Revamped Orr = more fun for this player!
How’s the population-density change?
I haven’t been back to Orr since the patch.
Lv80s: Guard, Thief, Necro. Renewed my Altaholic’s card on the HoT Hype-Train. Choo choo~
It’s reasonable. I feel I can run about without being mauled by Risen ever three steps. The new character models for the Risen are nice to see, too! Much more detailed, and larger in many cases.
I swear I must be the only one NOT happy about the density change. I just can’t farm as well as I used to because no matter how hard I try I can’t pull more than 4-5 mobs at a time in 90% of the zone.
I used to AoE farm 5-10 mobs at a time between DEs.
Edit: No complaints about the rest of the changes though. They are all good changes.
As a Ranger, my AoE and survivability against 5 – 10 mobs is… well, pathetic, really. I can understand you not being thriled with the change if that’s your preferred play method though.
I swear I must be the only one NOT happy about the density change. I just can’t farm as well as I used to because no matter how hard I try I can’t pull more than 4-5 mobs at a time in 90% of the zone.
I used to AoE farm 5-10 mobs at a time between DEs.
Edit: No complaints about the rest of the changes though. They are all good changes.
Hang on, are you saying i can now walk three steps in orrs without getting cc/snared/rooted/monster-trained?
Time to return to the game then~!
As a necro main I pretty much ignore the mobs. Just remove my conditions occasionally and Im fine. Its probably rough for chars that are a bit squishy and dont have alot of CC and condition removal. The mobs seem to be a little less aggro, but Ive never really had a problem with them on my main.
This is good news for me.
I agree, Orr should have felt this way at release.
I’ve had the same experience, since the patch. It’s actually a decent place to be. The mobs are more reasonable, and I’m definitely getting a noticeable increase in the Heavy Moldy Bags. I don’t understand some people who have been claiming that ANet nerfed it again and the drops are back to as low as they always were. It’s clearly much better than it was.
Orr is still empty on my server, pretty much every in between the temple events are never touched. Drop rate still sucks. Mob density doesn’t look any different. Still getting cc’d out the kitten. All in all, not impressed.
Dragonbrand – Level 80 – Human Ranger
I don’t like the new models. They look too big to have been human at some point in time. Or maybe it’s just me not being used to the size, meh. As a D/D Ele I never had any trouble traversing Orr, and like the Necro guy said before me, I just ignored every risen, cleansing status when needed.
It’s reasonable. I feel I can run about without being mauled by Risen ever three steps. The new character models for the Risen are nice to see, too! Much more detailed, and larger in many cases.
Oh, wow I had no idea they added new models. I haven’t really been to Orr that much except recently after the update. I was pretty impressed at those models, very detailed. Interesting knowing they were just added.
I think the changes to Orr have been excellent. Perhaps now add a few different events to change up the pace there and it’ll be gold.
It was definitely an improvement for Orr.
Now, I would like to see more event chains that fracture out into various areas, forcing players to choose between several event paths that all feel equally important and worthwhile.
The zerginess is still there though; they really need to change events to scale divisively. At the Temple of Melandru for example; they could have groups of enemies coming up both sets of stairs at the same time to “pincer” the players if they don’t split up and defend both (currently you pretty much swap from one side to the other).
How’s the population-density change?
I haven’t been back to Orr since the patch.
I wouldn’t have minded a bit higher population density, but overall, I’d say it’s a lot better. It’s now actually fun to be in Orr. Only been in Malchor’s Leap so far, I might move to Cursed Shore tomorrow…
I’ve been busy leveling a guardian, for the past 2 weeks, so haven’t spent much time Orr recently. I solo farm there quite regularly with my ranger, so keen on getting back.
I always liked Orr cos it took planning and tactics to get around. I hope the changes haven’t nerfed this too badly …
I agree, Orr should have felt this way at release.
No! Don’t you get it?! The world is changing, we cleansed the fountain, slayed Zhaitan and now the undeads disappear slowly. There are less undead because of our victory, not because of the difficulty!
(at least that’s what I tell myself )
Currently playing Heart of Thorns.
Orr is still empty on my server, pretty much every in between the temple events are never touched. Drop rate still sucks. Mob density doesn’t look any different. Still getting cc’d out the kitten. All in all, not impressed.
Not playing the same game as the rest of us dude or what????
I’ve been busy leveling a guardian, for the past 2 weeks, so haven’t spent much time Orr recently. I solo farm there quite regularly with my ranger, so keen on getting back.
I always liked Orr cos it took planning and tactics to get around. I hope the changes haven’t nerfed this too badly …
easyer to get around but zergas dont ROFL stomp the big temple events now. its actualy a big deal to beet grenth now
TBH Orr is totally boring yep they made it easy but easy doesn’t equate to fun for me. Still nothing going on but the Karma rat runs.
i cant remember the last time i left the mists and WvWvW…
It was roughly 2-3 month ago the last time I was on the “open world”
Orr is still empty on my server, pretty much every in between the temple events are never touched. Drop rate still sucks. Mob density doesn’t look any different. Still getting cc’d out the kitten. All in all, not impressed.
