Guild Wars 2

I’ve been playing GW2 for about a month now and bought HoT in the recent sale. I didn’t jump into the new zones until this week as I wanted to level to 80 by hand. After making it to Tangled Depths, I don’t know whether to stick with GW2 or not.

I understand you’re supposed to group up for HoT events, but when I open the group finder there are no groups. When I ask in /map, no one answers. When I go to events there are at most one or two people and it takes 30+ minutes just to do one minor event.

I’m constantly getting the prompt to move to a more populated map, but nothing changes. The cycle repeats, with me trying to accomplish something, anything, in my isolation only to be asked to move to a “more populated” map again and again and again until I log off in frustration.

It’s a slog, a constant test of my patience to get anything done. If I can’t get anything done, why play? Is there something I’m missing?

Well, I can’t say it’s uncommon to find a low population map, but I don’t seem to have as much trouble finding a populated map as you do. Do you know what time you’re arriving on the map in relation to the boss event?

The chak gerent comes around every 2 hours at the half-hour mark. For whatever reason, there are not really sufficient events in the zone to keep players busy in that time. My best guess is that it gives players time to loot the lanes before the boss event begins? In any case, I do find that there’s a bit of a lull in that first hour usually.

Check out gw2timer.com you can find out all the times of the meta events. Keep your lfg open around the time the meta starts and you’ll see squads pop up. Typically people just do meta events because they’re the most rewarding but if you want to do pre-events then you’ll have to look harder for a group. Just keep the lfg tool open in the corner of your screen. Also, if you do go into one of these maps during meta event you’ll likely be shoved into a less popular map as the heavily populated maps are capped out. So taxiing to a more populated map is crucial.

Mantacake, HoT is kind of a challenge mode for PvE. The players tend to be adept at soloing hard content so, despite the weak “encouragement” to group, the population tends to either zerg or solo the map.

However, if you stick it out, you can find map zergs that help players complete maps or run coordinated event chains. They tend to be very loose associations, though.

Better for new players may be to work on personal story and fully mapping the original content. There are also more social, less intense, events in the original maps, including dragon fights and dungeons, or fractals. WvW is also more casual.

Alternatively, you could pursue crafting or role playing.

Jumping into the hardest solo PvE can be disheartening, especially with the lack of socializing it brings.

Relax, join a PvE, PvP, or WvW guild and play as you like, for fun, and without driving yourself too hard.

I’ve shown a lot of people around HoT, and I’d be happy to do the same for you. HoT is generally more timer based than other zones, but even off peak, it’s doable.

The big thing is to get to the zones before the meta events start. They’re basically staggered, so only one meta event is going on in the first three zones at any one time.

Sounds to me like you’ve been unlucky.

So the impression I’m getting is that I need to be constantly rotating maps until I find one that is approaching the meta event? How can I manually change maps? I have done the Auric Basin event a few times now but even then, no one does any of the other events. Are the meta events really the only ones that get completed? I’ve tried soloing the pylon events before and I just can’t do it.

Anchoku, solo exploration was really the only thing I enjoyed in this game. Crafting is a snooze and my few WvW experiences haven’t been very pleasant. I usually just die before I can even see who is attacking me. Maybe I have just been having poor luck, but the impression I get is that the game has run out of content that is both enjoyable and accessible to me.

Vayne, thank you for your offer. I will shoot you a message tomorrow after work if I have time. I just want to do something!

Sounds like a plan. I bet when I show you how to do the HOT zones, you’ll have a very different experience. Just give a chance. No amount of answers in this thread are going to help you see in more clearly.

HoT offers a different type of experience than the core zones. That different experience was actually needed for people who like it. It’s not the entire game, it’s still a small percentage of the game.

It’s an additional experience, not a replacement experience.

Starting HoT now is slightly unfortunate timing because many players will have moved on to the new Bloodstone Fen map and are also pursuing the crazed creatures events all over the place. You can do some HoT stuff solo but most of the events and metas require a decent number of players so you need to make use of other lfg tool and also be aware of the fixed times of events for each map. If the meta is under way you may struggle to get anyone to help with other stuff on the map like HPs. Chances are that the map you are on has a reasonable population but most of them will be at a specific event so you need to learn those events and figure out when the non-meta “window” is on each map.

