Because I love watching you play 7 Days to Die so much and want to see you do well, here are some tips and answers that should be useful, answer some of your questions (including those you didn't ask directly), and prevent issues:
🌟 means more important
First of all, alpha 19 experimental is already out, in case you didn’t know. Alpha 19 could be out in as soon as a couple weeks, so be prepared to restart again soon if you want to go to the next version. There isn’t anything major gameplay wise, just a few new guns/tools, and some changes that might just be annoying, but there are some pretty major improvements with visuals, performance, and world generation. So it might be worth restarting, and as annoying as it is to constantly start over with each update, the starts of new worlds can be fun to watch. A new world in Alpha 19 would be particularly interesting, as progression has been reworked to take a lot longer and make the primitive items more useful.

🌟 UI Modlets

1. If you want to be able to see things like food and water levels on your HUD, you should install a UI modlet. Some modlets change a lot, from the style of every menu to significantly rearranging UI elements, but some just add a couple things.
   
2. To install a modlet:
   
   1. Go to https://www.nexusmods.com/7daystodie/mods/145?tab=files (or some other source of mods)
   2. Find the modlet you want (I’m quite partial to the simple “S420_SimpleUI-LeftHUD-NoTemp-BuffTimers”)
   3. Download and open the modlet’s zip folder.
   4. Move everything in the Mods folder to the Mods folder in your 7DtD installation, specifically ...\steamapps\common\7 Days To Die\Mods
      • (create the folder if it isn’t there)
   5. Your UI should now show whatever the modlet adds next time you play.
      • If there are any issues, it should show up in the console, opened with F1 by default. Check loaded mods with the command “version”.

General

1. 🌟 If you're on fire, drink something to put it out.
   
2. 🌟 Traders reset inventory on certain days. The day number they will reset on is in their trade menu.
   
3. 🌟 You seem to have mostly realized this, but junk turrets only work one at a time. You have to be in range of it, and only your closest owned junk turret with ammo fires, plus an extra one if you have the perk. If you have multiple, they will swap out as each one runs out of ammo.
   
4. 🌟 I haven’t seen any specific problems with this, but just in case you didn’t know, you can pick up player-placed electronics (e.g. generators, blade traps, and electric fence posts) and the various crafting stations if they’re within a land claim block area. Pretty sure it doesn’t work with multiplayeallies though, just whoever placed the land claim, which is a bit inconvenient. So only Trevor can pick things up. Just wanted to make sure Ryan knows he could pick up the things he’s been placing if the land claim was his.
   
5. 🌟 Different explosives are specialized for killing and digging. Dynamite does a lot of block damage, while grenades, pipe bombs, and molotovs do very little block damage but more playezombie damage. And of course the timed charge, which Gavin learned, to his disappointment, does very high block damage, but in a very small area. Good for breaking safes, not mountains.
   
6. 🌟 Keep an eye out for hints of underground bunkers under seemingly inconspicuous structures around the towns.
   
7. Most of you seem to know about the open/closed book icon on books in an inventory, but you can also check what perk books you’ve read in the perks menu, useful if someone else finds a book and you want to check if you already got it.
   
8. Don’t bother putting items on your action bar to use them once. Just click “A” while it’s selected in the inventory to use it (like some of you do already).
   
9. Nerdy glasses are pretty useful:
   
   1. They are good for reducing crazy crafting times on big things like stacks of gunpowdegas at the chem station. (only a 10% reduction though) But even with that, you will want at least 1 extra of each crafting station for general crafting while the other is busy for half an hour making a ton of gunpowdegas/ammo.
   2. The glasses can also save a perk point if you just use them any time you need to craft something deep into the intellect tree. Although you haven’t been too starved on perk points, it would still be useful in situations like Michael trying to make gas but being 1 point short. For example, if you’re level 2 in intelligence, the glasses let you buy a perk that requires level 3, but the perk will only be active while you meet the requirement.

Base Defense

1. 🌟 As you may have realized with your rendition of the battle for Helm’s Deep, the zombies are omniscient structural engineers who path straight to the weakest point to get to you. Whether it makes for good content/gameplay or not, it’s best to leave a weakest point in your defenses to bait them and focus active defenses like turrets, traps, and yourself on that weak point. If you make a concrete square surrounded entirely by electric fences and spikes, then most of the defenses will be wasted since they’ll just go for one spot where you just happened to use a non-reinforced concrete block or something. If you do manage to perfectly balance the structure in every direction, they will take the shortest path to whoever they’re chasing, so you may succeed in spreading them out, at least until one block is broken somewhere, creating a unique shortest path to any player that they will all try to use.
   
   • While this can be annoying, it can also be interesting in that it “forces” you to make defenses somewhat reminiscent of authentic medieval castles. It is very effective to make concentric baileys with entrances flanked by gatehouses, with arrow slits or windows from which you can kill zombies attacking the entrance to the next bailey. Another encouraged authentic feature is machicolations, which you can also place around the entrances, similar to what you’ve done already with the extensions atop your walls in past bases. During the fight, man the gatehouses and machicolations, rain hell from above or the sides while they try to break through, and either repair the door being broken or wait for it to be destroyed and retreat to the next bailey.
2. 🌟 Whatever you do, you need taller walls or smaller windows. If there are enough zombies, they just climb over each other World War Z style and hop over walls shorter than like 4 blocks. Spider zombies can still climb of course, but the occasional zombie isn’t hard to deal with. If they are a problem, just add an overhang or ceiling. They’re not great at climbing anything complex.
   
3. Someone already recommended this, but it bears repeating, you might want to put some electric fence posts farther out to slow down zombies farther away, for a few reasons:
   
   1. This gives you time to take some shots at them before they reach the defenses, and they’re essentially immobilized when shocked, so headshots are easier.
   2. Delays demolition zombies, giving time to kill them before they can Helm’s Deep your base, or at least allowing them to detonate farther away.
   3. Zombies are immune to shocking for 1.5 seconds after their last shocking, so your inner perimeter is still useful if the outer fence perimeter is far enough out.
4. Dart traps combined with pressure plates are a great focused, resource efficient defense, only requiring iron for the ammo, unlike more expensive bullets. And who doesn’t want to turn their base into a trap-laden temple straight out of Indiana Jones?
   
5. You really don’t have to worry too much about zombies excavating the base as long as the zombies have a better path to you than digging. Although with your underground entrances, they might use their PhDs in material science to devise a more efficient path by digging into your tunnel or the main house, rather than beating down your bunker walls, but their pathing usually doesn’t prefer or can’t reach long, complex paths like that.
   

Electronics

1. 🌟 The wire tool’s range is dependent on your location, not the thing you’re trying to connect to. So you can wire farther away electronics by standing within range (~12 blocks) of the source electronic, then reaching towards and connecting the destination electronic.
   
2. 🌟 Fence posts don’t just take power to run, they also degrade like most traps. The receiving fence post takes damage when affecting an enemy, stops working when below 50 durability, and must be repaired with 1 electrical part.
   
3. Electronics can only receive power from one connection, in case you hadn’t noticed.
   
4. Some tips for using turrets if you get around to them: they can’t use any special AP/HP ammo, make sure to lock the ammo when you want them to fire, and you can change their targeting area or manually fire them in their UI.
   

Looting/Resources

1. 🌟 You can melt down casino tokens in the forge for brass, which is great since brass can’t be mined like the other metals. It essentially takes 6 tokens to make each bullet casing this way.
   
2. 🌟 Jeremy...you left behind a bunch of silver nugs...and a level 4 chainsaw and level 3 auger....why...the motor tool parts alone…
   
3. 🌟 Loot/craft paper, it’s useful for shotgun shells, as well as blunderbuss ammo, which becomes far more useful in the slower progression of Alpha 19.
   
4. 🌟 If Matt still needs more rotten flesh, the bigger buildings like the shotgun factory have tons of vultures, and all the adventuring players should make sure they harvest vultures they find in the desert and such. This gives bones too, which are good for glue and paper.
   
5. To save on gas while digging, swap back and forth between pick and auger. Use up stamina with pick, recharge stamina while using auger, etc.
   
6. It is more efficient, sometimes WAY more efficient, to melt metal items like radiators in the forge, rather than scrapping them in the inventory to be melted later. Although it saves room by compressing it all into one inventory space, scrapping wastes some of the metal.
   
7. If you’re ever short on electrical parts, just wrench apart ceiling lights, desk lights, computers, and control consoles around various buildings. The desk lights give some brass too. There are so many sources of electrical parts that you should keep skipping over most of them, but they’re still good to harvest sometimes.
   

The results are in for Match 2. The winner is…
Peter “Treagon” Bequasimodo, with a score of 68 to Markus Ness Mathison’s 60!

Category	Winner	Point Totals	Comments
Popularity	Baker Street Rat Pack	16-14	Popularity was fairly even throughout the match, ultimately resolving just barely in Treagon’s favor.
Quality	Baker Street Rat Pack	20-18	Reasoning
JoJolity	Baker Street Rat Pack	22-18	Reasoning
Conduct	Tie	10-10

