Demon Of A Drifter 'Achievement'

[KROW.2673]

Look, I'm a normal guy with normal reflexes. How in the ever living [FLAVOR] am I supposed to get 1min or under for the Demon of a Drifter achievement in the raceway? My beetle (rented) decides when it wants to drift, there's times where I release the drift button and it keeps drifting (I have on average 50-60 ping). I've completely taken my hands off my keyboard and mouse and just watched my character drift across the map. I saw a thread back in 2018 where the time-limit was adjusted to 1:30, why was it reverted to 1min? I wouldn't care if it was just some random achievement that gave some achievement points, but this has a cosmetic tied to it that I'd like to try and actually 'achieve' without raising my blood-pressure to unhealthy levels. I've gotten (at my fastest) about 1:15 with my raptor, not sure if I have to wait a whole year and return with Griffin or something to try and blast through it that way.

 

TLDR: Demon of a Drifter's time limit is too strict (again) and drifting doesn't work properly for me for some reason (I know some elitists will hop on here and try and pick at whatever incompetency they think I have but rest assured, I know how to hold C to reduce friction and release it to regain it [WHICH DOESN'T HAPPEN]). Fix the time limit please, if I wanted to stress out over a racing game I'd play a dedicated racing game.

[Lyssia.4637]

Well, for what it's worth, the reward is the same ghostly racing scarf you can get for candy cobs.

 

I can't get it either, but it's just for fun.  Kudos to those who can; since the scarf is now available to anyone, I think you guys deserve a title.  "Demon Drifter," anyone?

Edit: could just be my setup, but I've found using the "backwards" button (S, on my layout), combined with drifting, gives me better control.  I still haven't made it, but I've shaved off a few seconds and can more reliably make the turns using reverse to slow speed before I start my drift.

Edited October 11, 2021 by Lyssia.4637

[Farohna.6247]

Oddly I got it last year doing the race event and not the individual timed race.  Haven't been able to repeat it or do it in the individual race.  It's a pain.  Fortunately, you can purchase the scarf now for those just wanting it.  Otherwise, watch a couple of videos on it, and the rest is just peactice and luck....ick.  It's not a fun course  

[Lamont.5973]

There is no doubt it is a pain but it is doable - did it on two accounts.  But i think it took well over 100 tries each

[thehipone.6812]

Beetle is just something that requires practice.  What did it for me is drilling it into my head that I need to release the drift button a little sooner than I think I do in order to regain traction.  Using the speed boost in the wrong spot will completely screw you over too.   If you are renting a beetle and are unfamiliar or rusty with the mechanics, then it is probably going to take a bit to get used to.  For whatever it is worth, I found the Snowden Drifts regular roller beetle race a good one to really get the hang of the timing of drifting. 

 

Keep at it, you can definitely do it.

[Super Hayes.6890]

Took me years and only  got it once. Have not been able to hit that time again since.

[Fny.4502]

I finally got it after a LOT of tries, and by then I was tearing my hair out in frustration. The time limit itself I don't see as a problem, the problem is the kitten beetle behaving erratically. I don't know if it's just me, or if it's a general problem, but for me the drifting only works occasionally. Sometimes it works, sometimes nothing happens and I just run straight forward as if the controls just ignored the command. Which makes me want to throw my pc out the window and scream. Bwaaaah.

[Coelho Nat.4697]

The achievement is doable, but requires a lot of attempts (took me hours). A rented beetle makes it even worse since you don´t have access to special skills: drift and bond of vigor.

[ASP.8093]

I got it after about an hour. (Non-rented beetle.)

You don't need to be perfect or max out your speed (afaik a "perfect" clear time is closer to 0:45), you just need to zoom-zoom through the long straightaways and avoid wiping out.

What ultimately did it for me was actually learning how to slow the beetle during the zig-zag part in the south-western field (see map) by rubbing up against the little trees and tombstones.

Edited October 12, 2021 by ASP.8093

[Ashantara.8731]

21 hours ago, KROW.2673 said:

Look, I'm a normal guy with normal reflexes. How in the ever living [FLAVOR] am I supposed to get 1min or under for the Demon of a Drifter achievement in the raceway? My beetle (rented)

I don't think it's doable on a rented, non-leveled Beetle.

[Lamont.5973]

I am not sure what skills the rented beetle has and I can't check since I am fully leveled.  You would definitely need the speed boost and maybe the drifting ability.  I think you could get by without bond of vigor but it would be tough

[Schimmi.6872]

It's definitely doable with the rented beetle too. I do the race on core accounts regularly and can get the gold chest in most of the tries. In my opinion the most important part is to know where/when to use the boost, so you are able to drift at the right places and aren't stuck in the boost.

 

As far as I remember the time was never 1:30, afaik it was even lower than now (55sec) back when the achievment was released.

[Ashantara.8731]

33 minutes ago, Schimmi.6872 said:

As far as I remember the time was never 1:30, afaik it was even lower than now (55sec) back when the achievment was released.

 

[Schimmi.6872]

41 minutes ago, Ashantara.8731 said:

 

Thx, then i remembered it wrong, maybe I should have checked the old patch-notes, I only looked through  the wiki-history of the achievment

[Lamont.5973]

I believe the change to 1 minute 30 seconds was for the mad drifter achievement.

