Curse

taion · May 21, 2005, 09:14 PM // 21:14

Hill Giants aren't excessively difficult to kill as a ranger. They're not extremely spirited pursuers, so you can assure yourself a kill with negligible risk by slapping some DoT on the giant and kiting it until it drops dead. The problem with this is that if you're not close enough to the mob when it dies, the kill doesn't count as yours, and you get no XP and no drop.

The canonical hill giant farm spot is probably Riverside Province, near the end of the mission (hills to the west of the mission end point). Ten of them spawn there, but the drops there have been rather mediocre. Riverside's prolly been differentially nerfed over Sanctum Cay.

Sadye X · May 21, 2005, 09:49 PM // 21:49

An exploit is usually considered some aspect of a game that a player or players use / abuse / manipulate in such a way that wasn't intended by the game designers, quite typically for personal gain, correct ?

I *won't* go so far as to say that farming in general is a form of exploit ... but there are many who take it to that point, then write guides and post videos of *how to* ... next thing you know the area / spawns are nerfed and it doesn't only hurt the people who farm there, but the entire game community as well, as the casual gamer now has even less of a chance to get runes / rares in that area.

There's some obvious examples that everyone knows of ( Riverside ) and some that were abused by people on a noticable basis, one being in Ring of Fire. They added in more bosses in the beginning area so you could potentially build up some morale before getting to the toughest part of the mission ... but what they didn't mention of the change is that to the left of where the mission starts, there were two groups of Nightmares that would spawn via proximity. The second always dropped a rare / semi rare. I'll bet you can guess what happend ... no more second spawn. Why? Beause people would enter mission / grab the drop / return to outpost / rinse / repeat. Now any team going through RoF who beats it in a run or two has no chance of getting a rare from that part of the mission. Fair to the general gaming community ?

Farm all you want, but please do so with the general player base in mind ... don't let what you're doing to unlock runes etc turn into yet another example of abuse that causes nerfs that effect the other thousands who play the game.

Just my 2gp on the matter

Ninlawen · May 22, 2005, 01:00 AM // 01:00

Quote:

Originally Posted by Xanthippe

So far you can now only get 100 blades from Undead Prince Rurik from the last mission.

You can get it from Gorgaan Hatemonger, about 4 minutes from Piken Square.

Lawyer · May 22, 2005, 01:13 AM // 01:13

That was changed recently.

The only known place to capture 100 Blades right now is Undead Rurik.

Shagsbeard · May 22, 2005, 03:41 AM // 03:41

Quote:

Originally Posted by Phantom Force

Farming is a necessary and important part of a game.

I got this far and said to myself, "Why should I keep reading this?"

This mindset is so contrary to the design of this game. Items will not make that big of a difference in play. I challenge you to PvP with a premade 20, and to then try with one that you deck out with all sorts of goodies. It wont be that noticable of a difference.

taion · May 22, 2005, 08:08 AM // 08:08

Straight-out, the power difference between having the appropriate runes and upgrades and not is about 20%. Adding appropriate skills versus the ones you have on the premade builds makes a major difference. Many of the PvP premades are just terrible. One of the clearest examples of this is R/E build. The first one didn't work outright without a shocking bow string, and the current incarnation uses its elite skill slot on something that gives little advantage over just using a fiery bow string. Even a set of all the appropriate minor runes and base stat upgrade items makes an extremely noticeable difference in power level.

I have actually tried PvP in Tombs with premade builds versus my own personal builds for the same niche, and the premades are significantly less effective, and this is just in PUGs. The difference between a team that can coordinate and fine-tune an overall team build and be 20% or so more powerful and one forced to use generic templates at base power level is not to be underestimated.