The Heartache Casino had been trashed. A mixture of water and soda syrup seemed to leak out of most of the machinery, the vast majority of screens in the building had been slashed open, and the air was hazy with smoke. It was almost unbearably hot due to the air conditioning having been down for quite a while. Over all of the damage and chaos stood Peter Bequasimodo, Markus having been forcibly escorted out by security at what the hacktivist had thought to be the deadline for some horrible event. Treagon was pretty sure the fish guy wasn’t the one who had lured him here, but by all means, it seemed the only disaster that had come of this place had been what they did to it.
As casino patrons continued to stream out of the front doors and employees frantically ran around, Peter noticed a garish gold mess in the shape of a thin, middle-aged white dude approaching him from the VIP stairs. He was sharp-faced and red-eyed, with neat but longish black hair, wearing a gold-yellow checker-patterned suit over white, and everything about the way he carried himself suggested that he was the kind of guy who wouldn’t go anywhere unless he were the constant center of attention. He looked like he wasn’t hot at all, despite what had happened to the air systems (maybe they had a separate one upstairs..?), and carried under his arm a sort of envelope, clapping as he did.
“Well done, Treagon, well done… That was absolute chaos, and my premiums are probably gonna go up, but hell, my guests loved the show, and that’s what really matters, yeah?” He held out his hand. “Tigran Sins, ‘Golden’ to friends, owner of this place you trashed, and you, I think, could make a wonderful friend.”
Peter raised an eye and looked over him, realizing what had come as a woman dressed like some kind of pirate was also forcibly escorted from the upstairs and tossed out on the streets, shouting all the while, “my best customer fucking ruined meeeeeeee!” For some reason, Peter presumed that may have been who that fish guy was trying to flush out, but paid it no mind.
Tigran rolled his eyes, chuckling and brushing her off. “I swear, upstarts get a taste of the good life, and then they always do this as soon as it all comes crashing down. Never gets old…” He sighed with some amusement, then moved to pull free the envelope. “Anyway, I have something one of my clients has asked to give to the w-”
A fist connected with the casino owner’s face, which quickly turned into a grasp at his hair, yanking him down to knee him into the dirtied floor, Peter following through by smoothly dusting off the new letter. “Endangering your customers and screwing with me to entertain a bunch of high-rollers while you sit in comfort and laugh at their misfortunes… You’re my least favorite kind of scumbag.”
“My face! My faaace!” Covering it and panicking, the owner ran away in alarm, and now it was Peter’s turn to give security the slip. When he was somewhere safer, he carefully opened the unmarked, finely-sealed envelope’s contents, finding the quality of the writing to be the same as the last, but this time, rather than an unsigned threat, the handwritten note had been much stranger, most curiously reading at the bottom:
For the Institute,
Oh No
Enjoy M2? Looking forward to M4 and beyond? In the meantime, when this goes live, you still have over a day to vote in M3, the bout featuring an Octopus-headed youth, a thief, a shapeshifter, and a child who controls ants, all duking it out over weird gross fish.
Scenario:
Downtown Los Fortuna - North Island: Within Sight of the Waterfront statues, Triskele and Cocytus.
Not quite evening.
The streets were busier than usual in the area for a variety of reasons. Roadwork was underway in more convenient places, for one thing. For another, people had been curious about a plane which performed a miracle landing just up North, and a local small-time reporter was trying yet again to cover some facets of the incident and reach another fleeting effort towards a big break, workers all the while meanwhile toiling to fish the plane out from between two art installations. Thirdly, and most significantly, an old man was delivering a speech before a canal dock, the campaign van he stood atop flanked by two large and unfurled Los Fortuna flags and a private security detail.
This man was Wedding March, and despite being a somewhat overweight, balding, middle-height man whose well-tailored white suit was soaked in sweat from the day’s sun, any who paid local politics attention could identify him as the chairman of the Los Fortuna Metropolitan Council -- little more than a ceremonial upgrade over a standard councilor position on paper, but becoming the popularly-elected face of the city council had perks of its own nonetheless.
“My fellow citizens of Los Fortuna,” March began, a certain commanding aura to the way he articulated, gestured, and generally carried himself, “we are living in interesting times once more, I am afraid to say. In recent months, all number of bizarre crimes have surged to a greater extent than ever before, and once again, it is only the efforts of the ordinary heroes of this city that have kept us from collapsing… This Metropolis’ wonderful police force, its defense forces, from the volunteer organizations of Aurelio to the men and women of Valkyrie, yes, but also, our rescue workers, doctors, the journalists who keep people like me honest, never letting me have a wink of sleep…”
The crowd which had gathered around him laughed at that final point, March giving a self-deprecating smile. From there, he segued into further praise. “And too many other persons to possibly list! Yet in the strange incidents of this city, the danger these persons face is unique as well! A dear friend of mine, one who drew the very flags I stand for, who thirty years ago aided this city in its hour of tragedy even as he mourned his flesh and blood, said that in times like these, the people need more than ever to know that there is a place to simply be good, to be inspiring, to be forthright and demonstrate agency! You may be quiet, Los Fortuna, but I can hear you calling! I will work myself to an early grave if it means my fellow councilors and I can do right by the safety and comfort every last one of you deserves!”
The man continued postulating about the safety of the city, and the crowd didn’t seem to be processing all of it, yet they cheered anyway when he paused or gestured to.
It all felt so smotheringly fake to Jacob Brown, having gotten curious about the crowd while on a stroll through the city, having before then been idly people-watching.
You use his name like a tool to make the people cheer… You say you were friends, but I sure never heard him talk about you! I think you might be lying and lying and peppering in platitudes, just like every other politician, Councilor!
For a brief, flashing moment, Jacob called the semi-tangible form of ‘Megalo Strike Back,’ only to stop himself, remembering.
“You all seem a good lot, creative, constructive, well of intent, so I must ask you all personally... Help me make this inevitable into something that is not a tragedy, when the time comes."
That Andrew Tiffany had asked that of them all, and Jacob had promised his help with all the rest. He had seemed so happy, so relieved, to know that he had allies in this fool’s errand of his, and even though he was dead, Jacob Brown was never one to defy a promise.
The speaker would live, and Megalo Strike Back would recede. Still, to calm his nerves, he walked away, trying to deftly make his way somewhere away from all the lies.
Maybe he could find his fun for the day somewhere quieter.
In an alleyway, South of the rally…
Richard Stone was thinking to himself, having had much the same people-watching plans as a youth not half his age, though his walk was a shorter one, himself more winded by what had come, not to mention what had distracted him.
This Downtown in particular, it had interested him… He remembered the words of that young woman who spoke of the place, how apparently it had once been devastated by an earthquake, and then from there rebuilt… A bit of a museum trek confirmed as such to him, too. Was this, then, the history of the city’s canals?
It truly was amazing, the decades of stories that could be told by just walking around.
There were a lot of police in the area, and earlier, a man had been trying to avoid them, but also looking quite nervous in his own right… He’d a feeling that he should paint the man, perhaps, but he had only seen him briefly enough to get a quick sketch, and had since become preoccupied by searching for that guy, whatever trouble he had gotten up to, instead of checking out that rally up by the water.
It was a pretty damn nice drawing for a sketch of a man at a glance, by any standards bar Richard’s own.
All this going around looking for some guy… I really need to do more cardio. At least it’s an absolutely lovely day, and being this far from that district locals call ‘The Earth,’ I’m bound to find some excitement just by walking around a bit! And if it’s the wrong kind, it’s nothing that my ‘Heavens’ can’t get me out of!
Not long after expressing that, Richard did, in fact, find some company; a teenager, by the looks of things, had entered the alley, looking as though he were hurriedly shuffling away from something.
“Good day!” Richard spoke, waving at the youth with a raised hand. Already, he could see dark energies from this young man, but this was hardly something to phase him, simply standing where he was, holding onto what he was. “You don’t happen to have seen a man who looks vaguely like this, have you?”
As he held out his sketch, the newcomer gave him a curious look, then began to close the distance between them quickly. Stopping a few meters away, then, he looked at the thing, then at the man, shaking his head. “I’m afraid not… Would this be a friend of yours?”
Richard shook his head, which seemed to satisfy the boy. “No, a complete stranger… He caught my eye, as people do sometimes. I’m not sure if you’re aware, but there’s many people with strange abilities in this place, and I’ve developed, I think, a knack for feeling out where they’re active. I was hoping to track him down and paint him.”
“Most of our kind don’t speak so bluntly about Stands like that with total strangers,” this kid said, cutting through all the slight inclinations that he might be somewhat normal, then smiling, getting a little closer. “Someone with that layer of fearless honesty has some respect from me… You may not be so bad, Mister…”
“Stone,” he answered, “Richard Stone. I just wasn’t sure if you were one as well, so I didn’t want to confuse you, but I can see that’s not necessary! Tell me, though, what’s your name, since you now have mine?”
“Jacob Brown… I’m new here, you could say, and so I was people-watching… Happened to make my way here when the lies of that councilman became too much to bear.” The boy retracted a bit, then held his hands behind his back… Richard could tell he was up to something. “Tell me, though, Richard, do you think it’s dangerous to accost strangers in alleys?”
“I’ve been told,” he answered, “but sometimes, that’s where you meet the most interesting people, and I won’t flinch from that… Not all of the best stories parade through the streets, yeah?”
“I understand, and agree completely! That said, a fair warning, Richard, since you seem alright… you caught me in a really bad mood, and I just want to rip something open!”
Like that, he leapt forward, a knife now in his hands, bringing it with alarming speed towards his conversational partner. Richard, to his end… Simply stood and watched, and then, just before the blade could contact skin, stopped itself, Jacob pulling back and tilting his head. “You really aren’t afraid at all, then… Didn’t try to get away, nor summon up your own Stand to stop me.”
“You like to unnerve people and see how they react, is that it?” Richard asked, his answer implying the point of his inaction. “You’re honest, to a fault… If you were going through the trouble of announcing your bloodlust like that, I think you’d have told me you meant to gut me like a fish, or something else flavorful like that. Yet all you said was you wanted to do that to something. Not a lie, but a test. And lucky thing, too… If you’d actually meant to kill me, Jacob, right now you would certainly be dead.”
Jacob Brown started cracking up, then, hand moving to his forehead as he laughed and laughed, in a better mood than he had been since hearing that infernal speech. “You’re good… You really are good, Richard Stone! If you had recoiled or tried to run, acted afraid, that wouldn’t have reflected very well on your claimed interests in all kinds of people, and then maybe you would have become the ‘something’ after all. Talking to you has put me in such a better mood already… Is there some way I can repay you?”
“One,” Richard said, producing his art supplies once again with a nod, looking over his form. “Let me paint you?”
Not much later, that same day, that same alley…
The two fast acquaintances, not yet aware that they would soon come to blows, had a good time simply talking as the drawing ensued, and there was much to talk about… Both had quite dark, storied histories, and though both did value being forthright, some of what they got into utterly forbade it in function. It was nice, then, to frankly discuss matters such as the taking of lives and witnessing of violent, gruesome scenes.
All good things were bound to come to an end, though, as not long after the drawing had been complete, the hand of fate tossed with all its might something which would surely come between their new bond.
A violent crashing sound, followed by a mess of crimson liquid dancing in the air, surrounding the slumped, launching form of a man’s body, a flickering humanoid figure trying and failing to grasp at anything and everything before fading from existence, even Richard not quite able to make out what the mysterious person’s Stand was. Before either person could process anything, this anonymous Stand User had entered their eyesight by smashing headfirst against the brick wall of the alley directly between where they were standing.
“That’s…” Richard raised an eyebrow, noting the outfit and hair of what was once a man before them, now cut to shit and crushed up to boot. “I’m sure of it, that’s the man I was trying to follow.”
“Well,” Jacob said, moving to ineffectually, almost tongue-in-cheekily check the corpse’s pulse. “You’ve found him, I suppose. Might not be as easy to paint his face now, but…” He leaned in hard, squinting before pulling away. “The resemblance of your sketch seems to have been uncanny to what his face might have looked like unsmashed!”
“I’ll have to remember him, then… When I see a Stand User die, you know, I can always paint them perfectly from memory.”
Their conversation was interrupted by the chatter of a man on a radio, “yeah, got two men in an alleyway, right in front of a John Doe. Now approaching, over.”
“Oh…” Jacob said, slightly disappointed, “the police are here.”
“Looks like it,” Richard answered in a whisper, “play it cool, yeah? ”
Of course, both Richard and Jacob knew how horrible this looked right away, what with the officer drawing closer with a cold look on his lips, brow tensed and hands on his hips as he walked over to the scene, what he would be saying clear before he even came close.
Jacob, for a moment, was glanced at by the man, before he turned his head to Richard, getting closer to him. “Would either of you mind answering some questions for me?”
“Certainly, officer,” Jacob said, already feeling exhausted, “what about? Social studies? Pre-calculus? Ooh, I was always graded well in physical education, would that help?”
“You know that’s not what I meant…” That, then, earned an eyebrow raising from him, his tone growing concerned, rather than frustrated as he looked at Jacob and pointed at Richard. “Is he threatening you not to answer or something? You can trust me, young man, it’s like Councilor March said… It’s not just all these security companies, or those college boys in their ivory tower, or that fuckin’ Black Angel; police officers like me are doing our part too, and I say we’re doing the biggest part of all!”
That put Jacob in a bad mood, and Richard, noticing his new friend stiffen up, opted wisely to take over, “if I may, officer, I assure you this body literally just flew in out of nowhere while my friend and I were just talking here. We’re as confused as you are about this whole-”
“You expect me to believe that? Don’t make fun of me! North Island PD aren’t stupid, buddy!” Suddenly, the officer seized Richard’s hand, hard enough to actually make the weak older man wince, dropping the canvas upon which had been the sketch of the dead man - and immediately, the officer caught that. “If you’re not gonna cooperate, we’ll just have to bring you to the station and hear what you really know!”
And then, he held up the sketch of this person, glancing at it and chuckling, looking at the corpse. “Not a bad resemblance at all… You’re a half-decent artist, but a damned shitty liar. That’s settled now, you’re coming with me.”
The officer, then, dropped the canvas before reaching down for his handcuffs, occupied hand loosening in its grip on Richard without his notice, only for him to realize as he brought his arm back up that it wasn’t holding them… And that both of his wrists ended in grotesquely bleeding stumps, both of what they once connected to dropping uselessly to the floor.
Turning, slowly, in too much shock as he held up his stumps, he looked towards the boy off to the side, grinning with his mouth but looking at him with utter malice, hand formed as if it was holding something, but nothing appearing visible in the officer’s eyes.
“That’s not a term to toss around lightly, officer… I was in a wonderful mood until you went and ruined it, you know!” Jacob’s grin grew wider, then, and he stepped again and again on the lifeless fingers of the severed hand, the officer hearing them crack apart. There was almost a quality of laughter in his voice. “So run away now, little piggy, while I satisfy myself with this! This is one hundred percent your fault, you know, for trying to arrest an innocent man for telling the whole truth!”
Finally, the pain registered, and as he turned and ran with a look of utter inelegance, the officer screamed pathetically and bolted away, his expensive blue pants moist with an absolute sign of his fear as he tried and failed, again and again, to radio for help.
“I, uh… Appreciate the save.” Richard sighed, relieved on one hand, but otherwise, frowning with further thoughts as he picked up his canvases. “We need to get out of here, though… He’ll get help eventually, and then we are in serious trouble.”
“I concur… This way!”
The nearby streets, minutes later…
Jacob and Richard ran off, but sirens wailed in the distance, and both could see it with utter certainty… The officers in the area had been looking for an excuse to flex on someone, they had been in the wrong place at the wrong time, and now, the situation had escalated even further.
Panting to catch their breaths, Richard looked to the younger criminal, speaking quite frankly to him. “You know, Jacob… There’s no way the cops are gonna stop until they have someone to pin this crime on, and we just gave them all the reason to make it one of us on a silver platter. There’s no reason for both of us to go down.”
“Yes I agree,” Jacob answered, bouncing from foot to foot, looking around, “much as I’ve enjoyed our chat, and don’t at all regret helping you back there, I don’t intend to actually go to jail for your sake. There’s far too much police could find if they looked into me, and I’ve made a promise to someone which would be in danger if I were ever in that hot water.”
“So we’re on the same page, then… I have every intent of being the one of us who walks away from this, even if it means they take you in. No hard feelings, yeah?”
Jacob, again, found the situation amusing, seeming to agree if only for the sheer honesty of saying that… It isn’t a deception or a betrayal if they totally understand where they are. “No hard feelings… If you survive this, though, I might save you a second time after all! I have connections at the Academy, yes, and I’m sure they won’t abide by an innocent Stand User facing charges, no! So try to live, and may the best man win!”
Without another word, Jacob bolted off, then, leaving Richard standing there, stretching, and shaking his head with bemusement. “‘If I survive this…’ This a game to him?” A sigh, shaking his head, then followed. “What a kid… Alright, then! Not gonna let myself get shown up here! I’ve been through worse scrapes than this before he was even alive, so it’s time to show him how it’s done!”
Open the Game!
Location: The streets in Downtown Los Fortuna’s north island. Fleeing from the police has forced the players away from all the art and history towards one of its more… Commercial subsections.
The area is shown here with each tile being 7.5 by 7.5 meters with a total length of 90 meters and width of 150 meters. The dark grey are each two lane roads, cars are parked and driving as normal here at around 30 miles per hour and the crosswalks are denoted by double white lines. The arrows show the direction of traffic. The players are represented by their respective tokens on the center crosswalks with Richard on the left and Jacob on the right side of the map.
The yellow circles represent cops, which focus on the character to whom they are closer in proximity. Though not marked on the map, there is steady foot traffic through the area and a regular flow of motorists, miraculously not killing anybody. At the start of the match, the flow of motor traffic is cutting the police off from the players’ initial positions.
The cream-colored tiles surrounding sets of buildings are sidewalks with general foot traffic, but not too busy. The inner light grey tiles are alleyways with the rectangles around them being various buildings or lots. The Orange rectangles (labeled “R”) are restaurants, the Blue rectangles are convenience stores (“C”), the Red rectangles (“F”) are fast food places, and the Grey rectangles are empty concrete lots that are fenced off by 2.5 meter tall fences (“L). The doors to each building are denoted by the yellow rectangles and the doors that lead to the alleyways are locked from the outside.
All of the above are currently open, and the things one might expect to find within them are, indeed, generally all there. They’re a little bit crowded in all of their cases, minus the empty lots, but easy enough for anyone to navigate. The paths from the sidewalk to the alleyways are blocked by 2.5 meter fences that are denoted by the bolded lines.
The top center area is a parking lot with the magenta being the entrance and the purple rectangles being the cars. The bottom center is a grassy park with trees denoted by the green circles.
Goal: Do not get caught by the police! The player that gets caught by the police first will be charged with Resisting Arrest, with more charges to come as the officers think them up, getting Retired as a result. Until one of them is, the police will literally stop at nothing to make it happen. No tactic is outright off-limits, but every possible course of action will have immediate consequences on the behavior of NPCs towards both characters. See below for details.
Additional Information:
Though it’s possible to leave any side of the map, these city streets all look so similar in this unfamiliar place… You get turned around way too easily! The map will effectively loop, in short. If you leave from the left side, like in a game of ‘Pac Man,’ you will find yourself on the right side, and so on. No NPC is capable of understanding or exploiting this phenomenon.
None of the police officers involved in this match are Stand Users, nor can they see Stand phenomena unless it’s a case where everyone can anyway.
The cops have 333 physicals, 3 in Cop (a competent enough but not particularly great shot with a standard-issue handgun, reasonably physically acute, can generally press civilians into showing them where they want to go), 5 in Slighted; basically, these guys are tenacious to a fault and will chase after players, but are also somewhat overconfident in their ability to handle this. They are armed with a baton, taser and pistol, and have hand-cuffs and a radio on their belt.
Police will chase the players they are following as best they can, and will not take their focus off their pursuit until someone they can arrest is sitting in police custody… In which case they will literally just sort of drop it instantly to focus on keeping him that way.
Officers will start off completely clueless to how both of you operate, but gradually learn the tactics of the player characters as the match goes on, so mixing up methods is important for outlasting them on a long-term basis.
The cops will not fire their guns on players unless they have a clear shot, and players have tried attacking them or committed any violent crimes during the match; that one dickhead in the writeup was a freebie. That said, the more aggressive players get with them, the more aggressive in turn the already disproportionate response will grow.
The longer the match goes on, the more cops will be chasing after each player; with each 5 minutes, a new cop will be on each player’s trail. One will also appear immediately from the opposite side of the map from the player if an officer is ever slain.
The civilians (222s with no relevant skills) will usually give you away to the cops if they know what direction you went or where you generally are, but being as indifferent as the average JoJo civilian, they need to be questioned for this to trigger.
Once 30 minutes have passed, each player will have a police helicopter begin to focus on them, relaying the player’s location information to the other cops if they can find them. If a player seems to be moving too quickly for cops to pin down, they will start coming in cop cars to chase them.

