Guild Wars: State of the Game: February 19, 2007

This week's State of the Game is up and is an analysis of the changes in Heroes' Ascent:

Many people took their first foray into Guild Wars Player-versus-Player combat through Heroes' Ascent. However, this format has experienced a popularity decline that started before the party size changed from eight to six. Hopefully, recent changes to Heroes' Ascent can revitalize these old battlegrounds.

One of the aspects covered is the kill count:

Kill Count stands out as the most easily recognizable but most misunderstood new victory objective. Simply put, teams compete to score the most kills before time runs out. Just keeping the opposing Ghostly Hero off of the central altar no longer grants victory on altar maps. The Ghostly Hero and the altar still play important roles under Kill Count rules, but enemy teams now become the primary focus.

Successful teams bring enough damage dealers to get credit for kills but must stay mobile enough to avoid getting sandwiched between two teams. Some teams take advantage of the automatic resurrection every minute. Rather than spend time resurrecting fallen comrades in the middle of a three-way battle, a tactical retreat prior to the minute mark (1:00, 2:00, 3:00, etc.) buys time to regroup without giving up unnecessary deaths. However, the other two teams may attempt to take advantage by ganging up when you're short-handed. Alert teams try to land quick kills after a minute mark, forcing a choice between using up a Resurrection Signet or playing with one less person for a full minute. Likewise, a team that loses its Ghostly Hero needs to beware of gank attempts on the Hero back at the resurrection shrine. A lapse in vigilance can give opponents two free points.

A common misconception lies in the notion of "kill stealing," where a team tries to get credit for a kill when another team has dealt most of the damage to the victim. However, credit for the kill goes to the team that did the most damage to the target within the past ten seconds. Thus, a target taking damage from your team over time could get constant healing from Monks, keeping the Health relatively close to full, before it suddenly gets finished off by another team's spike, leading to the perception of a lost or stolen kill. In many cases, the team trying to steal the kill often ends up helping an opponent get credit for the kill. Damage calculations during that ten-second window don't always make themselves clear, as healing and damage from multiple sources all contribute to the final outcome. Teams who want to steal a kill therefore must find a way to deal more damage to the target than the other opponent. Although spike teams can make a target fall over, savvy teams who do more damage to multiple targets over a ten-second span can let the spike teams do the dirty work for them to finish off targets low on Health.