Orr is empty on my server too, but I started to discover it before the changes, and wow, it is a big difference!
Before as you were trying to clear a path to get somewhere, even just to chop a tree, by the time you got down killing what was in front of you, the stuff behind you had already respawned and was attacking. Then the stuff in front would respawn. It was pretty crazy.
Now it’s just locked up WP’s and temples that are never available. But it’s definitely easier to navigate and explore. I got a couple heavy bags this morning just trying to open up some of Malachores Leap.
I am enjoying Orr now. Recently levelled an alt and have done straights and malchors map completion for the second time. The first time I did these it was run, dodge, grab waypoint/vista/poi, run, dodge etc so although I got my map completion the only parts of Orr I knew really well and had a proper look around was the cursed shore event paths and bases and the odd route that spawned Ori nodes. Since the change I can actually take a proper look at all the areas and appreciate them much more. Heck even being able to stop in a safe spot and check the map is a luxury you didn’t really get before.
+1 for the changes.
I no longer feel like a pinball while strolling around in there.
The statue icons are great now too, as people finally realize how important is capturing temples.
I also see way less lazy people defeating a few enemies or dealing a couple of hits and then leaving to another event, as more events will fail if they do that, and so they have to stay and help if they don’t want an Event failed! message.
I just hope that they make another zone like the original Orr. Life threatening situations everywhere and having situation awareness to avoid some groups of mobs. It was challenge, frustrating, and felt like a high level area. Since everyone has already experience that Orr is now just for farming.
“Quoth the raven nevermore”
Platinum Scout: 300% MF
I just hope that they make another zone like the original Orr. Life threatening situations everywhere and having situation awareness to avoid some groups of mobs. It was challenge, frustrating, and felt like a high level area. Since everyone has already experience that Orr is now just for farming.
Southsun Cove?
When the 1st patch came out that lowered population in Orr, I went to cursed shore and was wow’ed by the emptiness of some areas. But a patch afterwards seems to have reversed some of the undead density changes and some areas appear to be just as dense as prior to 28th patch, mind you some of these areas are not areas you would go to when running between events.
It is quite clear that the population outside anchorage has changed, but there are other areas such as the tunnel to the SE, or the area behind Jofats waypoint where the populations appears to be the same. Also in ML where there are small roaming NPC groups (far north and far south south of about the middle of the map) seems to have not changed in density either.
Orr is really fun after this patch. No longer annoying. They changed it just right – not too little and not too much. Love the new size of the abominations too. They’re huge!
Got to say it: Polishing was well done. Enemies look better and mob density seems reasonable. Thx Anet :-)
“War does not determine who is right – only who is left.”
The bigger models are nice, but they really need to tone down the spell effects. Every group event looks like it was directed by Michael Bay.
I’m liking the changes too. I like the new look for the Risen Abominations – they even look like they should be tougher than they actually are.
It feels really sparse…maybe a 25-40% increase?
But it is A LOT easier to maneuver.
“A release is 7 days or less away or has just happened within the last 7 days…
These are the only two states you’ll find the world of Tyria.”
I like the reduced density of the mobs. It’s easier to move around without it being an unending fight and you can do events now without getting overwhelmed by having a bunch of regular mobs getting mixed in with the event mobs. There are still plenty of mobs around for farming purposes.
I swear I must be the only one NOT happy about the density change. I just can’t farm as well as I used to because no matter how hard I try I can’t pull more than 4-5 mobs at a time in 90% of the zone.
I used to AoE farm 5-10 mobs at a time between DEs.
Edit: No complaints about the rest of the changes though. They are all good changes.
I get your point, I didn’t have an issue before at all, never understood the complaint in full, it was still several times easier than a dungeon run and something like maybe 50% harder than other open world zones.But thinning it out does make it like all the rest of the zones… free to travel. Instead of mob pulls, run the events. You get hundreds of mobs which are dropping much better than before. Overall I like it better with the combo of loot and player increase. Been hopping imo.
The thing I don’t want is for them to nerf drops there, it’s not crazy over the top, just better. Better enough to bring people back. Yes gold per player will go up a bit faster than before. That is a good thing.
Agreed, I am enjoying Orr a lot more now. I actually disliked the original Orr quite a bit after finishing my initial leveling there, but now I am having a lot of fun when I go there between the revamped temple events, the new mob density, and the fact that it tends to be a nice place to get dailies done.
Not to mention it is a very cool looking zone… it has a very distinct and epic aesthetic to it that I never paid much attention to when I was constantly being mobbed by risen.
I’m finding this much better.
For me, it was never so much that Orr was hard, it was that Orr was frustrating. I don’t mind challenging fights, but it was annoying that you couldn’t take more than a few steps without getting attacked by something. That made it difficult to just explore and enjoy the scenery. Since the patch, I can actually look around (and the landscape is really cool!) rather than focusing constantly on some random enemy’s next attack.
It also makes sense lore-wise that when Zhaitan was defeated and Orr was cleansed, the Risen population would start to drop.