Team	Combatant	JoJolity
Masters of Funky Action	Jacob Brown	“Go ahead, shoot me! But prepare yourself; the moment you pull that trigger, I’m going to break your finger like a matchstick!” These officers are really quite vexing, and you need to vent more. While completing your objective, find creative ways to antagonize your pursuers!
Black Hill Estate	Richard Stone	“Hm? You think I’m just running around not knowing where I’m going? I ran here so I can kill you!” These damned cops may have ruined your day and forced you out of one of the cooler parts of North Island, but you still have a day to seize. Make the most you can out of the places you visit on the map in your strategy!

Link to the Official Player Spreadsheet
Link to Match Schedule
As always, if you would like to interact with the tournament community and be among the first to get updates for the tournament, please feel free to PM a member of our Judge staff for an invite to our Official Discord Server!

Slowly everything is getting back to normal. I'm posting these with a historical intent. Links where possible, and let me know if your local is missing.
NOTE: MOST AGENCIES ARE ASKING FOR ESSENTIAL TRAVEL ONLY -- MEDICAL AND SUPPLY RUNS, JOB TRANSIT FOR THOSE WHO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES. STAY HOME! EXPECT DELAYS AS THEY RUN CRITICALLY LOW ON STAFF.
Many agencies are asking you wear a mask, board from the back, and are putting limits on passenger boarding. Mask requirements are marked with "!!!" States that require a mask: MD, MI, NJ
If the agency has a pass app, please pay for the ride through it -- it helps the agency!
(I have also taken the time to clean up and organize the list a bit)

Country-wide

AMTRAK: Covid-19 info
Note: All overnight trains (except Auto Train) will switch to Flexible Dining menus. Some Cafe service is suspended. Limited access to NY Penn.
Reduced: NEC, Hartford Line, Thruway Buses, Capitol Corridor, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Illini/Saluki, Illinos ZephyCarl Sanburg, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pacific Surfliner, Piedmont, San Joaquins, Valley Flyer, Vermonter (no service north of New Haven M-Sat, no service Sun), Wolverine
Split Service: California Zephyr (no service Reno to Denver), Palmetto (NY to DC only April 3-5)
Terminated before Canada, Reduced service: Maple Leaf (terminates Niagra Falls), Adirondack (terminates Albany, NY), Cascades (terminates Seattle).
Canceled: Acela, Keystone, Pennsylvanian, Winter Park Express, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Downeaster
Replaced w/bus (Thruway): Hiawatha (4/24-5/25)
VIA RAIL (CANADA): Covid-19 advisory
Meal service is reduced to snacks and drinks. Some sleeper service is canceled. VIA Rail will refuse passengers who are sick w/o doctors note.
Canceled until May 1st: The Ocean (Montreal to Halifax), Toronto-Niagara Falls (until further notice)
Canceled until June 1st: JaspePrince George/Prince Rupert, The Canadian (Toronto to Vancouver)
Limited service: Montreal-Jonquiere/Senneterre (Friday/Sunday departures), Sudbury-White River (Weekend only), Quebec City/Winsor corridor (Kingston-Torronto-London is canceled, most trains canceled)

State/Provence and City

Shut down/demand ride only

Michigan:

• KMetro (Kalamazoo)
• STARS (Saginaw)
• Bay Metro (Bay City)
• Lake Erie Transit

Reduced Service - Canada - Improving

• MiWay Mississauga, Ontario: 8 buses resuming regular schedule, 1 express improving, 8 reduced, 19 canceled

Reduced Service - Canada

• Toronto Metrolinx GO Transit: Trains -- very limited service. West Harbor, St. Catharines, Niagra Falls stations closed. Buses -- Futher reduced. UP service -- 30 minutes
• Toronto TTC: 1 Bus and almost all Express buses canceled. Streetcars -- 503 truncated, 508 canceled.
• York Regional Transit (Toronto): 12 buses suspended. Revised schedules elsewhere.
• Calgary Transit: CTrain 7-16 minute headways depending on time of day; buses adjusted for limited service.
• Saskatoon Transit No University/High School runs. M-F 15 High-freq/30 min rest frequencies before 7pm, 30/60 after. Sat 30/60 (regular 30min 11a-7p). Sun 30/60.
• Regina, Saskatchewan: Sat service M-F, Sun service on Sat.
• Quebec RTC: (In French, no English available) Reduced service. No school, late night service. Handicap service only via paratransit.
• Montreal Transport Society: Bus -- Reduced schedules, some lines to closed schools, parks, casinos closed. Rail -- Reduced frequency of Orange/Green lines.
• Translink Vancouver: SeaBus 30-min frequency, Reduced frequencies on low-ridership lines, SkyTrain reduced frequencies, West Coast Express 2 trains canceled. 24 bus routes suspended(41 in mid-May)
• Edmonton Transit: Saturday-plus-rush-extras, Light Rail ends at 10pm, OWL service midnight. Late-nite on-demand medic-only service started. 40' buses being used, some routes detoured to accomidate. 747 bus line for job travel only (no travelers/shoppers).
• Medicine Hat Transit (Alberta): M-F on Saturday schedule, Sa-Su on Sunday schedule.

Reduced Service - USA - Improving

• San Jose VTA: !!! Light Rail back operational 6a-6p M-F. No school trip service. Reduced bus service, some suspended, ends 9pm.
• Columbus Ohio COTA: !!! 17 lines, plus AirConnect, CBUS, and Night Owl, canceled. Early morning service on 6 lines resuming. Modded service on other lines.

Michigan

• CATA (Lansing): !!! Saturday service M-F. No Shopping Bus.
• The Rapid (Grand Rapids): !!! Service hours 7a-7p. No DASH/May Mobility service. 5 routes 30 min headways M-F, hourly Sa/Su. 8 routes hourly everyday. Silver Line 30 min headways everyday. Route 50 on 50 min headways, 85 on 25 min headways.

Reduced Service - USA

East Coast

• Boston MBTA: Commuter Rail reduced schedule. No ferry service. Saturday schedule everywhere else with some bus exceptions. Saturday-plus-extra on Blue and Green E lines.
• New York City MTA/Metro-North/LIRR: Reduced service. Subway closed 1a-5a. Penn Station limited access 1a-5a. No B, C, W, Z, 42nd street shuttle, or express 4/5/6/7. J is Local. No extra L service. Some lines run local in areas. 5 is cut down. Buses down to 75% service. Staten Island Railway hourly service. LIRR 30/60 min-plus-rush schedule, cross-honoring MetroCards inside city zone. Metro North East-of-Hudson on hourly-with-rush-extras, Waterbury branch bus substituted (Wassaic branch suspended on weekends), West-of-Hudson see NJ Transit.
• NJ Transit: !!! Commuter rail - President's Day schedules until further notice. Gladstone branch on weekday service only. 7600 series trains canceled. Atlantic City Rail Line regular service. Bus -- Saturday service w/exceptions (and cancelations). Light Rail -- HBLR, Newark lines Saturday schedule. River Line Sunday schedule.
• SEPTA Philadelphia, PA: Regional Rail -- Limited service on Airport, Fox Chase, Lansdale (no extensions), Media/Elwyn, Paoli (no service to Malvern), and Trenton; all others canceled. Subway -- Some stations closed. Saturday service between 4:30am and 1am. No overnight OWL. Trolley -- Headway based Saturday schedule. 102, 34 lines canceled, 101 bus subsitution. Everything else -- Headway-based Saturday service.
• PATCO Philadelpha, PA & New Jersey: 4 stations closed. Limited service. Headways M-F: 12a-4a hourly, 4a-5a 30 min, 6am-midnight 20 minute. Sa: 12a-5a hourly, 5a-12a 30 minute. Su: Hourly all day.
• Pittsburgh Port Authority: !!! Reduced bus and light rail service.
• Maryland MTA: !!! MARC Commuter rail -- Reduced-from-"R" service. Light Rail, Metro subway -- M-F runs Saturday schedule. 1 station limited access. Commuter Bus -- 1 route suspended, 13 S-service, remaining limited service. Bus -- No Express service. 2 Local buses canceled. Saturday-plus-rush-extra service.
• Washington DC WMATA: Bus -- Sunday-plus-extras schedule, 27 line "lifeline" weekend service w/30 min headways. No service after 11pm. Subway -- 19 stations closed. 9 limited access. 15-20 minute headways, 5a-9p M-F, 20-30 min headways 8a-9p Sa/Su.
• Altanta, GA MARTA: Rail -- 20 min headways on Sunday service. Red/Gold to airport, Green terminates at King Memorial. No service at Arena station. Streetcar -- Sunday schedule. Bus -- 41 bus lines operating, remaining suspended.

