Guild Wars 2

Why was the drop rate on these reduced so low? I played 8 hours of WvW yesterday and netted 9 badges, today I played 5 hours and got a whopping 3. 400 confirmed items from player kills and 3 badges, I don’t like those odds.

zerg less, more drops

Yea you’ve gotta be killing stuff when you steamroll something with a zerg your drop chances decrease by a hundred fold.

I read in the forums someones theory that badges you get depend on how many people that enemy killed. The more I play the more I think this is true.

Sadly, this again means zerg is the best way to play WvW in just about every way. No tactics, just bring in the numbers and play it like PvE.

I have today killed several people who were running to reinforce their siege of our tower. I was intercepting them and cutting enemy man supply. I think I got a total of zero badges and then just gave up because I refused to zerg. When I zerg I get badges but whatever for? PvPing versus invisible mobs? In a very laggy environment? Always staying at max distance and being limited to few skills? I’m not the only one not having fun, and not feeling rewarded, in todays WvW. It seems most servers are witnessing drastic reduction in population.

Another thing to try is to group up with someone. Oddly, the drop rate seems to increase when you’re in a party. Yesterday, I only managed to get only three badges for the 6 hours I was there. I got invited to a party this morning, and walked away with 20 badges in a matter of an hour.

I don’t know the formula but there do seem to be certain play styles or approaches which are more rewarding than others. That’s great, there’s nothing wrong with that, let’s all play to win. So if you’re after badges here’s one way to maximise your play: Get a group going, head to an enemy borderland- especially when they’re fully owned by the enemy, and run supply/camp strikes. Not only is it a valid form of play but you also have the joy of skirmishing with enemy players/groups you come across, good badge drops from them, badge drops from camp NPC’s, and if you are greatly outnumbered the buff helps to get better loot. If badges are your goal then play to optimise success.

Other tips I have noticed: Be the first to strike an opponent (in a zerg), deal a decent amount of the damage against said opponent, and dont expect to much if you start hitting them below 50% health. Again I don’t know the mechanic, but there seems something to these points.

I can second the “go snag supply camps in enemy borderlands with a small group” method. Good for your score, good for your wallet, good for your badge count. More fun than zerging.