Feedback:User/Cheez Whiz F T W/Winds of Change Rebalancing

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Regarding Winds of Change (Part I):

A Note: I really enjoyed playing through most of the Winds of Change content (Part I). Through most of the material, I found that the new builds were creative and were derived directly from the PvX metagame, and presented a different type of challenge from the War in Kryta and late-game material of the campaigns and expansion. I spent a good time updating the Wiki (before creating an account) with their builds, and I was impressed to see the planning that went into these groups.

The Problem: After the events on Shing Jea Island, I see no hope for the starter area ever being such again. Besides the actual quest line itself (which I narrowly finished, in large part due to some minor AI exploits), the new level 24 Scavenger enemies are borderline ridiculously powerful. While these groups would pose little threat to a party of 8 players and heroes, and even a 6-man team can take them down with relative success, the results in Minister Cho's Estate are catastrophic.

The Back Story: I just tried to map a small portion of the estate in Normal Mode. Imagine my surprise (after much frustration beating down groups of 4 Afflicted at a time during the quest in the same area) when I came across groups of 6 level 24 Scavengers, complete with pets and minions from Aura of the Lich.

After several attempts with multiple hero combinations, I gave up doing that and wisely chose to do cartography elsewhere in Cantha.

Off of the official Winds of Change page:

  • Q: What are the requirements to play Winds of Change?
  • A: In order to play the Winds of Change content, you must have finished Guild Wars Factions.

I was in Normal Mode. I gave up. This, from a player with all heroes and elite skills unlocked, who has successfully completed every Hard Mode mission in the game with Heroes and Henchmen (and a single consumable set for The Eternal Grove, much to my chagrin). I routinely blast through Normal Mode missions and quests, and switch on Hard Mode or head to Elite areas when I want a serious challenge. Normally, this challenge is supremely rewarding, but I found it prohibitively difficult to try fighting through Minister Cho's Estate at all. I can only imagine what vanquishing that area would be like for players who only own the Factions campaign (or did you stop to consider that?).

The Moral: 4 man level 20 teams against 6 man level 24 teams? Recipe for disaster. Have you considered lowering their levels to 22 or 20, or decreasing their party sizes and spawn densities to make them a little less insane?

As a post-script: I'm one of those hard-nosed people who hates using consumable items in many areas. In my opinion, those are available to seriously boost the party's ability in incredibly challenging Elite or Hard Mode areas (e.g.: the Domain of Anguish or Urgoz's Warren). If you're the type to pop an Essence of Celerity in every significant quest or mission, my suggestion probably isn't as important to you.