Guild Mission - Race: Crab Scuttle (Please Remove this)

[Ravij.9856]

So.. Elephant in the room. Barely ANYONE does the Crab Scuttle race when it's brought up for Guild Mission weeklies. This race is the ONLY race that requires a pack of people with some level of organization. It's impossible for those who don't run with the initial pack due to the fact that a majority of the mobs encountered along the way are NPC's and can often times kill you not even 1/4th into the race.

I have sat there at the start of this race when it's a weekly and have seen only small groups of 3-5 attempt it and I see the same small groups popping up back at the start with no one crossing the finish line.

When Crab Toss is the weekly though you see tons of people out here because it's more do-able than the race of hell that is Crab Scuttle.Could you consider removing it and or replacing the NPC mobs with Enemy mobs so that people will actually consider doing it?

[Endless Soul.5178]

Agreed. Every time this crab race comes up in the Guild Missions, we "Nope!" right out of it. And it even shows up in the EASY guild missions!

[jheryn.8390]

We do it every time it pops and succeed. Our guild only has 8-14 active players during guild activities. We finish it every time and we are by no means experts.

We failed quite often at first, but learned what to do and now almost all of our guild members make it through and some of them have a rough time with races period. Don't give up on it. We now have fun with it. We always see other guilds doing the race when we are doing it. So I think saying barely ANYONE does the race is hyperbole.

[Kalendraf.9521]

Crab Scuttle may be harder than other races, but there's no need to remove it. CV attempts this one every time it comes up in our rotation, and we have a very high success rate, even with small numbers participating. It helps by working on some of the events and other mobs along the path in advance to help clear the areas. Before starting the race, guildies can spread out to ensure the following are dealt with first:

• If "Reclaim the settlement by burning out the karka nests" is active, clear all but the north most nest. This will keep the south end of the camp cleared of karka for as long as that event stays in that state. Granted, it's hard to keep this state since usually some pug will usually come in and think they're being helpful by clearing the north nest to end the event. Even if that happens, there's still a few minutes of reprieve before the next karka invasion begins.
• If "Kill the reef drake broodmother threatening the Lionguard event" is active, kill the boss.
• Clear the reef riders (especially the vets) in the dappled shores area between the pavilion up toward the sand wurm maze.

There is no need to clear the golem event if it is up. For the race, there are 2 important short cuts that should be taken:

• At the point where the Brood mother usually hangs out, go through the flags and head straight into the water over the sunken boat, then head up onto the beach near the next set of flags. This path helps avoid several karka hatchlings along the shore.
• At the sand wurm maze, only go in far enough to cross the flags, then go back out and head northwest up along the outer rim to a position directly above the hole in the wall. From there, drop down and take the hole.

The rest of it is primarily avoiding traps, dodging karka hatchlings staying away from other mobs.

[Ojimaru.8970]

@jheryn.8390 said:We do it every time it pops and succeed. Our guild only has 8-14 active players during guild activities. We finish it every time and we are by no means experts.

We failed quite often at first, but learned what to do and now almost all of our guild members make it through and some of them have a rough time with races period. Don't give up on it. We now have fun with it. We always see other guilds doing the race when we are doing it. So I think saying barely ANYONE does the race is hyperbole.

Yep, even the super casual guild I'm in attempts and completes the race. It's fun and challenging, and always has been. Guilds having trouble completing the race need to revert to escorting their guild mates to the finish line.

[Kalendraf.9521]

Some other tips I didn't mention since they are more general and not specific to this race are these:

