Guild Wars 2

Blaeys.3102:

Bringing raids into the game changed the community and how people interact with one another – and not for the better.

A lot of people are waiting to see what they do next – whether they continue to develop content that divides the population or they get back to the inclusion and community that made this the best MMO – and among the best video games – ever.

For many, the direction they go with future raid design will determine whether or not this is the right game for the communities they have built. I know that sounds alarmist – and that is on purpose. The further down the road of us and them (or “hardcore and casual” or “raider and non raider”) they go, the worse this will get.

The exclusionary nature of raids has split the PVE community – and many guilds – in ways that simply are not good for the long term enjoyment of this game (or at least the game many of us bought 4 years ago).

I’m not saying the game will die – just that it is no longer being developed for the same audience that made the game a success – and that is sad.

There’s no exclusion going on in my guild. If you want to raid, you can raid. We aren’t progressing quickly (only VG down so far!), but nobody cares. If we have enough people who want to raid, then that’s what we do. Casual raiding at its best. Find yourself a casual guild that raids. Problem solved.

If you have no interest in raids and simply can’t abide development toward areas of the game that don’t interest you, then please remember that this isn’t YOUR game. It’s OUR game. And a lot of us appreciate the addition of raids.

Having said that, I think we could be on the same side here. Ultimately, what I’d like to see is development toward areas of the game I personally have interest in, as well as areas that aren’t my cup of tea. Why? Because this game would be pretty lonely if I had to play it by myself!

This “us vs. them” mentality gets us nowhere.

Mylerian.9176:

Maybe it is just me(please no hate here!) but does anyone else find the HoT maps boring? I understand I may be one of the only people who thinks this, but I really just fond them dull and boring. Am I missing something? Sure the rewards are ok, but I honestly seem to get more and better rewards from WvW and old Tyria. Anyone else like that?

Nope. I like events. The more the better! HoT maps deliver a ton of events, and they’re all part of a cycle that tells a story. I much prefer this to the random events and hearts I experienced while leveling in core Tyria.

I can’t rule out that farming, chest trains, etc. are better loot than running events in HoT, but I can tell you my bags fill up with loot faster in HoT than anywhere else I’ve been and I don’t even have to try. I can load up on loot by running events, farming the loot containers that are just lying all over the place, or both. I haven’t tried WvW, though. So maybe it’s better?

I also love the exploration aspects. The graphics in this game are pretty excellent across the board. But these crazy vertical layouts are just a step above. After learning my way around HoT, core Tyria seems dull by comparison – like walking across a flat plane.

But to each their own. I admit I’m a bit curious what you find so exciting about hearts, fewer events, and flat maps?

Most of these complaints about HoT seem ill-informed.

The “zerg” is only a thing in the AB boss meta and Dragon’s Stand. VB and TD are strongly anti-zerg to the point where it’s more or less impossible to succeed this way. I believe the “poor scaling” on the boss events in these zones is a direct attempt to counter this mentality, in fact.

The event cycles leading up to the boss meta appear to have been toned down to solo content, for the most part. This even includes event cycles ending in legendary bosses, such as Jaka Itzel or Faren’s Flyer event chains in VB. The night cycle is still a bit tricky to solo (defending camps, for instance), but given that this is merely preparation for a boss that isn’t intended to be solo’d, it makes a bit of sense, doesn’kitten

If you’re going to complain about something, you should probably have at least put in enough time with the subject to understand how it works. These are not “zerg” maps, unfriendly to solo players and small groups. Only DS works that way. It’s time to stop the insanity with players who don’t spend any time in HoT complaining about it in terms that don’t make the slightest bit of sense.

Torolan.5816:

The failure in this reasoning is that raids are intruders to the game, there was no justified waiting for raids. I may not remember every word and sound of it, but I really remember how excited I was when I heard that GW2 will be raid free and totally novel in its art of storytelling, including home invasion. Anet was forced to backpeddle quickly on point 2, but they stayed strong in point 1 until last year. And there was justified waiting for harder content, I agree with that. Anet also delivered said content, but people could not be brought to the idea to abandon their zerker toons and were slaughtered relentlessly by karka dishing out retaliation and ducking out of mega damage attacks. worst of all was though that they were forced to play with Joe Gamer, something no reputable pro gamer can actualyl do without being ashamed as it seems.

If this has brought good or bad things to GW2 is up to Anet, but I think the fact that raids have “intruded” the game can´t be disputed. Sadly the winner is writing history.

I don’t know what you’re on about. I enjoy raiding. My guild enjoys raiding. But none of us are elitists. How could we be? We aren’t even any good! We’ve only killed VG so far! We raid once a week, if enough people show up. It’s really no big thing.

Raids and raiders are not “intruders” in this game. I don’t dispute the fact that some players are obnoxious no matter what content they’re into, but this is not an issue specific to raiders.

MaJoBooOM.4851:

Ok, Now I get , you people just love junk items in your inventory. To delete them every 5 mins , best idea ever!
Brought to you by #BagInsideOfBagInsideOfBag

I don’t love the junk items, but I’ve gotten used to keeping a stack in my inventory of items that pile up to 250 quicker than is convenient to clear from my bank tab. In that case I just keep a stack in my bag and throw it out when it reaches 250. I can throw these stacks out when I’m not planning on being in a zone for awhile.

That’s hardly “deleting them every 5 minutes”. Perhaps not ideal, but hardly the issue you make it out to be. And I dislike your solution. I would rather have more crowbars than I need than not enough. I can always throw them out if I have more than 1 stack.

webtoehobbit.4201:

With this severe content drought and nothing but very specific content aimed at the more hardcore crowd, I can’t help but to feel a bit forgotten. Sure we have current events, but those are nothing compared to the love that the other parts of the game have seen.

Do you think that the casual base is a minority? I have always felt that the casual gamer base was quite populous in GW2, but maybe I was wrong, maybe its full of hardcore players.

I’m just feeling left out lately, waiting for Living World Season 3 is going to be tough. :-(

I don’t think you’re wrong. But look at it from a different perspective: What if you were the raiding type? How long did you have to wait for the first raid? Four years or so, right? And you know that while raid wings are still being released, LS3 and other more “casual” content is coming, too.

They didn’t forget their base. They adjusted their focus to attract and retain a broader audience. We can debate the wisdom of that choice, but as a new player to GW2 this year I’ve enjoyed the content HoT has to offer more than the core game.

Dante.1508:

Its not the i cannot do it, even if those frogs killed me 10 times in a row, i passed them in the end and moved on, its the fact that the whole content is based on cheese mechanics grind masteries which unless you have you cannot continue the maps completions or story, the fact the whole thing is tedious and not fun at all for me..

Sure over time i could pass those maps and get what i need even solo, but at what cost, to move on, but to actually enjoy the content no never, i hate it with a passion, going there drains my will and fun away, makes me angry with myself and at the game and generally just frustrates me to no end..

That to me is not why i play games, to actually get angry, stressed and want to break things by going to HoT is not a good gaming experience so i left the game for now.

You have a low tolerance for adversity. I can see why HoT isn’t your thing. It takes time and it’s pretty rough going initially. But what is difficult at first doesn’t remain so for most players. Unlike core Tyria, you need to adapt. It’s not that you aren’t capable, it’s that you’ve never had to do it before.

So, again, I’m not telling you that you should play a game you don’t enjoy. I’m telling you that your difficulties are not a permanent condition and while I don’t doubt you’d experience some frustration in the process, you could learn to dominate the enemies that currently force you to run for your life as well as navigate maps that currently seem like an impossible maze.

There’s nothing frustrating about knowing exactly where you’re going in TD and knowing that you can handle as many chak as the place can throw at you, is there? If you hadn’t given up at the first sign of adversity, I expect you would have made it to that point. I did, and my initial experience was no different from what you’ve described.

Vyrulisse.1246:

Why does it get annoying though? Why are people so against sexualization and revealing things? I’ll never understand that.

It annoys me because I just don’t like these skins and it’s difficult to find female skins that aren’t revealing. It seems the options are very limited.

