Expansion hero point hunt is a HUGE PAIN

[bobsort.4097]

I agree with OP. when HoT was THE last expansion, you could find HP trains every hour of everyday but I wasn't leveling my character that time, I created it a week ago, so I had to go to HoT after reaching 80 to get the points!

 

Problem!

You stand there and spam chat to get help with pile of guano or baltazar HP point or even strange orich node and similar which all requires you to kill a Champ to get the point or do multiple events to open the area and reach the HP which might not even happen for days! you have two options, camp the area wait for a group to appear and hope that group is in same map as your or get lucky and enter map finding that the point is open (which I don't think in this case magic find would help at all)

 

Before Chinese new year patch, for some points you could use mounts or some sort of flying or etc. to bypass the barrier and reach the point and get it, but now thanks to ANET as soon as you pass the barrier, game teleports you outside the barrier again! So yes if you are doing the HP while expansion is still hot, you are fine, but when it become a thing of the past, your luck runs out!

 

Here my suggestions:

1- Move the HP out of the closed zones so it is accessible without need of doing 200 events (figure of speech) to open it.

2- Reduce the Champion HPs to Veteran + 2 normal just like every other HP point out there.

3- To satisfy the OP, add HP ticket loot so if you do the HP in one toon, you get a ticket that can be used in one more character.

 

Please don't tell me Vet +2Norm gives 1HP but Champ HP gives 10HP. PoF has HP points with a single Vet that also gives 10HP and also when Vet+2Norm was giving 1HP you were spending 2HP for each ability not 30HP!

 

BTW, if you are a fan of WvW you can buy HP points with WvW currency in random. I'm not sure if it will unlock HoT and PoF HP points too or not and if it does, will it give you 10 HP points or just 1

[Kal Spiro.9745]

I haven't tried to do an exclusively PoF HP hunt, but in HoT it's incredibly easy to get 250 HP solo if you're willing to go through all four zones.

[Tanner Blackfeather.6509]

> @"bobsort.4097" said:

> BTW, if you are a fan of WvW you can buy HP points with WvW currency in random. I'm not sure if it will unlock HoT and PoF HP points too or not and if it does, will it give you 10 HP points or just 1

 

There are three different items you can buy, one for Core, one for HoT and one for PoF. They each costs an amount of the currency (there are actually two currencies, one discontinued) matching the number of hero points you get, so Core = 1 and HoT/PoF = 10.

[bobsort.4097]

As I mentioned if you are fan, which I'm not, Since the time that my world's slice of pie looked like a line, I haven't entered WvW. I rather not give false information or hope. Thanks for clarifying it.

[Boulder.3589]

> @"Tanner Blackfeather.6509" said:

> > @"bobsort.4097" said:

> > BTW, if you are a fan of WvW you can buy HP points with WvW currency in random. I'm not sure if it will unlock HoT and PoF HP points too or not and if it does, will it give you 10 HP points or just 1

>

> There are three different items you can buy, one for Core, one for HoT and one for PoF. They each costs an amount of the currency (there are actually two currencies, one discontinued) matching the number of hero points you get, so Core = 1 and HoT/PoF = 10.

 

Also to note: this works by giving you credit for one random hero point in the actual open world. So if you physically go grab all the easy ones first yourself, the purchasable unlock item will grab the harder ones you left out. More efficient that way.

 

But personally I think the current difficulty level of unlocking HPs is reasonable. Not everything needs to be a free handout. I will agree thou, that it would be nice to be able to use an elite spec as you level. Don't know how that can be implement. Levelling as a sniper is way different from melee thief or shortbow.

[dolcolax.1268]

i havent been to hot hps well coz i dont like it. some pof hps are really soloable. only problem i find with pof hps is that even i can see em on the map i have difficulty going there. some like i didnt have the necessary mount

[AliamRationem.5172]

> @"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?

 

First, try LFG. Any big HP train that runs multiple maps will generally be listed there. However, if you happen to already be on an HoT map, just look for commander tags and ask them what they're doing.