TaG Eledhel · May 22, 2005, 01:08 PM // 13:08

sorry but for the life of me those who farm and look for more places to farm are just ruining a great game, have any of you sad idiots who consistantly insist on farming, leeching, ripping off newbies etc ever actually played a game and completed it without the need for what is nothing more than legitimate cheating. we had all these problems before in games like Diablo and to be honest i see no point in the whole farming thing. try playing the game thru without the need to farm and you may just find it all the more enjoyable when u succeed after alot of hardwork instead of the pathetic lets rip off all the noobs and make loads of money crap

Banned · May 23, 2005, 07:30 AM // 07:30

Let me state that I understand both points of view, of those who farm and those who don't and expect the devs to eventually shut down any spots for good drops. As a person who has finished all the quests and end game (Abbadon's mission) what does a person look for after finishing the pve, other than the pvp aspect? Part of the game, at least for me (while I do not farm) is finding choice items and continuously upgrading my equipment with better items. It was that way in D2 and CoH, after years of gaming, all the ingame content was exhausted and all that was left was to find new and better items (aside from the online friendships and helping others out). I'm not saying this is the case here, but there is something to what they say, drops aren't that good unless you farm. I have a 20, 18, and so forth, and have a LOT of hours into this game already and have found 4 purples and 4 golds the entire time. So, even though I consider myself a hardcore gamer, I'd have to say that farming is a legitamate playstyle, though in the long run it does hurt the gaming community. All I can say is I hope the devs balance it out and make it fun for all types of players and not make it a boring game, where the content becomes boring and the items stay stagnant.

Yojinj · May 23, 2005, 10:31 AM // 10:31

I got a lvl 20 N/Mo build and i really dont see how to get a 15k armor, ever.
Also to say that all lvl 20 have more gold then they can use is a terrible error.
I had to work hard for the 1500 armor at Droknar and i just dont find any places where i could become rich in a short time.

My build is a Death Blood one, primary focused on getting Horrors and fiends up and running (both sorts lvl 16), blood i use for some range attacks to support my troops.

Blaag · May 23, 2005, 04:30 PM // 16:30

Well for the money question.. just pick up everything you find, salvage lots of items, sell the material.. i had played for like 12h just going around in missions and got myself 5000gold~ not that hard in my opinion.. umm ofcourse another good way to get richer is trade off black dye from newbies ;P and then watch for the material trader's prices of material.. just a while i go i sold my 200 iron ingots for 195gold/10.... you do the math

and for the farming part.. there is no best farming place.. different monsters have different drops though.. go kill monsters that drop the sort of items you like to get and try to take as few party members as you can, there you go..

Phantom Force · May 26, 2005, 11:47 AM // 11:47

Quote:

Originally Posted by TaG Eledhel

sorry but for the life of me those who farm and look for more places to farm are just ruining a great game, have any of you sad idiots who consistantly insist on farming, leeching, ripping off newbies etc ever actually played a game and completed it without the need for what is nothing more than legitimate cheating. we had all these problems before in games like Diablo and to be honest i see no point in the whole farming thing. try playing the game thru without the need to farm and you may just find it all the more enjoyable when u succeed after alot of hardwork instead of the pathetic lets rip off all the noobs and make loads of money crap

First I can understand your point of view on not liking to farm. But you obvisouly lack intelligence to be respecfult calling everyone who farms sad idiots. Are you 15?

It is not my favorite thing to do, but it is necessary. Especially if you want to get the most expensive armor and/or upgrade weapons. Farming is completely different than ripping off newbs and leeching there is no comparison between the two. Farming is taking your character out (solo or with others) and looking for items to sell for gold, salvage, trade, etc. to make yourself better. I would love to see you simply play the game through not doing any extra farming and still get all your 15k armors and upgrades. Major reason other games got screwed up economies was because of hacks, dupes, and bot programs. This game does not have that and hopefully Anet will be smart enough to put them down if it ever happens.

If you ever plan to make a guild hall, upgrade everything, and have top notch stuff so you can do PvP as well as be strong suited for PvE then you'll have to farm some what it is part of the game. Otherwise they wouldn't make it so expensive for armors and sigils wouldn't cost so much.

*Note: Aside from farming being legitamate part of the game at least people are earning what they make rather than the noobs who buy gold from online stores. There are far more issues to worry about than people farming to get money to improve their equips and hopefully get a guild hall if they are trying.

Viruzzz · May 26, 2005, 04:08 PM // 16:08

wanna earn money?

get a tombs group together. win HoH get sigils or gold drops.. the longer you hold it the bigger chancey ou will have of getting one/more

Aug · May 26, 2005, 08:00 PM // 20:00

Certainly Sigils are the biggest cash cows, but that requires 8 people to work together, that know each other, for each member to really stand a chance at getting one. It's unlikely a PUG would win more than twice in a row, if at all, and you aren't 'guaranteed' a sigil till the 3rd consecutive win (9th Sigil).