Mid-country

• Cincinnati Go*Metro: Streetcar service canceled where bus service exists. Express buses canceled. Saturday service everywhere else.
• Chicago RTA (Metra/CTA/Pace): Metra Rail -- Reduced service except Heritage corridor. Adjusted PACE schedules to accommodate.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit: Overnight service suspended 11pm-4:30am except airport shuttle. Reduced bus service, based on Saturday. Maintenance on some lines April 20-27.
• St. Louis Metro: Weekend-with-extras service on weekdays. 9 buses, Missouri Express routes suspended.
• New Orleans RTA: Saturday schedule Mon-Fri. 10 bus lines suspended. Streetcar 32-36 min frequency, 2 lines shut down. No service 10p to 4a.
• DFW TRE: Changed schedules.
• Dallas DART: Light Rail -- 20 min headways. Bus -- 2 routes canceled.
• Kansas City RideKC: KCMO/KCK service on Saturday schedule ending 9pm. Johnson County service 60 min, reduced express. Some buses canceled.
• Albuquerque ABQ Ride Transit: Saturday service. ART service suspended entirely.
• Rio Metro/Rail Runner New Mexico: Rail Runner is suspended until May 15th. 3 buses suspended. Some buses limited.
• Phoenix, AZ Valley Metro: Service hours 5a-11p M-F, Sa/Su 6a-11p. Orbit, Express Bus, RAPID bus routes reduced. No POGO service. Scottsdale trolley service suspended. Light rail limited.
• Salt Lake City/UTA: Commuter rail "FrontRunner" smaller trains, hourly service. TRAX service every 30 minutes. Bus service curtailed, some commuter bus routes canceled.
• Cascades East Transit (Bend, Oregon): !!! Saturday service, demand ride available. In Bend: no service Saturday, no demand ride Saturday/Sunday.

West Coast

• Seattle Sound Transit: Link Light Rail -- 20 min headways. Sounder service reduced. Most buses reduced. 10 buses suspended.
• Portland TriMet: MAX trains 15 minute service, weekends Sunday service. WES 45 min service. Reduced bus service.
• San Francisco Muni MTA: 17 buses running, additional 9 limited service. No rail service -- replaced by buses. (Improvements expected April 25th)
• San Francisco BART: !!! System closes early at 9pm. 30 min service. Limited access at many stations. Early Bird Express -- limited trips, 2 lines suspended (more April 27).
• CalTrain (California): Local service between San Francisco and San Jose 30-60 minute frequency, 4 trains to Gilroy peak commute. Limited/Baby Bullet service suspended.
• Los Angeles MTA: Rail service ends at Midnight. M-F 12 min headways 6a-6p, 20 min remaining times on A,B,D,E,L lines. C line 12 min 4a-9a, 15 min 9a-3p, 12min 3p-6p, 20 min 6p-midnight. G/J bus subsituted. B/D stations limited access. Bus service: Most lines Sunday schedule. 23 lines hourly service. 15 Rapid lines on modified weekday schedule. 14 lines suspended.

Michigan

• SMART (Detroit suburbs) is running with vastly reduced schedules and 13 suspended commuter lines.
• DDOT (City of Detroit) is running Saturday schedules Mon-Sat with free fares and rear boarding. 8 bus lines suspended.
• TheRide (Ann ArboYpsilanti): Sunday reduced schedules with tweaks. 12 buses shut down.
• BATA (Traverse City): !!! Village Loop shut down. Village Link demand ride service replaces it. Reduced schedules other buses.

Hat-Tips

u/alitales u/NixillUmbreon u/Steaks_on_a_Plane u/voxadam u/cincy_transit_guy u/mohaas06 u/taxorenxuan u/earlyenrichment u/SojuCondo u/TTC_Tokens u/TC1827 u/InfiNorth u/Bombpants u/sebileis u/Pwheatstraw2000 u/Vectrex452

😷 Just wear a !)#$@( mask. I'm posting these with a historical intent. Links where possible, and let me know if your local is missing.
NOTE: MOST AGENCIES ARE ASKING FOR ESSENTIAL TRAVEL ONLY -- MEDICAL AND SUPPLY RUNS, JOB TRANSIT FOR THOSE WHO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES. STAY HOME! EXPECT DELAYS AS THEY RUN CRITICALLY LOW ON STAFF.
Many agencies are requiring you wear a mask. Most ask you board from the back, and are putting limits on passenger boarding. Mask requirements are marked with "⚠️" and are because of state orders.
If the agency has a pass app, please pay for the ride through it -- it helps the agency!
(I have also taken the time to clean up and organize the list a bit)

Country-wide

AMTRAK: Covid-19 info
Note: All overnight trains (except Auto Train) will switch to Flexible Dining menus. Some Cafe service is suspended.
Reduced: NEC, Hartford Line, Thruway Buses, Capitol Corridor, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Illini/Saluki, Illinos ZephyCarl Sanburg, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pacific Surfliner, Piedmont, San Joaquins, Valley Flyer, Vermonter (no service north of New Haven M-Sat, no service Sun), Wolverine
Split Service: California Zephyr (no service Reno to Denver), Palmetto (NY to DC only April 3-5)
Terminated before Canada, Reduced service: Maple Leaf (terminates Niagra Falls), Adirondack (terminates Albany, NY), Cascades (terminates Seattle).
Canceled: Keystone, Pennsylvanian, Winter Park Express, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Downeaster
Replaced w/bus (Thruway): Hiawatha (4/24-5/25)
Returning: Limited Acela starting June 1st
VIA RAIL (CANADA): Covid-19 advisory
Meal service is reduced to snacks and drinks. IA Rail will refuse passengers who are sick w/o doctors note.
Canceled until further notice: Toronto-Niagara Falls
Canceled until June 1st: JaspePrince George/Prince Rupert
Suspended until Nov 1st: The Canadian (Toronto to Vancouver), The Ocean (Montreal to Halifax)
Limited schedule service: Montreal-Jonquiere/Senneterre (Friday/Sunday departures), Sudbury-White River (Weekend only), Quebec City/Winsor corridor (All-stop service, round trips on each line only)
No sleeper: Winnipeg-Churchill route (until Nov 1)

State/Provence and City

Shut down/demand ride only

Michigan:

• KMetro (Kalamazoo)
• STARS (Saginaw) - M-F Only
• Bay Metro (Bay City)
• Lake Erie Transit

Reduced Service - Canada - Improving

• MiWay Mississauga, Ontario: 8 buses resuming regular schedule, 1 express improving, 8 reduced, 19 canceled

Reduced Service - Canada

• Toronto Metrolinx GO Transit: Trains -- very limited service. West Harbor, St. Catharines, Niagra Falls stations closed. Buses -- Futher reduced. UP service -- 30 minutes
• Toronto TTC: 1 Bus and almost all Express buses canceled. Streetcars -- 503 truncated, 508 canceled.
• York Regional Transit (Toronto): 12 buses suspended. Revised schedules elsewhere.
• Calgary Transit: CTrain 7-16 minute headways depending on time of day; buses adjusted for limited service. May 25th reduction: 25 buses to be suspended,
• Saskatoon Transit No University/High School runs. M-F 15 High-freq/30 min rest frequencies before 7pm, 30/60 after. Sat 30/60 (regular 30min 11a-7p). Sun 30/60.
• Regina, Saskatchewan: Sat service M-F, Sun service on Sat.
• Quebec RTC: (In French, no English available) Reduced service. No school, late night service. Handicap service only via paratransit.
• Montreal Transport Society: Bus -- Reduced schedules, some lines to closed schools, parks, casinos closed. Rail -- Reduced frequency of Orange/Green lines.
• Translink Vancouver: SeaBus 30-min frequency, Reduced frequencies on low-ridership lines, SkyTrain reduced frequencies, West Coast Express 2 trains canceled. 24 bus routes suspended.
• Edmonton Transit: Saturday-plus-rush-extras, Light Rail ends at 10pm, OWL service midnight. Late-nite on-demand medic-only service started. 40' buses being used, some routes detoured to accomidate. 747 bus line for job travel only (no travelers/shoppers). No seasonal bus service.
• Medicine Hat Transit (Alberta): M-F on Saturday schedule, Sa-Su on Sunday schedule.

Reduced Service - USA - Improving

East Coast

• SEPTA Philadelphia, PA: STARTING MAY 17 Most bus, trolley, subway, Norristown HSL returns to regular schedule. 204, 310, 311, LUCY Gold/Green reduced. 91, 102 suspended. Some stations closed. Board & pay at front, exit rear. Regional Rail: Lifeline schedule on Lansdale (trunc Landsdale), Paoli (trunc Malvern), Trenton lines. Southwest connection project mods: Airport bus sub'ed; Wilmington between Wilmington and 30th (board Amtrak level); Media/Elwyn line suspended, Fox Chase and Warminster service altered.

Mid-Country

• Columbus Ohio COTA: ⚠️ 17 lines, plus AirConnect, CBUS, and Night Owl, canceled. Early morning service on 6 lines resuming. Modded service on other lines.
• Cincinnati Go*Metro: Streetcar service canceled where bus service exists. Express buses canceled. Saturday service everywhere else. 4 routes increased service.

West Coast

• San Jose VTA: ⚠️ Light Rail back operational 6a-6p M-F. No school trip service. Reduced bus service, some suspended, ends 9pm.
• San Francisco Muni MTA: ⚠️ 20 buses running (some altered), additional 4 rail lines replaced by buses (L/M/N/T). Owl service starts 10p, 2 owl lines discontinued.

Michigan

• CATA (Lansing): ⚠️ Saturday service M-F. No Shopping Bus.
• The Rapid (Grand Rapids): ⚠️ Service hours 7a-7p. No DASH/May Mobility service. 5 routes 30 min headways M-F, hourly Sa/Su. 8 routes hourly everyday. Silver Line 30 min headways everyday. Route 50 on 50 min headways, 85 on 25 min headways.

Reduced Service - USA

East Coast

• Boston MBTA: ⚠️ Commuter Rail reduced schedule. No ferry service. Saturday schedule everywhere else with some bus exceptions. Saturday-plus-extra on Blue and Green E lines.
• New York City MTA/Metro-North/LIRR: Reduced service. Subway closed 1a-5a. No B, C, W, Z, 42nd street shuttle, or express 4/5/6/7. J is Local. No extra L service. Some lines run local in areas. 5 is cut down. Buses down to 75% service. Staten Island Railway hourly service. LIRR 30/60 min-plus-rush schedule. Metro North East-of-Hudson on hourly-with-rush-extras, Waterbury branch bus substituted (Wassaic branch suspended on weekends), West-of-Hudson see NJ Transit.
• NJ Transit: ⚠️ Commuter rail - President's Day schedules until further notice. Gladstone branch on weekday service only. 7600 series trains canceled. Atlantic City Rail Line regular service. Bus -- Saturday service w/exceptions (and cancelations). Light Rail -- HBLR, Newark lines Saturday schedule. River Line Sunday schedule.
• SEPTA Philadelphia, PA: Regional Rail -- Limited service on Airport, Fox Chase, Lansdale (no extensions), Media/Elwyn, Paoli (no service to Malvern), and Trenton; all others canceled. Subway -- Some stations closed. Saturday service between 4:30am and 1am. No overnight OWL. Trolley -- Headway based Saturday schedule. 102, 34 lines canceled, 101 bus subsitution. Everything else -- Headway-based Saturday service.
• PATCO Philadelpha, PA & New Jersey: 4 stations closed. Limited service. Headways M-F: 12a-4a hourly, 4a-5a 30 min, 6am-midnight 20 minute. Sa: 12a-5a hourly, 5a-12a 30 minute. Su: Hourly all day.
• Pittsburgh Port Authority: ⚠️ Reduced bus and light rail service.
• Maryland MTA: ⚠️ MARC Commuter rail -- Reduced-from-"R" service. Light Rail, Metro subway -- M-F runs Saturday schedule. 1 station limited access. Commuter Bus -- 1 route suspended, 13 S-service, remaining limited service. Bus -- No Express service. 2 Local buses canceled. Saturday-plus-rush-extra service.
• Washington DC WMATA: Bus -- Sunday-plus-extras schedule, 27 line "lifeline" weekend service w/30 min headways. No service after 11pm. Subway -- 19 stations closed. 9 limited access. 15-20 minute headways, 5a-9p M-F, 20-30 min headways 8a-9p Sa/Su.
• Altanta, GA MARTA: Rail -- 20 min headways on Sunday service. Red/Gold to airport, Green terminates at King Memorial. No service at Arena station. Streetcar -- Sunday schedule. Bus -- 41 bus lines operating, remaining suspended.

Mid-country

• Chicago RTA (Metra/CTA/Pace): Metra Rail -- Reduced service except Heritage corridor. Adjusted PACE schedules to accommodate.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit: Overnight service suspended 11pm-4:30am except airport shuttle. Reduced bus service, based on Saturday. Light rail suspended 9p-6a.
• St. Louis Metro: ⚠️ Weekend-with-extras service on weekdays. 9 buses, Missouri Express routes suspended.
• New Orleans RTA: ⚠️ Saturday schedule Mon-Fri. 10 bus lines suspended. Streetcar 32-36 min frequency, 2 lines shut down. No service 10p to 4a.
• DFW TRE: Changed schedules.
• Dallas DART: Light Rail -- 20 min headways. Bus -- 2 routes canceled.
• Kansas City RideKC: KCMO/KCK service on Saturday schedule ending 9pm. Johnson County service 60 min, reduced express. Some buses canceled.
• Albuquerque ABQ Ride Transit: Saturday service. ART service suspended entirely. ABQ Ride letting students ride free for Grab & Go meals. ABQ Ride to Rail Runner routes suspended.
• Rio Metro/Rail Runner New Mexico: Rail Runner is suspended until May 15th. 3 buses suspended. Some buses limited.
• Phoenix, AZ Valley Metro: Service hours 5a-11p M-F, Sa/Su 6a-11p. Orbit, Express Bus, RAPID bus routes reduced. No POGO service. Scottsdale trolley service suspended. Light rail limited.
• Salt Lake City/UTA: Commuter rail "FrontRunner" smaller trains, hourly service. TRAX service every 30 minutes. Bus service curtailed, some commuter bus routes canceled.
• Cascades East Transit (Bend, Oregon): ⚠️ Saturday service, demand ride available. In Bend: no service Saturday, no demand ride Saturday/Sunday.