I don’t see what there is to understand about that. It’s simple preference. You have yours. I have mine. The game should cater to both tastes.

With all the complaints about HoT map design/difficulty, my biggest fear is that they’ll never design maps like TD or VB again. I don’t require all maps to be this way, but I would be very disappointed if the next expansion didn’t offer something along those lines.

Elementalist has low health and armor, but plenty of access to heals and damage reduction. The trouble with elementalist for many players is that it’s a fairly complex playstyle. You have to familiarize yourself with all of your abilities until they become a more or less automatic response.

If you don’t know your earth and water skills by heart and rarely swap to them in combat as many who are new to elementalist do (fire attunement on staff is nice, isn’t it?), you’ll probably have a tough time. Especially with a d/x build, you’re too vulnerable and you’re at close range. If you aren’t making use of abilities like protection and projectile reflect in earth as well as heals in water, you’re going to die a lot.

It’s a very cool class, but relatively tricky to play well. But as others have suggested, you can always use marauder gear and food buffs to give yourself a significant buffer health-wise. You can then start to get into the habit of utilizing those skills. In time, you may find that you don’t even need the extra vitality.

I find daredevil is my most effective in open world. But is it “easy”? That’s a little more difficult to define.

Daredevil has low health, low armor, and virtually no passive defense balanced by superior damage, mobility, and damage avoidance. If you like an active playstyle requiring a lot of movement, daredevil may be a good choice for you.

Aside from the movement requirement, the playstyle is actually very straightforward. Your class gimmick (steal) is as simple as it gets, and due to the use of initiative your primary weapon set will likely produce much of its damage from AA, relying on other attacks for utility.

Having said that, if you aren’t too keen on actively avoiding damage by movement and evasion, a class like necro/reaper may be a better choice. Pets and death shroud allow you to passively ignore damage, even if your active damage avoidance skills aren’t the best. Still, I find I tend to survive better, kill faster, and cover ground more quickly with daredevil than I do with my necro. YMMV.

Healix.5819:

Mastery points will likely be easier to acquire in a few months when season 3 starts, assuming they don’t also throw in new masteries.

The simple solution is to not bother with masteries. If you only unlock what is actually required, it’s a fairly casual experience. Some of them are simply pointless, so you can for example save 12 points by not unlocking the last Nuhoch one.

I agree with this advice. I personally don’t find these mini-games enjoyable. They’re just not my thing. So I unlocked all of the important navigation masteries and then I stopped worrying about it. If they add more mastery points later, I’ll probably pick it back up. But I see no driving need to put myself through content I dislike just to unlock masteries I don’t need.

I think the only thing I’ve found that requires unlocking all of the masteries are the newer legendary items? But legendary items have always required that players experience many aspects of gameplay, some of which may take them outside of their normal range of activities. I don’t see adventures as anything new in that regard.

Sketch Eight.9508:

Hello, i need help getting insight and strongbox masteries ive maxed out my xp as far as i can but im struggling now as m noit very good navigsating,
ill pay 2g for everey mastery i havent got.
please help as i cannot progress thank you

As others have mentioned, utilize the guides at dulfy.net. They’ll show you exactly how to reach every HP and MP in HoT. But if you still want help, contact me in game some time.

Dante.1508:

And as for HoT i know i hate it, having a chauffeur will not magically make me like it.

When I offered to help you in the jungle my intent was more to help you figure out how to appreciate it for what it is rather than what you wish it were.

You said that you have difficulty exploring the place and learning your way around because you can’t get away from all the monsters trying to kill you. So tell me why it wouldn’t help you to learn your way around if you had someone else there to keep those monsters off of you and show you the shortcuts you’re missing to get where you want to go?

Would that not likely result in a better understanding of the map layout and how to navigate it? And would that not be half the battle for you?

The other half is combat. As I told you before, my initial experience with the jungle was no different: It was confusing and I died constantly. It seems I wasn’t a special case. What makes you think you are? If I can learn to exploit the weaknesses of jungle enemies, I feel confident that you can, too.

Anyway, I’m not telling you that you should come back and play a game that you don’t enjoy. But I do think you’re wrong when you say that a little help from other players would be no use. You could be right, but I’ve helped enough players in the jungle to know that what at first seems impossible can become easy with some practice and a bit of help.

The offer is on the table, man. Any time you feel like coming back and giving it a go, just hit me up in game. We’ll see if we can figure this thing out.

Moyayuki.3619:

In VB, I managed to get through to the other end and entered Tangled Depths so that I had the WP for there. However, even getting that far was incredibly difficult for me. I struggle with even VB, so therefore it’s going to take a very long time for me to get the mushroom jumping mastery, which is needed to get to the MPs and HPs and so forth that are out of reach. So it’s a vicious cycle. Therefore, it’s more of the struggle of getting enough XP for the masteries that is making traversing the maps hard and frustrating, more than simply being lost.

If I may, part of your issue is that you misunderstand the design intent of these maps. You are, of course, welcome to your own preferences with regard to gameplay, but it’s clear that these maps were intended to introduce a form of open world progression, gated by masteries, by sheer complexity, and somewhat by skill unlocks (the elite spec).

If your goal is to play through these maps as quickly as possible, your frustration is understandable. They just weren’t designed that way. You’re supposed to spend a lot of time here unlocking your masteries and learning your way around before you’re ready to move on to the next map (although that’s hardly set in stone!).

In any event, I’m another who will put out a standing offer to any player who is having trouble navigating the jungle and would like some help. Add me to your contact list and hit me up in game.

Highlord.7158:

Agemnon.4608:

Harper.4173:

Blood Red Arachnid.2493:

TD is a decent concept in theory, but failed in execution. It is a labyrinth that is tightly packed with extremely dangerous enemies, which make navigation hard, except there’s one big problem: You have no reason to go into those labyrinths.

The reality of Tangled Depths is that it is a fairly generic map structure with complicated labyrinths tacked on to the sides. Once you get to Ley-Line Confluence Waypoint the entire map is pretty linear. You just head down the labeled tunnel to get to the respective labeled waypoints. The hardest part from there is figuring out whether you go up or down to get to an event from that respective waypoint.

Oh, there are plenty of confusing paths and mazes in the map, but there’s no reason to go into them. All of the big and important events are usually tethered to Confluence Waypoint, or one of the respective main waypoints in the map, so if you find your bearings there, you’ve basically explored the whole map. The Nuhoch wallows trivialize pretty much everything else from there.

Exactly this – TD is a mess – and it’s a mess because of bad design.
Most of the times it’s not clear if you’re supposed to go up, down or in case you do know – how to get there.
The minimap doesn’t work with the layers well either.

If a player can’t figure out how to get to an event don’t you think the player deserves to miss out? Players need to get lost and die more often and I hope to see more in the next expansion.

I detest TD thus far. One wrong turn and boom, dead. One RIGHT turn, and boom, dead.

“Players need to get lost and die more often?”

I’ll put this simply. I don’t have tons of time to play or grind, or treat anything other than my job like a job. My time is more important that some else’s sense of digital accomplishment. I play GW2 because it’s fun, fast, flexible and accessible. If I wanted to blow hours of time on frustration, I’d be playing Allods.

Your time is more important than someone else’s sense of accomplishment? How do you figure? In case you hadn’t noticed, plenty of players in this thread give TD top marks for its creative design. I happen to agree with them. It’s easily the best map in the game (honorable mention to VB!) from an exploration standpoint.

I do agree with the complaints regarding event content. The boss meta is the best of all of the HoT maps, in my opinion. But there are large areas of the map that have no events at any point in the cycle and the events that are available are usually completed long before the boss timer comes up. I wish they would fix this. It would make this map even better.

Moyayuki.3619:

Ashen.2907:

Pause.
Look around.
Make decisions about paths to take, angles of approach, and so on based on a considered approach.

In my short experience (I only bought HoT a couple of weeks ago) the single greatest contributor to character death has been a lack of situational awareness. We did not really need to pay attention to what was going on around us in the core maps and so we became accustomed to just charging in, essentially blindly.