Fixed timers, big metas and legendary bosses that take an age to kill don’t make for a very fun experience for me. It doesn’t even matter if you die-rez-die-rez, just batter away….

Alot of people are either doing the new map or have finished that and are playing other things until the next LS section is added.

I hear Auric Basin is done frequently now due to the good amount of money you can make from it but if you can’t get onto one of the full maps doing it you may have difficulty doing some stuff in HoT

I don’t know how it is on the NA maps but in EU I’m always seeing people offering to do not just events but map completion points.

On organised maps there might be a commander leading people around all the hero challenges. On other maps it’s usually just people grouping up for one of them but it’s very rare for me to see a map where no one is doing any of them.

I don’t understand this issue with players moving on from HoT content. We’re on megaservers, right? So unless 100% of the population has moved on and there are insufficient players to fill up even a single instance, there shouldn’t be an observable issue.

What am I missing here? I keep hearing this mentioned how HoT is going to be a real nightmare when players start moving on. But what I haven’t seen explained is why that should be a problem? I can find players on every single map in this game. Why will this be any different?

What is the map capacity anyway? 50 players? 100? And how many simultaneous players does GW2 have logged in at any given time? Tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands?

AliamRationem.5172:

I don’t understand this issue with players moving on from HoT content. We’re on megaservers, right? So unless 100% of the population has moved on and there are insufficient players to fill up even a single instance, there shouldn’t be an observable issue.

And yet there is. What does that tell you? I mean, beyond the already known fact that megaserver works badly for HoT areas, and prefers creating a lot of underpopulated instances instead of one-two full ones – assuming there even are enough players for one full instance in the off hours)

AliamRationem.5172:

What am I missing here? I keep hearing this mentioned how HoT is going to be a real nightmare when players start moving on. But what I haven’t seen explained is why that should be a problem? I can find players on every single map in this game. Why will this be any different?

Because HoT map metas were designed for more than a handful of people, and beyond participating in the meta there’s not that much to do (it’s not as bad as before the April patch, but it’s still a problem. Especially on abovementioned Tangled).

AliamRationem.5172:

What is the map capacity anyway? 50 players? 100?

Don’t know about HoT (apparently it’s different there), but in core it’s around 120 soft 150 hard cap.

AliamRationem.5172:

And how many simultaneous players does GW2 have logged in at any given time? Tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands?

Unknown. The record so far was slightly below half a million concurrent logins, but that happened around Launch (the first one, not the expac). Apparently it’s more than the estimated number of sold HoT boxes. I’d guess it’s in tens of thousands at the moment in EU and US each.

HoT is MUCH harder content than 90+% of all the previous content. Most events in TD and AB do not scale down so a single player can solo them. I think your best bet is to find a guild or your going to have to hope to get lucky with map population. Popping a tag is another option as that will often collect players to your location.

You should be able to explore all of the HoT maps, even Solo, but don’t expect to be able to complete all the events.

I think it just depends on what time of day you go into one of the maps. I play after work (starting 6pm PST), and I never have trouble finding an active map. There’s usually some sort of zerg going on, particularly in Auric Basin.

Elric Of Melnibone.4781:

HoT is MUCH harder content than 90+% of all the previous content. Most events in TD and AB do not scale down so a single player can solo them. I think your best bet is to find a guild or your going to have to hope to get lucky with map population. Popping a tag is another option as that will often collect players to your location.

You should be able to explore all of the HoT maps, even Solo, but don’t expect to be able to complete all the events.

Most do not scale down? I’ve done pretty much all events that don’t have a champ so yes they can be done solo.

Ayrilana.1396:

Most do not scale down? I’ve done pretty much all events that don’t have a champ so yes they can be done solo.

I have not done to much HoT since the Spring Update, but before that there where many events in AB and TD, without champs that where WAY to difficult due mostly to spawn rates. I could certainly survive and kill things, but more would spawn to fast to keep up with, and I have been playing since Beta. Granted I am not the strongest player, but certainly at least above average.

