Expansion hero point hunt is a HUGE PAIN

[EpicName.4523]

Elite specializations are a good idea. The ability to play in a completely different way is great. Sadly, many of the professions pretty much require those "elite specs" in order to function properly in most of the game modes.

 

Finding the skill points for your hero can be amusing the first time, I guess, a chore the second time and absolute nightmare for every next character.

 

This game seems to be designed around fun - it removes many of the boring aspects from other mmos and tries to give you the experience you actually desire. Why then, I ask, are such absolutely vital parts of a character such as elite specs locked behind a barrier? Why must you put points in core skills you will never, ever use, just so you can actually unlock the ones you not only want, but actually NEED to be competitive? And why must wait until 80? Could it be because of the huge disparity between core profession skills and the elite ones? Could it be old, outdated design inferior to the new ones?

 

At the very least, it would be nice to be able to choose what you unlock first from the elite skills instead of following a set progression path. This way, you can take what you want and use it, instead of looking for videos how to get those points and truly start playing the game. Honestly, Verdant Brink..., if someone tells me he did not watch a video guide to get them all, I'll call him a liar.

 

Hero point hunting for elite skills is a chore, am I the the only one with this opinion?

 

 

 

[mercury ranique.2170]

I always enjoy in joining hp runs, both in HoT and PoF. It is fun and a lot of shenanigans going on. I don’t think the elite specializations should be presented on a silver plate and have no objection of redoing it for all my toon

[Omnicron.2467]

I did not watch I vid, I joined a hero point run. The points were pretty easy to get

[Ayakaru.6583]

Most of the time i can get the necessary points in a single afternoon.

Then again, i rarely have more than 1 of every class.

I only have two warriors and elementalists i think.. i might have a second necromancer.

 

My point being, Especially now with mounts its to easy to get enough hero points it doesn't feel like a chore.. just a detour to the common path

[Fallesafe.5932]

Huh?? I never needed more than half a day to max any elite spec (HoT or PoF). What are you complaining about?

[Tzarakiel.7490]

I've done HP runs 28 times and it still don't bother me. I get why others might find it repetitive, but honestly it's one the few activities that I enjoy doing repeatedly.

[Mea.5491]

It's not a pain at all. I just join HP runs and complete both specs in about 3 hours total, haha.

[Loboling.5293]

I don't have a problem with this. One of my favorite parts of gw2 has always been map completion (ish). And with mounts out now, I don't find this a struggle at all. And there is also unlocking them through wvw nowadays that speeds it up. (I've unlocked everything with the wvw tokens twice on characters)

[Inculpatus cedo.9234]

Never ever watched a video for Hero Challenges. Don't forget, there are plenty of Core Tyria Hero Challenges if you would rather only do a few in the expansion maps, as well as the option to get them from WvW play.

 

Good luck.

[Edelweiss.4261]

While I don't have a problem with hero points themselves, I really wish we could put points into elite specs before 80. You level from 1-80 playing one way before switching to a different way of playing post-80. Just makes 1-80 seem less fun and samey when leveling alts for the other elite specs. Then again, I'm an altoholic. I imagine this would solve OP's problem as well?

[Illconceived Was Na.9781]

I personally would be happy if there was a way for my third and other toons to gain elite specs without repeating content, but it's hard to imagine how ANet could ensure that veterans have enough stuff to do, that they have incentive to keep going back to areas (sometimes so that newbies can get help or just to keep the game populated), and generally so that it feels like we earned something, rather than just clicked a bunch (as many of us can do now for leveling up to 80).

 

Maybe it's a chore, but the OP would have to offer an alternative that satisfies the other goals that ANet has with the current setup.

[Ziooo.8932]

We actually need more hp sinks, got both e-specs unlocked and still sitting at over 400...

 

More on topic: we get enough hp's to unlock every trait/skill as well level to 80 (from level rewards alone) basically for free, and most hp's are really easy to both find and grab in the maps, it makes a lot of sense to be able to elite ESPECIALIZE only after unlocking the whole core stuff, i mean, how can you especialize yourself in something you dont know fully?

[IndigoSundown.5419]

Why? Because MMO's are time sinks, consisting of lists of things to do to get X, whatever X is. As time sinks go, I find pursuing Hero Points on the low end of the progression spectrum across all MMO's.

[Hannelore.8153]

I think you already get the elite specs too easy, the core specs are much harder to come by--people have to gain 80 levels of experience to fully unlock the spec, while doing the elite specs takes only 15 mins with an HP train or a few hours solo if you are experienced.

