Guild Wars 2

still drop in the open world?

I have 34 I got before I left on a break, have been back about 2 months and gotten zero. I have found a lot of changes in the game. Do they still drop? If so, what level zones? It may be that I have all 80’s and I got them leveling up in the past.

Yes, they still have a chance to drop from any mob in the world. That chance, however, is extremely rare (and has been that way basically since launch). Best way to get keys is to do personal story (get one for finishing level 10, 40, and 60 personal stories) and map completion (when you finish a map you’ll get either a transmutation charge or a key).

RoseofGilead.8907:

Yes, they still have a chance to drop from any mob in the world. That chance, however, is extremely rare (and has been that way basically since launch). Best way to get keys is to do personal story (get one for finishing level 10, 40, and 60 personal stories) and map completion (when you finish a map you’ll get either a transmutation charge or a key).

TY for the helpful answer.

I have 8 chars, seven 80’s and one working their way up, and all are somewhere in the personal story. That wouldn’t account for 34 though. I do have Been There Done that, so maybe that’s the rest. Bad news to hear map completion provides a key OR a transmutation charge, as I’d rather have the charge. Unless something has changed drastically, the BLC’s don’t drop anything worthwhile. I’d just not seen a key for awhile and thought to ask.

Very, very rarely, at least for me. I think I got one in the last year.

Less than 1 per 1000 hours.
PvP is much more reliable for getting transmutation charges. You also get them from the login rewards.

The last one I’ve gotten as a drop was almost a year ago. They are a more common drop than precursors but not by a whole lot more. In 2 & 1/2 years of steady playing I’ve gotten 4 or 5 (and no precursor drops).

As everyone else said it’s very rare and random.

They can in theory drop from any enemy at any level but having played since launch and for more than 2,000 hours I got my very first one as a drop a few months ago, from a random risen in Straits of Devastation. I got my second about a week later from another risen. And none at all since then.

The only reliable way to get them in-game is from the personal story. Which is why even with the NPE changes a lot of people will do ‘key farming’ by making characters, levelling them to 10 and doing the story then deleting them and starting over.

Yes, they do still drop, but as said VERY rarely. I got one about a month ago from a random wolf in Timberline while hitting some platinum nodes. The 1 in every 800-1000 average seems about right for the current drop rate.

Behellagh.1468:

Very, very rarely, at least for me. I think I got one in the last year.

Map completion does often provide a key though, not only drops. You might want to have a better chance creating a new char and explore. And it is totally independent of what level map you complete (expect they dont drop from city maps)

On average, I’ve been getting 1 key for every 3-4 maps completed. Sometimes I go 10 maps without a key, so your mileage will vary.

When the game first launched, the drop rate from mobs was VERY high.

Then the rate was nerfed to the point where I didn’t see a single one for a LONG time (over a year).

It would appear that they have recently increased the drop rate, as everyone I know (including myself) have seen them dropping at about the same rate as exotics.

mtpelion.4562:

It would appear that they have recently increased the drop rate, as everyone I know (including myself) have seen them dropping at about the same rate as exotics.

I find that very, very, very hard to believe. The drop rate of black lion keys is closer to the drop rates of ascended gear and/or precursors. It’s definitely nowhere near as frequent a drop as typical exotics. “Everyone you know” is probably getting them for map completion and personal story 99% of the time.

RoseofGilead.8907:

mtpelion.4562:

It would appear that they have recently increased the drop rate, as everyone I know (including myself) have seen them dropping at about the same rate as exotics.

I find that very, very, very hard to believe. The drop rate of black lion keys is closer to the drop rates of ascended gear and/or precursors. It’s definitely nowhere near as frequent a drop as typical exotics. “Everyone you know” is probably getting them for map completion and personal story 99% of the time.

Map completion and personal story drops were excluded from this inquiry. Believe it or not, I’m very on top of data integrity.

I would say they are close to the drop rate of an exotic also. And I mean kill a mob and get an exotic, not open a chest. I’ve gotten a very few exotics from killing random mobs, about the same number as a key dropping from a mob. Either one is rare enough it’s hard to remember when was the last time it happened.

I’ve gotten more ascended chests in a shorter amount of time but they have all been from opening a container of some sort.

mtpelion.4562:

When the game first launched, the drop rate from mobs was VERY high.

Then the rate was nerfed to the point where I didn’t see a single one for a LONG time (over a year).

It would appear that they have recently increased the drop rate, as everyone I know (including myself) have seen them dropping at about the same rate as exotics.

That’s not my perception, which is.

• During beta, they dropped frequently.
• At launch, only one person in my guild got any.
• For the first 3 months, my guild saw maybe 3 total.
• The rate now does seem to have increased, but nowhere close to the drop rate for exotics. Seeing a BL pinged is still about as rare as seeing a precursor pinged.

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

On average, I’ve been getting 1 key for every 3-4 maps completed. Sometimes I go 10 maps without a key, so your mileage will vary.

I had a recent run of luck with a new Ele and got 7 keys in a row (all starter zones and a few 2nd tier zones). It’s purely RNG and I haven’t gotten one since. It’s reportedly a 50/50 chance between a key or transmutation charge (who set those up as equivalent rewards?).

Brother Grimm.5176:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

On average, I’ve been getting 1 key for every 3-4 maps completed. Sometimes I go 10 maps without a key, so your mileage will vary.

I had a recent run of luck with a new Ele and got 7 keys in a row (all starter zones and a few 2nd tier zones). It’s purely RNG and I haven’t gotten one since. It’s reportedly a 50/50 chance between a key or transmutation charge (who set those up as equivalent rewards?).

I don’t think it’s 50-50. For my two characters that have PvE map completion, I got 6/25 and 13/25. In WvW, I had 13/32 across 8 toons. That’s a fairly small sample size, but it would suggest odds closer to 4/10 or even 1/3.

Even so, 7 in a row would be phenomenal luck — gz

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

Brother Grimm.5176:

Illconceived Was Na.9781:

On average, I’ve been getting 1 key for every 3-4 maps completed. Sometimes I go 10 maps without a key, so your mileage will vary.

I had a recent run of luck with a new Ele and got 7 keys in a row (all starter zones and a few 2nd tier zones). It’s purely RNG and I haven’t gotten one since. It’s reportedly a 50/50 chance between a key or transmutation charge (who set those up as equivalent rewards?).

I don’t think it’s 50-50. For my two characters that have PvE map completion, I got 6/25 and 13/25. In WvW, I had 13/32 across 8 toons. That’s a fairly small sample size, but it would suggest odds closer to 4/10 or even 1/3.

Even so, 7 in a row would be phenomenal luck — gz

It is one of two results, but definitely not 50/50. The actual odds for a key seem to be closer to 1/5.