Slash Dot's Droknar's Forge Rushing Customer Guide

What is teh point of ascending?
Except getting to droknar's forge, the only two other reason I can see are the 15 attribute points quest and changing secondary profession....
I've met a lot of people who dont reallly kno where the first 15 attribute point quest is anyway even after ascending...and hanging secobdary, whiole fun, it's a lot of grind to get all teh skill points you need to make your other secondary competitive..unless you focus on only a few secondary skillz for a special PvP build
So ascending doesnt really give you much...you could still skip it and get infusedaand complete the game IMO...
I alwyas though that they should limit the droknar's armor and infusion to ascended characters only..that way it makes ascending worthwhile...I enjoy running to Droknar's for teh challenge...but if you want to avoid people skipping you gotta make it worth their while to ascend

So, you're saying if I want to start 3 new characters I should grind 600hrs worth of gamplay just to ascend those characters? I DON'T WANT TO PLAY THROUGH THE GAME 4 FREAKIN TIMES JUST FOR PvP!!!!

Ascension was never any big deal anyway. I was lvl 20 before ascension. I was also lvl 20 before they changed ascension from instant lvl 20 to 50,000xp. That pissed me off. In my opinion Ascension means nothing. Most people reach lvl 20 before the ascension quests anyway.

GW has done nothing but make this game a grind fest just like WoW. Weapons drop are nothing now. You have to grind 10x as much to get the uber stuff. And Faction? Just more grind. It takes 1000-1500 faction to unlock basic spells and runes. That's a lot of arena fights just for basic stuff. GRIND.

I say keep the Drakor's Forge run that the only non-grind left in the game.

the point of ascension? 54,000 XP, and 6.5 skill points. i get all my characters rushed and i still do all the missions and skill points, it's faster than grinding for 20,000 xp. if people are being rushed to unlock skills, they're still going to do quests for skills and missions for skill points, especially including ascension. In other words, it's still economically efficient for a rushed player to ascend, and in simpler words, it's better for unlocking if they ascend, so they will.

I largely agree with funbun here. My PC hit level 20... somewhere between LA and Denragi's I think. Probably closer to LA. I also agree there is a ton of grind in the game. Most of the drops I get are junk items or weapons most people won't buy (like a max damage staff with only +11% enchantments or something crazy like that). The only runes I get sell at the trader for min price. I'm not the best at PvP (haven't done it since having my rear handed to me at the droknar's arena) but from what I saw about faction, it does seem like a lot of grind.

I'm on the fence about running but I will say this: try not to run totally new players please. For everyone's sake. IMO Anet should do something to reduce the need for running.

They need to go back to the way the game was in the beginning.

If there was no Grind-Fest there would be no need to run.

I was rushed last night by Carna Detonas and they are a top notch rusher. I would highly recomend them to anyone who wanted the service and her rates are quite reasonable. Happy hunting and best of luck Carna!!

Isis

it doesn't matter what game you play. It will feel like a GRIND to play the entire story 4 times so that you can take your characters the places you want to. I don't plan on ending hte game with my 2nd 3rd and 4th characters, I"ll just play the missions and bonuses I enjoy (and areas/quests I enjoy)... I won't be rushing however because Lornar's Pass is one of the area's that I enjoy, but as soon as any of my characters hits lvl 20, the Pass will be my next destination.

exactly. 10 chars

Hello, I am the leader of Elite Forge Runners (Runz) I have made this guild for the customers that would like a FAST RELIABLE NON-SCAMMING forge runner. We are entirely legit and like Slash Dot said, we do not charge uprfront and are reasonably cheap. Once we get our site up we will be hosting forge running competitions and we will also be giving out free forge runz and discounts. I will post our site once i get it up... Interested in joining us? are you a forge runner, training to be, or just wanna join. Let me know!!

I had a run to droknars a little while ago by a person named Ichigo Rain, absolutely excellent run, didn't take more then 20 minutes and only charged 2.5k @ camp rancor.

Happy custormer here!

First off, I wanted to thank Janos for her referral. =)

A couple thoughts from my point of view, and I'll admit I haven't read through the entire thread yet...

Ditchers suck, but there's nothing you can really do about them. I considered asking for payment at Snake Dance but decided against it. Exactly what *do* you do if someone refuses to pay? Refund everyone and leave game, which wastes everyone's time, or go on? Snake Dance or Rankor or Forge, a runner is going to have to deal with customers refusing to pay. Might as well make it Forge or Rankor. If either become the standard rather than the exception, it'll become a lot easier for the general public to spot scammers -- I've heard more than one horror story of a "runner" collecting at Snake only to leave game.

