[Suggestion] Monster hunting mastery

[Zexanima.7851]

**"Track, trap and defeat the most fearsome beasts known to Tyria."**

 

I just think this could be a fun thing to have in the game like a much more amped up version of bounties. They would be soloable and can be run with up to a party of 5 (the monster difficulty would scale.) There could be three mastery lines. Tracking, trapping, and elixirs. The higher these masteries are the harder monsters you can hunt. All around different maps you'll have bounty boards with hunting contracts you can fulfill. They will be timed and the harder the contract the better masteries you'll need but the bigger the reward.

 

**The Gameplay**

 

The contracts will never tell you what you're hunting exactly, you'll have to figure it out. They will only give you the difficulty and highlight a large area on the map for you to start hunting at.

 

**Tracking**

 

You'll start by using your tracking mastery to figure what you're looking for and where exactly it's at. The higher your mastery the better clues you get and the easier you can find where the monster is located. The first mastery could allow you to see very faint tracks in the ground and read things like broken branches. At the higher masteries you could follow the 'sent' of the monster as a glowing path on the ground and pick up clues on a larger radius and get more from them. There will even be buffs monsters have you wouldn't be aware of unless you had a high enough tracking to see them.

 

**Trapping**

 

Some of the lower level monsters you won't need trapping for. The stronger monsters you fight though will require it. Monsters can have a super speed buff that makes them impossible to catch unless you remove it with certain traps. There could also be heavy armored monsters with a 90% damage reduction buff that you can only remove with certain traps. This will require you to know what traps are good for what monsters and carry an assortment on you. Actually trapping the monster wont be easy either since traps will have a long cast time and you'll have to lure the monster into it. Lures will also be a part of trapping which will require you to know what monsters like what lures.

 

**Elixirs**

 

Kind of similar in how it works to trapping but is kind of an "expansion" on cooking. Some monsters will have super deadly poisons that unless you have the proper elixir to resist it you'll surely die. Other elixirs will provide different bonuses vs different types of monsters. When you start out these elixirs will be optional but as you hunt higher level monsters they will become almost required.

 

**Bestiary**

 

A new tab in the hero panel. Every time you fight and defeat a new monster it's added to your bestiary. This keeps track of certain monsters weaknesses and strengths and gives you quick way to look up what works against monsters you have faced before.

 

**Rewards**

 

Special skins, basic loot, junk items, map currency depending on the map you do the hunt on, ect.

[TheLadyOfTheRings.9148]

I like the idea :)

[Donari.5237]

Very interesting. How do you suggest making the target attackable only by the hunter party while keeping it open world? I'm not sure GW2 has such mechanics. Hmm wait. It does. Make the target invulnerable to damage from anyone without the relevant boon, which is granted at acceptance of the bounty to you and anyone in your party within X distance of the granter. Boon can last Y minutes/hours.

 

The other mechanical objection I see is which set of mastery points need to be spent on it. Core Tyria makes the most sense (though you mention map currency, which is intrinsic to later paywall maps, at which point only party members with the relevant map open can get the boon). But I know a number of newer players that struggle to get enough core MP for the already existing masteries.

[Zexanima.7851]

> @"Donari.5237" said:

> Very interesting. How do you suggest making the target attackable only by the hunter party while keeping it open world? I'm not sure GW2 has such mechanics. Hmm wait. It does. Make the target invulnerable to damage from anyone without the relevant boon, which is granted at acceptance of the bounty to you and anyone in your party within X distance of the granter. Boon can last Y minutes/hours.

>

> The other mechanical objection I see is which set of mastery points need to be spent on it. Core Tyria makes the most sense (though you mention map currency, which is intrinsic to later paywall maps, at which point only party members with the relevant map open can get the boon). But I know a number of newer players that struggle to get enough core MP for the already existing masteries.

 

Yeah, some kind of boon with the timer on it would work. Once the boon runs out the hunt fails if you haven't defeated the monster. I think core Tyria mastery points would be appropriate but I don't see why the hunts would have to be only core. I was thinking these hunts would be added to near every map in the game and the rewards granted could relate to that map's usual rewards some now.

[Strider Pj.2193]

Or the mechanic could be similar to bounties for guilds. Others could hit it, but unless your guild Has the bounty active, you get no credit.

 

> @"Donari.5237" said:

> Very interesting. How do you suggest making the target attackable only by the hunter party while keeping it open world? I'm not sure GW2 has such mechanics. Hmm wait. It does. Make the target invulnerable to damage from anyone without the relevant boon, which is granted at acceptance of the bounty to you and anyone in your party within X distance of the granter. Boon can last Y minutes/hours.

>

> The other mechanical objection I see is which set of mastery points need to be spent on it. Core Tyria makes the most sense (though you mention map currency, which is intrinsic to later paywall maps, at which point only party members with the relevant map open can get the boon). But I know a number of newer players that struggle to get enough core MP for the already existing masteries.

 

 

[coso.9173]

i love it! give uss big ass monsters to kill! <3

[KrivukasLT.3507]

So its basically witcher 3 contracts with witcher sense?

Hell, you basically described witcher 3 wild hun general mechanics there.

[Zexanima.7851]

> @"KrivukasLT.3507" said:

> So its basically witcher 3 contracts with witcher sense?

> Hell, you basically described witcher 3 wild hun general mechanics there.

