Jump to content
  • Sign Up

Are strike missions worth it?


Recommended Posts

I mean reward-wise. I just finished the Icebrood prologue story and wanted to try the Shiverpeaks Pass mission. Seems the public instance there is not possible (anymore). (According to wiki only for the "latest" missions possible the public mode.)

The lfg seems not to have that many listings (maybe you need to wait until it is on daily) and lot of people seem to use raid slang (KP for kill proof and stuff) to indicate high skill requirements. Starting an own group probably takes long. (And I want to play the game instead of waiting to gather 10 people.)

From what I have seen most stuff can be done without Strikes: Grothmar offers enough other achievements for the meta achievement. For the other maps I heard you'd need to to strikes. Maybe I try it once. Or I just opt to not finish the meta achievement trying to get the reward from a reward track. (I think PvP/WvW reward tracks usually offer the same thing in their last chest.) Mastery points hopefully are - once everything is released - not required. (= enough mastery points from other sources without the few from Strikes to max everything.)

Money-wise I heard fractals were also better? (Starting from T3, I am at T2 now.)

So I guess the other exlusive stuff is just some skins that I'd be missing? (I do not care about skins too much though. Some rewards from Strikes seem to be non-bound and at the TP though.)

So I guess the best strategy would just be to farm other stuff (fractals, open world) - if the money from there is enough for me. Buying stuff (I think some chair that looks cool) from Strikes at the TP if needed. And only if really needed trying them a few times for the achievements. Skins as long-term goal (since they are my lowest priority.)


On a side note: I think it doesn't seem like players actually are using the Strikes to "get into raids" (as afaik intended when they got released).

At least the first one (have not played the later maps) seems to fit well into the map/story. A bit similar to dungeons in the core story. Where you even get mail to inform you about them. Here even better with the lore/story ... where you previuosly had been in the Pass in the story mission and the Strike requires you to back there.

You actually want to play them - because of that. Experiencing the lil bit additional story they offer on top. But when there is no public mode and the lfg does not have a setting for people that leisurely want to do them for fun and first-time achievement (I think there is one just for normal completion without timer). While the normal lfg options already seem crowed by raiders with their raid abbreviatoins/slang. In the end you probably will need to wait for the missions to be on daily. Unless you have regular groups I guess ... might lead to only people that already raided before ... doing the missoins. (Instead the other way round.)

The release schedule seems to hint that they might stop releasing them. (Strikes and raids = final ... no more of them and instead new stuff. DRMs it seems.) Well ... nexts expansion still might bring new stuff. But we know from other previous stuff how it "died". Dungeons seem not to be played that much anymore nowadays - maybe onyl for people that still need achievements. Bounties always seemed boring to me. And - here luckily, for the other contant it is sad - they seemed to also have stopped with them in S4.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Once you have the achievements I guess it’s on you wether you think the time put into them is worth doing. If you have a good team that can do them first time every time getting gold rewards without anything going wrong then why not, if you don’t have that in place but you still wanted to add them into your daily objectives I would say just do shiverpeaks, Kodan and fraenir, as they are easy to complete without needing more specific roles. In regards to money from elsewhere again I guess it’s down to what you like to do, personally t4 fractals is where you want to be, but once you’ve done daily’s+recs that’s basically it for the day. There are still guilds out there that do daily runs through all the strikes, one of my guilds goes through strikes everyday, depending on skill level of who turns up is what decides if they carry on after the easy 3. Good luck in whatever you chose to do to get your skins/achievements.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I've not done many strike missions because I only do them when I want one of the rewards. (Most recently I did Whisper of Jormag because it unlocks the ability to buy a bunch of minis) but when I have wanted to do one I've either been able to find a group in LFG without raid requirements or I've made my own and it's filled up. Of course if it's the second one I have to be clear with people that I don't know it and cannot tell them what they'll need to do, but either someone has joined who does know or we've been able to figure it out.

It's not something I'd want to do regularly, but I've also never reached the point where I decide whatever I want from them isn't worth the hassle and give up. If you're just looking for a way to make gold then there are easier options, but if you want the unique rewards then I'd say it's worth it.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Worth it? If you want currencies, skins, and achievements, yes. They aren't that difficult. Even the toughest strike I wouldn't rate as any more difficult than a T4 fractal (non-CM).

If you're having trouble finding a group, maybe try forming your own by hanging out in Eye of the North and advertising a bit while listed in LFG. Make sure you try to cover the expected roles (i.e. heals, boons) like you would in a raid or fractal run. Start with the easier strikes (save whisper of Jormag and boneskinner for last!) as pickup groups tend to fall apart if the group fails too hard.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Yeah of course it is possible to just start my own squad and trying to look for other people. But I usually try to inform myself a lot. Was worried about fractals as well ... back then. (Fractal Rush got me into them though - and they are less problematic than I had expected. Even in regerads to toxicity - in T1 and T2 where I played so far ... mostly nice friendly players.)

I guess strikes would not get me into raiding lol. (But maybe I one day I'll do the dungeons for the remaining achievements or at least story to unlock the reward tracks.)

So ... from what I have read: It is good to "farm" them or include them in your daily routine (which btw already has tons of other stuff ... this game offers a lot of things - and I need to still do older permanent achievements from story and maps ... just started with Icebrood) when you are good (good group and no wipes).

Other than that ... maybe only trying them for the mastery point(s) and achievements and then only every now and then the easier one. That is what I took from the post of Illumine Sparkler. Seems to make sense.

I guess for gold farming I have other stuff. And ascended gear I can get from tons of other sources. Especially the trinkets and back items but also the weapons/armor should not be too expensive from the other sources.

So ... doing them daily probably would be only for exlusive stuff you can get there. (Which can't be obtained by other means. I also saw some skins ... I thin armor ... that had as alternative option gold to just buy them but some weapon skins were exclusive.)