As for the majority of my customers all I can say is that they never fail to surprise me. Tips seem to be the norm, rather than the exception. Even today I made two "free" runs, something I do when running a guildie, and came out nearly as well as I would have had I expected payments. Ditchers suck but the rest of my customers more than make up for the dishonest minority.

On the ethics of running people to the forge versus making them play through the game, up until recently I don't think it made much of a difference. With the new PvP unlocking system however I expect to see a *lot* more rushed players in lower level arenas taking advantage of "end-game" gear and skills in order to gain more faction. I could be way off base here...

Finally, in a follow up post another member provided a referral to Graka Ekieron. I'll second this referral. Before I started making Forge runs myself, Graka was the first and *only* person I would turn to when anyone in my guild needed a rush. I'd go as far as to say that if it weren't for Graka I wouldn't be making Forge runs myself. I watched him more times than I could count and thanks to that had very little to figure out on my own when the time came to try running it for myself.

Carna Detonas
Run to Forge - 2k at Forge

Wow! Carna, you have to be the best-priced rusher I've seen. I'll reccommend you to my sister and her guildmates.

there's so many rushers now it's ridiculous how low prices have been lately, but i'm glad that so many people have an opportunity to be rushed.

Cool, post Carna

I was rushed by Redblade Stoneforge. Kind service. He talks about the map. The hard areas. The skills he uses. He accepts 1k in Rankor if you are comfortable doing so and 1k in payment in the Forge.

Other wise it's 2k in the Forge. He's made over 150 runs. That's nice credibility.

Back in the Day...

people who get rushed... simply just noobs. getting rushed makes the game not as exciting. once you get good armor, its no fun.

What are you talking about? I've already beaten the game the regular way with my monk. I've started 3 new characters and I'm NOT going to play through the storyline 3 more times. That's boring. Rushing makes it more exiting as now I'm interested in PvP not PvE.

If it's your first time, play regularly. But why go through the game the same way after you've beaten it? I just become a grind. The story ain't that great. Going through it 3 additional times is a nightmare.

How can you say I'm a noob when I've beaten the game? Have you beaten the game yet?

Yea, I went through the game 3 times, after that (picking up the remainder of the skills, as grinding out points is boring) I went for rushes to work backwards from the furthest skill vendors. Anyone who says rushing to Droknars is bad, is still on their first character - let the grind set in...

Too bad we are not in a court of law.
You've rationalised rushing to be ok fine, that still doesn't make it not any less of an exploit to pass low level players through by rezzing them at the zones.

I'm not telling you how to play, and my small inferrance, as you call it, is that maybe they intended to let high level players be able to run through these area, they might not have figured on low level player breezing through just by rezzing at the zones. Just because they haven't fixed it doesn't make it not any less of an exploit.

so do what you want, that doesn't mean I don't have the right to think it's wrong. I agree that they didn't want to make it a grind and they haven't, this game is not a grind even if you don't rush (it's not that difficult).... well unless you need to raise 5-10k really fast to pay someone to rush you.

Hrmm carna charges 2k O.o i always charge 1-2k when its real busy around and i THINK i said 3-4k earlier but i charge that when there are no runners. hint (catch me around in the morning i give lots and lots of free runs and 1k runs) also me and my guildies race to the forge ALOT so if you want a FAST guaranteed run in 15-20 minutes whisper me and ask when the next race is because we charge 1k usually and we have 2 seats available (around 4 of us race at a time). peace homies whisper me ingame whenever.

~ Trust the guild

It makes the game nowhere near as exciting. Sure it is a grind, but thatis what PLAYING the games are supposed to be right?

I understand the desire to have multiple characters/classes. But mostly for PvP players. It seems that most of the [pro-rush sentiment is from PvP players.

It seeems that way in most things. That is basically the only problem I have withthe game. The PvP and PvE are too symbiotic. The two sides couldn't be more different, but they are tied together in such a way that the game has been compromised on one side to make it "better" for the other.

The only solution to this is to break the bond between PvP and PvE. Probably too much has been done to do it now, so the problems/arguments will most likely continue.

The best way to do it as a skill versus skill arena is to make everyone exactly the same. Have all skills and all weapons available to the PvP players from the start. No more unlocking, no more trying to do the shortcuts. Simply make that side of the game the ultimate short cut. Give them everything they want and need, the best weapons, the best skills, and the best armor. Then let the "skill" "experience" truly decide who is better. If everyone has the same arsenal to choose from, then the ability to chosse the right skills, armor, weapons to take to the arenas will truly be a better way to figure out who is better.

Having the low level arena full of hi level armors is not even fun. How can someone who is playing the PvE game the "right" way with 30 def armor and limited skills going to come even close to beating a player with elites and 70 def armor?