[ReaverKane.7598]

Can't relate to OP.

When either expansion released i already had enough points to max out my elite specs on my main characters.

And i can also tell you that i had a thief that i boosted to 80, i got Daredevil and Deadeye, in like 2 hours? I just went for the "commune" HPs in Magguma, and a couple kill ones i got help with. Then i soloed PoF ones, easily.

[Biff.5312]

I guess most people go on HP 'runs'. I play solo so I've never done that, and I do find it a pain to accumulate the points. Although I don't think it needs to be easier to get the, I DO agree that you shouldn't have to put them into areas you don't even want before you can start loading them into elite spec. I'm not sure why that would be required and if it can be changed I'd be all for it.

[Xenash.1245]

I enjoy hunting around for hero points, makes it feel a bit more special to learn a profession over time instead of learning all of it in one sitting.

[Nikal.4921]

I level my alts by completing early maps and doing HPs and events in all the other Tyria maps. Then I hit the HPs in VB and the first 3 PoF zones, waiting a few minutes at each for someone else to show up if necessary, for the remaining points I need. It's relatively painless, and goes rather quickly with mounts.

[MachineManXX.9746]

Well, I just got done unlocking Renegade. It really only took me a couple of hours running through PoF solo. PoF hero points are MUCH easier than HoT. For HoT I would suggest looking for hero point trains. These trains usually take 2 - 3 hours to get all the points you need to unlock your elite spec, depending on who is running it. Most of the time all they require is gliding and they will have mesmers to port you to the more difficult areas. Just keep checking the LFG in Verdant Brink. That's where they usually start.

[Razor.6392]

I disagree. I find it fun to get hero points for my alts. It's usually very fast and I can solo all of the HP's in HoT and PoF.

 

Mushroom queen though...

[Klowdy.3126]

No it is not.

[Razor.6392]

> @"bobsort.4097" said:

> I agree with OP. when HoT was THE last expansion, you could find HP trains every hour of everyday but I wasn't leveling my character that time, I created it a week ago, so I had to go to HoT after reaching 80 to get the points!

>

> Problem!

> You stand there and spam chat to get help with pile of guano or baltazar HP point or even strange orich node and similar which all requires you to kill a Champ to get the point or do multiple events to open the area and reach the HP which might not even happen for days! you have two options, camp the area wait for a group to appear and hope that group is in same map as your or get lucky and enter map finding that the point is open (which I don't think in this case magic find would help at all)

>

> Before Chinese new year patch, for some points you could use mounts or some sort of flying or etc. to bypass the barrier and reach the point and get it, but now thanks to ANET as soon as you pass the barrier, game teleports you outside the barrier again! So yes if you are doing the HP while expansion is still hot, you are fine, but when it become a thing of the past, your luck runs out!

>

> Here my suggestions:

> 1- Move the HP out of the closed zones so it is accessible without need of doing 200 events (figure of speech) to open it.

> 2- Reduce the Champion HPs to Veteran + 2 normal just like every other HP point out there.

> 3- To satisfy the OP, add HP ticket loot so if you do the HP in one toon, you get a ticket that can be used in one more character.

>

> Please don't tell me Vet +2Norm gives 1HP but Champ HP gives 10HP. PoF has HP points with a single Vet that also gives 10HP and also when Vet+2Norm was giving 1HP you were spending 2HP for each ability not 30HP!

>

> BTW, if you are a fan of WvW you can buy HP points with WvW currency in random. I'm not sure if it will unlock HoT and PoF HP points too or not and if it does, will it give you 10 HP points or just 1

 

Orrrr you figure out how to solo the champ yourself since it's not very hard? Should have no issues unless you are running on green gear or simply can't dodge the very limited amount (2-3) of telegraphed attacks that these enemies have.

 

Protips:

* Always have a ranged weapon switch.

