Guild Wars 2

Hello. The past few days i’ve been trying out different methods to acquire information on how to complete (or even begin) the Dragon’s Stand meta event. As with any inquiry, let me explain how i’ve gone through the obvious, and the results which have led me here.

Google – read up a lot on the details of the events, and have a good idea of what the objective in every event is. Unfortunately, acquired no information on how/when to find a map with actual players in it.

LFG – barren wasteland when it comes to this map. i’m running out of episodes of Lost to watch with LFG in the corner with “ds” search parameters. this worries me.

Asking various mapchats – do i really need to explain this one?

Sitting around in Dragon’s Stand – no replies, but i got a /wave once. The map seems to be post-apocalyptic population-wise.

Sorry if this is a touchy subject. Simple inquiries directed toward the community about this meta event really brings up strong emotions and anger, but i’d really just like some advice on how to complete this event, where to begin, what tricks you need to do, if there are any specific guilds that do the event privately (what’s their name?), if there is only one certain time of the day this map is populated (maybe it’s at 3am my local time?). any information would really, really help!

You aren’t the only one. The design of this makes organizing a meta very tedious, in particular, you can’t keep momentum going when everyone is booted off the map every 90 minutes.

Tips:

Start looking AT LEAST 15 minutes before the start of the event. If you need a timer:
http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers
Scroll down the page for Dragon Stand. I usually start looking 20-30 minutes before the event start time.

If you don’t start in a map that looks like it is organizing, check the LFG for stuff like “DS taxi” or “Org DS taxi.” Take that taxi, change instances, and drop group as soon as you are in. Squad members can use LFG for taxis, so these are for transport only.

Now, find a commander tag and join the squad. You don’t have to stay with that commander, but if everyone groups up into one or two squads, you have a better chance of all being put in the same instance after the zone clear. If you end up in a different zone than the rest of your squad, select the commander from the squad list, and join their instance quickly.

Once everyone is back in an instance together, the commanders that are actually going to lead each lane will tag up, and you can change to the squad/lane you prefer.

There are better times of day. I find mid-day (eastern/central time) to be a pretty good time to get a good map. I’ve had lunch time meta events that were very successful with only about 15 people at each lane/tower. Earlier evenings are usually also good, and weekend afternoons.

As I said, it doesn’t take a full instance to get this done. But due to the zone clear, everyone is so anxious about getting in a map that has ENOUGH people, we end up trying to fill-up an instance as much as possible, which leaves other instances empty.

Good hunting!

I am surprised you are finding a barren wasteland in lFG. I can only assume it could be your timing.

http://wiki.guildwars2.com/wiki/Event_timers

Use this (/wiki event timer for chat link) to coordinate your lfg. Every time I look up DS at the time of starting, LFG is always absolutely flooded with taxis. Same with Tarir and Gerent when their time is near.

It is nigh on impossible to find a populated map without the lfg taxi system (something they are addressing), but as long as you use the timers on wiki as a guide, that should help you find what you are looking for.

You don’t need to be looking before the map resets. Just be in the map as it resets then use the LFG if you don’t land on an instances that is organizing.

The key with HoT meta events is understand how they work. To do this, simply look at the timers posted above. I personally like:

http://dulfy.net/2015/11/09/gw2-hot-maps-timer-famme/

but whatever you prefer. If you go to DS even 5 minutes prior to the start of the meta you will notice about 50 people standing there and one commander tag. Join the squad and wait. The timer in the top right (By default) will tick to zero and everyone will die. Now there is a chance that you will be launched into another server from your squad, but this is why you joined the squad. Right click the commanders name and join his instance. Now you are set!

There is a window though if you arrive a couple minutes late to the meta. There will be various people in LFG attempting to fill their servers for about 5-10 minutes after the meta has begun.

If you attempt to do DS out of this time frame you are out of luck my friend, but this is simply how the mechanics work in HoT. This applies to every Meta but the others are usually less punishing if you are late.