West Coast

• Seattle Sound Transit: Link Light Rail -- 30 min headways. Sounder service reduced. Most buses reduced. 10 buses suspended.
• Portland TriMet: MAX trains 15 minute service, weekends Sunday service. WES 45 min service. Reduced bus service.
• San Francisco BART: ⚠️ System closes early at 9pm. 30 min service. Limited access at many stations. Early Bird Express -- limited trips, 2 lines suspended (more April 27).
• CalTrain (California): ⚠️ Local service between San Francisco and San Jose 30-60 minute frequency, 4 trains to Gilroy peak commute. Limited/Baby Bullet service suspended.
• Los Angeles MTA: ⚠️ Rail service ends at Midnight. M-F 12 min headways 6a-6p, 20 min remaining times on A,B,D,E,L lines. C line 12 min 4a-9a, 15 min 9a-3p, 12min 3p-6p, 20 min 6p-midnight. G/J bus subsituted. B/D stations limited access. Bus service: Most lines Sunday schedule. 23 lines hourly service. 15 Rapid lines on modified weekday schedule. 14 lines suspended.

Michigan

• SMART (Detroit suburbs) ⚠️ is running with vastly reduced schedules and 13 suspended commuter lines. Nightime service vastly reduced.
• DDOT (City of Detroit) is running Saturday schedules Mon-Sat with free fares and rear boarding. 8 bus lines suspended.
• TheRide (Ann ArboYpsilanti): ⚠️ Sunday reduced schedules with tweaks. 12 buses shut down.
• BATA (Traverse City): ⚠️ Village Loop shut down. Village Link demand ride service replaces it. Reduced schedules other buses.

Hat-Tips

u/alitales u/NixillUmbreon u/Steaks_on_a_Plane u/voxadam u/cincy_transit_guy u/mohaas06 u/taxorenxuan u/earlyenrichment u/SojuCondo u/TTC_Tokens u/TC1827 u/InfiNorth u/Bombpants u/sebileis u/Pwheatstraw2000 u/Vectrex452 u/blorgcumber

😷 Wear a mask as you're coming back. I'm posting these with a historical intent. Links where possible, and let me know if your local is missing.
NOTE: MOST AGENCIES ARE ASKING FOR ESSENTIAL TRAVEL ONLY -- MEDICAL AND SUPPLY RUNS, JOB TRANSIT FOR THOSE WHO PROVIDE THOSE SERVICES. STAY HOME! EXPECT DELAYS AS THEY RUN CRITICALLY LOW ON STAFF.
Many agencies are requiring you wear a mask. Most ask you board from the back, and are putting limits on passenger boarding. Mask requirements are marked with "⚠️" and are because of state orders.
If the agency has a pass app, please pay for the ride through it -- it helps the agency!
(I have also taken the time to clean up and organize the list a bit)

Country-wide

AMTRAK: Covid-19 info 05-13
Note: All overnight trains (except Auto Train) will switch to Flexible Dining menus. Some Cafe service is suspended.
Reduced: NEC, Hartford Line, Thruway Buses, Capitol Corridor, Empire Service, Ethan Allen Express, Illini/Saluki, Illinos ZephyCarl Sanburg, Lincoln Service, Missouri River Runner, Pacific Surfliner, Piedmont, San Joaquins, Valley Flyer, Vermonter (no service north of New Haven M-Sat, no service Sun), Wolverine
Split Service: California Zephyr (no service Reno to Denver), Palmetto (NY to DC only April 3-5)
Terminated before Canada, Reduced service: Maple Leaf (terminates Niagra Falls), Adirondack (terminates Albany, NY), Cascades (terminates Seattle).
Canceled: Keystone, Pennsylvanian, Winter Park Express, Pere Marquette, Carolinian, Downeaster
Replaced w/bus (Thruway): Hiawatha (4/24-5/25)
Returning: Limited Acela starting June 1st
VIA RAIL (CANADA): Covid-19 advisory 05-06
Meal service is reduced to snacks and drinks. IA Rail will refuse passengers who are sick w/o doctors note.
Canceled until further notice: Toronto-Niagara Falls
Canceled until June 1st: JaspePrince George/Prince Rupert
Suspended until Nov 1st: The Canadian (Toronto to Vancouver), The Ocean (Montreal to Halifax)
Limited schedule service: Montreal-Jonquiere/Senneterre (Friday/Sunday departures), Sudbury-White River (Weekend only), Quebec City/Winsor corridor (All-stop service, round trips on each line only)
No sleeper: Winnipeg-Churchill route (until Nov 1)

State/Provence and City

Shut down/demand ride only

Michigan:

• STARS (Saginaw) - M-F Only
• Bay Metro (Bay City)
• Lake Erie Transit

Reduced Service - Canada - Improving

• MiWay Mississauga, Ontario: 8 buses resuming regular schedule, 1 express improving, 8 reduced, 19 suspended
• Montreal Transport Society: Bus -- Summer schedule resumed, some lines to closed schools, parks, casinos closed. Rail -- All lines regular service.
• Translink Vancouver: All routes Sat schedule M-F, Sun schedule weekends, with exceptions. Most routes start later.

Reduced Service - Canada

• Toronto Metrolinx GO Transit: Trains -- very limited service. West Harbor, St. Catharines, Niagra Falls stations closed. Buses -- Futher reduced. UP service -- 30 minutes
• Toronto TTC: 1 Bus and almost all Express buses canceled. Streetcars -- 503 truncated, 508 canceled.
• York Regional Transit (Toronto): 12 buses suspended. Revised schedules elsewhere.
• Calgary Transit: CTrain 7-16 minute headways depending on time of day; buses adjusted for limited service. May 25th reduction: 25 buses to be suspended,
• Saskatoon Transit No University/High School runs. M-F 15 High-freq/30 min rest frequencies before 7pm, 30/60 after. Sat 30/60 (regular 30min 11a-7p). Sun 30/60.
• Regina, Saskatchewan: Sat service M-F, Sun service on Sat.
• Quebec RTC: (In French, no English available) Reduced service. No school, late night service. Handicap service only via paratransit.
• Edmonton Transit: Saturday-plus-rush-extras, Light Rail ends at 10pm, OWL service midnight. Late-nite on-demand medic-only service started. 40' buses being used, some routes detoured to accomidate. 747 bus line for job travel only (no travelers/shoppers). No seasonal bus service.
• Medicine Hat Transit (Alberta): M-F on Saturday schedule, Sa-Su on Sunday schedule.

Reduced Service - USA - Improving

East Coast

• SEPTA Philadelphia, PA: Most bus, trolley, subway, Norristown HSL returns to regular schedule. 204, 310, 311, LUCY Gold/Green reduced. 91, 102 suspended. Some stations closed. Board & pay at front, exit rear. Regional Rail: Lifeline schedule on Lansdale (trunc Landsdale), Paoli (trunc Malvern), Trenton lines. Southwest connection project mods: Airport bus sub'ed; Wilmington between Wilmington and 30th (board Amtrak level); Media/Elwyn line suspended, Fox Chase and Warminster service altered.
• Pittsburgh Port Authority: ⚠️ Reduced light rail, 28 routes reduced, rest regular service.

Mid-Country

• Columbus Ohio COTA: ⚠️ 17 lines, plus AirConnect, CBUS, and Night Owl, canceled. Early morning service on 6 lines resuming. Modded service on other lines.
• Cincinnati Go*Metro: Streetcar service canceled where bus service exists. Express buses canceled. Saturday service everywhere else. 4 routes increased service.
• New Orleans RTA: ⚠️ Saturday schedule Mon-Fri. All suspensions (inc overnight service) lifted.

West Coast

• San Jose VTA: ⚠️ Light Rail back operational 6a-6p M-F. No school trip service. Reduced bus service, some suspended, ends 9pm.
• San Francisco Muni MTA: ⚠️ 20 buses running (some altered), additional 4 rail lines replaced by buses (L/M/N/T). Owl service starts 10p, 2 owl lines discontinued.

Michigan

• CATA (Lansing): ⚠️ Saturday service M-F. No Shopping Bus.
• The Rapid (Grand Rapids): ⚠️ Service hours 7a-7p. No DASH/May Mobility service. 5 routes 30 min headways M-F, hourly Sa/Su. 8 routes hourly everyday. Silver Line 30 min headways everyday. Route 50 on 50 min headways, 85 on 25 min headways. (New Schedule May 26th)
• KMetro (Kalamazoo): ⚠️ 17 routes resuming limited schedule. Metro Connect demand ride available. 2 routes suspended.
• BATA (Traverse City): ⚠️ City Loop 4/5 weekend service resumes 23rd. Village Loop 10/12/13/14 limited service (4 runs daily). Village Link demand ride service still open. Reduced schedules other buses.

Reduced Service - USA

East Coast

• Boston MBTA: ⚠️ Commuter Rail reduced schedule. No ferry service. Saturday schedule everywhere else with some bus exceptions. Saturday-plus-extra on Blue and Green E lines.
• New York City MTA/Metro-North/LIRR: ⚠️ Reduced service. Subway closed 1a-5a. No B, C, W, Z, 42nd street shuttle, or express 4/5/6/7. J is Local. No extra L service. Some lines run local in areas. 5 is cut down. Buses down to 75% service. Staten Island Railway hourly service. LIRR 30/60 min-plus-rush schedule. Metro North East-of-Hudson on hourly-with-rush-extras, Waterbury branch bus substituted (Wassaic branch suspended on weekends), West-of-Hudson see NJ Transit.
• NJ Transit: ⚠️ Commuter rail - President's Day schedules until further notice. Gladstone branch on weekday service only. 7600 series trains canceled. Atlantic City Rail Line regular service. Bus -- Saturday service w/exceptions (and cancelations). Light Rail -- HBLR, Newark lines Saturday schedule. River Line Sunday schedule.
• PATCO Philadelpha, PA & New Jersey: 4 stations closed. Limited service. Headways M-F: 12a-4a hourly, 4a-5a 30 min, 6am-midnight 20 minute. Sa: 12a-5a hourly, 5a-12a 30 minute. Su: Hourly all day.
• Maryland MTA: ⚠️ MARC Commuter rail -- Reduced-from-"R" service. Light Rail, Metro subway -- M-F runs Saturday schedule. 1 station limited access. Commuter Bus -- 1 route suspended, 13 S-service, remaining limited service. Bus -- No Express service. 2 Local buses canceled. Saturday-plus-rush-extra service.
• Washington DC WMATA: Bus -- Sunday-plus-extras schedule, 27 line "lifeline" weekend service w/30 min headways. No service after 11pm. Subway -- 19 stations closed. 9 limited access. 15-20 minute headways, 5a-9p M-F, 20-30 min headways 8a-9p Sa/Su.
• Altanta, GA MARTA: Rail -- 20 min headways on Sunday service. Red/Gold to airport, Green terminates at King Memorial. No service at Arena station. Streetcar -- Sunday schedule. Bus -- 41 bus lines operating, remaining suspended.

Mid-country

• Chicago RTA (Metra/CTA/Pace): Metra Rail -- Reduced service except Heritage corridor. Adjusted PACE schedules to accommodate.
• Minneapolis/St. Paul Metro Transit: Overnight service suspended 11pm-4:30am except airport shuttle. Reduced bus service, based on Saturday. Light rail suspended 9p-6a.
• St. Louis Metro: ⚠️ Weekend-with-extras service on weekdays. 9 buses, Missouri Express routes suspended.
• DFW TRE: Changed schedules.
• Dallas DART: Light Rail -- 20 min headways. Bus -- 2 routes canceled.
• Kansas City RideKC: KCMO/KCK service on Saturday schedule ending 9pm. Johnson County service 60 min, reduced express. Some buses canceled.
• Albuquerque ABQ Ride Transit: Saturday service. ART service suspended entirely. ABQ Ride letting students ride free for Grab & Go meals. ABQ Ride to Rail Runner routes suspended.
• Rio Metro/Rail Runner New Mexico: Rail Runner is suspended until May 15th. 3 buses suspended. Some buses limited.
• Phoenix, AZ Valley Metro: Service hours 5a-11p M-F, Sa/Su 6a-11p. Some bus trips canceled early/late/weekend. Orbit, Express Bus, RAPID bus routes reduced. No POGO service. Scottsdale trolley service suspended. Light rail limited.
• Salt Lake City/UTA: Commuter rail "FrontRunner" smaller trains, hourly service. TRAX service every 30 minutes. Bus service curtailed, some commuter bus routes canceled.
• Cascades East Transit (Bend, Oregon): ⚠️ Saturday service, demand ride available. In Bend: no service Saturday, no demand ride Saturday/Sunday.

