Guild Wars 2

So for the past few weeks or more, nearly every day I’ve attempted to farm the Bladed Coat box from the boss chests in Verdant Brink.
You can also get the Bladed Armor Box from the meta hitting T4, which allows you to select any piece of Bladed Gear. (which is just poor design anyway because you can buy everything from the frog merchants EXCEPT THE CHEST)

The closest that it came to hitting T4 was the other night. T2 before night bosses spawned. All bosses downed.. except Patri. Whom was left with about 8% before the event ended.
This time could have been easily covered if people knew what CC was. 10 minutes of precious time was spent on Matriach because nobody was breaking her bar. To top it off, not a single person was at Patri to at least get it lower than 100%.
This will only get harder as new content comes out and to be honest this is killing the game for me. If i want something, I should be able to get it. I don’t mind grinding for hours and days on end. Because i know i will get what i want with persistence.

But this is just annoyingly gated by RNG and heavy reliance on other people.
The entire Ley Line set can be purchased from the vendors. WHY NOT THE BLADED COAT.

I’m basically here to petition for the Bladed Coats to be added to the merchant. At the end of the day you still have to farm airship parts to get it. But its guaranteed.
I left WoW: Legion for this very same reason.
Stuff gated behind time gated behind heavy RNG.
NOBODY LIKES RNG standing between them and something they want.
What’s worse is if someone gets something you have been trying to hard to get and that was their first time attempting to get it or they didnt even know.
This is why precursor crafting was added, this is why Bladed Coats should be added to the merchant.

Also, you can get it from PvP. But lord knows im not going anywhere near that with the state Ele is currently in.
Besides, you have to complete SEVERAL reward tracks before even getting to the Heart of Mag which you then have to complete to get a bladed coat box.

It shouldn’t be this hard to complete a kitten set when the rest of it is so accessible.

TL;DR: Add Bladed Coat to the kitten merchant.

Get into organised map through LFG. Random maps will never hit T4 because people usually participate in organised maps.
I did few runs hoping random map will hit T4 until I realised I should just wait until organised map pops on LFG and from there on it was easy.

It’s so easy nowadays to call everything bad design. Airship parts are too easy to come by and making whole set aquirable that way would be really no effort and map meta event wouldn have less incentive to be played.

I do join LFG groups. They keep falling short despite having 50+ present on the map.

It’s easy to call something anything at all, but the fact is this meta event is bad design. Most of the entire jungle was badly designed but that’s another thing to discuss at another point.

I’ve been at it for two weeks and im fed up.
Idc if you think airship parts are too easy to come by, the fact is you can get the entire leyset just as easily.

This is definitely the hardest meta of the four to complete, but it can be completed, because I’ve done it. Recently. It takes patience. If it helps, think of it as RNG.

But yes, I think Anet needs to make a number of things clearer to people attempting the meta. There also needs to be a tutorial for break bars.

Last time I did the meta event to get my piece was maybe 3-4 months ago and I doubt much has changed since then, but there is always good groups that steamroll through the event. They just don’t happen on every cycle.
edit: make sure you’re doing it at least close to peak hours.

Alright, thanks guys. Ill go at it awhile longer then

VB is super unfun to play solo . Many people detered from going there making it hard to Organize. Many people just looking for quick HP run and done with it.

And Mega server keep pushing people into a fresh map . Most people dont bother putting up LFG as well. So there we have a loop of Poor map to play with

If you feel like doing T4 VB with TTS, feel free to join us. We do it twice a week. The last time I joined in on it was last week and we had about 7 minutes left on the timer after hitting T4. Its pretty fun. Check the calendar for when it happens. All times are in UTC, but if you add the calendar to your google account it’ll automatically adjust the times to your time zone:

http://ttsgamers.com/event-calendar/

There isn’t really much reason to care about the AB meta once you are done with the achievements/collections. Kill one boss and get the daily chest then the only reason left is altruistic.

The meta is both easy and hard. The things that need to be done are easy but getting people to actually listen maybe be more difficult than soloing one of the canopy bosses.

Another problem with the VB meta is that there are no indications of what will contribute to the progress outside of rally point defense and killing boss because they move the progress by one pixel.

The other problem that holds VB meta back is that it requires quite a few masteries . This is particular problematic since number of players who are doing HoT metas are fairly new.

Granted the number of points needed isnt high if you level it up optimally, but what new player does that without researching exactly what is needed for what.

thats what gaming is about, you offer new content, people learn how to play new content wither through research or play.

LONGA.1652:

VB is super unfun to play solo . Many people detered from going there making it hard to Organize. Many people just looking for quick HP run and done with it.

And Mega server keep pushing people into a fresh map . Most people dont bother putting up LFG as well. So there we have a loop of Poor map to play with

Pretty much this. As soon as I got my elite, I get out of the HOT maps. I hate them. Then you have other people who bought HOT, hate it, and don’t even get their elite. Then you have people who maybe like HOT ok, but you need masteries to get around, but you can’t get your masteries because you can’t get around so these people get frustrated and leave. Then you have a group of people who love HOT maps and spend time there, but there’s not enough of those people to take VB to T4 on a regular basis anymore.

