Racing is a Turn-Off for New Players like me

Hi GGG

First let me preface this by saying that the game is great. And at the risk of getting flamed by everyone in the community, the racing is not-so-great - at least not for me.

The only way to learn the art of racing I think is to be able to watch the players race thru the content, but there are no channels to tune in to to watch live racing to get pointers from the ppl who win, or is there?

I am a new player, and I have no clue how to race. There are players who have been playing this game for years and pretty much win everything. An example on the racing side that confuses the crap out of me is I'm still fighting hillock to get into town, and there are people entering the mud flats.

I try running straight to hillock and get my ass handed to me coz i have not even picked up the first skill gem. I spend time getting the skill gem, and then run to hillock, and the messages pop up about mud flats and tidal coast already.

I don't know how people even move that fast thru the area. I would have thought every class started out with equal movement speed.

I'm just really frustrated and despondent that these race events are aimed at seasoned players and new players like me don't stand a chance at getting the 1000 points I need to get the top prizes.

races are extremely low skill cap, if you race consistently for 1 season and are self-critical you can win demis very soon. just find out what recipes + items you need for your class, what lvl you wanna aim for each zone and thats pretty much everything you need for easy demis. learning layouts might take little longer but you will eventually start figuring them out.

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Zhelix wrote:

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The only way to learn the art of racing I think is to be able to watch the players race thru the content, but there are no channels to tune in to to watch live racing to get pointers from the ppl who win, or is there?...

Here is the signature race ladder page, all of those twitch icons are links to the respective twitch channels. Many of the top placing racers stream the events. Others record and later upload to Youtube or Reddit. There are plenty of ways to watch good race runs.

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janimauk wrote:

races are extremely low skill cap, if you race consistently for 1 season and are self-critical you can win demis very soon. just find out what recipes + items you need for your class, what lvl you wanna aim for each zone and thats pretty much everything you need for easy demis. learning layouts might take little longer but you will eventually start figuring them out.

+1

You will never get a 1000 point reward with that kind of attitude.

There are a couple of posts stickied in the Race Discussion forum, one by me (a little outdated) and one by Chrono. Check them out. As previously mentioned, most of the top racers do in fact stream as well. There's tons of tutorials on YouTube. The information's there if you want to improve.

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Zhelix wrote:

The only way to learn the art of racing I think is to be able to watch the players race thru the content, but there are no channels to tune in to to watch live racing to get pointers from the ppl who win, or is there?

Open up the ladder of a race when it's running. Look for red Twitch icons. Click on them to watch the top players stream in real time.

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Zhelix wrote:

I am a new player, and I have no clue how to race. There are players who have been playing this game for years and pretty much win everything. An example on the racing side that confuses the crap out of me is I'm still fighting hillock to get into town, and there are people entering the mud flats.

I try running straight to hillock and get my ass handed to me coz i have not even picked up the first skill gem. I spend time getting the skill gem, and then run to hillock, and the messages pop up about mud flats and tidal coast already.

I don't know how people even move that fast thru the area. I would have thought every class started out with equal movement speed.

Once I was new too and experienced that as well. I liked races though, so tried the, aiming usually for least amounts of points. I was running through Twilight Strand and others were in Ledge, and was wondering how skilled and fast people have to be that they kill all these zombies so fast. Then I found a guide and learned most of them don't really kill any zombies. I wasn't used to be underleveled but tried it once and hey, it helped! Then I tried running without body chest as was recommended, then started to skip single white monsters, always changed my basic attack to 'move-only' in my caster skill setup after killing Hillock, tried to get Quicksilver flask from Medicine chest quest in longer races... That all hasn't come in one day but eventually I became better. I know there's still much to improve and I've never won a Demi, neither I will this time but I already feel I'm better and enjoy racing.

Races are OK, just watch streams, read guides and don't expect everything will come immediately :) Also, I recommend not focusing too much on these chat notifications, it may be very demotivating sometimes. I have friends who are often in top 20 of their class and they're often way slower than what you can see in chat.

Here, under "What are some strategies to help new players along?" you also have some tips.

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Zhelix wrote:

Hi GGG

First let me preface this by saying that the game is great. And at the risk of getting flamed by everyone in the community, the racing is not-so-great - at least not for me.

The only way to learn the art of racing I think is to be able to watch the players race thru the content, but there are no channels to tune in to to watch live racing to get pointers from the ppl who win, or is there?

I am a new player, and I have no clue how to race. There are players who have been playing this game for years and pretty much win everything. An example on the racing side that confuses the crap out of me is I'm still fighting hillock to get into town, and there are people entering the mud flats.

I try running straight to hillock and get my ass handed to me coz i have not even picked up the first skill gem. I spend time getting the skill gem, and then run to hillock, and the messages pop up about mud flats and tidal coast already.

I don't know how people even move that fast thru the area. I would have thought every class started out with equal movement speed.

I'm just really frustrated and despondent that these race events are aimed at seasoned players and new players like me don't stand a chance at getting the 1000 points I need to get the top prizes.

Here's one YouTube channel you might find helpful (it even includes a few, little tricks some experienced racers may not know):

https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCL1htvdlnJBxrNASovaxB7g

The most important thing to keep in mind while watching is that there is very little between you and what you're seeing except experience managing your character, i.e., knowing what skills to select, how to choose gear, and all the niceties. Other than that, if you do what you see, you can expect to do well, and even those skills you can learn by observation. I'm no great shakes as a racer, and I tend to race casually, but I've improved my own performance watching these and other racers' videos.

Good luck! =^[.]^=

Hi Guys,

Thank you all for all your valuable feedback! I just wanted to say what a great community this is in general. I just completed a Soul thirst race now, and although it was a small list of entrants, i finished 377th, and 15th on the scion ladder - the highest finish for me so far - a whole 5 pts lol. That in itself gives me encouragement to continue to try. I guess I am just hard on myself and want to succeed. :)

Thanks again,

Zhel.

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Zhelix wrote:

Hi Guys,

Thank you all for all your valuable feedback! I just wanted to say what a great community this is in general. I just completed a Soul thirst race now, and although it was a small list of entrants, i finished 377th, and 15th on the scion ladder - the highest finish for me so far - a whole 5 pts lol. That in itself gives me encouragement to continue to try.
Thanks again,

Zhel.

Yeah that's similar to how I started. Once you notice you start getting top20s in class it narrows your perspective on who you're actually competing against and makes it less scary. Once you start getting into the single digit ranks in class you start to notice the same couple of guys ahead of you, then it only takes one race where they either don't compete or fail the objective to get a demi.



Always nice to see another person getting into racing, especially after being so put off in the OP.

If you play a class that no one plays and just play safe and live it doesnt matter how shit you are you can win demis.