That is where the developers missed the boat with tying the two sides of the game so closely together. PvP people want it all and they want it now. So simply give it to them. Just seperate the two worlds. (if that is a possibility)

I am in the minority I guess. i like playing the game. I don't mind the grind. But then again I am not into the PvP side of the game that much. I have done a few PUG runs, but I am not part of a "real" guild. I have my own and have yet to start recruiting.

So it all depends on your goals in the game. Are you playing different builds for the experience at playing different classes or are you simply looking to unlock skills to use in PvP arenas later? I am sure it is a mix, but different goals take different paths.

I also do a lot of missions with henches. But I will also go back and redo them with others. PUG games are difficult, and if you are failing miserably over and over again and NEED the mission to advance it can get stressfull. But when you have it in the bank and are doing it for "fun" it is a lot more enjoyable, even when you die over and over agian.

So while I might complete the mission originally away from the community aspect the developers intended, I will do them after the fact in that fashion. But mostly out of necessity of topics raised here...clueless people in the hgiher levels that have all the skills, but simply do not know how to use them.

The new AI and Infusion of the henches makes them better than 90% of the players anyways, experienced or otherwise, so I just go with them, other thantrying to start a team or waiting while theleader spams "we need a monk" for 30 minutes when Lina and Alesia are better than most and are right there.

OK this got a little off topic. But the bottomline is that the two worlds are clashing. PvP and PvE. When I first got the game I thought it was going to be seperate. I finished 2 characters PvE before I tried the PvP side. I expected to see something where I was ina different world or a different setting. Was alittle surprised when I was forced to make a character that could only use the skills I had unlocked with my other two characters. It didn't make sense to me.

But it is the main reason why people are exploiting these shortcuts. Can't blame them really. If I was onyl interested in the arena, then I wouldn't really want to grind it out either. But then again LEARNING how to play a new build takes some practice, but then again, there are low level arenas for that, and maybe playing the monsters in PvE isn't really practice.

So ultimately all these arguments, from running to the economy to bad drops can all be traced back to PvP and PvE differences and different goals in the game.

Only by somehow making the two less reliant on each other will both sides find what they are looking for. Even then, it might not answer all the problems that people are finding. But remember this is all FREE, and anything that they are doing is costing nothing more. If it takes a $39.99 expansion to split the two then sobeit. That makes it truly to games in one, not just 2 sides of a game that rely on each other with no apparent need.

You got some good points. I haven't thought of it like that. I'll give that some more thought. Perhaps keeping the 2 separate is the only way.

But there is another aspect to the game: ecomomics. I like capitalism. I've got 2 in game buisineses: runing escort with a W/Mo and using my Monk to teach people how to beat thier mirror. Making 100k is just as fun as PvE and PvP.

They've destoryed the rune market so I'm out of business their. Drops suck now so there is not real way to make money except with bots (for which they win ban me). Running escort seems to be the only way to make money in GW.

I would be cool ive they had interest in storage that would earn 2% or so on money in storage.

I wish they would put level caps on items and armor. That way low end items would have a bit more value to low level players that can use them. The problems as I see it is the only things of value are a few high end things...which are being nerfed. there would be more of a value in the low end items, by making it so that people actually needed them (albiet by force).

As far as Pvp goes, I almost think its better if it was a separate part of the game completely.

I also like playing the economy, but I think it only hurts in the long run just by rushing.
It affects the economy of people who just want to play through because it devalues what they have.

I'm begining to think separation is the only way to go.

Running Escort isn't bad. Runing from Aurguey Rock To Ascension Quests for instance and oother parts of the map.

but I've already played through the game and do not wish to play through the storyline just for PvP: thus the separation issue.

So I'm gonn build up a W/Mo and run Drankor's until they nerf it. At which point I wil probably stop playing GW.

Yea I hear ya. I wish there was other ways to make money, and better things to spend it on. I'm getting to the point now where I'm starting to consider moving on.

They should give the wurms Muddy Terrain spirit.

I'm considering EVE. It's an MMO based on Sic-Fi. The Dev seem to have a "hands off" let the world evolve attitude. Check out there FAQ:

http://www.eve-online.com/faq/faq_01.asp

I have never been rushed by Slash Dot at all, I made my way to Forge the way I was supposed to do it. But I have read a lot of forums and well... A lot of people can't be wrong can they? From all the countless forums I have read, Slash Dot is very legitimate, but again, I haven't been rushed by him at all.
I started as a runner a few weeks ago and I must say scammers are all everywhere. I can't say I'm very good at it, since I am still mastering it and well the run IS hard. I have done around 20 runs by now, don't know how long I have taken on them, I haven't really had time to look at the clock. Out of those 20 runs, the first 15 were completely free as to establish my name, and well, wouldn't want to charge for something that I can't accomplish. Even though I've done it a few times though, things are bound to happen... If I die more than once doing one of those runs (the ones I'm charging for) I offer a free one as a way to pay people for their time. Again, I'm very new at it so I'm still working on perfecting myself.

