Guild Wars 2

I have current gear for my level however it feels like whenever the game downlevels me more then one or two levels I am actually weaker then when I was at the level it takes me too… This is especially true for story quests (could just be I’m getting downleveled 10 because I went and crafted for awhile). Anyone else share these feels?

Same here, I had a level 8 story mission to do and did it when I was level 12, I couldn’t get past the second battle (there were about 4 or 5 in total) without dying a quick death. Sure I was playing an elementalist (which I feel should be buffed a bit alongside the mesmer) but honestly I felt like the down levelling was on an unfair scale. It’s not absolutely horrible, but needs to be toned down just a tad. I shouldn’t feel like I’m punished being only about half an hour or an hour ahead in terms of game time.

I am certain that story missions are intentionally challenging. This makes them feel more ‘epic’ and like you actually achieved something when you finish them.

Yes you are weaker than the actual level because of the gear you are wearing.

This was pointed-out by another player in another thread, right now, no one knows if this was intentional or a bug.

So here’s what happens when we are scaled down:

• Level 80 character wearing 3 level 40 items
• Level 80 character went to level 40 zone and got scaled down to level 40
• Item stats and character stats also gets scaled down to level 40 equivalent by percentage

Meaning, your 3 level 40 items were scaled down to level 40 by percentage. Assuming that it is -50% (level 80 character on a level 40 zone – that’s half your level), then your level 40 items gets scaled down to -50%. Your 3 level 40 items end up being level 20 items = you’re weaker than a real level 40 character wearing a level 40 gear.

The above explanation is the simplest one. Someone made a thread above it, tested it, and confirmed his observations. No official statement from ANet about it yet, if it was intentional or a bug.

I hope it’s a bug, because like hello, a level 40 item shouldn’t get scaled down when you’re in a level 40 zone. They’re the same level!

I’m fairly certain the game doesn’t give akittenabout your items. It looks at your total stats and scales those down. So if you’re not wearing lvl appropriate items then you could indeed get scaled down lower than you’d like.

edit: why is the filter removing spaces that’s messed up.

The issue is I don’t think it’s just story missions it’s also just areas. I find playing areas at or even below a level is not that challenging. However I go to that same area 6 levels later and I seem to be doing much less damage to the critters there.

Example: I went into a level 50 area with my level 58 yesterday (equipped with full lvl 56-57 green items) and things just didnt seem to take damage…

I feel like that but in a diffrent way, In my opnion i get worse damage than the others i play with, and they maybe are lvl 20(im downlvled to 22 from 46) but they still feels stronger, just beacuse im a diffrent class.

Disclaimer: This was found to be true diring BWE2 and has not been re-verified.

Downscaling is a linear multiplier applied to all of your stats. The multiplier is the ratio of your natural (naked, no buffs) stats at the to/from levels.

If I remember my numbers right, this means that an 80 (natural stats are 916) being re-scaled to a 40 (natural stats are 308) will have all their stats adjusted to 308/916 ~= 33.6% of the level 80 values. This multiplier is plied to the composite stats—natural+gear+buffs.

That said, I haven’t re-validated this since release and I haven’t followed the curve to see if gear inflation follows the curve of your natural stats well enough to result in no change, gain, or less as you level.

What you gain for leveling is not actually stats, it is options. You gain access to more traits, more skills, and more varied gear. As you level you should be better equipped to take on a larger variety of situations and have a better-defined playstyle. If you feel that a mission is too hard, chances are a change in technique will have more impact than gear ever would.

It might be a quirk of how the curves interact, but at 80 being downscaled to other content, I kill noticably faster than I did when level-appropriate: Panthers do not have a chance to stealth on me, skills don’t refresh every fight, etc.

So does this mean that being level 80 and using the best level 80 gear will not make, say, a level 35 explore-mode dungeon easier than it would have been at level 35? Only that you would have more ‘options’?

I need to verify a lot of numbers, but I plan to do this sometime soonish.

My experiences suggest that an 80 downscaled to a 35 will have a numerical advantage over a natural 35. A lot of the advantage, however, stems from traits and skills. A level 30 downscaled to 29 has a huge advantage in an elite skill. Traits tend to provide unique bonuses—faster cooldowns, new abilities, etc. These bonuses do far more for you than stats do most of the time.

