Guild Wars 2

Sometimes, I just don’t fancy Orr for farming karma. Some parts of event chains can take a while (lots of juicy loot!) for ~330 (or thereabouts) karma. Queensdale offers much less karma per event (and loot to match), but is comparatively pretty brainless for a level 80 to do, and so I like to farm DEs there sometimes, and other zones if it takes my fancy. I can sometimes crank out a whole bunch of events in earlier zones in the time it would take me to do a single one in Orr. And no, I have not hit DR and this isn’t really a thread about it either.

All good so far.

But I’ve been feeling bad. At the “Bandits setting fire to haybales” event (first event ever for me back in the days of the beta-weekends!), I can stand near the entrance and AoE them down with 2 presses of my dancing dagger. Run back and forth, and rack up the kills. Get Gold, 230 odd karma, move on.

Although nobody has complained it suddenly occurred to me that I could well be infringing on the lower-levelled players, also there (more level appropriate than I) to gain coin, karma and XP through participation. And there I am, gunning everything down, many times before they even get a chance to get a hit in. I then realised a lot of these players may well be getting silver or worse, bronze, due to my over-zealous participation.

I repeat, nobody has complained – but I wonder therefore if I should scale back during low level events. Should I just kill 5 waves and then park myself? Would I run the risk of DR kicking in (due to a bug or otherwise), if I stopped participating. Are there any other ways around this? Are players actually being adversely affected by the presence of a level 80 nuking everything down?

Just thought I’d share this and wonder what your thoughts are.

I would take a good look around when you do those events, if there is nobody around than there is nobody being effected (obviously). But if there are people around then yes they may well be effected because they have no chance to contribute to the event, as it’s over before they have a chance.

Still though, it is hard to give advice on this, i would personally pick a weaponset & utilities that offer a more 1on1 fighting style, you may still 3hit each foe, but atleast it’s going 1 foe at a time… on the other hand, it may well reduce the amount of karma you are able to gather in a specific time, as the event takes a bit longer due to it…

In the end it’s up to you , still though bringing it up here is a good start, as it may well mean that Anet might have to take a look at the scaling down mechanism, maybe something isn’t working properly

Good on ya for coming to this self-realization.

When I’m in low-level areas working on map completion and come across a DE, I tend to stick to my auto attack (ranger with an axe, hits 3 enemies) and try to generally wear the pack down evenly while dropping my healing spring every time it is up. I’ll even put my pet on passive if there’s a lot of other players around. Even beyond the participation reward factor for those other players, I don’t want to trivialize the event for those who might be experiencing it for the first time.

If my opinion matters at all, just don’t try too hard. You’re downleveled sure but at the particular event you were talking about fighting bandits… if you kill everything then yeah you could hurt other people’s game.

But if you only fight 3-4 people from each wave you’ll still get a gold medal for the event without obliterating other people’s chances. I often use water attunement only when I go back to starter areas with friends while on my Ele and still manage the gold medal with just the auto attack.

What’s wrong is when a high level engineer decides it’s okay to drop a rocket turret at the entrance to the farm. Had a friend at one point trying to kill worms for the heart since no event was going on and the kitten turret was killing worms before they appeared above ground. Took twice as long for the heart to get finished due to it and at that time there wasn’t a way to report such activities. If there’s still not a way to report (or destroy) turrets people place in low level areas that impede others it would be something I think Anet should look into.

I always take it pretty easy when in low level zones, exactly for that reason. I want my presence to be a positive thing, not a negative so I only tend to help out with events, not overwhelm them. Really, just using auto-attack pretty much assures me of gold participation, so I rarely go beyond that. And when I jump in to help someone with a mob, I make sure that they’ve got it tagged first, just in case I accidentally one or two-shot it, before they can claim credit.

Thanks for the input guys. I think from now on I’ll switch to my auto-attack with daggers which is single target. A few from each wave should allow me to get the contribution I am after, and also let everybody else get theirs.

I’ve no idea why it took me so long to realise that this could seriously be hurting other players!

An important point.

I do a lot of running around with lower level friends and guildmates. I try to remain aware of not impacting their gameplay.

Since I use an Ele, I can easily demolish huge groups of low level mobs. Instead, I may just use a Ring of Fire rather than toss any other bursts. It’ll still do 30-50% of a mob’s health up until level 20-25 mobs, so I get enough contribution, but without preventing others from tagging the mob.

I’ll use my lower damage CC abilities instead of high damage blasts. I’ll do more healing and support. I’ll run around and take aggro first because even downscaled, I can take a lot more abuse than an actual low leveled player. I may even switch to staff rather than my normal scepter/dagger.

When doing hearts, I make sure my friends/guildmates do enough damage to tag a mob before damaging it myself.

Thanks guys, these suggestions do make a difference, even if they are obvious to some.