We did not need to be aware that a patrol passes through the spot where we intend to attack a mob because adds meant more drops, not more danger. Now one might want to be aware of patrol patterns, pull foes away from such paths, and be already thinking about what one will do if/when the unexpected spawn occurs or one is knocked into a nearby foe’s aggro range.

I am not as young as I once was I am not as good of a player as many. I lack the reflexes I had even just a few years ago. But I have found that by putting some forethought into my actions and being prepared with contingencies for the inevitable SNAFU, HoT is not particularly difficult.

One big issue with these maps is, you see where you want to go (even if it’s looking only at the map since you cannot spot a Mastery Point from the ground), you look around, you find a path…and end up being driven in the opposite direction than you intended, and no clearer paths can be found. I only got two Mastery Points in Verdant Brink because the rest are either in really difficult areas, or can’t even be seen no matter where I go. These maps are a chore, not fun, and I can’t go “enjoy the scenery” and fully explore because I’m always trying not to get killed or fall to my death.

You just need to understand how these maps are designed. When you see that mastery point on the map, expect that it isn’t likely to be at the same elevation as you currently find yourself. Next, figure out whether it’s above or below you. After that, it gets a little tricky because you need to learn your way around.

VB is a very open map, but many of the objectives may only be reached via the canopy. Contrary to what many players seem to believe, there are several routes into the canopy – not just when the boss event is going and the helicopters are available for transport. Learn these routes and the map becomes easy to navigate:

- Mellaggan’s Valor Waypoint – Hop the updraft on top of the rocks at the head of the eastern entrance and glide over to the updraft on top of the airship wreckage and then onto the airship itself. Follow the back of the airship to the fins. There’s a vista at the top. You can then glide over to a wooden plank platform, on which you’ll find one of the mastery strongboxes (there’s also an HP and another mastery strongbox somewhat northwest of this area that you can glide to from this point). On the opposite end of this platform, you’ll find a jump mushroom that launches you up onto a circular platform. A nearby updraft will lift you above the cloud cover, allowing you to use updrafts to glide to just about anywhere on the map.

Faren’s Flyer Waypoint – Take the trail to the top of the mountain, run up the ramp at the top of the trail and glide over to the vine in the opposite direction of the vine that leads to the nearby HP and MP (grab those, too!). Cross this vine and you can glide to another HP. You can also access a chain of updrafts into the canopy here.

Shrouded Ruins Waypoint – Head west and up the stairs. Continue up onto the plateau where you’ll find a jump mushroom. Cross over some rocks to a large vine. Follow this to a platform with fire wyverns on it. Cross through the middle to a jump mushroom on the far side. This lands you at the base of a jump puzzle that grants a mastery point. You can also glide from here and use updrafts to reach a nearby HP.

Many of the other mastery and hero points are easy to reach. There are several down in the ravines, a couple of them you’ll notice are right next to nuhoch wallows, but you don’t need to unlock wallows to reach them. Just free fall down into the ravine and deploy your glider when you get close to the HP. There’s even an HP right next to the southwesternmost waypoint.

If you know these 3 routes, you can get into the canopy and go directly to those hard-to-reach objectives. The rest are on the ground or down below in the canyons. Run the event cycle a few times and you should know your way around well enough to reach all of them.

If you’d like some assistance in finding these routes and objectives, I’m always happy to help another player find their footing in the jungle.

Daredevil is my favorite class for open world HoT, but I run staff with p/p most of the time. Sure, you can use staff 4 to melee enemies that’ll otherwise force you to dodge out of the way of their CC, but staff 4 does poor damage. If you’re up against a group, you’re probably better off just dodging out and immediately vaulting back in. For single targets, just fire off a round or two of pistol 3 and that should take care of it without the need to close to melee range.

With staff I tend to use staff 2 more than 4. It does high damage and applies weakness, so I can often hang in at melee range using weakness + the 15% heal on crit from the crit strikes line to maintain my health. Enemies drop quickly if you can stay in melee range and stick to the more damaging attacks (AA, #2, #5).

In any event, if you like thief, I highly recommend the class for open world HoT. It’s fast, powerful, and you can take on almost anything (and escape just about anything when things turn sour!). It may just be that I’m better at thief than my other classes, but it’s easily my strongest class in the jungle.

Boogiepop Void.6473:

I was expecting a difficulty increase on the HOT maps, but so far the spike is so steep that I can barely do anything. I haven’t done much outside of Verdant Brink, but so far I haven’t been able to do any of the hero points, get to most of the vistas or POIs, or even get all of the waypoints active.

Some of this is expected, as I am still working on navigational masteries such as gliding and mushrooms (going slowly because I am not spending much time there due to playing through LW2), but the main obstacle is simply the combination of the toughness and number of monsters and the confined combat areas. I have wiped many many times by being ganged on by 5+ mobs with not room to maneuver on the many bridges and narrow paths, no way to keep from aggroing them (ie Either they are so close they all aggro at once, they chain aggro, or the area is so small that in moving to fight the first one I can’t help but aggro others) and no way to break aggro other than jumping off a cliff and hoping I have somewhere to glide to. I can only dodge so much before I am out of endurance. Combine this with many annoying mechanics, such as lots of high powered invisible monsters (Shadowleapers), monsters with throw+stun that can chain if there are multiples (like the beetles), Monsters with undodgeable abilities (shadow chargers), and a general inability to do any level of Pass Parade and it makes getting around Verdant Brink very hard by yourself.

Is there any advise people can give for dealing with the new maps?

You aren’t alone! My first experience with HoT was no different. I had trouble getting anywhere without dying. But unlocking masteries helped and unlocking my elite spec REALLY helped! Beyond that, it was just a matter of familiarizing myself with the enemies and learning to counter them.

If you want you can add me to your contacts list and hit me up in game. I love the jungle and don’t mind helping people get the hang of it.

Sardath.8524:

Grind or no grind, the masteries have been implemented awfully. Why would I care or try to grind them after I completed all the meta events on the four maps? What’s the point in trying to get extra accessibility/qol improvements on a map I’m bored of playing? Tie this up with the immersion breaking/mobile phone wannabe games called adventures and you’ll make plenty of people upset.

MMOs are based upon repetition. GW2 is not and has never been an exception. If you can only play through events once before becoming bored of them, you are playing the wrong type of game.

If your issue is that you don’t like the HoT maps in general, then the mastery system is only an issue because it forces you to spend time in the HoT maps. But as you say, you don’t like them anyway.

I happen to like the maps, but I also dislike the mastery system in some ways. I definitely agree on adventures. I just don’t like them and have no interest in playing them. I don’t think the requirement is necessarily unreasonable as implemented, however. But I also wouldn’t mind if they added a workaround. So I’m with you there.

Where I diverge is that I appreciate how they incorporated the mastery system into the exploration of HoT. Where you simply wish to complete the events and move on, I wanted to explore until I knew the jungle through and through (I haven’t gotten there yet! But I’m making steady progress!). While I gained experience running events, I was also working toward this other goal.

Obviously, we aren’t going to see eye to eye on that. But love them or hate them, the HoT maps offer something that you can’t find in core Tyria or in any other game I’ve experienced. And I think the mastery system fits in nicely.

Having said all that, I don’t see why they need to be stingy with the mastery points. Progression is still gated behind a substantial amount of experience, and additional mastery points could still be gated behind other masteries to slow the progression a bit. Ultimately, the system could serve its role within the context of the HoT design while simultaneously making it easier for players to pick and choose which challenges they wish to pursue to earn the mastery points they need.

If I could get the mastery points I want without storyline achievements and adventures, I wouldn’t complain.