Leper.7853:

So does this mean that being level 80 and using the best level 80 gear will not make, say, a level 35 explore-mode dungeon easier than it would have been at level 35? Only that you would have more ‘options’?

Not exactly. The stats from the gear still affect your ability to deal damage at that level. So if you have a piece of gear that add 50+ power, you are effectively adding 50+ power to your attacks at that level.

Obviously you get your better signets as well.

I guess that was my bad for using such a term as ‘easier’ which is hard to define/quantify.

For me, I’m 80 but waiting for some friends & guildmates to reach 80 too. Meanwhile I join them in lower dungeons that even I myself haven’t done yet. All the while I wonder – does my level 80 gear mean anything at all in here? Am I hitting for that much harder than a ‘natural’ level character? Am I taking that much less damage; am I healing for that much more?

Or am only I making things easier (if they even are easier; I seem to die just as often…) by bringing my traits and unlocked skills to the table?

However the actual stat bumps are handled, it seems like there’s another factor influencing it as well. For example, when i go to a low level zone as a lv80 character, it seems many of the enemies can only land glancing blows against me.

I wonder if it may have something to do with trait point allocation (i was running capped toughness line when i noticed it) and whether or not that’s added after the down-scaling.

At any rate, i keep my gear moderately well updated on my characters, so this is less an issue for me. Don’t wear lv40 anything on a lv80 character.

My understanding is that yes, you will still benefit from all of the stats and bonuses of your gear, as compared to your actual level. The mathematical model for downscaling should be scaling everything proportionately, so if you have a set of level 80 rares, you’ll still be better off than using a set of level 80 masterworks, but walking into a level 40 zone it’ll feel as though you’re level 40 with level 40 rares. At least, theoretically.

Zalastra.6290:

I’m fairly certain the game doesn’t give akittenabout your items. It looks at your total stats and scales those down. So if you’re not wearing lvl appropriate items then you could indeed get scaled down lower than you’d like.

edit: why is the filter removing spaces that’s messed up.

Yes, that’s true. It uses the final tally of the stats and scaled that down, not exactly per item. The item example was only meant as that, an example. ~_^

Fildydarie.1496:

Disclaimer: This was found to be true diring BWE2 and has not been re-verified.

Downscaling is a linear multiplier applied to all of your stats. The multiplier is the ratio of your natural (naked, no buffs) stats at the to/from levels.

If I remember my numbers right, this means that an 80 (natural stats are 916) being re-scaled to a 40 (natural stats are 308) will have all their stats adjusted to 308/916 ~= 33.6% of the level 80 values. This multiplier is plied to the composite stats—natural+gear+buffs.

That said, I haven’t re-validated this since release and I haven’t followed the curve to see if gear inflation follows the curve of your natural stats well enough to result in no change, gain, or less as you level.

What you gain for leveling is not actually stats, it is options. You gain access to more traits, more skills, and more varied gear. As you level you should be better equipped to take on a larger variety of situations and have a better-defined playstyle. If you feel that a mission is too hard, chances are a change in technique will have more impact than gear ever would.

It might be a quirk of how the curves interact, but at 80 being downscaled to other content, I kill noticably faster than I did when level-appropriate: Panthers do not have a chance to stealth on me, skills don’t refresh every fight, etc.

I think it is still valid, at least from the way I play, I know immediately when to adapt and adjust to cope up with the downscaling – it’s how I play in any games, online or offline. Adapt quickly, be flexible, adjust, change. Gear is of little importance, unless the difference is too high and the game is gear-based, in GW2’s case it isn’t.

But of course other players coming from other games doesn’t understand downscaling and are too used gear-based games.

Leper.7853:

So does this mean that being level 80 and using the best level 80 gear will not make, say, a level 35 explore-mode dungeon easier than it would have been at level 35? Only that you would have more ‘options’?

No, definitely not. Because when you get scaled down to that dungeon’s level, you are technically of that level.

But of course, you still have the advantage like traits, which a real level 35 only have a few compared to a level 80 that can min-max already.