HoT maps are dead.

[Mitch.4781]

No they aren't. Last night I did a hp run do get points for my guardian and the commander did all 3 maps with a full squad. More people wanted to join but there was no room. Also, once the newness of POF is over and people realise there is no incentive to stay, HOT will be flooded again.

[etsubmariner.4690]

I feel that anet making so much group activity in HoT was going to be a problem as other things came out. Oh yes, important and necessary for "some", but HoT is all about massive groups. Every try tarir with five people on each side? Uh, no. At least there's some minor reward for doing it even then.

[Daharahj.1325]

HoT? how about vanilla? I couldn't find a squad for teq yesterday.

Not complaining just making an observation, it's to be expected really.

[alceste.8712]

The story in HoT is not really required for PoF. You are okay to skip the HoT zones completely. The griffon makes gliding absolutely unnecessary.

[Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.294]

I think it was down in Player's Helping Players that someone posted that you should make sure you go around killing all the "yellow" mobs - the non-hostile ones that you CAN aggo. It seems there is bonus XP tied to how long they've been spawned. So, for "power" leveling, that seems to be a smart suggestion. Second thing it to make sure you are ALWAYS running some kind of food. At a minimum Bowl of Candy Corn Custard grants 15% xp for each kill, and it's dirt cheap. Third thing is, be sure to grab the XP booster from the bar tender in your guild hall - it lasts for 24 in-game hours (not 24 IRL hours), so you only have to update it once every week or two (depending on how long you play each day IRL). Fourth thing is the Black Lion Trading Company boosters. You can buy them from Laurel vendors in any racial city for laurels that you get from login rewards. The Experience Booster is 1 laurel and gives 50% increased XP in all game types, 50% gain in WvW and PvP reward tracks, and up to 100% bonus on kill streaks (from the wiki), and lasts for 30 minutes.

Do that and you'll run out of places to put the experience faster than you get the mastery points.

Also, one thing to keep in mind about HoT and LWS3, and PoF for that matter, is that breaking the defiance bar is nigh mandatory (and is mandatory in some cases), whereas it is "optional" in the core Tyria maps. In core Tyria, you can just DPS down a champ without breaking that defiance bar. If you try that in HoT, you are going to get wrecked. BAD. So learn what your hard and soft CC's are, and learn to drop them on the bad guys quick. Also learn to keep them in reserve for when you need them, instead of just mashing all the attacks that are off cool-down (a habit that I still have problems keeping under control :) ).

[Veprovina.4876]

@alceste.8712 said:The story in HoT is not really required for PoF. You are okay to skip the HoT zones completely. The griffon makes gliding absolutely unnecessary.

You mean that thing that requires you to do a collection and costs 250g that not everyone is going to have or want?

[Veprovina.4876]

@"Kaltyn of Torbins Deep.2946" said:I think it was down in Player's Helping Players that someone posted that you should make sure you go around killing all the "yellow" mobs - the non-hostile ones that you CAN aggo. It seems there is bonus XP tied to how long they've been spawned. So, for "power" leveling, that seems to be a smart suggestion. Second thing it to make sure you are ALWAYS running some kind of food. At a minimum Bowl of Candy Corn Custard grants 15% xp for each kill, and it's dirt cheap. Third thing is, be sure to grab the XP booster from the bar tender in your guild hall - it lasts for 24 in-game hours (not 24 IRL hours), so you only have to update it once every week or two (depending on how long you play each day IRL). Fourth thing is the Black Lion Trading Company boosters. You can buy them from Laurel vendors in any racial city for laurels that you get from login rewards. The Experience Booster is 1 laurel and gives 50% increased XP in all game types, 50% gain in WvW and PvP reward tracks, and up to 100% bonus on kill streaks (from the wiki), and lasts for 30 minutes.

Do that and you'll run out of places to put the experience faster than you get the mastery points.

Also, one thing to keep in mind about HoT and LWS3, and PoF for that matter, is that breaking the defiance bar is nigh mandatory (and is mandatory in some cases), whereas it is "optional" in the core Tyria maps. In core Tyria, you can just DPS down a champ without breaking that defiance bar. If you try that in HoT, you are going to get wrecked. BAD. So learn what your hard and soft CC's are, and learn to drop them on the bad guys quick. Also learn to keep them in reserve for when you need them, instead of just mashing all the attacks that are off cool-down (a habit that I still have problems keeping under control :) ).

I have 10 birthday boosters and i run them non stop + guild boost + food, but it's still slow.

And i know what CC's are, i'm not "that" new.

[FANY.6524]

I'm sorry you're having this problem. :( But it is to be expected when there is new content. VB, AB, and DS also saw population loss with the release of Living Story 3 maps as well, but people will come back. Very valuable loot drops in those maps, so don't expect them to be dead for long. (In fact, some of my guildies went back and did Octovine on Sat or Sun (can't remember which) and they had a fine time). It's only been three days - don't lose hope!

Also, consider finding someone with a commander tag that knows the events and ask them to do a run. :) That'll get people in. People love commander tags.

[Danikat.8537]

I just checked and on EU there's currently squads advertising in LFG for Verdant Brink, Auric Basin and Tangled Depths. Mix of event/meta event groups and specific goals like HP or achievements.

None for Dragon's Stand but that's probably because the map doesn't reset for another 1/2 an hour.

[Draknar.5748]

Luckily Anet had the foresight to not add meta events to PoF zones. It still appears that DS/AB meta will be the way to go in terms of loot once it all settles.

With a new xpac it's difficult to keep people interested in the previous content. Hopefully this strategy will help to keep those areas relevant.

[maddoctor.2738]

I see lots of LFG posts and squads for all HoT maps

[alceste.8712]

When I was on last night on my alt there was mostly HP trains up. That being said, I was able to get my elite unlocked pretty quickly do to the HP train so I was not on the HoT maps for long before heading to PoF.

[Healix.5819]

@etsubmariner.4690 said:I feel that anet making so much group activity in HoT was going to be a problem as other things came out. Oh yes, important and necessary for "some", but HoT is all about massive groups. Every try tarir with five people on each side? Uh, no. At least there's some minor reward for doing it even then.

HoT was designed for a high active population, but it's not like you absolutely require a full map. You can't just casually spam 1 however like you can with the zerg. 5 per side? What if I told you that that was what ArenaNet intended while 3 per side was the minimum scale? Realistically however, the average player probably couldn't handle it, but I remember doing AB and TD like that back during the first week or two.

[MedievalThings.5417]

The new maps have no meta. This is day 4 after launch of new content. People will go back to HoT to finish stuff once they get to experience the NEW stuff. Patience is a virtue.

[Ahlen.7591]

@Veprovina.4876 said:Ok, ok, clickbaity title, but seriously. No meta squads, no one on them lol.And i want to continue the HoT story and finish it before i move on to PoF, but i have to grind masteries and the only way to do that is by doing events on HoT maps...

So, how long do you think this'll last? I know PoF is brand new and people are excited, and i'd like to play it to, but what little i played seemed to require some previous story knowledge...Also, if anyone can tell me without too much spoilers. Is what happens in HoT relevant to what's happening ih PoF, should i play HoT first? Or can i play PoF without it spoiling the events that happen in HoT?

I'm at the part where you need Nuhoch mastery to progress in Tangled depths.

Have done each main meta every day since release of PoF and they've been full each time.

Meanwhile doing run through story on another character I didn't see ANYONE in desert highlands.

[VaLee.5102]

I did a HP train today and the HoT maps had more map chat and felt more alive than anything I've seen in the PoF maps during the weekend.