User:JohnGott/Using Pact Scout's Mapping Materials

First let me answer a few basic questions:

What are Map bonus rewards?

Map bonus rewards are an enticement to get players to complete maps/zones and to repeat content on completed maps. They are designed to reward players for participating in content on maps. When you complete events, some jumping puzzles, and mini-dungeons on Player versus Environment ( PvE ) maps you earn map bonus track points based on your participation in the event. Full participation awards 100 points. For every 200 points earned on a single map each day, you earn a map bonus reward.

Do the points you earn on one map carry over to the next map?

No. Point totals are specific to each map and reset daily with the server reset at 00:00 UTC.

Can I earn Map bonus rewards on different characters on the same account?

Point totals are account-based. So, every character on an account contributes to earning the same Map bonus reward.

Can you affect the points you earn with any consumables?

Yes. For example: Map Bonus Rate Increase is a guild enhancement that increases all points earned by 3-10% based on upgrades to the guild hall. For a list of other consumables that affect map bonus reward points go here: Map Bonus Reward

Is there a limit to the number of Map bonus rewards you can earn?

No. You continue to earn a different reward until you reach 8000 points. After that, the cycle of rewards begins again with diminishing returns taking effect. The point totals are account-based and start fresh with every server reset. There are no diminishing returns for the Pact Scout's Mapping Materials.

Are the Map bonus rewards the same for every map?

Each map has its own Map bonus reward track. The rewards a map offers change weekly on an 8-week cycle. Simply put, rewards earned on the 1st week are the same as the rewards earned on the 9th week. You can find a chart listing the first five rewards for each Central Tyrian map for the current week by looking up “map reward bonus”.

When does the current week for Map bonus rewards change?

The rewards tracks change every week on Thursday at 20:00 UTC. To find out the current week for map bonus rewards, look up “map reward bonus” or “mbrp”, which stands for Map bonus reward/profit.

Is there a way to know which map has the most valuable rewards?

The concept of value depends on individual perspective. If you need tiny venom sacs, you may value them more than vials of thick blood even though the thick blood costs more in the trading post. To determine which map has the most valuable rewards based on current trading post prices, you can look up “mbrp”, which stands for Map bonus reward/profit.

Is there anything else you need to know about Map bonus rewards?

Yes. Aside from anything I might have forgotten,

The MOST IMPORTANT THING TO KNOW about map rewards is YOU CAN EARN THEM WITHOUT COMPLETING EVENTS!

On the Hero panel there is a list of Masteries that you can earn for your account. Some of these Masteries make an obvious and noticeable difference to an account. The Heart of Thorns Gliding Mastery or the Masteries for different mounts in Path of Fire are examples of these types of masteries. Less noticeable is the Central Tyria Mastery track of Pact Commander. This Mastery chain has five tiers. The important tier for this discussion is the Supply Line Management tier.

Supply Line Management allows a player to trade with Pact Supply Network Agent or PSNA’s. There are 6 Pact Supply Network Agents located in Central Tyria. One for each region. Their locations change daily at 08:00 UTC and the items they offer change daily with the server reset at 00:00 UTC. Each agent offers free to each player one of the three items they carry. Pact Scout's Mapping Materials is always one of the three items offered by each PSNA.

Pact Scout's Mapping Materials grant a player 200 map bonus reward points each. A player can gather 6 Pact Scout's Mapping Materials a day, one from each PSNA, for free. This means a player could earn Map Bonus Rewards for a map just by using their Pact Scout's Mapping Materials while on that particular map.

If a player is intelligent and industrious, (obviously you are since you are here) they can collect their 6 Pact Scout's Mapping Materials daily and save them to use at the right time on the right map.

So, when is the right time and which is the right map?

Only you can determine the answers to those questions for your situation. To determine the most financially profitable time and map you can again go to “mbrp”.

For example:

At the time I am writing this, it is currently Week 1 in the 8-week rotation. The Straits of Devastation is currently the most profitable map for the week. If a player acquired all 40 Map bonus rewards before diminishing returns kicks in and sold the items for the current Trading Post values, they would earn about 16 gold 77 silver 7 copper after trading post transaction fees. This is the most a player could earn with 40 Pact Scout's Mapping Materials for this week.

You could collect more than 40 Pact Scout's Mapping Materials and use them all in a single day during the most profitable week on the same map. They are not affected by diminishing returns as per the info from the Map bonus reward.

However, If the player looked at the current value for all eight weeks, they would see that Frostgorge Sound during Week 2 is far more profitable at 21 gold 28 silver 26 copper.

This means that the player’s same 40 Pact Scout's Mapping Materials could possibly get them 4 gold 51 silver 19 copper more by waiting for the right map at the right time. As with most monetary speculation, it is always possible that the values at the trading post might, and probably will, change over time. So, waiting might not be more profitable. But it might…