[Lamont.5973]

yup, the demon of a drifter was added the following year in the October 15, 2019 notes:

"The Mad King's Raceway has been refurbished in the off-season and is now open! Two new races featuring the spry springer and nimble jackal have been added, and the returning Roll into Madness roller beetle track has been rebalanced with fewer gravestones, higher fences, and updated achievements, including a new achievement for completing the extreme challenge time! Show off your honed drifting to earn the new Ghostly Racing Scarf, or you can purchase one at a Halloween vendor—your trusty mounts will never know the difference."

Edited October 12, 2021 by Lamont.5973

[Ashantara.8731]

5 hours ago, Lamont.5973 said:

I believe the change to 1 minute 30 seconds was for the mad drifter achievement.

Ahhhh... thanks! Oh well, who can keep count of all those achievements anyway? 😄

[Andur.9275]

16 hours ago, Fny.4502 said:

I finally got it after a LOT of tries, and by then I was tearing my hair out in frustration. The time limit itself I don't see as a problem, the problem is the kitten beetle behaving erratically. I don't know if it's just me, or if it's a general problem, but for me the drifting only works occasionally. Sometimes it works, sometimes nothing happens and I just run straight forward as if the controls just ignored the command. Which makes me want to throw my pc out the window and scream. Bwaaaah.

While I have lots of fun on this racetrack (but I am a beetle maniac and yet had to spend many hours until I knew it well enough), I still can imagine, that it could be really frustrating.

I could give you many hints, but most of them are related to people who own a beetle. There are two important things though, that apply to rental beetles as well:

- Drifting is locked while you are boosting.

It becomes available again shortly after the sound of the boost starts declining. 

On this tight track it means, that you will have to boost as early as possible, or else you will miss the next turn.

- Drifting is only possible at certain velocities.

The trail indicates how fast you move. After a boost it will be bright orange which will change to purple and eventually to blue while your speed decreases. Once it turned blue, you will be too slow to drift.

[SoftFootpaws.9134]

These problems exist in all Roller Beetle races.

 

I've done them all many times, and golded all but Proxemics many times. There's alot of related bugs like drifting not working when it should,  boost key not working at full energy, mysteriously losing acceleration in open-field, energy orbs not appearing, energy orbs only restoring partial endurance if used within a split second of a boost, racing gateways not appearing or not activating, obsticles sending you flying instead of blocking you if you hit them at weird angles , events spawning solid objects that block your progress, and so on.

 

One time I ended up flying across an entire map because I hit a tree which somehow launched my Roller Beetle into the skybox, and there's no way to dispel it while mid-air without Bond of Faith.

 

Racing Roller Beetles is 50% skill and 50% luck. You can get alot better at it, but you can also mess up severely just because the stars happen to align in a way that the game isn't happy with. This is the whole reason you can reset the race immediately by clicking [X] in the top-right corner on the race event display.

 

Also, I've found that latency and performance affect it even though they shouldn't. A player on a better computer and a faster connection will only pull slightly ahead on Raptor, but can shave as much as 5-10 seconds off their total race time on the Roller Beetle, which doesn't matter in a 3-5min race but does matter significantly in a 1min race. And if you lag for any reason, like loading something, your beetle can lose some acceleration.

 

(These are a result of the game doing movement calculations client-side, which I won't get into here.)

Edited October 13, 2021 by Hannelore.8153

[Andur.9275]

Oh, I totally forgot:

Another thing to gain more control over the beetle might be to jump while you are boosting. The result is, that you will end up at approx. 80% of it's max speed, because the boost won't apply when you are midair. This way you will still be fast enough to drift, but slow enough to have more time to avoid obstacles / get used to the track / prepare for the next turn etc.

Additionally there should be mentioned, that the driftkey will be released automatically after a short while (although you still might be pressing it). So if you all of a sudden lose control because the beetle breaks out of it's drift, this might be the reason.

The road in Gendarran Fields (a zone where you can rent a beetle if needed) just north from the entrance to Lion's Arch is a good spot to practice this drifting behaviour, because it offers lots of open space and yet has some turns, where you can get used to the controls easily.

[NorthernRedStar.3054]

So it begins.

Again.

[Handsel.2891]

On 10/12/2021 at 9:48 PM, Ashantara.8731 said:

 

While that's true, the achievement "Demon of a Drifter" was added one year later, in 2019, and the gold requirement was "restored" to 1 minute for that, already. They also updated the track to make it easier to navigate.

The point is that the scarf was never obtainable for times over the minute mark.

[FortnitemareCourt.8354]

On 10/12/2021 at 1:45 PM, Ashantara.8731 said:

I don't think it's doable on a rented, non-leveled Beetle.

It is doable on a rented beetle. I've done this achievement on my pleeb base account with the rented beetle. That account doesn't have a single mastery as it doesn't have any expansions. It does take a ton of practice though.

[Sobx.1758]

On 10/11/2021 at 10:05 PM, KROW.2673 said:

Look, I'm a normal guy with normal reflexes. How in the ever living [FLAVOR] am I supposed to get 1min or under for the Demon of a Drifter achievement in the raceway?

By practicing.

On 10/11/2021 at 10:05 PM, KROW.2673 said:

My beetle (rented) decides when it wants to drift, there's times where I release the drift button and it keeps drifting (I have on average 50-60 ping)

Your beetle doesn't have the mind of its own, you need to understand how the sliding works, which -again- requires some practice. The regain of the grip isn't immediate after you release the button (and I don't think it should be).

[Bristingr.5034]

Took me a few weeks, but I got it. Still can't beat my rival though in that one.

You win that raceway Spooky...