stealth nerf of ToPK ecto farm

Problem was you only got like 2-3 ectos on average per hour. But it was a very easy encounter to script, so if you went there you'd see 500 bots running in, running in, running in, running in, running in.. I mean, there was litterally 3-4 assassins entering every single secound around the clock there.

That is why I am saying they should have put in a mechanic like the ones I listed on that link for the Core professions to gate that behavior. Actually, that should have been implemented in there when Factions and Nightfall came out respectively. Changing the area and then NOT removing those gates for the other professions seems the way too easy road to me.

Since they mentioned it in the update notes, how exactly is this a "stealth" nerf?

it isn't now. It was then.

And if this farm spot was so obviously abused not only by bots but by humans, then changing it for everyone is a good idea.

Now to take care of raptor farming next if that's the case.

As someone that really enjoyed this farm as an R/A (great passtime for being bored/sick/whatever) I have to say I'm quite upset.

Am I SoL as a R primary now for ectos without doing UW runs? =[

Considering you can easily do UW runs that doesn't constitute SOL.

Just did a full run with a Hero team got 3 ectos in less than an hour. Maybe I was lucky but I also farmed ToPK every so often and I did not average 3 ectos/hour.

On a side note Does anyone else forsee the entrance fee to UW/FOW being eliminated? I wouldn't be surprised.

and how exactly was it abused by humans? As many have mentioned previously, it is a very slow farm, and if ToPK was "abused" by humans, than the UW, FoW, and dungeons are getting super-abused by humans.

While it is slow, it's best to not forget it's so easy that anyone can do it without failure. Not so much the case with things such as solo UW/FoW farming and with a full group, those aren't THAT proffitable, if you even succeed in doing it (fail pugs ftw). Unless you have a guild that actively does UW/FoW, you will rely on pugs that will fail alot or on a solo or small team build that requires you to know what you are doing.

ToPK was just knowing how to not die (watching a youtube vid would tell you ALL you needed to know) from a very small amount of things without much variation in enemies and you would get easy profit. You wouldn't need to deal with smites, dieing nightmares, skeletons of dhuum or other annoying enemies that would stop someone who acts a bit too careless in UW. You don't have to deal with quests either which is the only reason for failure in FoW other then a bad pull.

The reason that it can be called abuse is simply because it's a farm you can do while sleeping through everything, even if it's not as proffitable as a proper UW solo farm/proper UW speedclear, as UW/FoW are alot harder to abuse by everyone.

R/A (take unseen fury to blind grasps before casting spells) with a lifebond/lifebarrier/eoe/winnow bonder can clear the first level, killing the BDRs and Twebs on level 2 isn't particularly easy but may be possible. Still not a worthwhile farm though.

Um.... I've been in TotPK and never saw a single ecto drop for me or any other team mates... I didn't even realize tombs was an option for farming ectos.... Doh...

I like tombs... too bad anet can't figure out a way to make it popular again (without the bots of course).

o the lols.

topk was the best bot farm in the game besides the snowball dominance quest. removing the spawns in topk 1st level is the smartest thing they've done to combat bots since guild wars release.

banning bots is a temporary solution, no matter how many bots they ban. removing blatantly bottable material from the game is what kills bots.

What i wanna know if how did it take them this long to notic this? and why havent they looked at the bots doing that one fac quest outside zos challenge? i remember afking their one day during lunch and saw like 9 n/m with funky names running out then coming back in a few mins later and the process repeats. only to stop at merch then run out. o.o

topk was one of the quickest farms and it was nice for casuals who don't have time to clear DoA or UW.... Making the area unplayed isn't the way to deal with bots.. Besides , a bot user won't care you know , he could just go UW ( orly , that's fun UW isn't touched much...) or farm minotaurs( raptor is maybe a better example) all day , he would still get a lot of money in a certain way....

What i mean is that bots we're talking about aren't doing anything to the game( Are people serious when they talk about price drop when almost 2/3 players left are farming UW/FoW/dungeons/DoA 24/7 ?????) . Bots are annoying when it concerns player vs player , but when it's about player farming poor IA mobs (something that a human can easily do) it doesn't make much sense....

The area isn't unplayable... you can still get ecto in that area... you just cant blatantly abuse the first floor anymore... but if that is how u define "played area" please uninstall... these still plenty for "casuals" to farm.. bots are cheating period....don't care if they affect other people or not..