I’m not seeing it. There are certain enemies which have heavy armor (beetles, mordrem husks, the armored veteran frogs, etc.), but most enemies don’t seem to take any longer to kill for me. They just hit harder, have less forgiving mechanics, and there are more of them.

egzius.9031:

Where to start. The game is just too easy. Everyone can get achievement points in PVE, no one is left behind. You’ve done a right step in PVP. Let’s analyse the achievements: need to win, need to win, need to win. Whereas PVE: participate, help, work together. See a problem? You are not incentivizing the player enough to go PVE. Offer a great reward (such as a legendary backpack), but cut the supply of them tenfold (by making it only that winners get the achievements and put in tiers of semi good rewards), by making so that only the Meta achievers can get it, while others get something that’s less of a value, such as resonating sliver, since everyone likes those. Economy is better off (less rewards flood the market), players are better off, you are better off as you can be sure that players will gate other players as much as possible from getting the final shiny. I like where you are going with current events, where players have to steal from other players to get achievement points, but I believe you could still kick it up a notch by making so that instead of priory fighting inquest, priory (player side) could fight consortium (player side) and the losing sides loses that much from their achievement pool. This way, people have incentive to try, because now, people are just gonna be like meh, I’ll do it and I’ll get something everyone will get, whereas if it’s exclusive, more people will join to get the exclusive shiny. You could also throw a match-maker to ensure fair-play between the two sides, no stacking, etc.

You like what you like. Don’t make the mistake of thinking that the entire game should cater to your desires. There are other players here besides yourself and they actually like the non-competitive nature of PvE.

It also happens to be a defining feature of GW2. They specifically designed PvE to be this way and it clearly appeals to their player base.

Well, one way of getting exotic gear is by unlocking the second Itzel mastery. There’s a frog vendor at the first WP in VB that sells 5 pieces of exotic gear (the chestpiece is missing). Each costs 500 airship parts + 1g.

In the process of gathering airship parts, you’ll very likely earn several pieces of exotic gear because running events in VB sometimes grants bladed equipment boxes as a reward. Also, if you hit T4 on the VB meta I believe it’s an automatic chest with your choice of bladed gear (level 80 exotic set).

Well, I personally get a kick out of following my gf around Tyria on my elementalist swapping attunements and handing out boons. “Will you shut that stupid thing up already!” LoL

So, she thanks you!

This is the build I use to roam around HoT maps solo.

http://gw2skills.net/editor/?vZAQNAW6an8lCFOhFmCOOBkmiFYCbLQtc6QzhwRYLULBEAyAA-TBSBwARUCiw8HKdDAeCAPuIAFV+dT9nr7PAA-e

I may be missing the point, but BLCs never seem to have anything remotely worth the price of the keys. It seems like they should at least have more than one of most of the items (TP express, merchant express, ToK, etc.).

Teon.5168:

Vyrulisse.1246:

I always feel like I move too much. I’m always circling enemies I’m focused on. I guess that’s better than being a statue. x.x

Perfect approach to a battle, imo.

Yep. I circle as well. If you stay on the edge of an enemy’s attack range either by circling or moving just in and out of melee range they have a tougher time hitting you. Slower enemies are especially susceptible.

You should also keep moving when at range against enemies that continuously drop ground cover area effects, such as the chak gerent. If you’re already in motion when the circle spawns beneath your feet, you’ll easily walk out of range before the hit lands. Standing still you usually need to dodge away.

Feel free to look me up in game as well. I’m usually up for showing people around the jungle.

vonbladewing.5973:

am i the only person that like vertical maps…. i mean for years and years in MMOrpgs we had plain flat maps there boring after you play them 100times, i think the main problem is that allot of people are bad at exploring and remember locations, i have seen allot of player video of people exploring guild hall and new maps and get all turned around but some how they end up at the same place but act like its a brand new place……

No. It isn’t just you. I think the exploration aspect of HoT is its best feature. It makes the maps distinctive and gives them depth. I’ll admit that they can be a bit overwhelming at first, and the map is frustrating to use because it doesn’t work by itself. You can only use it in combination with knowledge of landmarks and routes between them, which you must learn yourself by exploring.

Learning your way around these maps feels rewarding and they can actually be quicker to get from point to point than more straightforward maps, provided you know the best route to your objective. I wasn’t expecting that, but TD is the perfect example.

In TD, you’re rarely far from any particular point on the map and you don’t necessarily need to rely on a single waypoint to avoid a long haul. You just have to spend enough time exploring to make sense of the place.

Brilliant design, really. I hope they make more maps like it. And some flat maps for the players who prefer those, too. We can’t have it all one way!

Danicus.4952:

I agree completely. Random encounters are definitely a core part of rpgs and mmos, but an often quoted remedy to the random mob placement in HOT is to avoid those encounters entirely using character skills and HOT mobility masteries. My point is that if those mobs are truly to be avoided throughout the maps, that points to a weakness in game design in my opinion. If those mobs are to be fought by players as one move through the maps, not all players are having a positive experience in that process. The stealth detection mastery for example, makes movement and combat significantly easier against stealthed enemies on the early maps, but it is at a higher tier of mastery than basic mobility essentials like updrafts and mushrooms. A player new to the HOT maps, may get turned off with the inability to counter those enemies, and forgo returning. This doesn’t make the player a bad player that needs to L2P in my opinion. I believe the devs should have tiered the experiences with increasing difficulties as the maps progressed. Enemies with short stealth times in earlier maps, and longer stealth times in later maps would increase accessibility, and incentivize learning the mastery.

This is not an all or nothing choice. Nobody is suggesting that you must avoid all enemies in the jungle, just like I seriously doubt anyone complaining about HoT finds absolutely every monster they encounter impossible to beat.

You can fight the things you’re comfortable fighting, and if you encounter one of those monsters that just give you a headache, use your skills to bypass them. There is no rule that says you must either fight everything or avoid everything.

Only one of the maps (DS) is designed for large groups, where you can’t accomplish much on your own. Every other HoT map consists almost entirely of solo/small group events culminating in a large-scale boss event.

You’re right that new (and old) players may be turned off by the difficulty, as the core game does not prepare players for HoT. I also agree that this doesn’t make them “bad” players. However, I would say that it tends to indicate a lack of patience. When I hear some of these complaints all I’m thinking is how the player is missing the point.

You aren’t supposed to just walk over these enemies. You’re supposed to develop strategies to beat them. That means you’re supposed to die while you’re learning those strategies, but not so much once you learn them. It just takes some time and practice.

The map design is the same way. You aren’t supposed to just walk through every map the way you did in core Tyria. You’re supposed to explore the maps in sequence, unlocking masteries as you go and learning your way around.

In a sense, players ramp up their own frustration by expecting something that the jungle isn’t. You want to just run in and go straight to every HP, then move on to the next map and do the same. But the content is gated behind masteries, so it’s straight to the forums to complain.

I get it. You’re welcome to disagree with the design, but you might give it more of a chance. If you don’t know your way around VB or TD yet, it’s because you haven’t spent enough time exploring them. Likewise, if you can’t figure out how to beat a pair of shadowleapers it’s because you haven’t learned how yet. You aren’t a bad player. You’re just new to HoT because you hit the wall and never really came back to try and climb over it.

Dante.1508:

Hot for me is full of cheap kitten designed to screw you at every turn, its not challenge its annoyance, the creatures have annoying skills designed to kill you for playing solo.. the mushrooms, frogs, raptors all of hot doesn’t let you enjoy yourself there, its all designed to kill you in cheap ways.

Thats not fun, its not worth playing imo.

We’ve been through this. You just need to learn how to fight these things. If you ignore their abilities and don’t employ strategy, you’re going to have a tough time.

You aren’t the first player to enter HoT and fall flat on his face. I did. Admittedly, HoT is my first experience with GW2, so when I reached the jungle it was also my first character to 80. But in my opinion, even veteran players were probably surprised by HoT. The core game doesn’t prepare you very well for it.

Initially, I felt lost and my character felt weak. If I could even find the next waypoint, I’d die several times trying to reach it. But I quickly began to recognize why I was dying and adapted my strategy to compensate. These enemies are not impossible, but they require that you understand the mechanics and adapt your strategies to them.

Vayne.8563:

Dante.1508:

Weirdly i enjoyed Dry top more than Silverwastes but i hate HoT.. weird.