The “Giant Wurm” event in Queensdale just popped. I used auto-attack on 2 of the smaller worms, a single dagger throw at the big worm, and then backed off.

243 karma, and it still took 15 seconds.

I auto attack in these. But not everyone does. I’ve seen a few higher level players steam roll through stuff who were either oblivious, showing off or trolling. The downlevelling was meant to prevent this problem and is clearly not working for the 1-25 zones. I wouldn’t mind at all if they increased the downlevelling for these zones because while people on this thread might do the responsible thing a lot of others won’t.

Grumwulf.9602:

The downlevelling was meant to prevent this problem and is clearly not working for the 1-25 zones.

It’s likely the traits. They don’t seem to be affected much, or at all, by downscaling.

I don’t mind backing off and doing more support. I always played a CC, support, or healer character in any game (from Secret of Mana, MUD’s, and on), and that type of play fits my personality. Many people, however, do not like holding back or playing support. There was a thread a week or so ago where a player wanted to help a friend, but didn’t want to “be a healer”.

I back off my DPS quite a bit in the lower level areas – I suppose if you wanted to keep using all your skills and such, you could downgrade your weapons. I realized I had let my underwater weapons lag behind my level when trying to complete the underwater heart in Metrica. The down scaling is brutal when your gear is more than a couple levels below your actual level. Just don’t forget to switch back

I really don’t think there’s a problem. It’s so ridiculously easy to get gold in DE’s that all the low-levels probably only really need to kill 1-3 bandits for it.

I know I usually get gold for hitting a boss 3 times or killing 1 mob in a DE that’s just ending, and I even get it for events I did nothing to work towards.

I don’t think anyone complained because I don’t think anyone was being affected (other then the people too slow to get there before you ended it)

I think they need to lower high level players damage in low level events. Instead of 1 shotting everything you 2-3 shot everything. I think the damage should be more on par with what players in the area’s damage is. Or heck lower! I’m down for a hard mode lower level area!

Myself I would not go to the lower levels and take part in the more higher area’s that have much longer DE’s that way everybody can take part in someway despite you trying to destroy everything.

Also im only level 50 it seems that when im in 1-25 area’s I rarely need to hold back unless im at the level 10 and under part since I still get taken down from time to time. (Shamefully)

In the original guild wars I just took some armor pieces off (generally boots gloves and helm), and took attribute points off (traits) to the appropriate level.

But in guild wars 2 it gets expensive to refund points all the time, and it"s difficult to remember what you had allocated them to (the major traits).

Maybe you can buy low-level gear so when down-scaled you are worse off than the average player there. To make up for the cool traits you have.

Or swap your major traits to traits that don’t augment your build (you can swap major traits without having to pay for a refund)

i just try not to kill so much in those events. as an ele, i can just pop healing rings and breath to people. i think that helps more than kill stealing. then i could practice healing skills for later.

sometimes i will help weaken the boss to a low percentage, then run away and let them finish it off. speeds up the event maybe for those low level players.

It’s too bad so few people in game have a good attitude like you guys.
While I don’t have problems getting a gold rating (requirements are extremely low I think), I still feel useless if high level guys are around and vaporize most enemies before I can get even 1 hit in.
I do most DEs for the first time (highest lvl character so far is 30) so my hero’s journey is basically running around, seeing other guys do cool stuff and saving the day without contributing much.
On the other hand I felt especially awesome after escorting that little girl from the lava cave back to her mother late at night when noone else was around. Like a sidekick finally getting his 5 minutes of fame.

Well like the OP said he only just realised what effect he could be having on the lower level players.

I guess the majority of the community haven’t figured that out yet in their rush to get maxed out at everything. I imagine after a few months it’ll calm down.

This is a great point you bring out! One that will be discussed in my topic (I’ll be sure to credit you!)

This is a slight concern as I too (thought not lvl 80) have noticed that even downlevelled it still possible to breeze through content faster than a player at the appropriate lvl. It seems that your thoughts have been answered by many already and that auto attack and laid back attitude is the better way.

It is this sort of thoughtfulness in members of the community that is the main reason while I enjoy GW2 so much!

Enjoy what you want but keep the pwning on the back burner. :P

I figure I may aswell post on this too. I have a level 80 and I find myself in the lower level zones ALOT because i’m trying to get 100% map completion. Now as far as DE’s are concered I have noticed that I tend to explode them quite quickly. Problem I face though is that I want to hit as many mobs as possible as I do love my crafting and them mobs drop materials I need. To strike a balance I’ve been using just my number 2 skill on my scepter, Necromancer BTW. It’s a large AoE bleed which still does enough damage for loot but easily allows the lower level people to grab tags on the enemy. The other thing you 80’s could do is prehaps run around in your “Magic find” gear. Magic find gear generally sucks as it’s only good for one thing, farming. So perhaps that will assist in nerfing some people down to a not-so-bad uber killing machine.