 

[Dashingsteel.3410]

Wvw has saved me from having to go through those hps over and over and over and over..........

[Khisanth.2948]

> @"Fallesafe.5932" said:

> Huh?? I never needed more than half a day to max any elite spec (HoT or PoF). What are you complaining about?

 

I was wondering the same thing considering the fact that you don't need all of them. 25/40 is enough to max out the HoT spec while most PoF ones are easier.

 

> @"Illconceived Was Na.9781" said:

> I personally would be happy if there was a way for my third and other toons to gain elite specs without repeating content, but it's hard to imagine how ANet could ensure that veterans have enough stuff to do, that they have incentive to keep going back to areas (sometimes so that newbies can get help or just to keep the game populated), and generally so that it feels like we earned something, rather than just clicked a bunch (as many of us can do now for leveling up to 80).

>

> Maybe it's a chore, but the OP would have to offer an alternative that satisfies the other goals that ANet has with the current setup.

 

I don't think that strategy worked very well. I already maxed out all my PoF elite spec on all characters a few minutes after PoF was released. :P

[Korunos.4758]

Okay guys you all say that you did some HP runs. With randoms or with your guild?

I need a lot of HP too and I always try to do it by my own and I fail so hard.

So I would need some help.

Where do you find those HP runs?

[Plautze.6290]

HoT HPs were pretty bad, I agree. Had to wait several days to get that vampire HP in Verdant Brink or that mushroom queen in Tangled Depths... then again, that was before I understood the game better. At some point, I even solo'd that spider HP in Tangled Depths... a 10 minute war of attrition where every hit made me cringe, not my exact idea of fun. More like Dark Souls with way less dodges :s

Compared to HoT, most of the PoF HPs were rather doable, I'd say.

[Hannelore.8153]

> @"Plautze.6290" said:

> HoT HPs were pretty bad, I agree. Had to wait several days to get that vampire HP in Verdant Brink or that mushroom queen in Tangled Depths... then again, that was before I understood the game better. At some point, I even solo'd that spider HP in Tangled Depths... a 10 minute war of attrition where every hit made me cringe, not my exact idea of fun. More like Dark Souls with way less dodges :s

> Compared to HoT, most of the PoF HPs were rather doable, I'd say.

The thing is though you don't need those HPs for elite spec (they're for map complete), you can get by with just the easiest ones.

[Plautze.6290]

> @"Hannelore.8153" said:

> > @"Plautze.6290" said:

> > HoT HPs were pretty bad, I agree. Had to wait several days to get that vampire HP in Verdant Brink or that mushroom queen in Tangled Depths... then again, that was before I understood the game better. At some point, I even solo'd that spider HP in Tangled Depths... a 10 minute war of attrition where every hit made me cringe, not my exact idea of fun. More like Dark Souls with way less dodges :s

> > Compared to HoT, most of the PoF HPs were rather doable, I'd say.

> The thing is though you don't need those HPs for elite spec (they're for map complete), you can get by with just the easiest ones.

 

I know. IIRC, you don't even need to get all of the commune ones to completely unlock the elite spec (taking all those HPs from core Tyria map completion into account). But I did it for the completionist in me ;)

[Demented Sheep.1642]

It was fun the first time, not so great to do it for alts.

It's not too bad but I would prefer if any HP you earned appeared on your other characters as well.

[Demented Sheep.1642]

> @"Korunos.4758" said:

> Okay guys you all say that you did some HP runs. With randoms or with your guild?

> I need a lot of HP too and I always try to do it by my own and I fail so hard.

> So I would need some help.

> Where do you find those HP runs?

 

In the LFG tool. Go to Open World and then Verdant Brink. There are frequently HP runs that start there and do all the HOT maps other than Dragons Stand which is more than enough to unlock an elite.

[Dashiva.6149]

Unlocking hero points through WvW has been a good option for me to avoid repetition in PvE. It may not be a _faster_ grind if you are _only_ interested in the points, but just focusing on playing WvW for a while can be entertaining and before you know it you have enough currency to unlock HPs with regular intervals.

[Manasa Devi.7958]

The next expansion will be a different experience for me. I fully unlocked all PoF elite specs within minutes because of leftover points from completing all HoT maps on all my characters. This isn't going to happen with PoF. I've no interest in completing those maps more than once. They're dreadfully boring.

[Menadena.7482]

I suppose I should do the HPs eventually so I can unlock the 3rd expansion right away. None of the new elites were appealing to me, even the ones I was looking forward to, once we got some more deets on them. As a result I only have a few random HPs on the new maps.