1. Put skill 1 (trap detection) on autocast (CTRL+RMB+skill 1) (applies to all but quaggan race)
2. Since the refresh on the trap detection is 5 seconds, but the range/duration of the trap detection is only about 4 seconds out, it can be useful to move for 4 seconds, then stop and wait for the next trap detection to cast, then move for 4 seconds, and wait, etc. After many runs, some players learn the locations of the traps well enough that they barely even need the trap detections, but for less experienced players, this can be helpful. (applies to all but quaggan race)
3. Make sure everyone is in the same map instance before starting. If the race is in progress when someone tries to activate it in another map instance, it will show a pop-up message asking if you want to join the other map. That's usually a bad idea since you'll lose your progress and have to restart, etc. This problem is more common when there are newer players who haven't learned how to switch maps to join the rest of the guild or are unfamiliar with guild etiquette such as only the guild leader/mission leader is supposed to activate missions.
4. Once you've completed the race, go back and clear mobs for other members who are still running.
5. Guild leaders/officers who are running the mission can place helpful flags near key locations (shortcuts, etc). Note this isn't terribly helpful for all races, but it can be very useful for some like Spider or Chicken where some shortcuts may not be obvious but their use can greatly increase a player's chance for success.
6. Since races are not instanced, multiple guilds can work cooperatively toward the final count (15/15). For example, a race can be started by one guild, but any other guilds can activate it from their guild menu and join the race in progress. If guilds prioritize PvE missions, the will each get the same set of guild missions for the week, increasing the likelyhood of multiple guilds trying the same race.
7. Races currently have a feature (or bug) that allows anyone from the guild that has passed the first set of flags to get credit for completing the race once a player from the guild has completed that instance of the race. It can be immediate or take several minutes for this to update, and it seems to occur faster if the race is already at 15/15 complete. If there are guild members that find races difficult, they can pass the first flag and wait in a safe area while others complete the race and then get their reward.

Additonal tips for Crab:Skill 2 (threaten) tends to only be useful as a short term speed boost. The ability to threaten crabs is not generally necessary since you can usually just run past them.Skill 3 (crab shell) is tricky to use correctly. Often when I try to use it to stop attacks from hitting, I mistime it and end up taking the damage anyways or even dying. Since its use also roots you in place, it's best to reserve its use for places where it is ok to stop and won't attract more aggro.Dodge - I find this often works better to avoid damage from hatchlings than skill 3. It also works to avoid traps. I tend to have the most success running this race when I don't use skill 3 at all, and just rely on dodge to avoid traps or hatchlings, and run past all other mobs.

[PopeUrban.2578]

@Ravij.9856 said:So.. Elephant in the room. Barely ANYONE does the Crab Scuttle race when it's brought up for Guild Mission weeklies. This race is the ONLY race that requires a pack of people with some level of organization. It's impossible for those who don't run with the initial pack due to the fact that a majority of the mobs encountered along the way are NPC's and can often times kill you not even 1/4th into the race.

I have sat there at the start of this race when it's a weekly and have seen only small groups of 3-5 attempt it and I see the same small groups popping up back at the start with no one crossing the finish line.

When Crab Toss is the weekly though you see tons of people out here because it's more do-able than the race of hell that is Crab Scuttle.Could you consider removing it and or replacing the NPC mobs with Enemy mobs so that people will actually consider doing it?

False, I solo every race every week we get them at least one run for the commendations. I hate to use hte phrase "learn to play" but in this case it is an apt one. Crab scuttle can be completed solo with practice just as easily as any of the others.

[CedarDog.9723]

I haven't encountered any problems with completing crab scuttle in any of the guilds I run missions with, with the exception of sometimes running into a broken server in which the timer's stuck and the race can't be started in-map properly. I don't agree that the race should be removed, though I guess it would be kind of cool if untransformed guild members could kill the NPCs while the race is active for the guild.

[Malediktus.9250]

I disagree. It is a easy guild mission, even if you are solo

[Coldtart.4785]

Crab scuttle is only 'hard' because you can't reliably get past the final camp if the event is up. If you clear that event first it becomes the easiest race.

[FrizzFreston.5290]

If ArenaNet was to remove everything that is too hard for someone there would be no content left.

[Ayrilana.1396]

Strange. I see it done all the time and it's very possible to get through if you keep moving. Those NPC mobs are not faster than you so you shouldn't be getting hit by them unless you're remaining still.

[Haaretram.6214]

@Kalendraf.9521 said:After many runs, some players learn the locations of the traps well enough that they barely even need the trap detections

For crab scuttle it's worth noting that the traps are visible even without the skill, showing up as small piles of sand.

Skill 2 (threaten) tends to only be useful as a short term speed boost. The ability to threaten crabs is not generally necessary since you can usually just run past them.

Crabs can set off traps, letting you save your dodge rolls for other threats.