Map Drops in The Awakening
As you know, in The Awakening there is a new sequence of maps that will include many new types of maps based on Act Four areas. This new map sequence has different art (see my signature). We've also adjusted the levels of maps to be laid out better. The old maps still exist at their old levels, with the old art. They drop new maps.
Over the last few weeks, our balance team have been experimenting with various rates of map drops on the Closed Beta servers. The data collected has been extremely useful and has helped us decide various small changes to the map system that you'll be seeing in The Awakening. There are three goals for our changes:
On the Closed Beta, the drop rate for higher maps that we've been testing recently is lower than the live realm. While there are several mapping groups in Beta happily sustaining the highest tiers of maps, it took them a lot more effort to get there than it normally does. We want to bring this experience to more players. Now that we've gathered the data we needed, we're planning the following changes:
The change of having only map bosses drop +2 level maps is not intended as a strict nerf. Those bosses now drop additional items, so you should see more +2 maps from them. It's worth noting that +2 maps are a dangerous thing. They can cause players to get out of their depth - playing maps that are too hard for the items they currently have. We expect these changes to both help with this situation and to also provide an understandable way to have a chance at a +2 map: killing the map boss. In addition to the map changes described above, we should note that Merciless Act Four is intended to be very difficult content. It'll provide a way to challenge your character without having to play in maps. Last edited by Chris on Jun 8, 2015, 7:44:03 PM
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