Some of the chests list precursors as super rare drops.

But I guess for those super rare drops it is not worth. (And you could just do some open world events that come with rare drops for the Treasure Hunter achievement. Some sell high at the TP. If you want to do stuff where you need to have luck to make money. Fractals have the guaranteed junk items that sell for a good amoount of silver. Slow but steady income.)


With all that said ... I think I'll focus on all the other achievemnents from the Icebrood maps first. Looking to unlock masteries n stuff. Checking the lfg to different times (yesterday was a bit too late when also fractals get less listings already) and when the strikes are on dailies. And once I feel ready I might try the easier ones when they are on daily - looking to get some achievements where needed for the story meta achievement where and/or where they come with mastery points.

Other than that I probably ignore them. (Unless I really like some and the are on daily and the lfg time does not take too long.) But I guess for my "regular daily routine" probly it would just increase the time I need too much since I have other stuff to do.


As for the "expected roles" (healer, boons, etc.) in T1/T2 fractals this wasn't needed yet. Guess it is time (since I also want to to to fractals T3 soon) to make the full ascended berserker set and use some dps build. (Seemsm most of the stuff focuses on power dps and flat increase of damage and no conditions and not so much focu son crit/precision from what I have seen.) Snowcrow guy seems to have simple raid builds for engineer (holosmith) with this ... even with the rifle - which I like soo much (didn't knew this as common ... back then it was pistols when elite were not released and I thought holosmith was only used with the sword).

Link to comment
Share on other sites

@Luthan.5236 said:Starting an own group probably takes long. (And I want to play the game instead of waiting to gather 10 people.)No it does not. It the only difference in time it takes is the moments spent writing your own LFG. Most times I put up an LFG for Shiverpeaks Pass the squad is filled before I finish the jumping portion to get to the boss.From what I have seen most stuff can be done without Strikes: Grothmar offers enough other achievements for the meta achievement. For the other maps I heard you'd need to to strikes. Maybe I try it once. Or I just opt to not finish the meta achievement trying to get the reward from a reward track. (I think PvP/WvW reward tracks usually offer the same thing in their last chest.) Mastery points hopefully are - once everything is released - not required. (= enough mastery points from other sources without the few from Strikes to max everything.)Strikes offer middle of the road gold. They also offer a bunch of unique skins, a full set of very nice armor skins to work towards and because the currency isnt asking for Grandmaster Marks it also offers the easiest path to ascended armor in PvE not count raids and t3-4 fractals.I'm really not sure the rewards need to be buffed.Considering Strikes are Intermediate Content, I would say their rewards are in a good place.Money-wise I heard fractals were also better? (Starting from T3, I am at T2 now.)Yes, T3 and 4 fratcals are more rewarding. They are also much harder.So I guess the other exlusive stuff is just some skins that I'd be missing? (I do not care about skins too much though. Some rewards from Strikes seem to be non-bound and at the TP though.)The skins are part of it. The Ascended Armor/weapons are part of it. The Achievements are part of it.If you want to farm gold go do open world metas or t3 or 4 fractals. Not everything needs to be a gold farm.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

If you play at peak times for your region, the lfg tab should show plenty of opportunities to join groups without demands for specific builds or kill proofs. Groups advertizing for a Shiverpeaks Pass - Kodans - Fraenir run are ideal. They're not too hard, read up on these and you'll probably do fine. It's worth doing, even if only once. With a half decent team you can knock these off pretty quickly. Most of the people joining these runs know what they're doing by now, the content is old enough for that, so the chances of ending up in a team that's at least halfway decent are good.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Regarding Shiverpeak Pass, you can go try it on your own. It's a very forgiving boss in terms of mechanics. Of course you won't kill it in time for any achievement/reward, unless you do optimal dps, but in either case you can check the mechanics of the boss without joining any group first. Just to see what the easiest Strike Mission is all about.

@Luthan.5236 said:The release schedule seems to hint that they might stop releasing them. (Strikes and raids = final ... no more of them and instead new stuff. DRMs it seems.)

The last Strike Mission was from 10 months ago. I wouldn't say they stopped releasing them, it's much more likely that the entire company is working on the expansion, with a token number of developers making the DRMs to keep us busy until then.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I used strikes to get my first set of ascended armour, the smaller items (head,shoulders, gloves, boots) are 150 shards and I was getting 100 or so shards a week just by doing about 3 or 4 strikes every day spending about 30 mins per day. The forging steel strike is quite generous but also takes the longest. I combined this with getting the larger items (body and legs) from crafting and it was pretty easy. You also get eternal ice shards, which you can convert to S4 currency for ascended trinkets or the skyscale.

I don't know how good it is to repeatedly do the strikes, the rewards go down after the first time you do each strike per day so I figured it's best to spend a short time on them per day and do other things.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I actually like strikes it is one of the 3 things I always do daily. If you can do them pretty fast the rewards are worth it. You get materials and lots of Eternal Ice Shards which you can convert to lws4 currency or buy 2 customizable trinkets easily. Bear in mind you need the mastieries to be able to open the chests. I should also note that it is not worth doing ALL the strikes: Forging Steel and Cold War take too long to complete. The other strikes are done in 30 minutes MAX with average groups. You would need 1 role that you can play well. Exotic gear is fine, but still if you want to get into good groups, you might need some LI, however some groups that require LI may accept the boneskinner kps too. Farm those, while learning to play, then link it to good groups and join them for fast clears.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

  • 2 weeks later...

Create an account or sign in to comment

You need to be a member in order to leave a comment

Create an account

Sign up for a new account in our community. It's easy!

Register a new account

Sign in

Already have an account? Sign in here.

Sign In Now
×
×
  • Create New...