TorsoReaper.8530:

LONGA.1652:

VB is super unfun to play solo . Many people detered from going there making it hard to Organize. Many people just looking for quick HP run and done with it.

And Mega server keep pushing people into a fresh map . Most people dont bother putting up LFG as well. So there we have a loop of Poor map to play with

Pretty much this. As soon as I got my elite, I get out of the HOT maps. I hate them. Then you have other people who bought HOT, hate it, and don’t even get their elite. Then you have people who maybe like HOT ok, but you need masteries to get around, but you can’t get your masteries because you can’t get around so these people get frustrated and leave. Then you have a group of people who love HOT maps and spend time there, but there’s not enough of those people to take VB to T4 on a regular basis anymore.

This is pretty much false. There’s virtually always enough people who play HoT to get VB to T4. This has nothing at all to do with numbers. It has to do with people understanding the meta, and nothing else.

I can’t remember the last time I was on a hot map without enough people to do it, if I was using LFG anyway.

The problem is people don’t know what to do and how to listen. The problem is people don’t use bar breaks at the matriarch so the fight takes twice the time it should. The idea is there’s no one organizing the map.

When someone does organize the map, there are enough people.

The real issue is that the rewards are such that there’s no reason to do the meta at all if you already have all three chest pieces. If the rewards were required by enough people, more people wouldn’t be doing it.

I admit when I’m on that map, most of the time, even if the meta is going on, I’m not actively participating in it, because I’m there for other reasons, either map completion or farming currency.

Succeeded several times over last weekend. T4 is highly doable and doesn’t even need a full map. Camps can be soloed if you leave a mob alive which is generally harmless (i.e. Mender). The only thing you need to worry about are natural spawns (Coztic, Wyverns, etc) and vines (easy to move away from).

Agreed with the opening post. Being able to buy the Bladed Chest from the merchant (like you can do with ever other piece to begin with) is a solid solution. Far less stressful than hoping for both the map and RNG to be in your favor.

It’s not just about the Bladed Chest, for me at least. There alternate ways of getting the chest piece (i.e. WvW/PvP chest). It’s about the ascended Magister’s Backpack. It requires getting the VB T4 meta. In contrast, the Whisper’s Backpack only requires that one does the regular Tangled Depths Chak Gerant meta.

For me it depends on what time you play.
I’m in the UK and most of the T4’s I have been involved with are at the weekends at stupid o’clock in the morning.
Even then there have been less and less in the last few months as new content comes out and players have moved to newer maps.
Unless you are in a big guild who could organise a T4 map it could be a lost cause.
(unless you WvW or Pvp apparently, which I don’t…)
Map chat usually goes something like this…
Map T4?
Need help with Vamp HP, golem, frog HP, etc…
Luckily I got my T4’s in when people weren’t just there to gather mats and run mobs into me…
As an aside, I have 160 odd bladed glove boxes knocking around I can’t do anything with…

Stevieboy.4192:

For me it depends on what time you play.
I’m in the UK and most of the T4’s I have been involved with are at the weekends at stupid o’clock in the morning.
Even then there have been less and less in the last few months as new content comes out and players have moved to newer maps.
Unless you are in a big guild who could organise a T4 map it could be a lost cause.
(unless you WvW or Pvp apparently, which I don’t…)
Map chat usually goes something like this…
Map T4?
Need help with Vamp HP, golem, frog HP, etc…
Luckily I got my T4’s in when people weren’t just there to gather mats and run mobs into me…
As an aside, I have 160 odd bladed glove boxes knocking around I can’t do anything with…

You can’t open the bladed glove boxes and salvage them for ectos?

Vayne.8563:

You can’t open the bladed glove boxes and salvage them for ectos?

This is what I do, and I make sure to pick the light armor items so I get cloth when I salvage them.

Sephas.8793:

Vayne.8563:

You can’t open the bladed glove boxes and salvage them for ectos?

This is what I do, and I make sure to pick the light armor items so I get cloth when I salvage them.

Cloth over leather? That seems an odd choice.

On topic: It seems some people can find this map done more often and some people can’t seem to. One thing is certain.

The map does a terrible job of letting people know what they should be doing.

I’ve found the easiest way to do patri is with just a few people to keep him from over-scaling. Something like 4 eles and a mesmer wipe his damage phase in seconds (well, before meteor nerf).

Hardest thing about the VB meta for me is always getting people to spread out to defend the kitten rally points without overstacking on them. Sorta stuck in a conundrum where people will only gather if there are tags on the map, but despite all protest from the Comm organizing the thing they’ll only follow the tag and not defend anywhere else.

