[Dev Update] Hard Mode and Sunspear & Lightbringer Titles

Hi, there,

We have a note today from the team about two subjects that have been on many minds--Hard Mode and those high-level Sunspear and Lightbringer titles. Here's what they have to say:

We know that, in essence, it is currently not possible to get the maximum ranks of the Sunspear and Lightbringer titles. When we released Nightfall, our plan was to not allow players to max out these titles until the implementation of Hard Mode. We originally thought this feature would be ready shortly after release, but during testing we found more and more features we wanted to include in the Hard Mode update. The core idea was simple: Give players the option to take on a more challenging version of Guild Wars and reward their characters with better drops and titles than they could achieve in Normal Mode.

The basics haven't changed, but to borrow a phrase from Tolkien, "The tale grew in the telling."

Rather than simply staying with the general set of changes and rules we'd originally intended, we're also adjusting creature Skill Bars throughout the game to make the fights more interesting. Contrary to our original intentions, we're also including Hard Mode in all areas of the game (except pre-Searing Ascalon). So, if you've ever wanted to explore a version of the Flame Temple Corridor with level 20+ creatures, you'll be able to do that with Hard Mode. This, of course, is requiring us to adjust some rules about how loot is generated.

We're adding a few new items we think you'll like that drop only in Hard Mode. In addition, we're altering the way locked chests work in Hard Mode, including the addition of lock picks that can be used on any locked chest. Unlike keys, which disappear after you use them once, with a lock pick, you will have a chance of using it on more than one chest, and that chance will increase based on your Lucky/Treasure Hunting titles. We're also adding new titles, Guardian and Vanquisher, which have required extensive testing and balancing of all the missions in Hard Mode. (This meant doing such things as making sure a human Hard Mode team paired with an NPC team in the Vizunah Square mission could still achieve Master's level completion.)

Beyond all of that, we've also realized during the course of development that these changes give us the ability to rebalance several things in Normal Mode that players have found too challenging or unpleasant. For example, we're altering the death explosions of the Afflicted creatures in Factions, creature distribution in particularly difficult areas, monsters scattering away from area of effect spells, and healer creatures running from melee attackers indefinitely. We've also decided to add a number of PvE-only Sunspear skills, which will be available to players through both Normal and Hard Mode.

In short, we've taken this extra time as an opportunity to make many aspects of the game better, and because of that, the Hard Mode release is taking longer than originally anticipated. We currently believe it will be ready within a month, if not sooner. We hope you'll find it was worth the wait.

Awesome! Finally the news is here =D

one word, well two. Woot and When.

I like the increasing difficulty level , like in Diablo2.
Thanks for the info.

Thanks for the head up, Gaile.

Great news. Keep up the good work, i'm sure it will be worth waiting.

You heard her it's gonna be out THIS MONTH!

Woo! I'm really looking forward to this.

Glad to see something new being added to the game, Thanks Gaile.

Sounds like a lot of fun!

Is the split of the "Skill Hunter" title and the Global Explorer/Protector titles coming with this "Hard Mode" update?

Woooo sounds great! Keep up the good work ANET

Im going back to the game before everyone starts moaning

One question how do we turn on/off hard mode? Anyways can't wait to try this out, Thanks for the info Gaile.

Sounds wonderful, we can get through normally, but if we want more challenge we can do the whole hard mode thing.
I am especially interested in lockpicks, that might free up some of my slots.

Wow.

WOW!

!WOW!

You've rewarded my faith. Where can I build your shrine?

Cool, it sounds like normal mode will be made a bit more bearable in some areas at the same time as hard mode comes in.

I wonder if they'll do some changes to Call of Torment, like increasing its duration to 10 secs or making it interruptable? That would actually make it a bit more balanced.

Also, it looks like the Nightfall and Factions starter Isles can be done in hard mode...a good testing ground i guess.

Sounds like good news to me, but i'll wait to see the final details before i jump with joy.

Something new to do, if nothing else. Hope it's not as hard as elite areas.

Great news, thatll help keep interest. I've always wanted to take a stroll through ascalon with lvl 20 mobs^^

They better be hard as Elite Areas, otherwise whats the Fun of playing "HARD" Mode..

I take back everything negative I have ever said about Anet. <3

Ps: Doesn't some of this sound suspiciously like the Inquirer article? More pve-only skills etc.. </strir>

wow this sounds amazing and I really really can't wait - thank you!!!

Sounds good, but:
No informations about the Lightbringer Title?

Great news, some really interesting stuff there

Cant wait to do great northern wall vs lvl20. Char

Thanks for the Update Gaile

*ponders the situation*

Brings back memories of Hell in Diablo 2.. YES!

