What to do at 80?

[MoriMoriMori.5349]

@Skotlex.7580 said:

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:But I also like good challenge. The best moments in the game I've had so far were those where I went to maps ~5 lvs above my level at that time, and battles with veterans and champions when there were not too much of other players participating (otherwise it just turns into mindless massive abilities spam fest). Mobs on maps of my level and below rarely make for an intersting combat. So if I'll go back to those 30-60lv maps as 80lv elite spec, I'm afraid default level downscaling just won't be enough.

So, basically, against large enough groups of people, difficulty just collapses. Except when you tie strict defiance bar breaking mechanics to group success, in which cases the event becomes impossible for such large zergs (hello, serpent's ire).

Yea, that's exactly the problem. I hate those massive zerg clickfests with passion, and never stop by when I see one at event (unless I just want to complete daily asap, and it's one of the easiest task), even leave that map for good. I'm starting thinking now whether it was a good idea to move to a more populated server at all (just wanted to see a bit more people around, it's called MMORPG for a reason, after all).

Your suggestions align well with my own ideas on how it could be fixed. Basically, yes, creating challenge artificially seems like the only option (as I still would like to explore the other half of the core map I haven't so far, I like exploring the world). Hopefully the 80lvs maps will live up to my expectations.

Regarding doing some events alone - that's another extreme, as it's multi-player game, after all. I would like to be able to cooperate with some random dude and do a great job together. Just not with a 20 more dudes which will reduce fun to zero :) I still remember that epic 15 minutes fight with some icy dragon thingy in some sort of icy fortress somewhere in Shiverpeaks. There was just one another dude and we put the kitten down with good 'ol teamwork and guts :)

[Skotlex.7580]

@"MoriMoriMori.5349" said:I'm starting thinking now whether it was a good idea to move to a more populated server at all

in pve your server does no matter, because ANet added something called "megaserver" which allows players of all servers to play in the same map instances, exactly to combat empty maps.

Good luck in your quest to make the game challenging. :)

[perilisk.1874]

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:Don't want to start another thread, so hope nobody minds me re-using this one.

I have a similar worries as OP. This game makes you level extremely fast, I often hardly had opportunity to use my new gear before I was already 10-15 lvs above its intended level and had to buy new whole set. I'm 70 lv now, and I guess it will take me at best 2 weeks to reach 80.

Leveling is mostly just a way to gate access to mechanics and areas to keep people from getting overwhelmed. In the long run, they expect you to develop player skill more than character numbers. The main source of grinding for power is Ascended/Legendary gear, and it's not too much of a power boost over exotic, nor is Ascended that hard to get for most stat sets.

[joneirikb.7506]

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:

@Skotlex.7580 said:

@MoriMoriMori.5349 said:But I also like good challenge. The best moments in the game I've had so far were those where I went to maps ~5 lvs above my level at that time, and battles with veterans and champions when there were not too much of other players participating (otherwise it just turns into mindless massive abilities spam fest). Mobs on maps of my level and below rarely make for an intersting combat. So if I'll go back to those 30-60lv maps as 80lv elite spec, I'm afraid default level downscaling just won't be enough.

So, basically, against large enough groups of people, difficulty just collapses. Except when you tie strict defiance bar breaking mechanics to group success, in which cases the event becomes impossible for such large zergs (hello, serpent's ire).

Yea, that's exactly the problem. I hate those massive zerg clickfests with passion, and never stop by when I see one at event (unless I just want to complete daily asap, and it's one of the easiest task), even leave that map for good. I'm starting thinking now whether it was a good idea to move to a more populated server at all (just wanted to see a bit more people around, it's called MMORPG for a reason, after all).

Your suggestions align well with my own ideas on how it could be fixed. Basically, yes, creating challenge artificially seems like the only option (as I still would like to explore the other half of the core map I haven't so far, I like exploring the world). Hopefully the 80lvs maps will live up to my expectations.

Regarding doing some events alone - that's another extreme, as it's multi-player game, after all. I would like to be able to cooperate with some random dude and do a great job together. Just not with a 20 more dudes which will reduce fun to zero :) I still remember that epic 15 minutes fight with some icy dragon thingy in some sort of icy fortress somewhere in Shiverpeaks. There was just one another dude and we put the kitten down with good 'ol teamwork and guts :)

I like this person.

I completely agree, some of my most fond memories is stuff like trying (and failing) to kill Trogdor the rampaging angry champion cave troll in queensdale, the Pugslayer, before he got nerfed into a veteran. And the first time I with another random player managed to 2-man down the Giant of Nageling, which had slaughtered me so many times before.

I've tried all kinds of silly self challenges, including:

• Play with no weapons (lasted until level 45 on thief before I just got so bored)
• Play with no Armor (gotten to 50, it's getting a bit too extreme)
• Play with White Gear/Armor/only race skills etc (can be fun for a while)

I used to enjoy WvW, but they balance is so off I just don't enjoy the fights any longer.

Thankfully the newer maps are a good bit more engaging, Verdant Brink is my favorite map in the entire game now. Still wish they made more interesting AI to fight against, still enjoy the Test AI's in the pvp lobby that you can try builds against.

---

But yes as Dani said, hitting 80 didn't change how I played the game, I continued doing the same (exploring everything and learning combat), the moment I was forced to change was when I had explored everything except Orr and WvW (back when it was part of map completion). I had avoided Orr back then because I really don't enjoy the wasteland/undead themes, but found that I liked the actual maps besides the themes (no hearts!!!).

After exploring those for a while, I ended up deciding to go into WvW, and enjoyed that for a couple of years (until hot release, which did make fights un-fun for me). Did more HoT maps and stuff since, several of the newer maps. Still enjoy the combat in the game, though I wish the game was better at adding more challenging combats, instead of just more dmg/hp sponges.

[Skotlex.7580]

@joneirikb.7506 said:

• Play with White Gear/Armor/only race skills etc (can be fun for a while).

I am almost positively sure that white quality gear is what open world npcs use, and the reason they do so little damage and die so fast. After expansion packs, I've noticed npcs seem a lot more resilient so they probably upgraded gears at last. :P

[Tiviana.2650]

@TheOrlyFactor.8341 said:Fashion Wars is the true endgame of Guild Wars 2.

Sadly OP this seems to be the case. Good luck finding endgame content outside of it.