However, Pre-Searing characters have it rough. They’re locked out from the Guild Hall. You can’t “twink” them with money or top gear. TANK, as a level 1 Warrior, would have to fight very hard for upgrades. Simple things, like a decent sword and a shield, are something to fight for. I remember scrounging for iron ignots, just to forge a Rinblade. Oooohh… 10-14 damage. How uber! Yet, the 15-22 Glacial Blade puts the best pre-searing blades to shame. What are you supposed to do with this awesome power? A level 0 River Scale Tad falls in one hit from such a mighty weapon.
That’s when I started thinking. It sure would be nice to get the Defender of Ascalon title and the Protector of Ascalon title at the same time. Couldn’t both be achieved in Pre-Searing? I checked out the Guild Wars Wiki and I started reading up on these titles. How does one reach level 20… exclusively in pre-searing …without dying? Apparently, the two titles work against each other. To get the “Defender” title, you have to “death level” your way to the end.
What is death leveling? The monsters in Pre-Searing aren’t high enough level to raise your character to 20. Yet, monsters can gain experience points off of you. By allowing the monsters to kill you over and over, they will actually gain levels. Once the monster has been sufficiently leveled, you can kill it for more experience.
What madness! ArenaNet is rewarding players who kill themselves? That’s just poor game design. It can actually take months to death level too. I thought ArenaNet sought to eliminate tedious gameplay, but this is tedious and idiotic. Instead, ArenaNet should correct this insanity. They should add higher level monsters to pre-searing, so that players can properly get the Defender of Ascalon title.
Oh sure, I can buy a second account. I could create a character to die over and over, then I could send in TANK to reap the experience. TANK wouldn’t die, so he’d stillbe eligible for the Survivor title. Yet, that’s not something worthy of honor. That’s something evil! Imagine some poor Monk, being killed over and over again. It’s a terrible thought. These characters may be virtual, but that notion makes me cringe!
No, ArenaNet should do the right thing. They should add a hardmode to Pre-Searing, just as they have done for the rest of the game. Even adding a couple of high level Charr would be an improvement. With these awesome weapons now accessible to pre-searing character, it’s time to put them to good use.