I've found the best way to farm is to hunt down large hordes (groups of 4-8 work well) of mid-high level mobs (14-18 range) with a Mo/War. Use DF/Prot/Smiting and a lil bit of Tactics. Equip Smite Hex, Reversal of Fortune, Shielding Hands, Zealots Fire, Balthazar's Aura, Balthazar's Spirit, Divine Boon and Bonetti's Defense.

Phantom Force · May 26, 2005, 10:39 PM // 22:39

Quote:

Originally Posted by Shagsbeard

I got this far and said to myself, "Why should I keep reading this?"

This mindset is so contrary to the design of this game. Items will not make that big of a difference in play. I challenge you to PvP with a premade 20, and to then try with one that you deck out with all sorts of goodies. It wont be that noticable of a difference.

Well don't read farther. I never said this game was designed strictly for farming and attaining things like D2, FFXI, etc. But farming is important and necessary. Please tell me how will you pay for and find money to purchase a sigil if you do not get one in HoH???? Or how will you buy your 15k armor??? Gonna buy gold online? I never said I felt the game was based solely on farming, but it is part of the game and needed. I don't believe this game is based on farming or pvp. What makes this game good regardless of all the minor complaints and debates from all sides is that it appeals to everyone and has something for everyone. You are not forced to farm to get slightly better items but you can if you choose, you don't need to farm to be good in PvP but having nice equips doesn't hurt either. There are good points and bad points for all games and I think Anet is trying to satisfy everyones needs.

Hand of Shiva · May 29, 2005, 10:42 AM // 10:42

I would like to point out that farming is not only for items and gold you can farm elites as well which is necessary to stay competitive in PvP. And have you notice that it took you 12 hours to get 5k gold? can you imagine that the sigils are 75 to 80k to buy not to mention the major and superior runes? Farming is a grind but its a nesecary one.

ajeh · May 29, 2005, 07:54 PM // 19:54

Quote:

Originally Posted by Hand of Shiva

I would like to point out that farming is not only for items and gold you can farm elites as well which is necessary to stay competitive in PvP. And have you notice that it took you 12 hours to get 5k gold? can you imagine that the sigils are 75 to 80k to buy not to mention the major and superior runes? Farming is a grind but its a nesecary one.

Farming for maybe an 8 hour period I made well over 100k. Farming is a grind but not a very big one. I remember farming for weeks in EQ to buy an item, now I farm for a day and can buy almost anything I want. If anything money is too easy to get in this game.

And before anyone says that it isn't... Don't bother farming till you get towards the end of the game. If the second I got to Riverside I tried to farm it I would have a problem, but going back there when you've got the elites necessary makes it easy.

Tschi · May 29, 2005, 09:29 PM // 21:29

My favorite for farming gold. The picture says it all.

none · May 29, 2005, 09:55 PM // 21:55

you could improve on that tschi

i usually get out of this battle with full health and full mana. it only gets difficult if you're against drakes, although even that is possible - i've soloed as many as 8 drakes at a time. was close, but it worked ,) i usually take on only 3-5 drakes, and as many flesh golems as i can gather. oh, i'm only using monk skills

and yes, i'm dying there as well, you still have to be careful to make it worth your time.

kkl · Jun 01, 2005, 03:49 PM // 15:49

i think a good place to farm in PRE-searing (we need money in pre-searing too) is the catacomb.. especially if u are a monk/ ... double damage, with self healing... what more can u ask

stumpy · Jun 01, 2005, 05:38 PM // 17:38

*shakes his head in shame* ...

guys theres no one specific place to farm ... drops are a mathematical calculation which take into effect many things including (how many humans are in group, what level are humans, what level are enemies, enemy type, what map you are on and how accessible is it, and so on)

Drakes been nurfed? no ... only balance has been brought so the earlier areas ofthe game dont hold potential for ruining the later areas ... no need hunting for that fellblade if you got one in regent valley (although not possible so dont try noob)

Your best bet at getting treasure is and always will be on any mob areas only because the ratio will be similar ... you just kill alot more quickly without really taking wind of it. So 'hide' your farming spots if you need to ... lol ... common sense will kick in eventually lol.

Good luck all and hope to see you out there!