You still never let me show you around. lol

Me neither. I also offered! LoL

Runo.3780:

Scam doesn’t work like that, heck the link:
http://www.thefreedictionary.com/scam

If they did say, when I was buying the game, that upon relasing expansion the core game will be free and I will have to pay the same amount of money as new players then yep, it wouldn’t been a scam… but they didn’t.

I paid for a VCR. I got a VCR. I used a VCR. What do you mean I have to pay for a DVD player that includes a VCR if I want to play DVDs? That’s outrageous! I demand a refund!

Monk Tank.5897:

IMO : Anet tried to destroy the solo (casual) player but it backfired on them and everyone walked away. You can’t please everyone all the time but you can’t design your game for only one playstyle and expect everyone to like it.
Vertical maps seem like they have a lot of depth, but create unneeded confusion and frustration. To push this game further Anet needs to put the Fun back into the game.

I don’t see it. I’m primarily a solo open-world player and I love the vertical maps. There’s nothing wrong with these maps that can’t be solved by taking your time exploring them. Perhaps you lack the patience for that, but don’t assume that this is a “solo player” issue with HoT.

I also spend a lot of time helping other players who express frustration with these maps. For instance, just yesterday someone was complaining in map chat that they couldn’t get anywhere in TD. It turns out they were new and decided to try and explore TD with hardly any masteries unlocked. They didn’t even have updrafts unlocked yet!

No problem. I know my way around TD well enough that I can find alternative routes to many of the waypoints and other objectives. After a couple of hours of running around TD with me, this guy who was literally complaining that he wished he was back in “Queensdale” before I teamed up with him, was instead praising TD map design.

I’m not suggesting that this style of map is for everyone, but clearly it can be appreciated even by a player who started out wishing he was back in Queensdale. You just need to understand that it is intended that these maps be difficult to navigate initially and also that the maps are intended to be completed in sequence, allowing players to unlock the masteries they need to explore deeper into the jungle.

If, like the player I helped yesterday, you expect to be able to fully explore the jungle as you would a map like Queensdale, of course you’re going to be frustrated. It simply wasn’t the design intent for these maps.

So, if you don’t like maps like TD and VB, I understand. But it isn’t a solo player issue. I’m a solo player and I spend nearly all of my time in TD or VB. I just enjoy these maps more than any others in this game. I hope they’ll provide more like them in the future, but I also hope they’ll provide maps for players who don’t enjoy exploring these types of maps. Do try to give them a chance though. If you can start to get your bearings, I think TD is the most enjoyable map anywhere in the game!

NinjaEd.3946:

Getting away from the pvp/wvw scene since it just…. anyways. As for pve in HoT, I’ve looked at videos in the past and recent and just trying to get a general idea of what it has to offer. With that a few questions for those who hopefully know it best.

1. Is the pve in HoT something that is enjoyable? By this I mean is it something you can pick up for an hour or 2 after work or on a day off and not feel lost or bored?

2. Is it repetitive grinding to high ends or do things get shaken up a bit depending on what you are looking to do, such as building a legendary via the precursor quests?

3. I understand that some professions have an easier time than others in the new zones so I’m assuming there are some challenges. However, are these challenges based on enemy mechanics or just rapid scaling to where everything can “1 shot” you and has x10 health?

4. As with every game, entering something late is not going to be easy to adapt but I have a fairly quick ability to learn. Are raids going to be “semi” friendly to join or are people “know it or gtfo” kind of mentality? I ask this having no active guild atm.

5. Similar to question 4 and 3, does HoT content demand specific builds in raids/world events or are they flexible based on player skill? Similar experience I’ve had in the past with fractals with people demanding build x only to watch them die over and over and ultimately giving 0 dps while they run back or get revived. I’d rather just know what I’m there for and run it on my terms, does HoT content demand something else?

Look forward to answers.

“Enjoyable” is subjective. I say yes. Compared to the core maps, I much prefer to spend my time in HoT maps for open world PvE. Others strongly disagree.

Playing for an hour or two is certainly doable as the event cycles run on a similar time frame. However, if you expect to quickly and effortlessly learn your way around these environments, there are several reasons you may be disappointed.

Fully exploring these maps is intended to be done roughly in sequence, gated by masteries. For the first map, jump mushrooms and updrafts are enough to get you to pretty much anywhere you want to go. The second map adds exalted lore. But the third map is far more difficult to navigate and having nuhoch wallows and itzel poison lore on top of all the others is important. By the last map you will want to have leyline gliding.

You also need to know that these maps are maze-like. Exploring them is not straightforward. The map is of limited use in many places. It will show you hero points and other points of interest, but getting to them rarely involves following a straight line! In the case of tangled depths, spending a few hours exploring the map is nowhere near enough time to familiarize yourself with it.

But if you like a real exploration challenge and don’t mind taking your time playing through the maps, then I think it can be quite enjoyable.

I hear the collections are grindy and I guess they are. But I guess I don’t see how that’s any different than previously available activities. I think it comes down to whether or not you enjoy playing on these maps. If not, then it’s a grind. If so, then it probably doesn’t feel so grind-y.

The monsters have normal health totals, but hit hard and there are more of them. True “1-shot” death is not really a big thing outside of boss fights. However, many of the monsters in the jungle don’t mess around. They will likely kill you when you initially encounter them, but they all have weaknesses you can exploit. This does tend to require at least some structure in terms of build options. And certain enemies may give you headaches on certain classes.

For example, you will almost certainly need access to a reliable stun-break on your bar at all times as well as a ranged weapon set (although you can still rely primarily on melee if that’s your preference). Elite specs tend to be helpful, if not mandatory. But that is class-dependent.

Raids do tend to strongly encourage certain builds for the advantages they provide when learning new bosses. Once you’ve learned it, I imagine these restrictions loosen up a bit.

Whether or not a guild will expect you to know the encounters depends on the type of guild. I wouldn’t recommend trying to join pickup groups initially unless they say it’s a learning run or are otherwise willing to accept inexperienced players. Learning is better done with a guild, I think.

IndigoSundown.5419:

AliamRationem.5172:

IndigoSundown.5419:

The problem with the group nature of HoT metas is that the solution (work-around?) of taxiing is at least half of the reason why there are mostly empty zones. This could be solved by better scaling, but apparently ANet doesn’t want to or can’t scale HOT events to be done by smaller numbers of players.

I was just n TD mining for the daily and came across a “defend a cannon (or some such) event.” As I came on scene, there was one other player. One. The Chak "rushed the cannon. There were somewhere between 20 and 40 of them, and about half were Vets. This is only going to be fun if you have the numbers to match the mobs.

Two thumbs down, until Anet gets its kitten together and either fixes taxiing/mega-server or puts in scaling so that more than the people that manage to get into the one favored map can complete this crap.

Actually, the mob of chak that rush the cannon take their sweet time getting there and are single-minded (they don’t fight back). You can solo that part of the event. I did it yesterday on a map that wasn’t doing the meta.

What you can’t solo or do in small groups are the simultaneous events that determine whether or not you’re able to get the chak gerent to surface for the next phase. So, you could kill the mob of chak by yourself, but you’d need others to stomp mushrooms, break eggs, etc. or you still fail the event and the chak gerent destroys the cannon.

I think this problem would be better solved by finding a way to ensure that maps fill quickly instead of so many instances existing apparently with too few players. Although
I don’t disagree that better scaling could also help.

I just feel that the design of the boss events in HoT is such that scaling alone won’t change much. Even if each piece of the event required only 1 player minimum, you’d still need what? 8 players to cover everything? And good luck if any one of those players dies and has to get back in time to cover their part of the event! It’s clearly designed for maps full of players who are mostly participating. If you look at all of the other boss events, they’re all like this.

We just need the megaserver system to provide those conditions and I expect HoT will suddenly be a lot more enjoyable for many who currently aren’t enjoying themselves.

Yeah, well my latest hypothesis is that there were more people in all those empty maps until they taxied out. I’m aware that Anet is looking for “fixes” to mega-server, but I doubt they’ll fix human nature.