Good got tired of the bots.

for sure that's not what he had on his mind. He said that this area is becoming dead one now and I agree with him. Especially for casual players who had an option to go there for a while and have a chance for quick ecto ... just for fun purely, just for fun ....

Well done - great update. Keep them coming.

This nerf broke my heart.

This was a wonderful farm for those of us who like to get the materials by farming them ourselves - not by power trading or joining groups that use gimmicks or cons to speedclear.

My husband and I have played guild wars for 2 1/2 years, doing things together but usually not with other people. We like it that way. The disdain for other players who were lamenting the change shown by players in TOPK the day it was nerfed is an example of the reason we prefer not to play with others very often.

This farm was nice because we could farm a little each day, or each week, as the spirit moved us and were working on slowly accumulating enough ectos for obsidian armor. We didn't trade the ectos or bot - just farmed for ourselves.

We didn't have to pay 1k for the experience. We could avoid the egos and rage quits and vetting of builds that we don't enjoy. People will say it is a multi player game and we should seek to play with others. The reason we picked Guild Wars was because we wouldn't have to unless we wanted to. I think there are lots of other players like us. Criticize us if you like, but we do play the game and we love it. Maybe not the way you play it.

I am sorry that Anet couldn't solve the botting problem here another way. They seem to have found another way at Bergen Hot Springs without changing the spawns or making it impossible to 55. Wish they could have found another way here.

You know, you can just SoS farm the UW for the same experience.. want to go afk? Walk out of patrol ranges, easy. You can still farm materials. 1k isn't much if you're getting ecto, and you don't lose the convenience. You can farm as little or as much as you want. Money's not supposed to be 'easy' to get, you know.

All this hurt was botters.

Are we both playing the same Guild Wars for now 2 years or ...?

Agreed.

I have a friend with a sin who had great results in the ToPK ledge farm. My assassin was still working on Legendary Survivor, so I had to use my Me/A. Blech. Horrible drop-rate for me.

I'm also casual and like to farm my own mats. I was like, "Crap, how am I supposed to get my FoW for my HoM?" I took my GWAMM-in-progress ranger solo into UW with spirit spam. Just doing the labyrinth. Average 3 ectos in 30-40 minutes (helped by a blue or red rock candy, but only because she's working on Sweet Tooth). If you pick up the other drops (IDing whites here definitely pays off), you make back the 1k entry fee, and often you'll get a passage scroll as a drop.

I realize change is hard, but there are still ways for a casual farmer to get ectos in a reasonable amount of time.

yea, u can for damn sure tell bots from outpost. are you kidding me?!

That most definitely depends on what you call money, and how 'hardcore' you are at the game. If you consistently do SC's/high end GvG, then you'll have significant amounts of money. If you play casually (with no farming, essentially), you'll have enough to cover you and heroes for basic expenses - ie, no expensive skins and etc. Balance between and you can get a few expensive skins, but you aren't going to have multiple weapon sets of q9 bds's, froggy's, and crysta's along with echovald shields and etc.

If you're good at powertrading that's a different story - that would likely fall under SC's and high end, because most people don't have the patience or know-how to powertrade effectively.

So yes, lots of money isn't easy to get :P But that depends on the definition of 'lots' of money, and how much time you want to put towards getting it.

And my post at the top of the page sums up this nerf :P

Not really, I have been extremely unlucky in the past when farming the UW and have gotten so few ectos that I ended up losing money due to the entrance fees and the occasional, accidental lapse in judgements that led to deaths. Take away the entrance fees for FoW/UW, and I'll agree with you, but as it is, no.

Too bad it's been nerfed...

Again: money (and by money, I mean lots of it - ie, ectos, and more than a few of them) is not supposed to be easy to get. You'll make up for it in future runs. In fact, you should make more, significantly more, farming the UW with an SoS. The entry fee is 1k. That's cheap when an ecto goes for 7.5k average. If you farm for an hour (clear the chamber, and go to mindblades), you'll get 2-3 ecto's average. If you farm longer and clear all the mindblades, you can get as many as 8-9 in two hours.

Again, this only hurts botters. SoS farming can't really be botted due to the judgement calls needed; luckily.