Carbon Mantis.8962:

I’ve found the easiest way to do patri is with just a few people to keep him from over-scaling. Something like 4 eles and a mesmer wipe his damage phase in seconds (well, before meteor nerf).

Hardest thing about the VB meta for me is always getting people to spread out to defend the kitten rally points without overstacking on them. Sorta stuck in a conundrum where people will only gather if there are tags on the map, but despite all protest from the Comm organizing the thing they’ll only follow the tag and not defend anywhere else.

You don’t even need a few people.

Just one necro/rev/ele/ranger could do it. Having a second person with you is more like insurance against a random person showing up scaling it up while contributing nothing. -_-

The biggest trouble I see with getting t4 is that people won’t defend the rally points. There will be a mass of people at one or two points and the test continuously fall.

I can hold a point with 1 other person but I find it really hard to solo. I don’t die but the enemy just outnumbers me and caps the point. Can’t kill fast enough and despite posting the poi and wp on map and squad chat, no help ever comes. Frustrating!

Solstace.2514:

The biggest trouble I see with getting t4 is that people won’t defend the rally points. There will be a mass of people at one or two points and the test continuously fall.

I can hold a point with 1 other person but I find it really hard to solo. I don’t die but the enemy just outnumbers me and caps the point. Can’t kill fast enough and despite posting the poi and wp on map and squad chat, no help ever comes. Frustrating!

Try killing the initial wave and then leave a mender from the second wave alive. This prevents further waves from spawning. At just about every camp you can do this and solo them.

Ayrilana.1396:

Solstace.2514:

The biggest trouble I see with getting t4 is that people won’t defend the rally points. There will be a mass of people at one or two points and the test continuously fall.

I can hold a point with 1 other person but I find it really hard to solo. I don’t die but the enemy just outnumbers me and caps the point. Can’t kill fast enough and despite posting the poi and wp on map and squad chat, no help ever comes. Frustrating!

Try killing the initial wave and then leave a mender from the second wave alive. This prevents further waves from spawning. At just about every camp you can do this and solo them.

Thanks for the tip. I’ll try that next time.

Vladimir.6054:

The entire Ley Line set can be purchased from the vendors. WHY NOT THE BLADED COAT.

This seems to be a pattern for some odd reason. If you want to get all the silverwastes armor skins from the vendor (it is the pants I think) you need to do part of LS2.

The event isn’t badly designed, it’s just that for a lot of players in the open world the moment you ask them to do anything besides clump up and press 1 they’re lost.

TorsoReaper.8530:

LONGA.1652:

VB is super unfun to play solo . Many people detered from going there making it hard to Organize. Many people just looking for quick HP run and done with it.

And Mega server keep pushing people into a fresh map . Most people dont bother putting up LFG as well. So there we have a loop of Poor map to play with

Pretty much this. As soon as I got my elite, I get out of the HOT maps. I hate them. Then you have other people who bought HOT, hate it, and don’t even get their elite. Then you have people who maybe like HOT ok, but you need masteries to get around, but you can’t get your masteries because you can’t get around so these people get frustrated and leave. Then you have a group of people who love HOT maps and spend time there, but there’s not enough of those people to take VB to T4 on a regular basis anymore.

This. All of this. Every single word of it. Yes.

TorsoReaper.8530:

Pretty much this. As soon as I got my elite, I get out of the HOT maps. I hate them. Then you have other people who bought HOT, hate it, and don’t even get their elite. Then you have people who maybe like HOT ok, but you need masteries to get around, but you can’t get your masteries because you can’t get around so these people get frustrated and leave. Then you have a group of people who love HOT maps and spend time there, but there’s not enough of those people to take VB to T4 on a regular basis anymore.

SirCork.1069:

This. All of this. Every single word of it. Yes.

Too bad it’s not all true. VB goes to T4 on a regular basis. You can get more masteries than you need without tons of people.

(The only part that is true is that some people love HoT, some hate it, and some just play it — just like any other content in any game.)

If you want T4, put some effort. Be active and communicate. Tagging along can work, if there are other people doing this. But if there aren’t you don’t step in, you complain about the event. Geez.

All HoT maps are designed for organized groups of people. It encourages communication, which makes a MMO an actual multiplayer instead of multi-instanced single player game in a shared environment. These are by far the best maps and events in the game, in both design and execution.

Feanor.2358:

If you want T4, put some effort. Be active and communicate. Tagging along can work, if there are other people doing this. But if there aren’t you don’t step in, you complain about the event. Geez.

All HoT maps are designed for organized groups of people. It encourages communication, which makes a MMO an actual multiplayer instead of multi-instanced single player game in a shared environment. These are by far the best maps and events in the game, in both design and execution.

It, uh, doesn’t really require that much coordination, TBH. If you stick a group in LFG and occasionally advise people where you are doing stuff, that’s normally enough. You can follow your nose, or the orange “event over there” pointer, and get things done pretty easily without needing to invest much “leadership” effort.