And for mobs that don’t fight back, they sure did fight back when I tried to kill them. Maybe there were a bunch of normal mobs mixed in? I don’t know.

You may be right. I’m certainly not qualified to diagnose the problem beyond making the most general observations. I hope they can find a solution. But it seems clear that whatever that solution may be, it’s going to require a lot of work.

You’re correct when you say that you can’t change human nature. The only alternative is to change the game so that human nature produces the desired behavior (full maps!).

Blude.6812:

Always hated doing the citadel when I work a character through map completion. And a few players really disagree with the how good the multiple levels in HoT are. Confusing and difficult due to the poor map system. I have 4 toons with HoT 100% map completion and really don’t care much for it and likely won’t take another through. Lost interest in HoT multi levels and mostly play the original areas.
I am very confident that they won’t change the old maps for the next expac, and if they paid any attention to the sales and feed back, the next expac will be nothing like HoT.

I would hope they provide a mix to appeal to more players. You can claim that HoT is disliked by many, but not by all. I would be disappointed to see the next expansion not feature at least some HoT-style maps.

My favorite map in the game is Tangled Depths. I found it as confusing as anyone else initially, but I knew that in time I would figure it out and I didn’t let myself get frustrated with it.

Surprisingly, once you do know your way around TD, it’s actually pretty convenient because there are generally multiple paths and shortcuts to get where you need to go. In fact, I would say that TD is probably the easiest map to get from one place to another in – provided you know the best route!

For instance, you can jump through kitten in a tree near the first waypoint, updraft to grab a hero point, then through the great tree to the other side and glide right down into the next waypoint in ogre camp.

You can reach almost anywhere from the leyline confluence. Just run up the ramp, hop a leyline, and glide to wherever you want in the lanes.

Or you can waypoint to teku nuhoch and use nuhoch wallows to reach any lane, and there are sometimes wallows near the ends of those wallows. Like if you wanted to get to the chak stronghold. It looks like you should go to Order of Whispers camp, but you would actually be better off going to teku nuhoch, taking the wallow to nuhoch lane, and then the nearby wallow directly into the chak nest.

That sure beats using the bottom level water tunnels! But, of course, those work as well and will take you all over the map.

Anyway, you get the idea. You just have to have patience with these maps. I know that isn’t everyone’s cup of tea, but I really appreciate what the ANet devs have done here and am dying to see more in the next expansion.

I hope you folks who prefer the “flat” maps will get some maps more to your tastes, though.

IndigoSundown.5419:

The problem with the group nature of HoT metas is that the solution (work-around?) of taxiing is at least half of the reason why there are mostly empty zones. This could be solved by better scaling, but apparently ANet doesn’t want to or can’t scale HOT events to be done by smaller numbers of players.

I was just n TD mining for the daily and came across a “defend a cannon (or some such) event.” As I came on scene, there was one other player. One. The Chak "rushed the cannon. There were somewhere between 20 and 40 of them, and about half were Vets. This is only going to be fun if you have the numbers to match the mobs.

Two thumbs down, until Anet gets its kitten together and either fixes taxiing/mega-server or puts in scaling so that more than the people that manage to get into the one favored map can complete this crap.

Actually, the mob of chak that rush the cannon take their sweet time getting there and are single-minded (they don’t fight back). You can solo that part of the event. I did it yesterday on a map that wasn’t doing the meta.

What you can’t solo or do in small groups are the simultaneous events that determine whether or not you’re able to get the chak gerent to surface for the next phase. So, you could kill the mob of chak by yourself, but you’d need others to stomp mushrooms, break eggs, etc. or you still fail the event and the chak gerent destroys the cannon.

I think this problem would be better solved by finding a way to ensure that maps fill quickly instead of so many instances existing apparently with too few players. Although
I don’t disagree that better scaling could also help.

I just feel that the design of the boss events in HoT is such that scaling alone won’t change much. Even if each piece of the event required only 1 player minimum, you’d still need what? 8 players to cover everything? And good luck if any one of those players dies and has to get back in time to cover their part of the event! It’s clearly designed for maps full of players who are mostly participating. If you look at all of the other boss events, they’re all like this.

We just need the megaserver system to provide those conditions and I expect HoT will suddenly be a lot more enjoyable for many who currently aren’t enjoying themselves.

Dante.1508:

Obtena.7952:

Sartharina.3542:

Obtena.7952:

That is a VERY trivial difference, if a difference at all. The meta events are ALSO telling you what’s going on in that area of the world and also rewards you for just being around in the area at the time the event occurs. How the heart manages to give something context, but the event does not isn’t clear from your explanation. If anything, if the heart gives context, it’s fleeting at best … you complete the heart and then you’re like “OK, next”. It’s very unlikely there is some memorable heart because of content. The most memorable ones are the ones that are frustrating to do, not because they have unique, challenging or interesting activities linked to them.

Actually, there are a few memorable hearts I can think of: Smacking Oozes with signs in Metrica Province and catching booze in Snowden Drifts come to mind instantly. Oh yeah – and the main Ebonhawke quest heart (Arguing with Separatists, tearing down propaganda, and invading homes looking for terrorists). I also have all the Plains of Ashford hearts memorized, and most of the Diessa Plateau ones. But that’s because I have 10 Charr characters that have 100% completion of those zones.

A whole few? Wow … out of hundreds. The point is moot anyways … Events are as if not more memorable because of how often they are done and how they tie into the game story, unlike feeding rabbits, picking apples or trivial crap like that. If your point is that more memorable = more meaningful, Events got hearts over a barrel.

Dante.1508:

One i do solo in my own time, the other is a group thing i’ll miss if i don’t do it immediately..

See, that’s a pretty disingenuous statement to me. Events are not so infrequent that you miss them if you blink. I recognize that hearts you do on your terms, but to imply that Events are something that is illusive to you because you didn’t jump on them ‘immediately’ is ridiculous, ESPECIALLY the ones in HoT, which last for numerous minutes, in fact, more minutes than any casual person wanting to do them would need to go to get there and get them done.

The only real factor there that differentiates those events from hearts is awareness, which is a function of the player, not the game. Therefore, the real problem here is that if for whatever reason, you are picky about the exact kind of events you are willing to do, then YES, you have a problem with Events compared to hearts.

It’s pretty obvious to me why Anet didn’t include hearts in HoT … because they don’t need filler content. Events are non-stop in most of the zones and lots of them are chains, so even if you don’t get the first one, you can get the second, thrid , etc… hearts would have been a waste in HoT where you literally can almost not avoid encountering events.

That is mostly your opinion, i do not agree with it, hearts i can turn up do it and then leave with my rewards at will, with the other i must either wait around for others (assuming in a populated zone) and then do it or move on and miss it till later “if” i decide i want to come back..

I’ve avoided heaps of events in hot, i choose to because i hate giant zergs or as mentioned i’m in a dead server 24/7 due to my timezone..

Honestly hearts were far superior content because i can solo them, i can do them at anytime, and i can play the game on my terms not some other persons terms..

You’re welcome to your opinion, but I really don’t see what you’re seeing in HoT. The only map that seems to fit your description is DS, where the entire cycle consists of 3 large groups of players moving down the lanes toward the conclusion. I’m personally not a fan of the event cycle on that map either.

However, the other HoT maps aren’t like that at all. Most of the events can be comfortably completed alone or in a small (2-3 player) group. Even some of the boss events. For instance, the wyvern bosses in VB actually appear to scale better for small groups than large, resulting in dead easy breakbars and a much cleaner, quicker kill if you show up with just a handful of players rather than an army.

Further, you don’t actually need to find a group. Unless the map is completely dead, chances are good that somebody nearby is heading toward the same event you’re working on. Just get started clearing enemies and usually within a minute or two others will arrive and join in.

Of course you can’t expect to complete the entire map meta this way, but that’s simply an unreasonable expectation. Events like the chak gerent are supposed to be map-wide participation events. They can’t be done solo or by small groups. You need lots of people and they need to coordinate somewhat.

