Curse

Kaida the Heartless · Nov 19, 2006, 02:12 AM // 02:12

I think the mission idea of Sahlahja is great and very comical, but I think the mission itself is too hard. I feel that if the mission is going to remain this hard, the reward for spending 20 minutes killing ghostlies and bugs (for no drops, and even if there were any I wouldn't have time to stop and pick them up) is quite minimal at best. I have a few suggestions to balance this mission out and make it a little more worth the player's time.

I'm not saying incorporate all of these, because that would make the mission too easy, but adding a few would definitally balance this level out.

- Place markers on the (U) Map indicating where the next Greater Infestation is. Ghostlies spawn too fast for players to continuously be searching for the next one.

- Greater Infestation buff lasts a little longer or gives an inherent speed boost to the worm (to outrun the ghostlies).

- Gives worms the speedboost anyways. Even 10% would help significantly.

- Have the ghostlies spawn somewhat slower than they currently do.

- Lost Souls ALWAYS drop the ancient armor.

There are plenty of ways to balance this out. I just feel that alot of the community is having a hard time with this mission and/or is not getting rewarded well enough for it. I realize there are probably a few elitists here who probably snag 4 armors a round but like I stated, the majority of the player community is having issues with this mission. They want shiney armor too!

Thoughts?

Antheus · Nov 19, 2006, 03:39 AM // 03:39

It's a *challenge* mission. The harder the better.

Unlike gate of madness or similar showstoppers, this is optional mission, that you do to achieve the highest score possible.

It's not about farming armor, that's just a side-effect. Like jade/amber rewards for Factions pvp. You can play only to farm that, but it's about challenge.

The other option is to buy the armor. Money earning methods for that are easy, reliable and predictable. But this must remain a challenge mission.

Shrouded Waffle · Nov 19, 2006, 03:59 AM // 03:59

http://guildwarsguru.com/forum/showt...php?t=10075020

Great guide on how to do this mission, I used it the very first time I did the mission and scored 143 points and 1 armor.

You just have to watch the U map for moving red dots, and hold CTRL down to spot the Greaters and kill 'em fast.

I don't really see anything super hard about this mission, I actually liked it.

If you just can't seem to grasp how to do it, send me a PM in-game and I'll be glad to help you out if I'm not busy.

Good luck!

Kakumei · Nov 19, 2006, 04:09 AM // 04:09

Pacman is too hard for you?

Savio · Nov 19, 2006, 04:22 AM // 04:22

Quote:

Originally Posted by Kaida the Heartless

- Place markers on the (U) Map indicating where the next Greater Infestation is. Ghostlies spawn too fast for players to continuously be searching for the next one.

Greater Infestations and killing Maddened Spirits are the least of your problems. Besides, you couldn't take down 3+ Maddened Spirits even with Spirit Form.

Quote:

- Greater Infestation buff lasts a little longer or gives an inherent speed boost to the worm (to outrun the ghostlies).

- Gives worms the speedboost anyways. Even 10% would help significantly.

You have Junundu Tunnel. If you can't outrun Maddened Spirits with that, a 10% speed boost won't help you.

Quote:

- Have the ghostlies spawn somewhat slower than they currently do.

A new one every 15 seconds is nothing unless you like to pass in front of their spawn points a lot. Even if you do that, taking an occasional hit or two won't kill you.

Quote:

- Lost Souls ALWAYS drop the ancient armor.

As much as the farmer in me would rejoice, that's contrary to what the design of the challenge mission is.

Quote:

the majority of the player community is having issues with this mission.

The majority of the player community can't wrap their heads around a mission where the main goal isn't to kill everything in sight.

Quote:

Originally Posted by Antheus

It's a *challenge* mission. The harder the better.

No, the challenge is (supposed to be) to get the high score. Armors should be and are fairly simple to get.

Quote:

The other option is to buy the armor. Money earning methods for that are easy, reliable and predictable.

That is directly contrary to what Arenanet's goal for the challenge missions and armors was. Armor piece drops fall off dramatically after your third/fourth armor drop, meaning that most players will only be able to get what they need and have to play much more to get the fifth. The goal is for every player to obtain armors themselves.

There are two guides on Guru on how to do this challenge mission: mine and lordhelmos's. To summarize it here:
After the first 60 points (which are easily gotten by eating a Greater Infestation, then a Maddened Spirit, then moving on to the next Greater), it becomes one great, boring game of "loop around the map looking at Lost Soul spawn locations". After you hit 4 armors, you warp out and turn them in.

The main problems with players are:

They think a high score affects armor drops. (Not true, ask the 55ers in this mission.)
They can't figure out how to heal. (Tunnel then Bite. Repeat as necessary.)
They don't know how to kill Maddened Spirits. (It's not Arenanet's fault they can't read mission objectives or talk to NPCs in the mission outposts.)
They think they have to continually kill Greater Infestations and Maddened Spirits. (After 60 points, they may as well not exist points-wise.)
They somehow can't find Lost Soul spawn locations. (There are only 9, so it's not hard to notice a pattern after a few hours.)

The main problem with the mission is that after 100 points it becomes downright boring and pointless. Attempting to get a high score here with a wurm is overshadowed by the 55ers who can get points 3 times faster than a wurm rider. Getting extra armors takes far too much time to be profitable. I got my armors, sold the excess ones, and never came back; most people would be the same, if they weren't so fixated on trying to figure out how to kill Maddened Spirits.

Kaida the Heartless · Nov 19, 2006, 07:00 AM // 07:00

Oh. Screw this post then. I was under the assumption that a soul only spawned every 100 points!