Map Drop Rate Is Shocking

in closed beta i would run maps with players that also had high quantity. these maps were generally chiselled and rolled well (which clearly has a big effect on drop numbers). I

would be EXTREMELY rare for us not to profit in map terms. The best i ever had was 9 maps in 1.

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Panda413 wrote:

This is why it's important to re-roll maps to get the highest +quantity % your character can handle.

This. I have no problems maintaining a map stash.

Also, lunaris has better map drop rate than docks.

I've been running Docks for like a week on my 71 witch, haven't had a single map drop. When I dinged like 65, after I just completed Merciless, I had a handful of maps drop in a quick succession AND THAT WAS IT! It's driving me insane! I'd much rather do maps, but they simply refuse to drop for me. I haven't even seen anything better than a chaos orb drop ever since a few days after beta came out.

2 days ago I had the same complaint. I kept farming docks until I hit lvl 74. I went to fellshrine and found a grotto map then used chisels and alch on it.I found additional 7 maps inside. I then went for another map and found another 5. Random is random.

My complaint is similar to most people's complaints. There should be nearly no way to run out of level 66 maps.

I'd personally like to see the lab allow you to enter a random level 66 unrolled map (MoC style, for the oldschool players). That way there isn't any farming outside of maps when you are at endgame and desire to be in maps.

Either that or increase the drop rates of level 66 maps so they drop like candy. No chance of people running out and the ability to trade up at a vendor would be a more common practice.

Quite a bit of misinformation here.

From "dev diary: end-game maps"

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Chris wrote:

Like the rest of the game, having multiple players in an area increases the drop rate of items and the experience that monsters yield (while making them more challenging). Under the new system, there is an exception: the drop rate of the Map items themselves is not increased by the additional players (all other items drops in the area are still increased, of course). A Map has the same chance of yielding other Maps regardless of how many players are in it. This is because a single Map item can be used by a whole party, unlike other items that can only be used by one player. The item quantity bonus that a Map has (due to its Mods) will affect the drop rate of Map items within that Map.

As far as I can tell, this is the only dev post explaining how it works. There is more than just the one paragraph I've quoted.

If you think for a while about the why of this, you will understand the need for such a mechanic. The only item quantity that affects map drop rate, is item quantity tied to the zone you are in. Not quantity on your gear, not quantity from supports. Read the rest of that linked article for proof.

If this were not the case, one way to sustain high level maps would be to always run them with a group of 4-6 friends, and insist that everybody stack IIQ. Progression is meant to be gated (expensive) - so any mechanic that would (1) force you to stack quant (2) allow a group of friends easier progression (3) un-gate progression for any small subset of players - is a horrible idea. Quant used to affect map drops, and it wasn't good.

What is not clear, however, is whether personal quant and party quant will get you more map drops while you are in the docks. While farming the docks, you are decidedly NOT inside a map, and that's the qualifier on those restrictions from the above article. So a 6-player party in the docks MAY or MAY NOT get more map drops than somebody who is soloing. Not quite sure.

A question I have: what gripe does everyone have against the catacombs? It's level 66. You're guaranteed a room with 2-3 elite packs, and you have about a 50% chance for a large chest at the end. Necros aren't very high density in there, either. Why not farm catacombs? Extra magic mobs = more map drops.

I farmed fellshrine in a full party (of afks) in closed beta (a lot), it sure seemed like map drops were not increased doing this. I would want dev verification to be certain, but that's what I believe to be the case.

I've leveled a character from 1 to 59 and another from 1 to 68 and I've never seen a map drop to me or anyone in my party. The only reason why I know what a map really is and have seen one is due to watching streams. Right now I'm asking "what now?", do I just keep farming docks?

My suggestion, instead of farming - buy few maps (2-4). They should be available for something like 1 alch or chaos. Improve their quantity well (35%+) and just run them solo. Unless you are very unlucky you should be able to keep your map number in surplus, getting more than you can spend.
I don't know exact numbers but i feel that map drop rate INSIDE maps is fixed in that way that on average you should always end up with a surplus of maps.
If you for some reason find yourself lacking a map though - don't farm non map areas, just buy a map.