If that isn’t your cup of tea, I still don’t see what’s stopping you from being mostly a solo player? It’s mostly how I play in HoT! I just head to TD or VB usually, because they offer steady loot for solo players in the form of airship cargo/chak caches. If I come across an event that seems worthwhile, I jump in. And then, if the map is sufficiently organized, I can get in on the meta when that comes around.

Sometimes I’ll run into a group working on events or someone trying to complete an HP and I’ll jump in on that, too. It really doesn’t seem like that bad a place to be a solo player to me. I think your issue may be one of skill – you can’t solo because you haven’t figured out how to survive and kill things effectively in the jungle.

Fix that and I think you’ll enjoy HoT a lot better. And again, I’m willing to help you with that any time you want to have a go at it. I do my best open-world HoT work on my daredevil, which I believe you said was one of the classes you were having trouble with.

vifesprit.3514:

No, it’s the opposite.

With HOT, the devs could finally understand some design problems:
- playing metamap (PvE) is completely different from a dev (mono)server that on a prod (mega)server
- PvP build diversity is not adding specialization
- WvW is a unique game mode in its own and not just guilds’ PvP
- …

Many players had already reported this problems years ago and most players find that the solutions don’t come quickly enough.
April Update is an attempt to stop the hemorrhage, but some problems are so deeply rooted in the code that it may take time and ANET has any interest to treat well its communication on these problems (if possible avoid the last year VeteranGate)

That is definitely a problem I hope they find a solution to quickly. I hear the issue comes down to making the new maps convenient to groups of players who wish to play together. But whatever they did makes it difficult for anyone to log into these maps and just PLAY.

When I attempt to do that in HoT, I generally have to wait through the remainder of the cycle and then sometimes the map will fill up and we’ll succeed on the meta a couple of hours later (maybe!).

I know about LFG and taxis and I use them, but I really wish there was a better way. I feel I shouldn’t have to do that to play these maps the way they were intended. And again, they are really excellent maps. I love most of them (not a big fan of the DS events, though!).

battledrone.8315:

Shiyo.3578:

HoT has done nothing but make the game much, much better in every way.

The only thing to really suffer is PVP, but it’s still really good and fun(imo).

hot managed to shrink and divide one of the nicest communities in the history of mmos
i get, that you like it , but it was really bad for this game
they basically took raid content, and used it in the “open world”
they have already nerfed it once, but its still raid content
and the maps..they look awesome, but playing them feels like a clinch with a horny vampire
no fun..no more money

You’re certainly welcome to your opinion, but the comment about taking raid content and applying it to open world is perplexing. What do you mean by that? The boss events? I don’t see how that qualifies as “raid” content in the open world.

I lack the perspective to truly understand what you mean by “ruined the game”. I started playing GW2 this year. HoT introduced me to maps like nothing I’ve seen before in this game or any other. The events are great, the visuals are gorgeous, but what I can’t get over is the complexity of these environments. From my perspective, HoT map design is a huge improvement over the core maps. I’m also really enjoying gliding, elite specs, and raids.

I appreciated the ease of content in the starter maps. It allowed me to learn the basics. But I don’t feel as if the difficulty increased much at all until nearly level 80. Many of the enemies seemed pitifully slow and responded poorly to movement (circling, moving in and out of melee range, kiting, etc.). These movement tricks still work well in HoT, but the enemies move faster, hit harder, and there tend to be more of them.

I also much prefer events to hearts, and noticed that events seem far more prevalent in higher level zones. The HoT event-based maps were perfect for me.

Having said that, I really dislike the megaserver system. I enjoy running around the jungle solo. There’s plenty of loot and I’m capable enough to solo most events or at least hang in there until backup arrives. But what I’d really like to be able to do is just zone in to an HoT map with the reasonable expectation that it will fill up with people and we’ll start knocking out events. My biggest frustration with these maps is that I can’t just start playing and expect to get anywhere.

The only other issue I have is a question of development resources. I’m too new to really know the time frame for development in this game. From reading the forums, players here have very diverse interests and ANet seems unable to satisfy them all. So, my concern given the many negative responses to the content I appear to enjoy most is obviously when can I expect to see more of it?

Four amazing maps. But only four. When will there be more? I’d love to see others like TD and VB, but many players I talk to strongly disagree.

Daddicus.6128:

Zoltar MacRoth.7146:

Wow. Two sentences in and already showing your bias. I like your honesty.

I don’t think the masteries are grindy – BUT I think your idea would make them so. I used my mesmer to do most of my masteries because he provided me with good mobility, stealth and a portal that provided insurance where I needed it.

If I had to complete the masteries your way (as I understand it) it would have been tedious, unenjoyable and very, very, very grindy.

EDIT: Added the clarification “(as I understand it)”. It’s possible I don’t understand your meaning, but as it reads I think you’re trying to provide a solution to a problem that doesn’t exist. Do a few rounds of DS with food, crystals and other boosters. The XP flows in remarkably fast, even on the last tiers of the masteries.

My bias was intentionally shown. I have no intention of responding to any “it’s not grindy posts”, so why not say so up front? But, I didn’t make that clear, so I apologize if it caused any offense.

But, perhaps it is time for an example, because I don’t think I spoke clearly enough. All of the below is hypothetical. Also, I’m using round numbers; I can’t find a source for the exact mastery XP requirements as they progressed. I’ll be using the pronoun “I” as the player below.

This first example is how it is now.

I haven’t been in HoT yet. I have an account with Andy, Barb, and Chuck as my more interesting characters. But, Andy is top of the heap. He’s the guy I’m going to take into HoT, because I believe he’ll be the one I can perform the best with.

Further, I’ve been waiting for HoT. I want to know what happens to Mordremoth. I want to take him down, plain and simple.

So, my natural inclination is to start through the story with Andy. But, I’m almost immediately faced with a 250k mastery requirement. I remember well asking myself why on earth they stuck that in the way. But, I assumed it was some kind of tutorial process, so I wandered around until I had done enough to cross the line.

Then, I go back to the story. I get a couple more missions done, and once again I’m locked out of the story until I grind through now several hundred thousand more XP (than what the stories gave me, plus what I earned getting to the next story instance location).

That’s annoying. But, again, it’s new and I really want to know what happens next. So, I put up with it again.

So, I repeat the same thing, only with more dum-dum XP required this time.

I muddle through, but spending a smaller percent of my gaming time doing it. After all, I have other things I want to accomplish than just burn through XP.

Finally, I got through that, chose another mastery, and continue the story. Which is getting interesting, by the way.

But, of course THIS time, I spent quite a bit of time going through the missions, all the while going for the wrong mastery! They didn’t give me a heads-up: “by the way, you should choose XYZ mastery next because you’re going to need it.” So, now I not only have to earn a million XP, but I have to earn them ALL before I can continue. (This paragraph is NOT hypothetical — it’s the way it actually happened to me.)

At this point, the player running Andy through is getting very frustrated, and turns to the forums. There he learns that not only is the grind going to continue, it’s going to get MUCH worse!

It was about then that I got sick of HoT and personally gave up. It wasn’t worth it.

But, now lets see the new process.

Andy does the same thing through the first mastery, or maybe two. But, only Andy has earned these masteries, and he earned them in 1/3 of the time (XP). Barb and Chuck can’t use the actual mastery, because the account hasn’t earned enough XP yet.

But, Barb and Chuck, each being in a different order from Andy and each other (hey, this player likes completeness), they earn their own mastery usages. And, by the time they get to the same mission where Andy is, the whole account has earned the right to use the same mastery (or masteries).

Hopefully I’ve explained the idea enough to make things clearer. (I have a tendency to speak too much and say too little — maybe I should have been a politician!) But, I think it’s true both that this is less grindy. It cannot be more grindy, because you still have to earn the exact same totals for the account.

The only real difference is that one or two characters can progress through the story at their own pace, not blocked (as much) by artificial barriers to continuation. And, if the player really wants the masteries account-wide, he has to EARN them account-wide (or, more accurately, on three toons rather than one).

