► Mapping in groups : The best practices ◄

Hi,

Sometimes I'm not in the mood of mapping in groups, because too few people respect the very basic rules for a smooth, safe and efficient map clearing.

I've tried to initiate a list of the best practices I've encountered so far.
For most regular players, this list may be a bit straightforward, but I'm sure newcomers and unexperimented players can improve their gameplay in map parties thanks to this thread.

Feel free to complete this list.

1 - Stick together, follow leader if you don't know where to go. The leader now appears in blue in the mini-map. By staying close together, not only the whole party gains more experience, but also kills faster and has a better defense because or aura sharing and skills complementarity.

2 - Follow a wall in maze-like maps, because it's the most efficient method to clear every single area of the map. Example : Cells, Orchard, Crypt, Underground River...

3 - Borders first in large-area maps, because it's the safest method to begin clearing the map. You basically cut in half the direction where monsters can come from. Example : Dark Forest, Canyon, Jungle Valley...

4 - Kill Boss (or skip) after map clear to avoid wasting uncleared map areas in case of unexpected death.

5 - Be fair, don't ninja items, inform leader if a map drops, inform other party members if a good item or currency drops.

6 - Avoid laggy skills (CoC, Vaal Cyclone...) that make dangerous DPS drops and can cause other players death. These skills are even more undesirable now in 2.0, because they cause random game disconnections, and map loss.

7 - Open strongboxes with care, don't open strongboxes if unprepared characters are just nearby. Don't trigger a white strongbox if it's crafting-worthy.

8 - In Zana dailies, wait for everyone to enter Crumbled Laboratory before triggering Zana, because Zana sometimes opens a limited number of portals based on the number of players actually in the Laboratory zone. Some people may be just screwed if they are still in the hideout.

Naturally, most of these problems disappear in linear maps (Gorge, Plateau, Mountain Ledge, Strand...). Since GGG seems to encourage people to play maps in groups, I invite them to release more linear maps :)

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FNX_Heroes wrote:

1 - Stick together, follow leader if you don't know where to go. The leader now appears in blue in the mini-map. By staying close together, not only the whole party gains more experience, but also kills faster and has a better defense because or aura sharing and skills complementarity.

I usually do this unless the map rolls elemental equilibrium. If I stick with my buddies in an EE map then all my damage gets reduced by 50% and our clear speed drops substantially since I generally do the most damage out of us all >_>

"

FNX_Heroes wrote:

6 - Avoid laggy skills (CoC, Vaal Cyclone...) that make dangerous DPS drops and can cause other players death. These skills are even more undesirable now in 2.0, because they cause random game disconnections, and map loss.

I have serious issues with Ice Crash once it has increased area and attack speed gems in it. It takes up the whole screen, makes it hard to see, and occasionally I lose FPS too. Is it just me or does this ability bother others too?