 

I've not played it but it's a successful game, must be enjoyable mechanics. Why not do some idea borrowing?

[Donari.5237]

> @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> Or the mechanic could be similar to bounties for guilds. Others could hit it, but unless your guild Has the bounty active, you get no credit.

>

> > @"Donari.5237" said:

> > Very interesting. How do you suggest making the target attackable only by the hunter party while keeping it open world? I'm not sure GW2 has such mechanics. Hmm wait. It does. Make the target invulnerable to damage from anyone without the relevant boon, which is granted at acceptance of the bounty to you and anyone in your party within X distance of the granter. Boon can last Y minutes/hours.

 

I wasn't thinking so much in terms of stopping others from nabbing credit as making sure that the OP's vision of scaling difficulty is preserved. If the whole map (or just a big group of your guildies outside your party) can jump on your target to help you take it out, that's wonderful for cooperative play but removes the challenge factor. Depends on which gameplay aspect one prioritizes in the implementation.

[Strider Pj.2193]

> @"Donari.5237" said:

> > @"Strider Pj.2193" said:

> > Or the mechanic could be similar to bounties for guilds. Others could hit it, but unless your guild Has the bounty active, you get no credit.

> >

> > > @"Donari.5237" said:

> > > Very interesting. How do you suggest making the target attackable only by the hunter party while keeping it open world? I'm not sure GW2 has such mechanics. Hmm wait. It does. Make the target invulnerable to damage from anyone without the relevant boon, which is granted at acceptance of the bounty to you and anyone in your party within X distance of the granter. Boon can last Y minutes/hours.

>

> I wasn't thinking so much in terms of stopping others from nabbing credit as making sure that the OP's vision of scaling difficulty is preserved. If the whole map (or just a big group of your guildies outside your party) can jump on your target to help you take it out, that's wonderful for cooperative play but removes the challenge factor. Depends on which gameplay aspect one prioritizes in the implementation.

 

Agreed. But we also have scaling mechanics which may make it prohibitive if people are in the area and can’t hit the challenge. If we are looking at them utilizing current mechanics vs creating completely new ones, I fear we would have to allow others to participate in hitting the challenge.

 

Of course, I have no actual idea of how they could do it but it’s fun to speculate.

[coso.9173]

what about hiding them as in the HoT enemies? cant hit them and they cant hit you. or you can see them but not interact with them.

[Tumult.2578]

Great idea with lots of potential and so many ways it could expand the game. I dont see why this would need to be restricted to Tyria. In fact, it might be better and provide easier options to create and maintain if it existed in only level 80 maps.

 

[Friday.7864]

If you want to be a hunter you can start the Chuka and Champawat collection.

Then you get to track down and hunt some tigers all over the place. The tracks lead you from one map to another.

No need to finish the actual legendary weapon.

 

Idk if any other legendary has a similar collection tho.

[GWMO.4785]

I like the concept of the idea. But in reality this is much similar to bounties, which died very quickly. So meh

[yoni.7015]

> @"GWMO.4785" said:

> I like the concept of the idea. But in reality this is much similar to bounties, which died very quickly. So meh

 

I agree, and there are already the guild bounties and the treasure hunting kits. So the idea would be nothing new.

 

 

[Rasimir.6239]

> @"yoni.7015" said:

> > @"GWMO.4785" said:

> > I like the concept of the idea. But in reality this is much similar to bounties, which died very quickly. So meh

>

> I agree, and there are already the guild bounties and the treasure hunting kits. So the idea would be nothing new.

PoF bounties, guild bounties, treasure hunting kits ... and all of that gated by mastery level.

 

Part of the player basewill rush to get all masteries trained, binge-play the content until they have all of the rewards they see worthwhile, then complain that there is nothing to do.

 

Part of the playerbase will rush to get all masteries trained, then complain that there is too much grind/rng/insertmethodtoprolonggameplayofchoice involved to get all the rewards they see worthwhile.

 

Part of the playerbase will look at the mastery requirements and complain that they are gated from the content unless they go through (to them) boring experience and mastery point grind again, and that masteries in general do nothing but gate content without reason and what happened to play how I want?

 

Three people will keep playing this and don't understand what the rest are complaining about since this is neverending fun.

[coso.9173]

They could find a way to tie current bounties with these masteries, and maybe even with the new strike missions too.

[GWMO.4785]

> @"Rasimir.6239" said:

And then there is the part that doesnt know jackshit, and complains about the way other people like to play. FYI: Bounties dont require any masteries at all.

 

Guild bounties has been a thing since core tyria and everyone in a guild can do them.

PoF Bounties are essentially like mini worldbosses, all you MAY need for it is to wait for the timer.

Treasure hunting kits doesnt even involve a mob let alone a "boss". Like where did it even come from? It just shows a location for a chest with shitty loot.

 

Again NON of these require you masteries. Map completion or rather having waypoints could be convenient. Or mounts in that regard. But they are not required to do them.

[hugo.4705]

Nice idea, would like a lot to have bestiary. Kinda ambitious but why not let's say 3 possible monsters to hunt in every map? Could even be a daily, guild mission or big collection for title. Being a kind of detective following tracks and hints... it makes me dream.

[Linken.6345]

> @"KrivukasLT.3507" said:

> So its basically witcher 3 contracts with witcher sense?

> Hell, you basically described witcher 3 wild hun general mechanics there.

 

My mind went to monster hunter world copy.