Another point that was brought up, rather then wiping a mob, if you are truly doing it for karma/exp vs loot, your contribution is designed to be a bit lower in this zone, so hitting just a few mobs and moving on to the next event is sufficient. I would get between silver and gold for turning in like, 2 apples, when 20 were needed as an example. And in Queens, the “stubborn bull” that you have to wack a few times, put out fires for, etc, even a minor 5%-10% contribution is enough. And you don’t get a “extra” bonus for doing more then your fair share and are actually wasting your time, so long as there are others around to finish it.

I did some DE in wayfarer hills at lvl 80, and at first I felt I was taking the fun and challenge out of them. But eventually, a champion mob came and me being arrogant and all, decided to tank. needless to say, I died x2 or x3

Last evening I wanted to go to the Iron Marches (wanted to get my Carrion Devourer pet) and had to pass through Plains of Ashford (I don’t like paying for WP’s unless necessary…). I took a fairly direct route from the Black Citadel to the Marches gate passage cos I had already explored all of Plains of Ashford.

I had read through this thread yesterday, although I am only level 60, I tried to follow the advice and etiquette given here.

I took my time, and helped out where necessary. I made sure the other players had ‘tagged’ mobs before attacking. I participated in all the DE’s that happened around me, but played more of a support role, mainly using AoE (Barrage) and Hunter Shot to place conditions the other players could take advantage of, and Healing Spring. Did a lot ressing, both NPC’s and a few players.

Took me a bit longer to make my way to the Marches doing all this, but was actually quite fun!

So, just wanted to say all your contributions here have not been in vane!

@the OP, fiennes nice you make this point, and nice to hear others taking notice. I have 2 level 80’s, and also level lower toons, and its a shame that a lot of 80’s i see running around in low level areas dont seem to be concerned about this.

Often with my alts, one or 2 level 80’s will wander into an event and i just leave as i know very well there is no way i can compete which spoils it for me. Also….. i would like to add that similar applies on some of the low level heart quests. If its a mob killing quest for example there will simply be NONE to kill (especially in some of them where the number of mobs is low to start with). So a little consideration would be appreciated I hope some people take this on board.

i personally rarely go to low level zones now on my 80’s for this reason unless im helping someone out, and if i do then i at least try to be considerate and note nuke everything in sight.

A little consideration that I show others would be appreciated in return

As long as you are after Karma rather than loot, you can do enough to get gold contribution and leave.

I often do this when many DEs have spawned, instead of trying to complete them all I try to contribute enough in them all to get gold credit.

Jestunhi.7429:

I often do this when many DEs have spawned, instead of trying to complete them all I try to contribute enough in them all to get gold credit.

I considered this, but then wondered whether Diminishing Returns would kick in (not fully participating), so decided to see all events out until the end.

Hi, nice topic. I came across one of those fun spoilers few days ago. I created new ranger and while I was unlocking skills for bow hunting by scales he came across and decided to go hunting too. Needles to say, in the time that my arrow needed to fly to scale it was already dead. So first I thanked him for his showoff and invited him to 1v1 in some arena, but with my other toon. He didn’t even respond because he was too buisy wiping poor scales with one shot.
I do go to lover levels, mostly for hunting skill challenges or I do raid over mining and tree chopping. Offcourse I get near DE and if I’m there then I go in too. What I’m doing depends on what is to do and how many players are around. In large scale events I pop control conditions and boost others, but I try to do nothing serious. I learned that if I dont do too much I still get gold reward and I don’t want to spoil others fun.
If there is a champion and only two or three around then I go to tank and let them kill the champion. Did anyone notice that tanking in low level fights is a lot of fun, but only after you learn that you’re squishy and not even remotely invincible? It can be expensive too to repair damaged armour.
Even with downleveling we are still OP. If we want to spoil DE we can easily do it. If we want to have fun and let others have fun too, we can do it. It’s our choice.

As unpopular as my opinion is, I will never hold back in any low-level event. And the reason is low-level loot sells…and sells for quite a lot.

I’m not going to give away my loot and money so some lowbie can do a 15-second event that repeats 2 minutes later. Sorry

LithePanther.5027:

As unpopular as my opinion is, I will never hold back in any low-level event. And the reason is low-level loot sells…and sells for quite a lot.

I’m not going to give away my loot and money so some lowbie can do a 15-second event that repeats 2 minutes later. Sorry

I see you’re not familliar with basic concept of GW2:

No XP steal
and
No loot steal

If you tag mob and do BASIC damage you will get both xp and loot. Loot will NOT be based on your dmg done but by dice. As soon as you tag mob and do minimum dmg ( when you are lvl80 just walk by does some dmg, you’re in for dice throw. If you’re lucky you get, if not you don’t get.
You have to do some % of dmg and it is minimal. If you kill mob with one shot than those who are same or under lvl does not have time to even tag anything, so there is nothing for them left.
Risk two hours of your precious time and do a test:
First run be egoistic
Second run one day later, same spot, same events, help people and let them play.

