Hey everybody!So, I decided to try and give an explained and detailed solution for completing Epic quests, whether they are needed for achievement, or you're simply trying to get stars (10 per Epic ) or coins ( 25.000 for Epic ).
Everything that will be explained below is based on my own experience and calculations for the shortest and most painless ways to complete those quests. Navigate between sections to find the answer to your question or for tips regarding specific quests.
EDIT ( September 2016 ) : new ToG DLC brought new quests into the game, along with new Epic ones. I am updating the solution currently as they appear.
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How to get quests? On both sides of the backyard, right in the middle there is a bounty board, that has quests on it. Those refresh every 48 hours. You should know that
there is not always an epic quest when the board refreshes, and it's normal.
I suggest you pick the epic quest before doing anything else, just in case you won't have time to play, will get disconnected etc. etc.
Once you have it in your quest list, it will stay there forever. Remember that you have
only 5 empty spots 7 empty spots ( after May patch ) for quests to be held simultaneously.
However, if you decide to "cancel" that quest and it's after the previous set of quests changed to another - it will disappear for good. So just keep them in case you don't have time or character to finish the quest with.
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What are the quests? Epic quests will usually be divided into 4 categories :
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Win/play - these are the simplest but very time consuming and require you to play X times a specific game mode or win it.
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Getting kills - these are easy enough but time consuming and force you to play with specific characters.
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Crazy Ops - these can be either luck based or difficulty based, can be quick and painless and can be long and rage-inducing.
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Bots/Pots kills - these are the fastest and the easiest to do.
All of these can be done in Backyard or ( in they are multiplayer ones ) in Private matches!----------------------------------------------------------
As of
Trials of Gnomus DLC there is at least one new Epic quest that can't be done in private match. "
Getting a streak of 10" it's called. As someone who still plays GW2 daily I checked all options to find the quickest one to finish this quest.
If you have a second controller and a dummy account OR a friend that has GW2 and willing to help, spawn on different sides ( doesn't matter who on what side ) and run to the sewer. Let the person going after the Epic kill the other person ( dummy account ) 10 time in a row - DONE. Since you're in the sewer, you spawn pretty much next to each other.
If you don't have a second controller, you will have to go to MULTIPLAYER since this doesn't work in private matches. You best bet will be playing as Cactus or Deadbeard on OFFENSE ( less pressure from the attacking team if you're on defensive ) and staying far, far away from everybody. Use the drone, get some shots here and there, stay in cover at all times, beware of enemy snipers - you'll get 10 kills without a problem.
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How to do quests?-----------------------------------
Win/Play quests : you will usually see either 15 or 20 games played or games won in any playlist. It can be Team Vanquish, Vanquish Confirmed, Suburbination, Gnome Bomb or Turf Takeover. Here is your best setup for each type of game. Everything is in Private Play.
You can go and play every game in multiplayer, but for games that need wins and not participation - you're betting on your team. While in private you can put the difficulty to "easy" and have teams of Sunflowers or Scientists to side with ( a very neutral setup ).
Win/play Gnome Bomb : TTeam Setup : put the enemy team for NONE and your team doesn't matter, add the Speed Craziness also. Run through the map OR sit back, read/watch something - your team will finish the game in less than 3 minutes for you. Don't forget to switch the side once you started another match -
stay on the side that has AI players.
Win/play Suburbination : Team Setup : put the enemy team for NONE and your team doesn't matter, add the Speed Craziness also. You don't even have to move because your team will capture the points. Each match will take around 7 minutes.
Win/play Vanquish Confirmed / Team Vanquish : Difficulty - Easy, Team Setup should fit your style. I preferred always to put an enemy team as Sunflowers or Z7 Imps, putting my own team as Scientists or Sunflowers just so I would be healed constantly and keep on killing the enemy team. You can try the same with any tank-ish character ( Super Brainz, All Star, Citron, Kernel Corn ). Times may vary here but you actually have to finish a match for it to count.
Win/play Turf Takeover : you have to play as a defending team ( as a zombie in Herbal Assault or as a plant in Gardens and Graveyards ) and put the other team in Team Setup to NONE. That way you just let the game go on for six and a half minutes until the timer runs out, giving you a win.
***Remember! If you want "on the go" to knock some non-epic multiplayer quests you can do them while trying to complete the Epic one. For example, achieve suburbination, capture X points, diffuse/arm X gnome bombs, revives, assists etc.
Also, it is entirely up to you : feel free to go to Crazy settings and put "ridiculously low health" and "speed craziness" to speed things up ( tip by Cenrail ). Know that it will drastically cut your XP gain for that game, and if you're still going for 5 times promotion achievement, you should think twice before switching anything from Crazy settings.
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Getting kills quests : this are side-based PLUS weapon based! Meaning - you pick them on either plants or zombies side, and is usually says "main weapon", so kills with drones, bombs, any special abilities won't count! Pay attention to that or you can find yourself wasting your time.
500 kills is what you'll need, and this will come with a requirement to get it with fire based class ( ice, electricity or toxic classes ). How to get a character? Two options here - if you are a GW1 veteran player, you will probably have at least on character on each side with the ability you'll need. Just import them into GW2 and you're set up ( go to your mailbox on any side,
and get to the screen with the option to import with
).
