Your thoughts on hard mode

I did use the search feature and didn't see anything like this (just people talking about missions they couldn't get through and such), so if I missed it, I'm sorry, go ahead and close this.

Pretty self-explanatory, I was just wondering what everyone thought of hard mode. I don't mind it when I'm farming for Sunspear and Lightbringer points, because I can be a wurm. But other than that, I hate it. Too many mobs grouped close together, so much aggro, insta-kills, etc. And if the whole party dies at -60dp you have to start all over. Locked chests are okay but to me they suck - always break the pick on a purple. Tomes are good and gold drops but they're rare, hardly worth the effort for me. What does everyone else think?

If it wasn't for hard mode i wouldn' bother with PvE at all anymore, tbh i find it hard to understand how people can enjoy NM.

Wow, then it's not just me.

You've just described the sum total of my experiences with lockpicks, LOL! I have the worst luck in everything.

Throwing platinums down the toilet to buy a purple and a 1-use, insta-break, lockpick hasn't proven very cost-effective for me.

+1 on that, i m back on gw for HM play as well

you can get a bunch of tips about missions in explorer sections

HM is a waste of time. The story doesn't change so there's little point playing through again, the rewards are dull and a good team can still breeze through it. More damage and more hp? Yeah. So much harder.

Personally, I wish they'd given the AI a boost and more competent skillbars, making them work more like a team, etc, instead of dumb buffs, but meh. Easily defeated, idiotic opponents having more health/armor and hitting a little harder seems to be the way to go to make things "hard" (HG:L Elite mode, GW Hard Mode, pretty much any recent game with difficulty levels).

Read my recent posts on Golds and Vanquishing areas. The current drops stink!!!

HM was for the players that got bored playing NM while reading a magazine. You should play HM for the enjoyment of it, not for the rewards.

If HM isn't more fun because of its increased difficulty then NM is your game.

HM is easy with a decent guild team. Me and my team (with the help of consumables) did gate of madness HM in 25 minutes. Would have been maybe 40 without, but still easy. I do it for the titles, for the GW2 rewards and for the easy nonrepetitive dough.

just gotta say, after Legendary Vanquisher, Legendary Guardian, and Legendary Master of the North, I'm through with HM, unless it's for farming or helping a guildie/alliance friend out.

Ursan and EOTN consumables made the most difficult areas breezes. I'd just suggest, always bring a few EOTN consumables and candy buffs, because if you get 2 fast party wipes near the end of a vanq, it can get awfully dicey.

Hard Mode could've been great, instead they gave enemies an Essence of Celerity and 20 in their attributes. Afterall bigger numbers in a skill based game is always the best way to make the game better.

Very True, It took me way too long to do Jako's Domain. Powerstones of Courage FTW!!!

QFE. Pretty much what I was trying to say.

I think I'd be a PvPer by now if it weren't for HM.

Agreed with above posts about how it's disappointingly easy. I made a thread about how it could be improved/should have been a while ago.

HM had deccent rewards until the loot was scaled back a bunch. Basically, the problem is the following things
1) Rather then increase the difficultly of the mobs by creating challenging skills bars on the enemies, A.net just increased the monsters level and gave everybody perminant speed boasts. That was exactly what people on the forums DIDN'T want A.net to do when they announced HM would be coming.
2) It is generally not popular so its hard to find a good HM guild and impossible to find a competient pug (an oxymoron I know).
3) If you CAN find a group, its probablly some Ursanway/Consumable dependent build.
4) Everybody who has an interest in doing HM... has done it already. HM has stoped being the "in" thing to do. People who want to vanquish have done it. People who want Guardian have it.

This is basically what alot of people find to be wrong with Hard Mode. Afterall, it's only harder because they buff things so that they're warped out of proportion with other things. Better AI would have been much better.

Hard Mode has its place. For me, it's second life for my Necromancer, and something all my lesser-experienced characters can enjoy in due time. Yes, my Lockpick break rate is exponential (was doing GW:EN NM earlier today, broke with purps twice), but the random cash I get from Vanquishing, Guardianing, etc. is more than enough to keep me coming. Blame it on my total dislike of farming in nearly any form.

Thank God for HM.

I kid, I kid. You made that too easy.

**I think I'd be a slightly less crappy PvPer by now...

Fixed for honesty =O

HM is the only reason I even bother with PvE anymore. Seems to be the general consesus though. It is easy to roll through with a good team but still makes it more fun. Vanquishing is nice also, getting a few extra plat for clearing a zone.