West Coast

• Seattle Sound Transit: Link Light Rail -- 30 min headways. Sounder service reduced. Most buses reduced. 10 buses suspended.
• Portland TriMet: ⚠️ MAX trains 15 minute service, weekends Sunday service. WES 45 min service. Reduced bus service.
• San Francisco BART: ⚠️ System closes early at 9pm. 30 min service. Limited access at many stations. Early Bird Express -- limited trips, 2 lines suspended (more April 27).
• CalTrain (California): ⚠️ Local service between San Francisco and San Jose 30-60 minute frequency, 4 trains to Gilroy peak commute. Limited/Baby Bullet service suspended.
• Los Angeles MTA: ⚠️ Rail service ends at Midnight. M-F 12 min headways 6a-6p, 20 min remaining times on A,B,D,E,L lines. C line 12 min 4a-9a, 15 min 9a-3p, 12min 3p-6p, 20 min 6p-midnight. G/J bus subsituted. B/D stations limited access. Bus service: Most lines Sunday schedule. 23 lines hourly service. 15 Rapid lines on modified weekday schedule. 14 lines suspended.

Michigan

• SMART (Detroit suburbs) ⚠️ is running with vastly reduced schedules and 13 suspended commuter lines. Nightime service vastly reduced.
• DDOT (City of Detroit) is running Saturday schedules Mon-Sat with free fares and rear boarding. 8 bus lines suspended.
• TheRide (Ann ArboYpsilanti): ⚠️ Sunday reduced schedules with tweaks. 12 buses shut down.

Hat-Tips

u/alitales u/NixillUmbreon u/Steaks_on_a_Plane u/voxadam u/cincy_transit_guy u/mohaas06 u/taxorenxuan u/earlyenrichment u/SojuCondo u/TTC_Tokens u/TC1827 u/InfiNorth u/Bombpants u/sebileis u/Pwheatstraw2000 u/Vectrex452

There are some really well put together guides that break down a lot of specific points. A lot of them are much more focused on those one or two components. This guide is a more of thought process actual execution up to brutal campaign. I’ll be adding to it and adding links to some of the other guides already posted. Also I’ll be adding team comps and gear builds at a later date.
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Link to megathread: Mega beginners guide thread
Definitions:
Low tier - Entry level play, learning basics, basic principles of game mechanics
Mid Tier - Middle of the road, close to clearing brutal or close to it. Have some understanding of core mechanics and sets. Have some variety in heroes to make different compositions.
High Tier - Cleared brutal, high silvegold in arena, have multiple 6 star ascended heroes, understand main mechanics and sub mechanics of games
Heroes:
RR = Rare
EP = Epic
LG = Legendary
ST/AS = Staascended
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So to scratch on this game it actually has a pretty intricate design and layout to how it operates. Understanding every component of the game when you first start will be tough. Mainly because you’ll have so many choices and so many options and optimizing and testing take quite a bit of time, silver and energy. So to break it down as listed above I’ll list kind of my guide to how and what to prioritize, as well as how to plan for events, and even give a cost benefit analysis to help answer those “is it worth it” questions when spending real money.
***stars so you know its important - This guide will be relatively long and as such will not be perfected or completed on first posting. I will edit to add mid/high tier stuff, but to make sure I do justice to the influx of new players, I wanted to address all the basics that I could
Preface/Quick Maths: Just to nip it in the butt, spending money in this game can adjust your experience with the game. But like any RNG ( Random number generator) you run into, you’re going to get mixed results. So I did some quick math to address how I view spending money on this game. I also made another account and spent zero dollars on to see what the difference is in playing through the game.
“Is it a good deal?” - The best way to measure this is to find the greatest value you can from any money spent. A lot of the offers they have pop up, aren’t great deals and in fact hold less value than whats offered in the store. However, there is on occasion a good deal. Remember though as you spend money on the game, the dynamic pricing you run into will alter its algorithm to offer more deals that become more expensive. The Casino effect - I don’t know if it’s been stated but there is a lot of RNG you run into on a lot of aspects of this game. And it’s designed to get you hooked so you chance your dollars away into oblivion. . . One thing to remember is if you don’t have the money, don’t spend the money. It’s an easy pinch to hit up your credit card and max it out for the sake of that one extra chance to be let down, but don’t do it. If you’re the type of person prone to this behavior and still decide to play, you need to make sure you do something to safeguard yourself, from yourself.Now to the nitty gritty of it. So the best money in game is the gems you get from the mine, and you will collect along the way from quests/missions/events. This is the best currency because it can access literally everything else in the game for you. From the training area, to the power ups, to cb keys, to power and arena tokens. So it holds the highest value. The “best deal” they offer in the shop for gems is 4200 gems for $99.99 USD - That equates to 42 gems to $1.00 USD. . . The next one is 2025 gems for $49.99 USD - That equates to 40.5 gems to $1.00 - Next is 1150 gems for $29.99 USD - that equates to 38 gems to $1.00 - Next 730 gems for $19.99 - that equates to 36.5 gems to $1.00 USD . . . The importance of gems as well is you can buy blue shards with them, which are effectively the best way you’ll be getting legendary heroes. Mainly because its the one you’ll open the most if you spend. 900 gems = 11 blue shards which means on 4200 gems you’ll be able to buy 44 blue shards and have 600 gems left over, which allows for you to spend on another 6 blue shards for 540 gems - which means you can get 50 shards for $100.00 - The next offer close to that is 48 shards from the shard combo and you have 50 gems left over instead of 60. It seems menial but it all adds up. The reason why I addressed gem pricing, is because thats how you should value every deal presented. The items offered dont always have to add up, but the gem count you get with it should be close to the 40 gem mark, or as close as possible for it to be considered a “good deal.” The alternative is if you buy gems, you can always unlock level 3 gem mine for 1500 gems and then farm them 15 gems every day. Times that by a weeks time and you’ll have 105. Which means in 14 weeks you’ll get your investment back. It’s honestly worth it to unlock it because its the only thing that offsets potential spending in the future when you have gems available to buy gem packs or power ups. You don’t have to spend money, and I would encourage you not to. Not because it’s bad ( I’ve spent some money on this game) but because you’re really rolling the dice even when you break it down to the “best deal” situation. I will say that if you work hard for your money, spend it how you please.
My last point on spending real money, will be the things to absolutely avoid. It’s a short list and to be honest shame on the company or developers who are making these deals so shiesty. Void shards are the legit biggest scam in the game, they have the lowest drop rates for every type and some how hold a higher dollar amount than blue shards. Silver packs are incredibly fraudulent in their own right. You will spend close to a million silver with bad RNG +16 a 5 star item, do not buy silver with intent to upgrade items that high, you will be miserably and undoubtedly disappointed. Do not buy gear packs because the stats you can potentially get will be horrible and at that point you’re just burning your money.
Low Tier - I feel like a lot of this goes untouched due to nature of RNG and how you build an early team. I will say hero choice is pretty important, and this is based off of the choices I’ve made on two accounts. It’s not finite or set in stone, but I’ve looked at a lot of the advantages early on and weighed them based off those findings.
Hero selection: Kael and Athel - Are by far the best picks you can make. I’ll address both individually.
Athel: She has some of the highest early game output and has one of the easiest caps for skills ( since she’s a rare ) you can effectively use all the early game skill books on her. With her AoE swords ability fully level’d and her cool down reduction skill she’s able to put a lot of pressure early game on dungeon bosses. She’s great for solo faring or power leveling in 12-3 brutal and does well for 3 starring everything in all three difficulties with just a warpriest. The only boss I had problems with was 11-7, which I used a lightsworn instead of a warpriest with Athel.
Gear: The best setup I’ve found so far has been Lifesteal (4) and Divine Offense (2) w/ crit, crit damage and atk. This combo does a lot of things for you, but effectively makes her a one man wrecking crew in every campaign spot.
Arena: Athel has a high capacity for one shot with the right gear which makes it really easy to place on your arena team. Her first round rotation should get you a kill with exception to high shield teams ( we’ll go into that more later) - She works in tandum with a lot of heroes that can give crit/ATK boosts as well as heroes that can give defensive boosts or revives ( so she can do more aoe) - I use Lightsworn and/or Gorgorab with Athel on most fights that I use her in.
Rating:
Low - Mid Level Dungeon: 5 stars
High Level dungeons : 4.5 stars
Arena up to S4 : 5 Stars
Arena in g1-4: 4 stars
Campaign: 5 stars Gearing: Very easy
Kael: He has some amazing early game damage but can be a glass cannon through normal/hard modes if you don't get the proper gear sets to drop. Kael has a lot of aoe potential and his % damage is great for CB and arenas. He is arguably one of the best arena starters because most low bronze/early silver teams don’t stack shields or a lot of mitigation. Which makes him great for farming medals.
Gear: Crit/crit damage w/ life is a good early game combo, but you can make variations depending on who your supports are. He’s not very strong solo early game for survivability but does fairly well with most early game supports.
Arena: He is arguably one of the best arena starters because most low bronze/early silver teams don’t stack shields or a lot of mitigation. Which makes him great for farming medals. Late arenas he’s still ferocious because you can run combos wth some meatier heroes to put immune/shields on him or increase his crit output. He can be a good 1 shot rotation with right setup.
Rating:
Low-Mid level dungeon: 4.5 stars
High level dungeons: 4.9 stars
Arena up to s4: 5 stars
Arena in g1-4: 4.6 stars
Campaign: 4.9 stars
Gearing: Easy enough
Play through: I feel like this is pretty straight forward but a lot of people seem to ask questions about campaign vs. dungeon and hopefully we can address it. The very basic answer is you need both in order to do well. However, clearing normal campaign should be your first mission. Mainly because it opens up a lot of areas where you can farm easy rares to try different team comps, but by the time you clear normal ( unless you paid to speed it up) you should have shaman unlocked. It can take you about a week of just casually playing to get to the end of normal. What I usually do is get to about 8-1 /8-3 and then hit up some of the keeps for easy ascendance potions and farm minotaur for about 200-300 energy to get the first row of masteries opened for all my main guys. If you can do minotaur with 4 so you’re not wasting extra energy on a 5th you’re gonna end up replacing.
One thing that can really slow down progression of campaign is switching up a lot of heroes and characters and gear as you go along. For the first two difficulties the team you first build with, should stay as that team until you’ve cleared hard. The reason why is once you clear hard, you’ll have 1 or 2 characters you can use to boost toons through zones to help them level faster so you’re not spending all your time grinding on normal.
“When do I 3 star the campaign?” - Great question Timmy. Once you clear Normal and have your main guy (kael or Athel) you should focus on skilling them up, since you cant target farm them, they are good choices for skill books to be used on. And by the time you max their skills out, you should have gotten through the weekly rewards or by drops the sets you need to make them tanky enough to do it. Warpriest seems to be a pretty common early game hero, and was my support for all my three star events. So if you find her early on, she’s worth every minute of your time. . . Once you’ve established who your best aoe damage is and your best support is, and have cleared through normal, thats when you want to work on 3 starring those events. A good measurement to whether you can or cant do it, is by trying it. Typically if you can’t 3 star a boss on 3 auto attempts and 2 regular attempts, it’s a good sign you need more oomf whether it be mastery, items leveled up or characters leveled up. The rewards don’t go away and they don’t disappear so if you need to, just get your main damage guy to rank 50 first and you can easily chuck through it.
6 Starring a hero takes too long: Yes it does. However, that’s designed to make sure you cant 1) buy your way to the top and 2) beat the game in 1 day. There’s no golden pony at the end of the race so enjoy the game. What you can do if you unlocked the training arena is put a few pieces of food in there and then use green shards to unlock more so you can star them up nice and slowly. The other option is once you get to brutal 12-3, you can farm that with athel and power level 3 toons at once as well as hit silver cap. 35-40 second clears can have most 2 and 3 star toons leveld up pretty quickly. Try and save your rank ups for the event if you can, or create a group of toons you can level or rank up for that event. If not, just be patient, it will come.
Clan Boss: Join a clan. Join a clan. Join, a clan. Join, clan, now! You should be doing clan boss every day. The keys reset every 6 hours which means if you time it right you can do CB 4 times. So even if you do 100k damage, you’ll still have enough damage to qualify for the reward. He drops awesome gear and early on can make a huge difference in your characters.
Arena: The arena bonuses you get are static and across all areas. So when you spend your medals on power ups, those power ups apply outside of arena matches as well as the bonuses you get from rank. Every 6 days the arena resets, which means you get some nice items/xp potions from it every week. You should be doing at least the 10 games every day you get on. I would encourage you to farm medals before you go into silver because its much easier to get your early bonuses knocked out at lower levels. And spending silver medals on bronze upgrades can be a little daunting considering how expensive the upgrades get. Farming medals is easier than pushing rating as well. To farm medals you can just play when you have a token available. To push rating you should always have 5-10 tokens available with a refresh ready so you can go up 80-90 points, that way in the interim when you’re not on or playing if you lose defense, you’re not back at square one.
Gear: Gearing is definitely a low, mid, high tier explanation. For the low tier side, just make sure your bonuses match up. What I mean by this is to make sure you have 4 pieces on for 4 piece sets and have 2 pieces on for 2 piece sets. You can always double check this by looking at the top right of your gear and looking for the symbols that match that set bonus. (I'll add photos later) Do not get caught up in +16 your gear right away. You’ll end up spending a lot of silver for 1 hero. You’re better off getting all the gear to +8 so you have a minimum of 2 upgrades for all your heroes. Then as you progress and replace pieces, you can figure out what’s best to upgrade. For me I focus on the stats that benefit them most and go for that. Like Crit damage for my Athel. This is in bold so its important! Do not equip gear until you’re sure you want it on that hero. Do not flippantly put your good gear on alt heroes for the sake of clearing up space. It cost silver to remove and if you sacrifice those heroes, you lose that gear.
Dungeons: To keep it simple, find out what keeps drop the potions for your main team, and focus on those. Don't push levels, but focus on quickness. Minotaur is an important part because masteries do add up quickly. However it's the most discouraging place to farm because of the steep amount of energy you’ll spend only to replace that guy down the road. Typically if you can break into tier 2 mastery that will get you through most of the campaign. Don’t worry too much about other places just yet.
Quests/Challenges/Missions: Do them as regularly as you can. The one set of challenges that is the worst is the artifact one. Since it has you farm areas 1 and 2 a lot, you’ll want to do those things when they benefit the most, which is at low levels. Most of the max tier rewards for those are orange shards and legendary/epic skill tomes, so its worth doing them. Don’t try and rush them because you’ll run into some that are time gated ( keeps being up) so just try and do them as organically as possible. You’ll end up completing a lot without effort.
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Team Comps: Team composition is a really important part of this game. I wanted to add this to low tier, becasue understanding how your hero works in a team format can mean the difference of failing force keep 5 or clearing force keep 15 ( a little dramatic, but you get the point.) In most entry level comps you're going to have a support early on, and your character you pick will be an ATK hero. To avoid too much depth I'll give a brief very lamens explanation of each potential class.
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ATK - Full offense heroes designed to put out maximum damage.
DEF - Heroes that have abilities that usually buff or debuff, and work in tandem with an action. ( i.e. counterattack, restoration on hit, etc.)
Support - Supports will usually have mostly defensive abilities or reactive skills. Like Aoe Rrevive, Aoe heal, Aoe Buff, aoe debuff, etc. - Some supports are really offensive like Shaman with high crit value, so you need to look at their offensiveness as much as their supporting abilities.
HP - Meat sticks
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Depending on what you're doing will determine your load out, but that's mid tier. What's important starting off is maintaining a balanced group. For Most you can run 1 ATK 3 Support - I call this the cushion build because no matter if you auto or if you do it yourself, you're not going to normally lose a campaign round unless you're undergeared or underleveled. Most of these comps do well with heroes like Kael early on because of how squishy he is to start. Here's some more examples of comps that I toy around with.
With legendary hero:
Ex 1: Athel(rr), Lightsworn(ep), Gorgorab(ep), Robar(LG) - 2 ATK - 2 Supp
EX 2: Athel(rr), Lightswon(ep), Gorgorab(ep), Ignatius(LG) - 1 ATK - 2 Supp - 1 Def
Without legendary hero:
Ex 1: Athel(rr), Royal Guard(ep), Gorgorab(ep), Lightsworn(ep) Warden(ep) - Spider build - Aoe - 2 ATK - 2 Supp - 1 DEF
Ex 2: Athel(rr), Kael(rr), Warpriest(rr) Rocktooth(rr) = 3 ATK, 1 Support - Low cost easy to get heroes
Poor mans build: ( second account less than an hour a day for 2 weeks)
Ex 1: Jizoh(ep), Shaman(ep), Kael(rr) Adriel(rr) - Build from 2 free rares, 1 lucky pull from blue shard plus starting hero
Ex 2: Shaman(ep), Kael(rr), Warpriest(rr), Hurler(rr)
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Mid Tier - Now that you’ve made it to the middle of the game or to mid tier level, you’ve probably accomplished a few things at this point. Cleared brutal. Gotten one champion to 6 stars or 2-3 5 st/as champs. You’ve pulled at least one or two good heroes. And you’ve worked on your team composition a little bit. Here comes the huge roadblock - and honestly the first stopping point for some players. Now that you’ve completed the story mode, what else is there to do? Well like any good pokemon trainer would say, to catch em all and get stronger!
We’ll be addressing more of the mechanical features that determine fights, as well as looking at more in depth compositions. This isn’t the 100% min-max conversation for high tier players, but this is for most people So here comes the grind or the farming bonanza you’re about to encounter. By this point in the game you should have an idea of heroes you want to play with from a composition level. As well as what heroes you want to use for what dungeons. ( i.e. Royal guard for CB, or Warden for spider boss) - You have to set a priority list. And the reason we set this list, is it will make your time be best used, and avoid that feeling like you’ve spent 1k energy and still made ZERO progress. For me I valued how often I would be using that hero, and gave them a score between 1 and 5. . .Now this is just my top 10 heroes or heroes I actually use. Obviously I’m capped and vaulted out so going through every single one is not practical. The first 6 ST/AS hero I had was Athel, she was a 5 on my usage scale. So I focused on her first, getting skillbooks was easy for her since she’s a RR and that makes incredibly easy to have high output to push most of the content you need. Once you commit to a 6 ST/AS hero, you’re not stuck with them, but it is an investment to get them to that point. So for her she’s in 100% of the time on any minotaur runs ( for mastery) - All of my arena fights, and my supports are designed to support her damage output. . .
The biggest problem with leveling up your starting heroes all the way is they fall off on damage even fully maxed out. Simply because more and more higher end keeps and arena teams are the wrong source ( force/magic/void/etc. ) so you do less or mitigated damage, and they also use a lot of shields ( Magic keep/Arenas ) - This is bad because unless you build pure damage, no sustain ( no lifesteal ) you run the risk of being a wet noodle. However, with no lifesteal athel loses a lot of value since she’s a 3 strike hero.
Remember, nothing is set in stone and I would encourage you to develop as many potential comps as possible. However, it does take time. So as you find your core group, you should be using the training area or your farm time, to level up new heroes, or more food for your rank ups. When silver intensive events happen like artifact leveling. I take my farmer +3 low levels to 12-3 brutal and farm it till I run out of energy. Rinse and repeat and over the 2-3 day span you’ll have leveled several new rankers for your next hero.
Ascendancy - You need to ascend everything you can. There’s no reason not to, and the baseline stat increase is great for % heroes or % stats. The most effective way to do this is by planning what you need. I have a lot of high magic characters, so instead of leveling up rankers, I may spend all my energy plus reset energy on magic keep. And then use silver to upgrade any potions I need to. Unless you’re really lucky, plan to spend 10-12 runs in the keeps. What you ascend first is the same rules as ranking up. Make a list of what’s most used and go down that list. But once you max out your main team, ascendancy potions are no longer your main priority, but don’t stop ascending things because of that.
Mastery - This honestly is the best/worst thing about this game. With low silveno item rewards - Minotaur is literally the balls of this game. But he plays such an important role for your heroes. Just know the best way to manage this without getting fatigued is spend 1 day a week grinding him out. Maybe even splooge on an energy potion if you can. The higher you farm the better, and the less heroes you farm with the better. Mastery traits literally define your end game or high tier content. Since a lot of the damage you get is % damage that’s massive for big bosses or high HP arena teams. And getting the damage increase on low hp mobs is a big deal. Just remember this farm spot sucks and everyone goes through it.
The farm - This is not a gripe or complaint about farming. Or a super detailed explanation of how to farm most efficiently. This is just to point out some good farming potential and ways to make it most time efficient for you. Energy consumption and smashing the replay button will always outweigh in results, so don’t get sold on one way being the best.