As an example, what about the event on the east side of AB where you have to kill the vine tenders that continuously spawn and kill off the all the other stuff that spawns down below and kill off the big vine thing that is the event? How can you possible solo that?

A couple other examples in TD where your supposed to guard things while a gazilion chak spawn constantly. I can kill tons and tons of chak, but not enough to eventually be overwhelmed. With a person or two to help, it’s quite doable however.

Elric Of Melnibone.4781:

Ayrilana.1396:

Most do not scale down? I’ve done pretty much all events that don’t have a champ so yes they can be done solo.

I have not done to much HoT since the Spring Update, but before that there where many events in AB and TD, without champs that where WAY to difficult due mostly to spawn rates. I could certainly survive and kill things, but more would spawn to fast to keep up with, and I have been playing since Beta. Granted I am not the strongest player, but certainly at least above average.

As an example, what about the event on the east side of AB where you have to kill the vine tenders that continuously spawn and kill off the all the other stuff that spawns down below and kill off the big vine thing that is the event? How can you possible solo that?

A couple other examples in TD where your supposed to guard things while a gazilion chak spawn constantly. I can kill tons and tons of chak, but not enough to eventually be overwhelmed. With a person or two to help, it’s quite doable however.

True. Events that require coordination for two or more things would be difficult to do. I remember trying to do that event once in AB and being unable to as I could keep both down long enough.

I can’t think of anywhere in TD where a defend even could not be done solo. I’ve done Ogre chain up to the fight with the vine in the tree. I’ve done Rata Novus up to where the Chak boss spawns when you complete the console event. I’ve done the Nuhoch chain up to when you escort them in their first patrol and encounter the boss. I haven’t really done Scar lane from start to finish in one sitting but I don’t recall any of the event having been that difficult until you escort the NPC down into the lane.

@mantacake :
Just read this thread, I think it could help you a lot.
https://forum-en.gw2archive.eu/forum/game/hot/Laura-D-lviano-The-Angel-of-Maguuma/first#post6277108

AliamRationem.5172:

I don’t understand this issue with players moving on from HoT content. We’re on megaservers, right? So unless 100% of the population has moved on and there are insufficient players to fill up even a single instance, there shouldn’t be an observable issue.

What am I missing here? I keep hearing this mentioned how HoT is going to be a real nightmare when players start moving on. But what I haven’t seen explained is why that should be a problem? I can find players on every single map in this game. Why will this be any different?

What is the map capacity anyway? 50 players? 100? And how many simultaneous players does GW2 have logged in at any given time? Tens or perhaps even hundreds of thousands?

I play in NA and went into TD the other day to try to finish up some Achievs that I left behind because I hate TD so much. It was a dead map. When Gerent popped, that seemed to be where all the people were but there weren’t enough to have the event succeed.

if all else fails post your own lfg, you might find there were other people in your situation looking for others to do that content with but not willing to post their own lfg

I decided to give it another go and at least see the story through to the end. I got to the final battle and got swatted out of the air, dying instantly. After fighting this piece of kitten for 45 minutes. I’m done. I’m done.

And I just realized that because I logged out, I’ll have to fight the previous two fights again too. So an hour and a half wasted. I’m never doing that again.

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

mantacake.1243:

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

You need to use CC on the breakbar.

Ayrilana.1396:

Elric Of Melnibone.4781:

Ayrilana.1396:

Most do not scale down? I’ve done pretty much all events that don’t have a champ so yes they can be done solo.

I have not done to much HoT since the Spring Update, but before that there where many events in AB and TD, without champs that where WAY to difficult due mostly to spawn rates. I could certainly survive and kill things, but more would spawn to fast to keep up with, and I have been playing since Beta. Granted I am not the strongest player, but certainly at least above average.

As an example, what about the event on the east side of AB where you have to kill the vine tenders that continuously spawn and kill off the all the other stuff that spawns down below and kill off the big vine thing that is the event? How can you possible solo that?