I usually charge like 3k only, 1.5k in camp rankor, the rest in forge. I will NOT accept upfront money even if offered, and neither will accept gold in snake dance. Like I said.. Things are bound to happen and... If I accepted upfront or in snake dance and then I tripped over my power cord or something? Wouldn't want to be called a scammer.
Another reason why I write everyone's name on a paper in case the unexpected happens
Haven't done a run in a while though so I may just do a couple free ones in the near future to get myself warmed up again

Nice tips Dal. Good call on the power chord thing. It does happen.

R/X can't rush? How's about the R/E?

Armor of mists + Storm Chaser + Windborne speed + Troll Unguent + Serpents Quickness.

Or the R/W? Chaser, Unguent, Charge, Sprint, Balanced (or dolyak), and so on.

I have been scammed....while running people. A few times a decided to be a nice person, in running people from LA to Temple, and from Thunderhead to Marhan's. The people are like well I don't want to get scammed so I am not going to pay you till I get there. Me thinking their innocent, said ok. So I take them there and they port away when they get there. New law from then was 1/2 money 1/2 there or I leave you.

I'm going to second Borealis' opinion. I decided to "hire" a runner just to watch and happened to spot Ichigo Rain. Sure enough the guy was fast, courteous, and we got to Droknar's easily. Didn't even care that I was just a damn tourist, he had no problems sharing his build. Worth the 2k he charged in full at Camp Rankor. I guess prices have dropped due to competition.

LOL im absolutely flattered by these post. Someone told me i was on this forum, yes im ichigo rain. Yeah, i charge 2k now because there are so many runners now a days. Reason for charging in full at camp rankor is because when i use to charge at the forge and was jipped so many times. People just left the party without paying and then ignored me. I still get jipped, people know how easy the run is from Camp rankor to the forge so they just leave the party at rankor without paying. But im not about to start charging in snake dance because in my opinion thats the hardest part of the run, and if i where to fail it would most likely be in the tunnel area where the trolls are. Ive done a lot of free runs too, if you are ever on around 1 am pacific, i try to do one around that time so give me a buzz.

ive only done around 50 runs and succesful 85% of the time. But just stick with me and ill get u there.

if yeah want to know my build it's as folows: W/N lvl20, platemail armor from granite citadel except helm which is a tactician one with the +1 tactics ( i use this helm just for running because i put a superior swordsmanship on the helm i usually use). i have a sup vigor, sup absorbtion, and minor strength and tactics runes on my armor. i also use a shield that gives me +45 health and -2 dmg reduction while in stance. since im running im constantly in a stance so that helps alot. i also use a sword with +28 health and +6 armor. Note: the shield i use is from the collector outside of camp rankor, get yourself one its very useful. for skills and spells i use as follows: Charge (elite skill), Balanced Stance, sprint, shields up, shield stance, endure pain, disciplined stance & Healing signet. i normal use all of these skills in a run.

my general strategy is to know when to run and when to stop and regenerate. ive got all my spots mapped out to where i pause and recharge. i also try not to rush to fast because that can lead to a jam. if i do get in a jam i use shield stance and disciplined stance to give me some valueable time to recharge and heal while the mobs are on me.

if anyone needs help just msg me ingame, im on a lot so chances of catching me is very likely. GOOD LUCK

That's sad. Players are complaing about getting scammed runners. Yet the runners themselves are getting scammed by dead beat players.

Exactly, its hard to find good honest runners, yet its quite a risk for the runners themselves from getting gipped. I have had a run for 2 times now(one for ele and other for warr hammer) and I paid 3k and 4k respectively, both runs had very different approach, I enjoyed watching their effort and the great deal of memorization needed on monster spawns the the right way to go. Still, its pretty cool earning up to 10k per 20mins(if nobody gips you) but its high risk too. I support the good runners, also, people who ask to get paid in advance b4 reaching camp rankor are always labeled as scammers, regardless whether or not they are.

I myself don't run, but I respect the people who do, its good business, although nowadays, money is much less.

That the big problem with guild wars. There is no real way to make money. Runing is the only real way now, buit there are so many that profits are dwindling away. Areanet really needs to make more money. I was teaching monks how to beat thier mirror but it takes 20 mintues for me to go throug h the process and I only charge 300g. So it doesn't make me that much money. So if your not a W/Mo you can't make money in this game.

Especially if they keep nerfing the farming spots