bring skip level cards back!!!

[ogim028]

I do not like playing every character to max just to level. Dumbest grind ever!!!!

[Final_Zidane]

I agree, leveling each variant to 50 wasn't the greatest decision. Personally I would prefer a hybrid system of class based levels and sticker based upgrades. (This is not my ideal situation but, a compromise.) I'm fairly sure it would be impossible to implement a skip star system, partially because in GW1 it took 15 challenges to gain one level. (so in GW2 its worth 1/15 a level?) Second, each level requires a different amount of experience (1 to 2, 5 to 6, 9 to 10, etc.) so skip levels could be abused to skip only high exp levels for example. Of course, they could just make skip stars give a static amount of exp but they would need to add a new interface allowing the player to pick what variant to upgrade. Considering they have discontinued all but the minimum to keep the game running I don't see that happening. (Definitely not before fixing some of the more hazardous bugs.)

Sorry, you are stuck grinding like everyone else. There is a bit of good news though, there is a fish in the sewers that will take 5 stars in exchange for 750 exp. So you can do board challenges to help you skip levels on characters you enjoy less. (I would personally save the stars for Infinity Time, but that is personal preference.)

[asukojo]

If you see from the negative point of view, you see it as a "grind".

But if you see from the positive point of view, you should see it as :

    1. What is the uniqueness of this character?

    2. how I can maximize this character strength, minimize its weakness.

    3. How I should adjust my playing style to maximizing the character strength.

    4. How can I get better every time using this character?

All of them takes time, so just like going to school, take 5 years for elementary school, there's reason for it.

If you soo focus on the goal/finish line/max rank, you might forget about the journey which could be better than the goal itself....so just enjoy the learning experience and be proud HOW (not WHEN)  you get there. 

[agentevil007]

I find this system is better. It forces players to play different characters if they want to rank up.

I've seen players play the same characters over and over again. It's either Agent Pea, Toxic pea, or on the zombie side,  it's camo ranger, super commando............blah, blah.....

And then we hear how people complain about not getting the Unicorn Chomper cause it's so hard to reach max rank.

So boring to player with and against these people.

[Final_Zidane]

---

@asukojo wrote:

If you see from the negative point of view, you see it as a "grind".

But if you see from the positive point of view, you should see it as :

    1. What is the uniqueness of this character?

    2. how I can maximize this character strength, minimize its weakness.

    3. How I should adjust my playing style to maximizing the character strength.

    4. How can I get better every time using this character?

All of them takes time, so just like going to school, take 5 years for elementary school, there's reason for it.

If you soo focus on the goal/finish line/max rank, you might forget about the journey which could be better than the goal itself....so just enjoy the learning experience and be proud HOW (not WHEN)  you get there. 

---

 In OP's defense, even when enjoying the journey, 750+ hours is hard not to consider a grind. Also, playing games should not feel like being in school.

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@agentevil007 wrote:

I find this system is better. It forces players to play different characters if they want to rank up.

I've seen players play the same characters over and over again. It's either Agent Pea, Toxic pea, or on the zombie side,  it's camo ranger, super commando............blah, blah.....

And then we hear how people complain about not getting the Unicorn Chomper cause it's so hard to reach max rank.

So boring to player with and against these people.

---

I have two problems with this. First, no one should feel forced to play other characters. If a person doesn't like a variant or class forcing them to play it doesn't really qualify as fun. Why play a game that isn't fun? Second, alright so people chase the carrot and play every class to reach 5455. Then they proceed to do what they wanted to do in the first place and ignore classes and variants they don't like. The only real gain is each player playing the variant to 50 (All 6-10 hours worth) then you are right back to everyone playing the same characters over and over. So why make people do something they don't want to?

[PC20XX]

I remember having over 2000 skip challenge cards back in Garden Warfare and I think that was on both the Xbox 360 and PS4 versions. That was after getting everything not holiday exclusive and stopping around rank 100ish.

If you really want the 5455 plate as a badge, yes, it can feel like a grind for characters that you don't really like. But you might also be surprised every now and then at discovering new play styles or strategies playing as different characters. I don't think there's anything worth getting to max rank (yet!) other than the damage upgrade for characters and the 20k coins from each promotion.

But that being said, if you want to talk about the grind for coins instead, I think I've spent over 50 million and I'm still around 200 "regular" (non-time-gated) items shy of completing the sticker book. I liked the previous game's setup of at least being guaranteed super rares at the end after getting everything else. Opening packs in GW2 just to get pure consumables out of three back to back 35k coin packs... Not cool.

And the grind for Infinity Time items which have a chance at giving you only coins after possibly a hard-fought amount of waves... Really not cool.

Go be an archaeologist in space! Be a rock pea at the concert in that one map!

Like Asukojo said, enjoy the game for what it is; you'll have more fun out of it if you don't grind than if you do.

[Iron_Guard8]

I used a lot of those skip challenge stars in GW1 mostly since some just didn't work. The 'vanquish x plants after a scientist warp without being vanquished' as an example never worked, even on long vanquish streaks that were far in excess of the listed value.

The fish in the sewers can help since some characters level slower than others and I used it often once I ran out of other things to use them on, prior to the portals and rainbow stars. It never felt grindy to me but I also played World of Tanks and several MMOs over the years so I may just be more used to it than anyone should be. At least in GW2 when you change rank the first new levels fly by rapidly.

[asukojo]

Skip level is already there: Give 5 gold stars to the fish on sewer for 750 HP.

So if you want to skip your "learning process", do the quest board,  then give the fish a lot of gold stars....for 200 stars (30,000 HP), you can level up from 1-10 immediately.

But don't be surprised when you have to pay the price later on (got killed by this character multiple times by a good player in the game and wonders why this character is so OP).

The learning process is not only for attacking (when using the character) but also use for defending (when plays against that character) since I know its strength and weakness inside out.

For example, I love chomper and some players angry to me when I'm so "hungry", but when I play against chomper, I know how to tame the hungry beast (since I know the beast inside out): https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yDivTpOSgLA

[pandareno1999]

I like the currently leveling system just fine.  If rank is a goal, then you have to play all the characters.  It makes max rank a goal you have to work for.  There are no idiotic quests to achieve as mentioned above so no need to skip via stickers.

[Gormey]

If you want to have a max rank plate and the skill to go with it you should be playing every character.  You don't have to do something you don't want to do AKA stay at a lower rank but nothing is funnier to me then playing a max rank player who is bottom on the score list every time because they grinded for XP and coins the wrong way or used the fish.  If you are a lower rank and a max rank joins your game the proper response should be "OH *".  I mastered all chars in live Team Vanquish and yes it was painful sometimes especially before the upgrades but like others have said you learn the character and more importantly how to counter each character.

I'm back to playing GW1 mostly now because GW2 team vanquish is dead at night and nothing pisses me off more then how every max rank player uses the same 2 or 3 OP chars every time.  In GW2, I do see much more variation in character selection.  Try playing random chars once in a while and perhaps you will find a new favorite.