Guild Wars 2

Other world bosses like Tequatl have achievements that can be done fairly easily with a little time and multiple runs, but No-Fly Zone and Smash the Dragon are way more difficult compared to the rest of the achievements required to get the Branded Backpiece.

A friend that’s done the fight quite a lot says that people hate doing the fight in general and the only way a group can get Smash the Dragon is with like 3 commanders all extremely organized, and all I’ve seen is regular players just mashing 1 and none of them have ever even heard of crowd control because they think power+precision solves everything. And I can’t even get the other one because apparently in all the times I’ve fought it they’ve only broken its defiance bar once.

I know they have 11 achievements and only 10 need to be completed to get the backpiece, but it still requires doing at least one achievement that involves way more coordination than any regular player is going to get. I shouldn’t have to gather the entire community just for one achievement that’s unusually difficult compared to the rest.

Can’t they add another achievement that we could do instead? Like actually using the turrets or mortars to kill x amount of branded or something? ‘Cause at this rate, I don’t think I’ll ever be getting that backpiece. And I can’t log in every 3 hours every day for weeks or months in hopes that maybe people will actually try.

With no-fly zone you can get lucky with it. If you get onto the map with only about 1/4 of Shatterer’s health left and you take part in the last part of the flight, then there’s a chance that Shatterer won’t attempt to take off again before the end of the fight. I think that will count as the achievement for you since Shatterer hasn’t made it into the air since you’ve been there.

Durrik.4679:

With no-fly zone you can get lucky with it. If you get onto the map with only about 1/4 of Shatterer’s health left and you take part in the last part of the flight, then there’s a chance that Shatterer won’t attempt to take off again before the end of the fight. I think that will count as the achievement for you since Shatterer hasn’t made it into the air since you’ve been there.

I’d like to be hopeful about that, but it seems too convenient. And getting into a map with an active Shatterer fight near the end seems unlikely, since I don’t know how full the map usually gets. But I can always give it an attempt.

Well unfortunately, attempting to join part way through is not possible, because the map fills up and I just end up on an empty one that didn’t do the pre event. :/

Maybe next time I’ll stay on the map but far enough away that I can’t accidentally get involved in the fight, then run in at the last minute. I don’t know. It sounds ideal, but almost too good. Like I’d get that lucky with a group event achievement that requires multiple squads, lol.

Is there another event in core Tyria that has an achievement which requires gliding to do very easily, or very hard and time consuming without gliding?

Shatterer is one of the main events for “free to play” players so it’s an ideal place to add “motivation” to buy HoT.

Is that a good method though, if it’s making players wait to jump in only at the very end?

I…. okay? I don’t know what you’re saying. Gliding isn’t my problem. I got the gliding-related achievement already because I have stealth gliding unlocked.

I don’t know what you’re trying to say.

Anyway, @Durrik, it did not work. I joined the fight from far away with no involvement whatsoever in the last little bit without it flying off, but still didn’t get it. A good idea, though.

SmirkDog.3160:

I…. okay? I don’t know what you’re saying. Gliding isn’t my problem. I got the gliding-related achievement already because I have stealth gliding unlocked.

Gliding is required to throw bombs. One of the bomb skills is a multi-hit stun, which is how you’re expected to break the bar. These achievements are only hard because it requires going against the mindless zerg. Nobody tries because there’s no point in trying unless you can get at least 25% of the map to participate. If you want to be successful, the simplest option is gathering 8+ people that are willing to do it and trying to find an empty map.

I’m aware that people refuse to actually do anything besides stand in a group and press 1. That’s how it actually completely failed earlier today.

Which is why I think having 2 of 11 achievements (when 10 are required to be completed) that are so heavily dependent on a well organized map is stupid. It’s a total bottleneck and the only thing stopping me from getting the backpiece. But “just get a group together” is way more difficult than people think it is for the average player. Doing the Verdant Brink meta was easier than this.

I was referring to the bomb to break bar achievement that is fairly simple if you have gliding and a lot more time consuming and risky if you have to stand at kitten’s foot to break the bar.
Are you using the LFG tool to join World Boss groups and joining group members on other maps till you get one likely to succeed?

What if you wait near the event (orange circle on the map) and join in on the last 30 seconds or so. Has anyone tried this?

Regarding no fly zone. What if you stand near the event (outside of the orange circle on the map), join in on the last 30 seconds and kill shatterer. Does this work?

SmirkDog.3160:

I…. okay? I don’t know what you’re saying. Gliding isn’t my problem. I got the gliding-related achievement already because I have stealth gliding unlocked.

I don’t know what you’re trying to say.

The break bar is almost impossible to break using normal cc skills. You need a large group of players to glide and synchro-drop the bombs on him in the right moment (and the window for that is extremely narrow, btw). Without a well-organized air support you won’t ever get that achieve.

(and no, joining partway like someone suggested doesn’t work)

Well OP you are absolutely correct, pugging this is virtually impossible. I will now state the obvious solution and suggest that you join a guild that runs this event.