I used to find Orr kind of boring because it was just this constant pattern of take a few steps, fight, take a few steps, fight a pretty much identical fight, and so on. It just seemed very monotonous and it took forever to get anywhere. Now that I can choose my battles, I’m actually enjoying the exploring.
I’m going to chime in with the others to say this is definitely a change for the better. Orr is still tough (as it should be), but no longer impossible. My thief was stalled on her personal story because traveling around the region was such a nuisance; now she’s moving forward at last.
Also, it’s an awesomely designed zone. Somebody put a lot of work and talent into creating it and it’s cool to be able to admire that handiwork without being mobbed.
Pun intended.
Guardians of the Vault [GotV] and Guíld of Dívíne Soldíers [GoDS]
Gate of Madness server
I agree with you OP, I’m not a huge fan of risen stuff BUT I always thought Orr was extremely well designed from an artistic point of view. And now, I can actually enjoy the zone in small doses – good job Arena Net! Time to get cracking on the SSC revamp and more new high level zones!!!!
I am quite enjoying it now….they did a good job on the changes in my view. Just hope the rest of the bugs/changes get the same attention.
I’m digging the revamped Orr, myself. I did have a really strange incident where a Risen aggro’d onto me from nearly the full draw distance away, but that has only happened the one time. Went through the Grenth fight last night, and the changes are awesome. Despite dying a ton, the fight felt a lot more exciting. Looking forward to checking out he other temples this weekend.
The changes get a thumbs-up from this thief.
I can’t determine if the drops are better. I should just go do the Malchor’s Leap escort chain to determine that. On some of the cursed shore events, I have a hard time tagging mobs as a ranger, especially at Penitent event. I can put traps down, but the mobs being invulnerable as they walk up triggers the traps and they don’t get damaged. If I put traps down after they become vulnerable, they’re already dead due to the mass amount of AoE going off.
I’m digging the revamped Orr, myself. I did have a really strange incident where a Risen aggro’d onto me from nearly the full draw distance away, but that has only happened the one time. Went through the Grenth fight last night, and the changes are awesome. Despite dying a ton, the fight felt a lot more exciting. Looking forward to checking out he other temples this weekend.
The changes get a thumbs-up from this thief.
It was probably one of the kitten Acolytes – they aggro from a million miles away!!
One thing to keep in mind about “old” Orr was that the mob spawn system was apparently broken, spawning two (or maybe more) mobs pr point rather than one. This was acknowledged by the devs in a forum thread regarding mob spawn issues. As such, the current Orr is more in line with how ANet had originally planned it.
Well, I finally went back to Orr last evening to see for myself what changed …
The good
I like all the environmental and risen model changes. Less murky atmosphere and water lets you see the design of the place – it really is quite amazing. Now I want to stop and actually look around. Also the statue icons on the map with the type of conditions around contested statues is very helpful.
The bad
Do not like the nerfed population density and mobs are too easy to kill. The ‘old’ Orr you needed to actually think, plan and use tactics to get around, and that was still too easy for an end-game area. Now, it is just pathetically easy with the loot drops to match. Being down-scaled in starter map is more difficult than Orr …
I hope Anet introduces a proper end-game area soon, cos this is just sad …
I have not noticed anything different except save the one pull mechanic the orrians use to throw at you and pull you.
The arena had 2 pillars but that is it for what I have seen.
Do not like the nerfed population density and mobs are too easy to kill. The ‘old’ Orr you needed to actually think, plan and use tactics to get around, and that was still too easy for an end-game area. Now, it is just pathetically easy with the loot drops to match. Being down-scaled in starter map is more difficult than Orr …
I hope Anet introduces a proper end-game area soon, cos this is just sad …
Endgame doesn’t mean you have to be overwhelmed by a mass of respawning enemies, also they’re still trashmobs – there’s harder encounters elsewhere.
One thing i am learning from all this is that one players insanely difficult is another’s snooze fest. Can’t say i envy ANet trying to make the game fun for that wide a spread…
I swear I must be the only one NOT happy about the density change. I just can’t farm as well as I used to because no matter how hard I try I can’t pull more than 4-5 mobs at a time in 90% of the zone.
I used to AoE farm 5-10 mobs at a time between DEs.
Edit: No complaints about the rest of the changes though. They are all good changes.
no, you are not alone. Now I can simply walk into Orr (cit), feels like touring in Wonderland rather than the creepy insanely dangerous enemy headquarter.
Although I welcome the graphic revamp, it lost any form of fun for me, who loved to swim amongst hordes of Risen and let ’em rest in pieces.
I will now divert my roaming in Southsun Cove, but something gives me the feeling that my fun will soon say goodbye there too, as it will be the realm of rainbows sprouting unicorns and merry folks. Sigh.
One thing i am learning from all this is that one players insanely difficult is another’s snooze fest. Can’t say i envy ANet trying to make the game fun for that wide a spread…
Mainly because the different classes and builds actually play very different. I.e. depending on your class and spec,you can eventually handle a lot of enemies or a few which are very strong, but they may respawn instantly once they’re down, leaving you no time to recover.