Guild Wars 2

I’ve noticed something peculiar with this supposed ‘buff’. Sometimes you are clearly outnumbered, but do not get the buff at all.

So is this thing even working? Or does it only kick in when you’re at a 6-to-1 disadvantage or something?

When you die, you lose it. It takes some time to reapply.

Faux Sheaux.6179:

When you die, you lose it. It takes some time to reapply.

How long is ‘some time’? Because during big fights (die/respawn/runback) I keep the buff on me. Yet at other times we’re clearly outnumbered greatly, but never get the Outmanned buff.

Just tonight we were trying to defend a tower with 8 people where the opponent had over 30. Yet at no point during those 30 minutes of fighting did I get Outmanned.

So I’m just wondering if this thing is even working properly.

Id be interested to know what Anet’s formula for this is, it seems bugged to me.

Yah. And who exactly gets the outmanned buff on any given map? The bottom one of three servers? The bottom two? Is it based on the number of “we few” vs “the other two guys added together”, or “we few” vs “the server with the mostest” ignoring the server in the middle?

And where’s the tipping point? 20% fewer guys? 50% fewer guys? 200% fewer guys?

Outmanned has nothing to do with how many players are around you. Outmanned buff triggers when one of the opposing servers has more players on the current borderland than you your server does. So if you’re fighting 6 players alone and not outmanned, then your server has players somewhere on the map.

Stylo.6259:

Outmanned has nothing to do with how many players are around you. Outmanned buff triggers when one of the opposing servers has more players on the current borderland than you your server does. So if you’re fighting 6 players alone and not outmanned, then your server has players somewhere on the map.

Well, that’s just the point. It was our own borderland which was being overrun by the other 2 servers. During the battle for the Garrison we had the Outmanned buff (stands to reason as it was about 20-25 vs 60). But after that defeat, the only spots left were the Citadel and one tower; with around half our people having left. So in total we had around 10-12 dots on the map. Yet we did not have the Outmanned buff for the defense at the tower (10-12 vs 30).

So unless we had 20 people having a bbq in the jumping puzzle, it does make you wonder how effective this Outmanned buff really is and how it is calculated.

And this was not an isolated incident. On numerous occasions in the past when severely outmanned the buff did not show up. At other times it flickered on and off at random for no apparent reason. Then there were times where I had the Outmanned buff, but my guildmates reported that they did not have it or vice versa.

But I’d love to hear an official word on this, as currently the mechanic seems to behave in a very erratic fashion. So I hope you won’t mind that I’m not convinced that it works as you say it does. It may work as you state in theory, but in reality it doesn’t feel like it’s working as intended.

Outmanned gives you absolutely no advantage whatsoever anyway so really it does not make any difference towards the fight.

Outmanned saves you a few silvers, but doesn’t do ANY more than that

The Outmanned buff is triggered when your numbers is significantly lower than the number of enemy’s forces. I’d assume that it is counted against the server with highest number

Unfortunately, this is not an area effect, the number is counted across the entire area. There is a high possibility that some duded are "duel"ing it out, taking up the space so that you no longer have the buff, but absolutely refuse to help you in any way

Or, there are people trying to complete the map, just roaming around, not helping you too

I think you have to be outnumbered 3:1 on the map from any single side. It may not be that high a ratio but something close.

I’m not sure about this, but i think it could be that only one server on any map can have the outmanned buff at the time, even if the other server is outnumbered almost as badly.

Sometimes the buff won’t trigger because your side has a large number of “people” farming the Krait in the lake.

Wen Jie.8920:

I’m not sure about this, but i think it could be that only one server on any map can have the outmanned buff at the time, even if the other server is outnumbered almost as badly.

That’s easy to test and not true.

Zephyrus.9680:

Wen Jie.8920:

I’m not sure about this, but i think it could be that only one server on any map can have the outmanned buff at the time, even if the other server is outnumbered almost as badly.

That’s easy to test and not true.

you’re right, i’ve gone through some screenshots and found one where cd and us were both outmanned by sbi at the same time. But i do think that the buff works in a way that makes it unlikely for two sides to be outmanned at the same time, because usually i see it constantly change between servers. It could be if you’re outnumbered by a certain ratio by both the other servers combined, or something like that.