas death by lack of gameplay is totally something that is my fault. The problem is sometimes lagging in combat is what causes my death.

Had bad lag spikes earlier. Usually I’m ~300 ping average, but it got up to almost 2k ping average.

If your /deaths counter says anything but “0”, it is already not a legit permadeath char. You do not count lag spike deaths? That’s nice but then the whole thing does not mean much.

kolompi.1287:

If your /deaths counter says anything but “0”, it is already not a legit permadeath char. You do not count lag spike deaths? That’s nice but then the whole thing does not mean much.

Try doing something like this on – like I mentioned above – 300 ping average. You’d not count lag spike deaths either.

As I said elsewhere anything like this tends to be variations on a theme. I did Ironman on WoW and had great fun doing it. This one has far too many rules for me, I like to keep things simple, but I do go with the no death of any kind, death by lag, death by dc etc are all deaths and mean delete and start over, but its up to everyone to decide their rules and stick to them.

I started a free to play account as i was unsure how much trouble the SMS thing would be, and wanted to test it on an account that didn’t matter before putting it on my main account. I’ve been playing on it and some of the restrictions are quite tight and it made me wonder just how far i could get on it with out spending anything, so no gems. This means very limited bag and bank space, just 2 character slots, very little in the way of boosts. I know the TP is limited but I’m not quite sure as to what, so I will probably decide to restrict myself to sell only. At the moment I am wondering about whether i could actually get a legendary on it. As i haven’t even got one on my main account it seems a little far fetched but is theoretically possible.

I do allow myself to die on this challenge though as that is not what it is abour.

Oenanthe.6549:

I started a free to play account as i was unsure how much trouble the SMS thing would be, and wanted to test it on an account that didn’t matter before putting it on my main account. … At the moment I am wondering about whether i could actually get a legendary on it. As i haven’t even got one on my main account it seems a little far fetched but is theoretically possible.

I think if I got a precursor drop on my F2P account, I would just permaquit GW2.

BrooksP.4318:

Oenanthe.6549:

I started a free to play account as i was unsure how much trouble the SMS thing would be, and wanted to test it on an account that didn’t matter before putting it on my main account. … At the moment I am wondering about whether i could actually get a legendary on it. As i haven’t even got one on my main account it seems a little far fetched but is theoretically possible.

I think if I got a precursor drop on my F2P account, I would just permaquit GW2.

This is the main reason why I don’t play the beta as much as anyone else (I maybe kill 10-20 mobs on necro just to test out changes on reaper), and why I won’t make a f2p account. I know it’ll happen.

If I do get lucky on the F2P account, I know that I can always decide to upgrade to a full account, seeing at how often the original was on sale, I wouldn’t be surprised if after HOT has been out a year or two there are discounts on that.

I have been on the beta a couple of times but always left feeling that I don’t want the bits and pieces that are released i want the full thing and would rather wait for it and like you say there is no way to pass on a lucky drop in beta.

I play the game for the fun of playing, I’m not particularly competive or hardcore. The honorary skritt title really suits me, I love anything shiny, it doesn’t have to have good stats as long as it looks good. If I set myself a challenge then its just because I want to do it. At the end of the day its all just pixels, I walked away from WoW when I got bored and didn’t even regret the money i had spent in the shop for mounts, pets etc, I had fun at the time and that was what mattered to me.

Alright, I’m back after a long hiatus from this thread, and I have an announcement. Because there seemed to be a bit of interest in the concept, I’ll be starting a guild based on the premise of permadeath. I’m not quite sure how exactly it’s going to work, but I like the idea of members all having f2p accounts, and all characters on the account are always-on permadeath. This would allow guild events to carry more weight. Dungeon running, guild missions, raids even?

I’ll also be making an overhaul to the rules, making mostly small edits, but retaining core things such as unlockable dodge roll and heal skills.

Comment below or message me if you are interested, I will be sure to get back to you once everything is set up