A couple other examples in TD where your supposed to guard things while a gazilion chak spawn constantly. I can kill tons and tons of chak, but not enough to eventually be overwhelmed. With a person or two to help, it’s quite doable however.

True. Events that require coordination for two or more things would be difficult to do. I remember trying to do that event once in AB and being unable to as I could keep both down long enough.

I can’t think of anywhere in TD where a defend even could not be done solo. I’ve done Ogre chain up to the fight with the vine in the tree. I’ve done Rata Novus up to where the Chak boss spawns when you complete the console event. I’ve done the Nuhoch chain up to when you escort them in their first patrol and encounter the boss. I haven’t really done Scar lane from start to finish in one sitting but I don’t recall any of the event having been that difficult until you escort the NPC down into the lane.

I find defending that robot in Rata Novus lane solo pretty obnoxious. It can be done, but whenever the robot falls it usually takes me at least a couple of waves of chak before I can get it back on its feet again. So while it’s technically doable solo, I think it’s clearly designed for a small group.

SCAR is similar. If you’re pretty handy in combat you can complete most of the events. I find the cannon escort the most difficult to solo. Surviving and defeating the enemies is fairly challenging, but the tough part is keeping the cannon alive! I find this one extremely difficult to solo for that reason.

Ayrilana.1396:

mantacake.1243:

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

You need to use CC on the breakbar.

We did; it didn’t work. After dealing with Eir instantly resurrecting Garm, I thought I had encountered my one obligatory bug and would make it through.

mantacake.1243:

Ayrilana.1396:

mantacake.1243:

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

You need to use CC on the breakbar.

We did; it didn’t work. After dealing with Eir instantly resurrecting Garm, I thought I had encountered my one obligatory bug and would make it through.

Okay I’ll remove you from my friend’s list then. But I’ve run this mission with guildies at least 5 times in the last two weeks and never had an issue.

Vayne.8563:

Sounds like a plan. I bet when I show you how to do the HOT zones, you’ll have a very different experience. Just give a chance. No amount of answers in this thread are going to help you see in more clearly.

HoT offers a different type of experience than the core zones. That different experience was actually needed for people who like it. It’s not the entire game, it’s still a small percentage of the game.

It’s an additional experience, not a replacement experience.

My head exploded

mantacake.1243:

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

For the last phase you need hard CC to break that bar. I completed it recently with just another player in party. Me playing ele helped, used frostbow, granting my ally one as well with some additional CC to boost. Its not glitched, trust me.

Sorry to hear your experience has been negative so far, but maybe you shouldn’t have rushed into HoT maps only 1 month after you started playing the game? It takes time to get used to a new game mechanics and the new maps are much more elaborate with harder content then the vanilla ones. Should you decide to come back and give the game another go, this time taking your time and learning the ropes slowly and consistently, not rushing through.. I am sure you will have a much different and better experience with the game.

Well mantacake looks like they’ve left sadly.

To any others reading this that are having some similar struggles with the Heart of Thorns maps, I can’t stress enough enough to learn all about defiance bars and how and when to break them with crowd effect skills (‘crowd control’, or ‘cc’).

The official Wiki has great information on it right here: Defiance Bar.

It’s actually very simple to understand, and is well worth the 5-10 minutes or so it takes to familiarize yourself with the mechanic. It plays such an important role these days.

Blipp.5206:

mantacake.1243:

Well, I got a group together and tried the final chapter again. After an hour of fighting, Mordremoth glitched in the last phase and became invulnerable. I have now uninstalled GW2.

For the last phase you need hard CC to break that bar. I completed it recently with just another player in party. Me playing ele helped, used frostbow, granting my ally one as well with some additional CC to boost. Its not glitched, trust me.

Sorry to hear your experience has been negative so far, but maybe you shouldn’t have rushed into HoT maps only 1 month after you started playing the game? It takes time to get used to a new game mechanics and the new maps are much more elaborate with harder content then the vanilla ones. Should you decide to come back and give the game another go, this time taking your time and learning the ropes slowly and consistently, not rushing through.. I am sure you will have a much different and better experience with the game.

It is glitched, but it’s a glitch that can be overcome.