Guild Wars 2

Is there a particular reason that the numerous veteran risen acolytes (which each spawn about 10 minions) at Balthazar Temple in Straits of Devastation are scaled up to lvl 79 while the player stays scaled to lvl 76? Without a very long stealth it is impossible for one player to take on that many lvl 79 foes as a lvl 76 just to get a skill point and POI (not to mention the fire and brimstone that is constantly raining on the player).

Additionally, all the risen acolytes in the game seem to have more than double the agro range of all other foes, so if you try to take out one acolyte at a time, another 2 or 3 agro you and immediately swarm you with then 10 spawns each. Can you guys look into what is causing this or scale us up to 79 so we stand a chance? At 3 levels below our target most of our attacks are glancing, so we can hardly damage the foes.

It’s possible that the over-leveled foes are leftover from something that happened just prior. If I have trouble in Orr with an SP, I just ask in /map; I’ve never had much trouble getting some help.

At three levels below, your attacks shouldn’t be ‘glancing’ that much more than usual. I’ve never seen that myself, so maybe it’s a stat/build related situation.

In terms of aggro range, I believe that’s an intended mechanic for orr: easier to aggro, harder to escape. I’ve only gotten “10” on me at a time only when I’ve been careless or reckless, not when picking them off or moving tactically through an area.

In other words, your mileage seems to vary a lot from mine, so perhaps we are using drastically different builds or techniques.

I thought so too, but foes tied to events are supposed to despawn once the event is over. The upscaled foes should have disappered when the event failed, but didn’t.

Regardless, it’s an issue right now and an otherwise normal skill point is requiring a group of at several people (or a friendly thief who can spare a cup of Shadow Refuge) to stand a chance against the upleveled and numerous foes. The numerous thralls that are spawned deal their damage very quickly, and even if you manage to kill one they do not give XP, so they will not count for a rally.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

I thought so too, but foes tied to events are supposed to despawn once the event is over. The upscaled foes should have disappered when the event failed, but didn’t.

It’s inconsistent. Most newly-added events work that way, but there are some older ones that don’t. Also depends if the event succeeded or not.

Zera Allimatti.2541:

Regardless, it’s an issue right now and an otherwise normal skill point is requiring a group of at several people (or a friendly thief who can spare a cup of Shadow Refuge) to stand a chance against the upleveled and numerous foes. The numerous thralls that are spawned deal their damage very quickly, and even if you manage to kill one they do not give XP, so they will not count for a rally.

I am not sure that Orr was designed to be done by a single person. Obviously, many people do solo map completion, so it’s possible. My impression is that it was designed to be very inhospitable and difficult to traverse alone. While that’s a pain in many cases, I do like how Orr feels more dangerous than the non-Zhaitan parts of Tyria.

I’m sure my preference for that sort of thing has influenced my belief that it’s intended behavior and my willingness to try to work-around or through the mechanics. I understand that might not be your preference and that, regardless of why or how it’s setup, it’s currently impeding your progress and isn’t fun, for you.

Still, if ANet thinks it’s intended design, you might have better luck separating the concepts raised in the original post:

• The persistent upscaled foes — if not a bug, it’s at least a clear inconsistency with other areas in the same zone and makes sense to be discussed in the bug forum.
• The difficulty of specific SP challenges might be better raised as a suggestion. (Even though I don’t agree that they are too difficult, it’s definitely a debate that ANet should see and ideally address.)

Ok, let me rephrase it. The issue is that there are lvl 79 creatures where there shouldn’t be. It is a lvl 70-75 zone. The difficulty isn’t the real problem. Obviously the temple events are not meant to be done by a single player. That is not what I’m calling to attention.

These lvl 79 spawns were not there before. They are not supposed to be level 79 unless upscaled due to a large number of players participating in the event to retake the temple of Balthazar (which was not going on, I was alone). They are stuck upscaled regardless of whether or not there is an event going on.

A skilled player is able to take on the veterans at Balthazar temple to be able to get to the skill point (not liberating the temple) when the creatures are properly leveled. There issue here is, again, that they are not scaled properly. They are normally lvl 75, not 79.

Unfortunately, ANet has a thing with leaving the upscaled mobs at such places in Orr and not despawn them after the event failed long time ago.