Thanks Gaile New sunspear skills sounds super Keep on giving us excellent updates

So for those of us that have done the grind to get a max Light Bringer title will now have that taken away from us ? Yeah I can see where that's really going to make me happy

I have had to adjust my P vs E game play because of P vs P game changes and balances and now I may have to adjust the titles I have earned because the developers are adding content that should have been added upon the release of the game before it hit the stores ? As much as I like GW, the events they hold, all the past and recent changes have done little but tick me off. You keep gearing this game towards a grind and you will loose your community and player base. There are many of us out there that are not the typical teenager at home with nothing better to do !!!

SWEET

looks great gaile,

definately looks worth the wait, thanks ANET this will be fun

I doubt it'll be easier, but there is one major advantage to hard mode over elite areas...outposts. At least you get points where you can take a break and not have to slog for 2 plus hours on a single quest.

Sound like good news.
I find it very nice how ANet listens to user-input.
:thumbsup:

Thanks for the update Gaile. I'm looking forward to it.

Is there any reason why this news couldn't have been released sooner? Sorry if I am reading this wrong, but it sounds like the concept of a "hard mode" was introduced before/shortly after Nightfall was released (in October) especially since that sounds like your proposed solution from the very beginning about the Sunspear and Lightbringer title thing (which you knew of before NF was released). Though, I know how design is and how things go through change and many iterations, but keeping people informed keeps people intrigued. I know you have made several posts saying that "we are working on it" and you've made a couple of posts introducing Hard Mode, but I think THIS POST is the one that a lot of people have been waiting for. I think a lot of people think this is the one that should have been made several months ago to at least publically address the issue, even if it wasn't as in-depth.

Anyways, please tell everyone at ANet that they are doing a great job and give them a pat on the back for all of us. I'm sure all of us are anxious to hear more when you have it.

- Aldoros of Faydark

sounds cool.

Is DoA already set in hard mode, or is it tuned in what everybody will soon call "noob mode" atm?

They probably wanted to wait til it was almost done to release the info. If there was a super cool idea 4 months ago that everyone loved, and then they realized that it couldn't be balanced or implemented right, everyone would get pissed. This way at least we know pretty much what is going to be included.

It is possible to max Lightbringer Titles. I have done it with my main character. Does this mean that you are going to add additional tiers to lightbringer like you did with Sunspear? I had to kill over 25000 margonites for that title and it took forever. If I need to kill another 25000 for the next level I'm going to cry.

The rest of the update sounds sweet though. Are these Hard Mode missions going to be less hard than Elite missions? Because if I have to go join a 100+ member active guild, download teamspeak or vent, and start a new profession in order to complete these new Harder missions like I would have to do to enjoy DoA (I was so excited when DoA opened and then after I got destroyed a few times I gave up and was kinda depressed about it), then... it really isn't worth it. You have to make these challenging missions beatable by casual gamers too you know.

Sounds cool!

However lvl 20+ monsters in Ascalon but will the Hench match for those that like to Solo (especially for those that don't have Nightfall)?


And can i have a bigger storage chest for all this extra great loot please?!


Still - very cool! With another chapter on the way its very exciting!

Awesome! If there is something that will bring the fun back to this game it will be this, I really can't wait.

Very good news Good job.

BTW, any news on pet-controls.

Could you please be a bit more specific - how exactly would it change missions, and how do the new titles take effect - especially the PvE only skills?

I didn't want a change in normal mode as well, this definitely gives a better incentive to play missions over and over yet... yea this is awkward so what we have now is "normal mode" then in the comming update we have that changed into "Easy Mode" and "Hard Mode"?

I hope you looked at these 4 missions as well specifically.
Dunes of Despair- The almost pure impossibility of exploring the area as well as the NT glitch which is the only sane way to complete mission and bonus.
Elona Reach- The running here is just nuts, involve more mesmers and actually force people to play this mission. Take out the rangers and put in mesmers with imagined burden etc.
Sanctum Cay- The only mission that I can recall where is is just purely impossible to complete both M+B, you either do one and die trying to get the other along with the glitch of activating more White Mantel(infinite actually) from the south island.
Thunder Head Keep- When activating the bonus if the party just sits back completely the mursaat just duke it out with each other, does not make sense at all whatsoever.

If all gets implemented as Gaile just stated, it could be one of the best updates the game has seen in a long time. Bravo.

Thanks Gaile, I'm really looking forward to Hard Mode. I really like Hard mode being lvl.20 creatures with new skills rather than timed missions/quests. I absolutely hate trying to do the bonus missions that are timed... they are a real pain and not reallly so much fun to keep playing and playing just to become faster at it.

Will the Hard Mode still be doable with henchies?

Anyways, thanks for the info Gaile and great job on another nice addition Anet!

You admitted yourself that getting your title was a grind, so surely this change is moving the game away from that grind... Isn't it?
I agree that there should have been a more plausible way to max out the title since its implementation, but better late than never, eh?

Thank you, Anet - looking forward to this Hard Mode business