1. Spider boss at low level is a poopy way to farm for your characters. But it still opens more doors. Getting a banner or amulet for a hero in say banner lords may encourage you to look at compositions with those heroes. ( this is why we ascend everything, since they require 5/6sts for amulets banners)
2. If you need a ring, banner or amulet - you can target farm 12-7 in each mode for the specific item. Since the boss technically has less loot to drop your chances of getting a ring ( normal ), Amulet ( hard) and banner ( Brutal) is much higher. Then you’re just combating different clans instead of different clans and other jewelry pieces.
3. 12-3 Brutal is the fastest silver and xp output in game. With a solid farmer you can clear in 30-40 seconds and get 10.5k silver + item that sells for 4-9k. . It only takes 8 energy. Basically if you had the energy you can do 90 runs an hour. Which means if you really wanted to you could make 1 mil silver an hour for 720 energy. . . That’s also a lot of rankers leveled up and ready to be fed into new heroes. Once I get my second account fully clearing brutal at that time frame I’m gonna do a trial run for an hour and see what the actual math is with items.
4. Keeps - Pushing them is fun, but you can run lower levels for the same results. Depending on your RNG, there’s no need to push 14-15s with chance of failure if you can do it on a lower level with auto. I feel like they nerfed the blue shard drop from these places but you can still get one on occasion.
5. Fire knight/Ice golem/Dragon - They totally viable, but only do them for the challenges. When you can start clearing 13-15 they are more worth it, since most of your loot will be higher quality. - They become exceptionally important in min-maxxing statted items, but this is a super big lottery farm that I don’t encourage you to focus on this just yet.

Arena - I wont say much I haven’t already said in the low tier area. This will be a massive roadblock for you though. As the arena event comes out, you won't be hitting top prizes in it. As mid tier you’re gonna float in s2-s4 pretty regularly. But it’s a good chance to farm your medals for the stat increases. You’ll have 1 challenge that will require 4 different sections have an upgrade and one will be 1 lvl 4 upgrade and then 2 lvl 4 upgrades - It’s part for an orange shard so it's worth doing. Plan to be efficient on this part. The grind sucks. Placing a weak defender will help keep your rank down so you can farm easier teams. It’s stupid, but a better way than grinding up like i do it.
Stats/Set bonuses - This is where stats become important for most of you. This is the time where now that you have set bonuses that work with your comps, you’ll slowly but surely be replacing the items with higher stabetter statted versions. Things to remember on high stat heroes % increases will almost always yield a higher increase. % hp % ATK % DEF - It’s a double win though if an item has %def +DEF for your DEF heroes. - - Things to remember gloves can get crit chance and crit damage, so those will be some of your most valuable set items. Relickeeper needs 100% crit so items that have that stat will make him do best.
Basic set combos for teams:
Shield + Curing short cooldown healers
Lifesteal on multistrike hero + Shield on hp or high health hero
Divine ATK + ATK + Lifesteal = ATK hero gets 30% ATK increase instead of 15% -
Life + Def + AcC - Ignatius benefits from all 3 on him
Speed + Crit + Crit damage - Glass cannon for arenas
Reflex + Speed - More turns super fast cooldown reduction
Regen + Immortal - High base hp heroes w/ +life or Health on all items
Cruel + Crit + C.Rate - Put this with a LUA or someone who has high baseline crit - can 1 shot rotation.
Basic Stat combo for items: ( Epic 5 star items) - All stats on your item should naturally improve your hero, but you want whats the highest output/survivability possible. You cant focus on hybrid building either. Some heroes will do better with mixed stats, but most of the time your abilities will be based off certain things. Stacking ATK stats on a DEF hero is bad, and as such you’ll want to start minimizing what the stats that have no weight. This creeps into the end game/high tier conversation, but it definitely becomes a huge makeup of how quickly you can progress.
Good stats:
ATK - ATK % - C.Rate - Crit Damage - Speed
Def - Def % - HP - Speed- hp %
C.Rate - Crit Damage - ACC - Speed - ATK
Bad stats:
Def - Def % - ATk - Crit - Hp
Speed - ACc - Def - ATK %
Planning for events: This is the last part of mid tier game that comes into play. Now that you can effectively grind/farm/arena events will have much more value to you. Most of the end rewards are epic/legendary skill tomes, shards, gems. Which means you’ll want to do them. The biggest draw back to doing events is that if you don’t plan for them in advance you wont hit their highest reward. I’ll list the events that you can actually prepare for, and then give you what I do on those events. I’m not going to be super thorough because there are guides that cover those more explicitly.
Artifact Enhancement - I usually stay at 2 mil silver at all times, even though I might have some things I need to upgrade. For events like this. It’s super expensive but if you avoid doing 5 star items and jewelry you can actually hit most of the top tier rewards in 6-8 mil silver. If you really want to go the distance farm 12-3 until you’ve filled your inventory with item drops for the curing set. Enchant them all + 4 and then when the event drops push them to 12-14 ( depending on your RNG dont waste a lot of silver trying to get 14 if you can’t ) - then sell those and go to the next set of items which you should have all at +4 already then repeat the same process. ( depending on the reward I will usually pass on spending the silver )
Summon Rush - Buy every green shard you can from the market - Blue ones that pop up if you can hold your eager beaver for these events you can knock out most of the rewards pretty easy - getting the last 2 usually require some extra help like a timely placed void shard or orange shard, but it’s doable. The most time here will be spent clearing out excess heroes to summon more. Make sure you utilize the vault for this. ( Haven’t missed a reward yet on this event)
Level up - Grind 12-3 Brutal. Usually ranking up is in this category as well so save all your 4/5star upgrades for this time. ( Haven’t missed a reward yet on this event)
​
Edit log:
Edit: Bolded points - formatted from phone post.
Edit: Added megathread link
Edit: Added Hero comps ( low tier)
Edit: Added mid tier explanation