* Try to equip summons if you have them (necro minions, thief elite, ele golems, etc)

* Figure out their pattern and challenge yourself to beat them!

[Sojourner.4621]

> @"EpicName.4523" said:

> 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?

>

 

You can call me a liar all you want... If you do the same map on 19 different characters, eventually you get a system down. The thing is, people have lost the ability to navigate based on landmarks and to memorize large areas of the game. No, I don't need a video guide. No, I never needed a video guide. Guess what, when HoT launched there weren't any videos.

 

Lots of trial and error on HoT launch taught me where things were... more trial and error after launch taught me the most efficient way of actually getting to them. A bunch of HP runs, both for my own 19 characters, my close friends where I helped them get their HPs, full commanded squads for everyone, and just generally helping guildies across many guilds to get their HPs, has made the run so efficient that it takes about 2 hours total. VB is super easy actually, and is best done in a figure 8 starting from the opening WP and in a semi-clockwise direction... TD is by far the hardest map to navigate, but by the time you hit TD you only need 3 HPs, so you climb the tree, go through vine curtain wall to the spider, then drop down and do the Mordrem random champ HP at the exit to Dragon's Stand. If for some reason you missed doing Balth (the only one I ever skip due to insufficient players) then from the exit to TD it's an easy run up Ogre Lane from there to get the Chakk Egg Sack HP.

 

PoF is even easier, though there are fewer per map so you have to hit more maps per character, but you can do most of those maps by making a large Clockwise or Counter clockwise circle around it. The HPs themselves tend to be easier too, as there really aren't any champs so difficult that they are impossible to be solo'd (Unlike HoT where the butthole frog at the exit to VB or the Vampire Beast Champ in the sky can be very difficult for certain classes on certain builds).

[Sojourner.4621]

> @"bobsort.4097" said:

 

> Here my suggestions:

> 1- Move the HP out of the closed zones so it is accessible without need of doing 200 events (figure of speech) to open it.

> 2- Reduce the Champion HPs to Veteran + 2 normal just like every other HP point out there.

> 3- To satisfy the OP, add HP ticket loot so if you do the HP in one toon, you get a ticket that can be used in one more character.

>

> BTW, if you are a fan of WvW you can buy HP points with WvW currency in random. I'm not sure if it will unlock HoT and PoF HP points too or not and if it does, will it give you 10 HP points or just 1.

 

* 1 - There are only two HPs in either HoT or PoF, total, that require event completion, and only if your timing is bad. If I land in AB during Tarir meta, I can't get to the HP that you glide down to from North or the one under the city that you fight... so I do the rest of the HPs and by the time I am done I can get in and do the last two, or if I land in one without the meta up I do those two first then do the rest of the meta as normal. That's an easy adjustment to make. 100% of every other HP is otherwise accessible... at best you need masteries to get them, at worst you need a mesmer with masteries to help you get them.

* 2 - Every champ is solo-able, though there are three that are less so than others. Certain classes, and particularly certain builds on those classes, will have a really hard time with Balthazar, the Champion Frog at the end of VB, and the Pile of Guano HP in the clouds in VB (Theoretically the spider champ in TD because it can spawn as a copy of the vamp beast, though this is rare, and the Mordrem Champ is semi-random as well, so can throw people.)

* 3 - I would say that the OP just needs to check LFG for HP runs, or like you stated below doing some WvW can break up the monotony a little. It is pretty rare that I don't see someone running HPs in either HoT or PoF. The currency can buy either base game HPs (1 each) or Expansion HPs (10 each) for slightly more of the currency, and for both expansions. This is definitely an option available to players. At the end of the day, the average amount of time spent unlocking full HPs for a single character takes 2-3 hours per map, depending on the quality of the group, the player, and the ability of the commander of an HP train to explain the mechanics of the few troublesome champs (don't stand in melee range of Vamp Beast champ, and Line of Sight if you get a red beam on yourself, or save breaking the CC bar for when he is down to 15-20% HP so he doesn't do it in the first place)