The only extra grind I see is for players who only have one toon they play. But, the grind they have to endure is exactly the same, so it’s not a change. They’re just given the opportunity to play more than one character while earning those XP.

NOTE: They COULD have done the same thing themselves: march three toons through HoT, each progressing to the same stopping-points. But, only when the third toon gets to that position will the account earn the actual mastery to move forward. Hence the partial-earning that my idea allows.

While you bring up some valid criticisms, I’m not sure how “normal” it is to attempt to play through the storyline from start to finish prior to exploring any of the jungle maps.

I signed up for GW2 several months after HoT released, so maybe I don’t get how this game is supposed to be played. But I was more interested in exploring the maps and unlocking my elite spec and masteries than pushing for the end of the storyline. When I completed the storyline, I had already met the mastery requirements. In fact, I wouldn’t have even realized this was an issue based on my experience.

Daredevil is my strongest open world HoT class. The class is faster, hits harder, and avoids more damage than any of my others.

Dante.1508:

Just a flesh wound.3589:

Dante.1508:

General Health.9678:

You know you can just run past them, right?

I tried too 10 times.. its a vine very little room, dead in seconds..

So you fought the same enemy ten times, but didn’t try to use stealth to simply run past them, or smokescreen to block their projectiles, or dagger storm to reflect the projectiles back to kill them, or basilisk venom to disable an burst one of them down, or double dodges/vault their arrow volley to close in and kill them, or scorpion to pull separate and kill them?

Yes i tried all sorts of combos, most skills completely do no damage to them. its a vine i had very little room to fight them.. in the end i gave up after just trying to run past them again and again..

I have no idea what a F skill is.. sure i suck, daredevil is not my main to be honest i don’t know much about Daredevil i got a build on metabuilds and ran with it..

Still all levels of players should be able to play a game they paid for if not the game is not working correctly..

Your F skills are your profession specific mechanic skills, such as steal on thief, the pet controls on ranger, the shatter skills on Mesmer, attunements on Eles and so on. Perhaps you put them on other keys a long time ago and forgot? But that’s what they were originally bound to and are called.

No offense and all, but if you know you’re not good at the game why bring in an alt you don’t know well with a build you got off metabuilds instead of your main to an area that’s been known from before the expansion launched to be harder than the vanilla maps. Why didn’t you play the professions you know and are comfortable on? The thief is high damage but squishy. A high stakes win or lose, melee profession that depends on its steals, dodges, and invisibility to win a fight. It’s not really what you should be playing on if you’re already struggling.

I’m not good either and I make sure I’m playing on a char that I know well to the new areas to solo play. Professions I don’t play often and don’t know well, I only take there if I have at least one other person with me. Deliberately taking one of the squishest professions, one that you’re not comfortable with, into the hardest areas is a choice. You could be taking your main and enjoying it much more. Then you take the ones you’re weaker on later when you know the area better.

Still all levels of players should be able to play a game they paid for if not the game is not working correctly..

It’s not the level of player here. It was your choice to make it harder on yourself by choosing a profession you don’t know well and a build you got somewhere else instead of your main.

I already tried my Ranger, Engineer and Elementalist before my Thief, they did not have green jewelry, everything exotic and still got wiped so many times in HoT..

My Thief was a last ditched effort because i read daredevil is a good dps pve class but it still died so easy.. Its just not fun anymore in the game.

Nevermind i’ve given up on Gw2, not worth the frustration..

The offer is still on the table, Dante. I even added you to my contact list after my initial response, which you may have missed as you seemed occupied with responding to the people trolling you. But I have yet to see you actually logged into the game at any time since.

So, if you’d like to try and work through this some time, just hit me up in game. We can take a look at your build and see if there are any obvious issues there. I can also demonstrate some strategies that will make short work of those frogs and other nasties you’ve been having trouble with.

I’m pretty new so I don’t have a great deal of experience with the other classes you play, but if you want to know how to succeed with thief in the jungle, I feel I have a very good grasp of that.

MMOs are multiplayer, yes. And I’m not one of those who subscribes to the idea that HoT’s design is necessarily solo unfriendly. However, I see this as an issue of personal preference and I don’t think it’s unreasonable for players to have the expectation that personal objectives such as HP/MP challenges be primarily solo content. Indeed, I think that’s been the industry-wide trend for awhile now as the makers of MMOs have long since recognized that “hardcore” play doesn’t appeal to a mass market audience.

Not that HoT is “hardcore”, but what we’re really talking about is our preference with regard to the balance of group vs. solo content. For me personally, I enjoy the HoT maps a lot more than the core maps. But I can’t expect everyone to agree.

That’s a great idea…I think? I wasn’t around prior to HoT, so I don’t know how the LS content was received. But the implication is that players who might not find HoT palatable would likely jump at the chance to bypass jungle MPs in favor of picking them up in the LS instead. Correct?

So, at this point you both seem to be in agreement that Seera’s insufficiency is the result of a personal mental barrier.

It’s not so hard to understand, is it? If you think about it, you can probably find areas in your life where you know you could perform better, but you hold yourself back. Maybe you don’t want to invest the time? Maybe it’s an obstacle you find intimidating for some reason or other? Like not checking on your credit card statement because you don’t want to see how it reads. You could overcome it. You know you could. But for now, apparently, you have better things to do than to address it.

It’s so illogical, right? But who among us is performing to the best of their ability in everything they do? You’re holding yourselves back! Why?

Vova.2640:

Agree… I HATE TD with a passion… I don’t even go in there to get all the achievements… hands down the worst map in the game.. no only is it confusing to find your way in to, all the things in there hit way too hard and too…
If next expansions are going to have maps like TD then i am 100% NOT going to buy…

AB is the only good map from the 3 HoT maps.. DS is okay too. VB is also a pain cause most of the stuff is god knows where up in sky… but TD is just the worst…

Just like TD, your issue with VB is that you don’t understand how to get around. VB has 3 (possibly more? But I know of three!) pathways into the canopy: one by crossing over the wrecked airship at Mellagan’s wp and over to that 3 boss platform, another by climbing to the top of Faren’s Flyer wp and gliding across to a vine to the north that leads to a chain of updrafts, and another near that southernmost waypoint, head west up the stairs to where you find the doctor during the pact events. There’s a jump mushroom where the dust mites are. Find a vine up above that leads to a platform with wyverns. You run through the middle to find a jump mushroom on the other side that leads to the JP mastery near the matriarch platform.

If you familiarize yourself with those routes into the canopy, VB is easy to navigate. TD is more complex, but it’s the same way. You just have to explore these maps for awhile to get the hang of them.

Dante.1508:

General Health.9678:

You know you can just run past them, right?

I tried too 10 times.. its a vine very little room, dead in seconds..

So you fought the same enemy ten times, but didn’t try to use stealth to simply run past them, or smokescreen to block their projectiles, or dagger storm to reflect the projectiles back to kill them, or basilisk venom to disable an burst one of them down, or double dodges/vault their arrow volley to close in and kill them, or scorpion to pull separate and kill them?

Yes i tried all sorts of combos, most skills completely do no damage to them. its a vine i had very little room to fight them.. in the end i gave up after just trying to run past them again and again..

I have no idea what a F skill is.. sure i suck, daredevil is not my main to be honest i don’t know much about Daredevil i got a build on metabuilds and ran with it..

Still all levels of players should be able to play a game they paid for if not the game is not working correctly..

I already explained how you can beat them. If the vine is an issue, just line up before you engage and enter into melee range directly in front of them so that both frogs leap backward more or less centered on the vine. Dodge at them to evade the arrows they fire as they leap backward. Stay on top of them. Their leap is now on cooldown. Just lay into them with auto-attack and cleave with dagger or staff should make short work of them.

If your attacks are dealing insufficient damage to them, there may be a gear or build issue. Post your build from skill editor. Maybe there’s something you could tweak in your build that might help with the issues you’re having. Or hit me up in game some time and we can take a look at it then.