Posted on Reddit and GW2Forum. Edit: Thanks for the gild, first one :)
GW2 has many systems and many limitations, we don't really know either and often suggestions are unrealistic in some way. Instead I tried to think of ways we could repurpose things we already have in game to reinvigorate other areas. This is quite long, there's a summary of intentions at the end, it's broke down in to a couple of categories. It does not cover WVW or PVP at all as less than 1k of my 10k hours have been spent in those modes but I believe these changes would still have positive impact on those as a by product of people being able to play where they wanted. Sorry if the formatting is bad I suck at reddit. Fix if you can if needed if you are a kind moderator.
Vendors
- Add a tab to the vendor that converts experience writs into tomes that sells a level 80 scroll for 80 tomes which bypasses the clicking, like a level 80 boost but without all the benefits. Just more alt freindly.
- Add a vendor to each map which has an enemy that drops a unique skin. When you kill a boss/enemy you unlock its drops as account bound consumables at the vendor for a large amount of the maps currency [karma tyria mostly, contracts/effigies/casino coins in pof etc]. This adds huge sinks to every currency across the board, allows people to work toward a skin while hoping for rng but not relying on it. No ones really worried in raids because they know they can buy it eventually. People that can't be bothered can still buy off the trade post, and people who like to grind for drops can still do it too. Just make the costs high and don't change them on a whim. When currency is drained if needed modify the prices, not the currency aqquisition rates. Example - Kill Tequatl and thr researchers there sell you Teq Horde for 2million Karma (price just a random number, but it would need to be high for every skin regardless, this isnt meant to be a system so people can get all skins, just so you can work on SOMETHING you want, it means you can actually realistically work on things like Teq skins and Treasure hunter etc).
- If we arent gonna get a tonic tab/toybox/bookshelf add an vendor thats a combiniation of a few other ideas used in vendors in game atm. A portable vendor that takes toys/tonics/books as currency. When you buy something in Tab A it unlocks it for unlimited use in Tab 2 (example you have an infinite watchknight tonic, you double click it in tab A, it consumes it (like decoration vendor) and in Tab B you unlock Infinite Watchknight Tonic (multiple shops have hidden contents that you unlock) which you can use. Or a book vendor that works like the living season portal tomes.
- Add a tab with ascended versions of each item available from the dungeon vendor for a significantly higher amount of currency unlocked after Dungeoneer.
- Add an item to each vendor for a teleport to dungeon scroll, add a tome for the 8 scrolls to be put in.
- Add a vendor which accepts any one use skin consumable you have in return for 1 transmutation charge.
- Take the decoration system, DRASTICALLY reduce all prices and scribing requirements and add it to Home Instances with a vendor to get said decorations.
- Allow people to flat out buy legendary armour for legendary insights after the first set or Envoys Herald.
- Add a vendor that allows you to exchange black lion convenience items that have contracts for eachother if you have the contract unlocked, similar to how you can exchange mini's in raids if you have them unlocked. Obviously this wouldd not help someone who had EVERY contract but at least then if you even were missing one, those useless chest drops would have a little value.
World
- Remove the daily chest limit from Core world bosses. You can go loot guarantee'd 5 rares every 2 hours in Tarir or try for Egg Sac every 2 hours but can only get rewarded for Behemoth or try for a Teq Horde once a day, which feels wrong. Add a daily tyrian hero chest like HoT to Tyria that you can only get once daily for doing ANY boss. (only one boss daily, not 1 box per boss).
- Add a button above the map that works as the inverse of the "map is closing" which puts you in a more populated map. Flavour it to each map if needed. "Help the camps" , "Restore the Pylons", "Face the Shatterer" etc. If therre are full maps offer the option to queue for a full map or join one with space.
- Remove dungeons being closed while waypoints are contested or just stop having waypoints be contested in the first place.
- Add a consumable which grants Renown Heart progress when used in a hearts area. Reward it for map completions/community events like the kill 10k blitz bossses and anytime you need a disposable item reward slot thats not completely useless like most we get now are. PoF kind of already has these, you can stack up carrots or similar hand ins and put them in bank for alts to use at the heart but it's not user freindly.
- Add daily living season 3 hero chest and living season 4. Only 1 caan be earned per day for killing any boss onn a living season map, awards choice of stuff from that map. Add it to the specifmen chamber, storm meta, palawadan/guild hall, destroyers in drac mons, etc.
Instances
- Add dialog options for vanquish versions of each dungeon path which give a splash screen at the end which shows time, enemies killed, players deaths/respawns. Award bonus token per mob killed.
- Add a console like the golem arena has to the aerodrome allowing people to select the boss from a list of bosses they have killed that week which opens the instance form the menu similar to how fractals were before the rework or even the guild transporter which still allows the option to go from menu or the portal. Add a mote to every boss arena to respawn the boss.
- Add a mote at Lupi, Clockheart and any other boss that has nice mechanics that just multiples the hp and dmg output by 10. Non extra rewards, no anything. Dont even care about balancing. Just allows people to experience those bosses without them melting to power creep IF they want to.
- Add utility primers/food equivilent to the raid merchants for magnetite or something that only work in the golem/raid wings, like fractal potions only work in fractals. Even much weaker versions that maybe stretch a food to 2 hours.
- Remove mastery bar when in raids. Replace with an experience bar like world vs world unique for each wing. It only earns experience on a kill. Boosters shouldn't work. Make the level viewable similar to how you can see someones fractal level when you hover the section in lfg. This replaces the kill proof now that legendary insights may actually get spent on alt armour sets and accurately represents peoples experience. Currently if you kill Vale Guardian 20 times in one week the you get the same proof as someone who kills it once. No other benefit/difference to the level other than your experience level. Nothing like fractals in thaat respect.
Misc
- Make every daily category count towards the 10 ap daily category. Even 33% for a full set but honestly some of the LS dailies take longer than core dailies so that's possibly overkill so just have all of them count for 11% or something sso you can choose to do 9 of ANY daily or 3 of the standard usual ones.
- Add a weekly achievement that resets on monday with guild missions/raids etc that is just dailiesx7 which rewards 7 chests minus the number of days you have done thaat week. [people can choose to do them daily or not but are no longer punished for having low time on a bad set of dailies. as long as they have one day a week to play properly they wont fall behind but they stilll have to actually be playing to get them]
- Remove daily crafting gates and make them weekly attached to the monday guild mission/raid reset.
[These changes mean the only bonus for logging daily is the daily log in which is still incentive as it's the only way to get laurels and it also gives mystic coins]
- Add the wvw/pvp reward tracks to pve. When you have capped mastery, exp goes towards the reward track. Add a reward track which gives spirit shards.
- Make the headers of each lfg section show ALL the lfgs in the seperate lfgs within. Example - clicking on Dungeons shows all any lfg open across all 8 dungeon sections.
- Allow us to unequip purchased inventory slots. If necessary increase the base price of them in the store from that point on but blanket change, all bag slots already bought get the benefit despite being bought pre change. Good will to your playerbase.
- Add a black lion key to 5k ap mile stones and birthday achievements after 3 years so you get 1 key per year for being a long term player.
- Do something about ascended wood. It's been cheaper to buy than craft for ages now. While the sink is sattraactivee to let run as people ccontinue to just watse money due to this it's really not player freindly. Easiest way possible just force a delisting on trade post if possible so everyone has to list again. Even if it doesn't fully fix it it should at least be better than it is now. If that's n ot aan option even something like 32 slot wooden boxes to sink it out of the economy. Sure some people will get cheaper boxes than others but it will at least normalise the price if the surplus of cheap listings are bought up and sunk via crafting.
- Add an achievement for capping luck which gives an eat which eats luck for 6 junk containers/day like the other eaters.
- Add return to sender to black lion gemstore mails so people can return unwanted gifts without having to contact support.
- Add a tickbox for "sign your gift" so people can see that the person they are gifting form the gemstore won't actually know it's from them and decide if they want to let them know or not.
- If the forge rework is really this hard/taking this long, add an option to Miyani to "repeat last forge x10" which will do an item check and carry out the forge if you have the items.
- Allow Superior Runes and Sigils to be forged with a very small chance to give Amalgamated Gemstones. With a much higher chance of a "broke" forge result which is a 1 silver trash item. Only those 2 outcomes. Should clean up the junk sigils, not impact amalgamated as much as some people will see that as a waste of items and not a worthwhile gamble, but someone else will always gamble and maybe even raise most to around 10-18silver like t5 upgrades that are currently used for amalgamated. This also should raise the prices of trash Exotics a little meaning that they are not as depressing to loot as they currently are.
- Add an option in graphics to hide other peoples armour,backbpacks, armour, mounts, auras if they choose. Show default model. I can't understand why if I set everything low, and all get a pink default moddel, that I can still see ad infinitums and twilights.
- Allow people to add a custom status other than just "away" "invisible" so they can set a short desription of what they are doing so you can at a glance seee if anyone is doing anything you can join. Add the custom status to the menu when you click a tag from map and get the option to join the squad, meaning you can see what commanders are doing if you arrive on a map that has activity.
- When you hover over map rewards in the open world map - show a progress bar or completely hide them. Also reset them on monday with everything else instead of Thursday night as it is currently.
- Add some in game pop ups with information for people. Please. 3 years in peoplr still think dragons stand is dead yet it was one of the best first experiences you can have in HoT and people would have it if it just said "Hello dragonslayer, this map is aimed at group content and is on a timer, please refer to the lfg" or something.
- Make the waypoint beside an active world boss or metaevent free during that event similar to how if you have no money at all or in tradepost/bank the nearest wp is free when you die. I noticed this when running dungeons with new players, theey would not waypoint until I told them it was free inside instances, then they wouldd do it instantly. This is a minor thing which wouldn't affect much (if they don't waypoint they aren't sinking the silver anyway) but literally any person it made respawn wouldd be a positive.
- Set community targets every month for each game mode. First 3 weeks we work towards them, kill x number of mobs or loot y number of chests, kill x enemies or capture y number of points etc. If the target is reached, the 4th week of the month has a bonus active (call of the mists in competitive, things like the exp boost, gathering boost etc in pve). From my experience leading and helping low playtime per week players, they got more out of that weekend than the blitz reward. Was crazy to ask people what they were doing and them say "levelling an alt while double exp is on". Ignore people that say the reward is weak, people enjoy free things and generally people who are happy are quiet, enjoying the game. I'm sure you all saw people asking why arenanet had gifted them 25 boosters for nothing after that event lol.
Final Thoughts
Aim of this post is to take systems in use elsewhere and apply them to places in game to make it better for everyone, not just one person and punishing as few possible. Some of these things may not be possible, or may not be as easy as they seem but many seem quite realistic and actually beneficial across the board, for player and developegame. The outcome of these changes would in my opinion be - You are rewarded for playing anywhere properly. You are not punished for liking lottery/farming/buying stuff with gold but you are also able to work on anything that you want and know that you don't need to rely on rng. It should reinvigorate ALL content other than those really odd core maps that haven't really got anything going on on them. It would be much more alt friendly. Most currencies would no longer be utterly useless and you would not bee punished for having limited time daily however would still receive a benefit from logging every day compared to those that can't. Resets would be uniform except for WVW (notice I made no wvw suggestions - I would just make bad ones, my hope is that with the reward track add daily track change you would lose all the people that go for gifts of battle and easy dailies. This (similar with the pvve get a group button) would mean that most people trying content (using lfg, organising via team speak etc in wvw) should only get people that actually want to be there as opposed to how it is now. So while I have no direct suggestions for WVW as I haven't played it in 5 years I would at least think that it would still benefit partially from these changes. PVP same boat, I know pve inside out but wouldn't even try to start suggesting things for pvp. Hopefully people read this/some of it/agree with any of it. I have no expectations of anything from the post but if I was to see any of these changes in game I would be really happy, or even close to versions of them and the reason I finally made the post is because everyone who has heard them has told me I should. Thanks. I've probably forgot a bunch I will remember when I press post.
EDIT: knew would forget something.
Make Crown Pavilion permanent, make Festival of the Four Winds/Lab Cliffs/the Race/Gauntlet Special Encounters the festival and just leave the map with blitz and normal gauntlet throughout the year so people can earn tickets, some of the gated AP so its not such a huge chunk in such a short time, play the content and then when the festival comes there are people who know the map to teach people and the you won't have the communities competing on one small population map (people for dailies, people for gauntlet, people for blitz).