Report difference in XP and loot here.

LithePanther.5027:

As unpopular as my opinion is, I will never hold back in any low-level event. And the reason is low-level loot sells…and sells for quite a lot.

I’m not going to give away my loot and money so some lowbie can do a 15-second event that repeats 2 minutes later. Sorry

As unpopular as your opinion as (which you’re entitled to!), and as unpopular as you find my response – I do find that it is this “me” attitude that can kill the social aspect of multiplayer games. But hey, it was your $60 and you’re entitled to play the way you wish.

Man, you guys are more than welcome to help kill Krait Witches. Those buggers are so freaking kitten.

That said, I feel kind of guilty I once turned in half the rabbits in that DE in Queensdale. It occurs to me that some of those people standing there probably didn’t get any rabbits.

Nowadays I never turn in those “kill and collect” things until near the end, when it seems like everybody had enough.

LithePanther.5027:

As unpopular as my opinion is, I will never hold back in any low-level event. And the reason is low-level loot sells…and sells for quite a lot.

That’s not just unpopular, but pointless. All you need to do is tag the enemy and you’ll get the loot. It’s more efficient to spread your effort and just slap everything then it is to try and kill them.

Stenc.1394:

LithePanther.5027:

As unpopular as my opinion is, I will never hold back in any low-level event. And the reason is low-level loot sells…and sells for quite a lot.

I’m not going to give away my loot and money so some lowbie can do a 15-second event that repeats 2 minutes later. Sorry

I see you’re not familliar with basic concept of GW2:

No XP steal
and
No loot steal

If you tag mob and do BASIC damage you will get both xp and loot. Loot will NOT be based on your dmg done but by dice. As soon as you tag mob and do minimum dmg ( when you are lvl80 just walk by does some dmg, you’re in for dice throw. If you’re lucky you get, if not you don’t get.
You have to do some % of dmg and it is minimal. If you kill mob with one shot than those who are same or under lvl does not have time to even tag anything, so there is nothing for them left.
Risk two hours of your precious time and do a test:
First run be egoistic
Second run one day later, same spot, same events, help people and let them play.

Report difference in XP and loot here.

Just to play devil’s advocate:

Other players getting a chance to tag enemies means less demand for the stuff those enemies drop, leading to lower prices when I go to sell them.

But, in all seriousness, I’ll be keeping this thread in mind as I go through lower level areas on my 80. Especially in the Catacombs area, with the two harpy events right there. . .

When I’m farming DEs in low level zones, and there’s a lot of other players around, I just tag enough mobs to get a gold, then move on and let them finish it.

it’s great people are noticing this too. : ))) i’ve just recently been at queensdale and metrica province (as a Norn Guardian) and i too feel that i am killing things too fast when i see other who aren’t downscaled. like many have said, i do check first to see if people are around or if people are coming. if no one, i’ll just kill as usual, using all skills as needed. if there are, then i just stick to auto attack, or my staff for AoE but weaker dmg. and help out other players if needed. hoping i’m not “ruining” a challenge they were looking for, etc. sometimes i even just sit back and stand there. makes me feel sort of just “in the way” but i’d rather that then have other players in their appropriate areas not get the full XP.

or i do like Deistik says when a lot are around. tag a few and then move on.))

I wouldn’t ‘farm’ the human or asura starting zones for karm & loot. The Norn starting area is a much better area for DE farming where your level 80 wont affect the lower level players. Most of them are geared for many players, the mobs are spread out more or come from many directions. Your impact wont be felt in that zone.
Wayfarer Foothills is where I do that. Aside from the green zone, which you can still do this in, the white zone has an event going on ALL THE TIME, as long as it’s not bugged.
There’s collection, escort, champion, world event(Frozen Maw – chest), town takeover, and up in the north another world event(without chest). Most of these can be completed in sequence, have multiple parts, and your level 80 will be on a level playing field with everyone else, as those aren’t really AOE compatible

Meh. I’m far too lazy to actually tag something and leave it alone, especially since it’s most likely aggro’d on me. Especially when I’m using AoE to tag everything so as to exert as little effort as necessary.

@Stenc. Thank you for being an assuming kitten. I am well aware I only need to do a minimal amount of damage to tag a mob. In all honestly I couldn’t care less about anyone else in the event other then me.

Sorry, but this game is played by people. And the majority of people (imo ofc) simply don’t care if some level 8 isn’t getting their moldy bag or some such.