If this is your first Garden Warfare game, just play Ops or ranked multiplayer and buy 75.000 packs from the store that unlock a character for you. This itself can be grindy - just to find the character - is completely random... Good thing is that 75K is not hard to get at all - this might come from 3-4 Normal difficulty Ops if you do the challenge waves too or from 3-4 games of Turf Takeover ( where the offending team advances ).
EDIT - before wasting time on Character packs, check your mail at the base - there is always a "Hero showcase" that lets you use a character for free, weekly. This is completely random and up to PopCap but usually they let people try some Toxic/Fire/Ice/Electricity character there. So it's worth just keeping those Epic quests until you unlock one character with the ability you need or find him at the Showcase.
EDIT for ToG DLC :
750 kills. These can be done with ANY character, nothing special needed. Tactics are the same as for vanquishing 500 enemies with a specific character. Read below.
Tactics : the fastest way to do it on any side will be this : hop to the cannon on your base or just walk to the Flag of Power. The first wave is very easy and has 40 enemies in it. Finish it, leave the circle with the flag and hide beyond the wall next to your backyard. Enemies will capture the flag in a few seconds and you will be able to start again. Grindy, yes. But very quick and effective. Takes less than an hour!
Boss kills : this is the newest addition to a plethora of different Epic quests. 15 killed bosses is what you need. Will take not more than half an hour, so this is a short one.
Tactics : check again if you're playing on easy ( pause the game, on the left side under the menu you'll see the difficulty ) because this will make the quest really quick and less frustrating. Take your favourite character and get outside your base. Run to the other side and just get close to the gate. All hell will break loose. Now just try to survive and put a lot of damage into bosses that respawn constantly. From my experience, as long as you damaged a boss and you're playing in your own backyard, you'll get a credit for it ( as oppose to Ops, where sometimes it doesn't register you as a killer, even if you did 90% of damage ).
Multi-vanquishes : yet again, the newest addition to Epic quests. 30 multi-vanquishes is what you need. Can be done in less than half an hour, so this is an easy one.
Tactics : multi-vanquish is killing two or more enemies in a rapid success, not more than 1 second between kills. Easiest way to do it is using exploding attacks ( Corn's Shuck Shot, Pea's Chili Bomb, Cactus' Drone Corn Strike etc. ) or area of effect attack ( Super Brainz's Turbo Twist, All Star's Tackle, Rose's Arcane Enigma etc. ). Beware - only two first enemies count for this. You'll have to wait another 2-3 seconds before being able to get a multi-vanquish again. Play Flag of Power, easy difficulty, obviously. Each time you'll see a confirmation "multi-vanquish" in the lower left of the screen, you're one step closer to finishing this quest.
***Remember! All these kills count towards 5000 you need on each side for a corresponding achievement if you still haven't unlocked those.
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Garden/Graveyard Ops quests : these can be either finish an Ops on Crazy difficulty quests OR finish a Super Boss Wave in Ops. They belong to a specific side (plants/zombies ) as well, so pay attention to that.
Super Boss Wave - there is nothing to say besides the fact that this is completely
luck based. Difficulty doesn't matter, the number of people doesn't matter, and if it comes, it comes at wave 10. Just so you will not smack the controller against the wall, you should try this on normal difficulty. Unless you want a challenge.
To survive the wave you can use the tips below.
Crazy Ops - can be required to play on any side. Yes, you have to finish it and at least 3 people have to escape ( if you're playing full 4 ). My personal advice would be this : Boney Island. The garden that is close to the water, on the right side from where you spawn.
Be sure to buy a few 2.500 packs, you'll need a supply of healing flowers/bots and some stuff that will work as a distraction. One healing flower/bot, right at the back of your garden, that's a must. On the opposite side, inside the garden put either a doom-shroom/explosive bot or ice/goop-shroom/stun bot. Put a plant/bot at every place available, just to hold off the enemies for a few precious seconds to give you a shot at them, and run after every wave to replace all the destroyed ones with new.
Better try it with 4 people - 3 offensive plus one sunflower/scientist works wonderful. Let the healer revive all the fallen if he can get to them and try not to waste self-revives. There is always an option to die at the escape point. Just keep one self-revive in case you'll die 10 seconds before the timer runs out and bring yourself back 2 seconds before it's at zero.
***Remember! All the Ops based non-epic quests can be completed while doing this too, for example : finish X perfect waves, finish X boss waves, finish an Ops on X map at least on normal difficulty, get pots/bots kills etc. If anyone has troubles with Crazy, just message me and I'll gladly help you out on this. Doesn't matter if you're reading this a year after I posted the solution.
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Bots/Pots kills : well, this is a bit weird. So far, after 11 quests since the game's release plus one that was on 10-hour EA access we had just one quest like this. I did it in less than 10 minutes ( only 75 kills ), so I would say they removed it because it's too easy to do. In any case, the strategy here is very simple : you need to buy a few cheapest packs ( 2500 coins each ), go to the Flag of Power as a healing class ( Sunflower or Scientist ) and raise the flag. Wait until the bombing have stopped and put 4 offensive plants/bots on 4 corners around the flag. First wave has 40 enemies, and you should not fire your weapon even once, just stay and heal the pots/bots.
Once you finished the wave you have 2 options : try and go through another wave while surviving or letting the enemies capture the flag and activating it again but that will cost you another 4 plants/bots since those you put there before will disappear.
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I hope this solution helps and answers a few questions you might have. If there's anything else I missed and you think it should be mentioned/corrected - let me and everybody else know in the comments. More than anything - have fun in this amazing game!!!