Guild Wars 2

I’m not a whiner, not a min/maxer, not looking to game the game. I’m a regular player, an old lady playing since open beta, coming back from a few weeks’ break, leveling in the open world. I’m not farming, not a bot, not looking for exotics, just playing the game as it’s intended to be played.

Yesterday I was leveling in the Harathi Hinterlands, doing the centaur event chain with dozens of other people. Yay, this is fun! I’m glad I’m playing GW2 again! At the end of the chain someone says to follow them to fight Champion Kol Skullsmasher. Yes! This is the spirit of the game, of playing with others! A few of us followed and spent 10 minutes or more killing Skullsmasher, wow, I love this game!

Once he was dead he dropped zero loot for me, no sparkle, no chest. Another player linked a rare he just picked up from Skullsmasher. Okay, I don’t expect a rare for myself. But zero loot? I thought the way loot worked was if one person gets loot, everyone gets loot, even if it’s gray or white. I’m pretty sure I read some patch notes recently that said all champions drop loot.

A guild member explained that this is what happens after you spend an hour in one zone. Can this really be true? Isn’t this game designed to let us participate in the world in an immersive way? Do we seriously need to switch between zones every hour in order to get ordinary loot? This is the opposite of immersion, of playing with a group of people we come across naturally in the game.

I honestly don’t know if I should submit a bug ticket, or if this is now how the game works. It just makes me really sad that bots can rip out the heart and soul of the game.

Hi Tintaglia,

The team is aware that there is a problem with loot and are working to fix it in the incoming patch. The damage threshold required to qualify to loot is being lowered, so even characters who are more specced into support will be able to qualify. However, remember that you will need to deal the mob a certain amount of damage.

What your guild member has explained to you is the Diminishing Return. It’s a mechanic with which when you spend a lot of time farming in an area, you will get less loot. It is there to prevent bots from farming. It doesn’t kick in at exactly one hour – a player playing normally may spend more than one hour completing an area – but it only kicks in after a criteria has been met. Sufficient to say, unless you are intensively grinding a place it shouldn’t affect your gameplay.

Hope this has been helpful. Remember, dealing enough damage to the mob will qualify you for loot, and with the upcoming changes, champions will always drop something and veterans have an increased chance to drop.

Enjoy your adventures in Tyria.