Remove Ao'Qephoth from the XP alert cycle

notyuu · November 2014

this one is simple, Ao'Qephoth, while annoying is beatable if you have scarns bane/truma/not having the tank have a dodge build [srsly, every time he aggors on my dodge build he heals though their block...ever damn time, no matter what block i use]/have people block his self heals.

however here is the issue, in XP alerts with Ao'Qephoth, nobody has scarns bane/truma/knows to block and the team outrightly lacks the raw dps needed to even outdo his healing from his passive most of the time, due to the team being sub-par in both levels and gear to fight someoen as annoying as Ao'Qephoth.

so what i perpose is this

1: remove Ao'Qephoth from the XP alert cycle

2: replace him with another boss/host a contest to have people design a new boss

3: ???

4: profit!

but srsly...get him out of the xp cycle..all he does is get in the way and slow it down...taking him on with a team of leveling players is like trying to demolish a roadblock by ramming it with a tricycle.

chimerafreek · November 2014

You've CLEARLY never seen me on a tricycle. o3o

pantagruel01 · November 2014

Just give Ao'Qephoth a valuable drop and watch the level 40s queue to beat him up, problem solved. The real issue is bursts.

soulforger · November 2014

pantagruel01 wrote: »

Just give Ao'Qephoth a valuable drop and watch the level 40s queue to beat him up, problem solved. The real issue is bursts.

That really wouldn't solve the problem. Seriosuly, I've been in a group of random 40s before in a Ao grab alert, took 5 minutes to win. And than I've been with 40s that knew what they were doing/brought the right stuff and the fight lasted less than 20 seconds. But again, making him drop something valuable will not solve a thing.

baelogventure · November 2014

I say leave him in.

Make him "That one boss" for people who refuse to follow proper tactics.

You don't even need Skarns or Trauma.

The reason why he might be healing through your block is due to Devour Essence. Blocking will not stop his Devour Essence healing, and he only uses it if the aggro target is in melee range.

Oh, and not sure if Fluidity counts as a block for stopping Drain Life either.

spinnytop · November 2014

Or How About You Shut Up About Removing My Favorite Alert Boss From My Favorite Alert O3o

circleofpsi · November 2014

spinnytop wrote: »

Or How About You Shut Up About Removing My Favorite Alert Boss From My Favorite Alert O3o

Yes, Keep him in, because he forces me to do real missions then just alerts to do XP!

All Hail Spinnytop!

jimhsua · November 2014

Mentioned this before in chat repeatedly, but:

1. Life drain is reduced by block, dodge, or any other form of damage reduction. So, block/dodge/whatever.
2. Devour essence (a melee only attack) is not affected by dodge, block, or whatever, only Trauma. So move out of the way, or ranged tank.

If the team has enough DPS, both points 1 and 2 can be ignored. But most grabs don't, so please follow the above if there are any doubts.

jasinblaze · November 2014

or just make the healing from shadow form a flat or capped amount, instead of a % of HP

pantagruel01 · November 2014

soulforger wrote: »

That really wouldn't solve the problem. Seriosuly, I've been in a group of random 40s before in a Ao grab alert, took 5 minutes to win. And than I've been with 40s that knew what they were doing/brought the right stuff and the fight lasted less than 20 seconds. But again, making him drop something valuable will not solve a thing.

The people who are inclined to farm him for drops will bring the right things.

spinnytop · November 2014

Feel free to join the Altaholics channel if you're having trouble beating Grab bosses uwu

/ChannelJoin Altaholics

avianos · November 2014

"Remove Ao-Qephoth from Existance and Punish everyone who was responsible for him"

I'm not even joking, I freaking hate him, he is the Epitome of Fake Difficulty

and to Quote TvTropes

Unfortunately, Cryptic is infamous for not fixing bugs and design flaws. When it's done intentionally, to create "challenges", the result is Fake Difficulty at its worst:

Ao'Qephoth is nearly invincible due to his ridiculous regenerative abilities. These are the result of a passive power that heals 1.8% of the user's maximum HP per tick. Not much for player characters or regular bosses, but Alert bosses have over two million HP!

and in Pyramind of Power in Burst he is UNDEAFEATABLE (except if you have ALL the Right Moves in ALL the Right Places)

FIX him like you did with Demoiselle Nocturne and Darkness Powered Nemesis

Nerf Ao-Qephoth and use him as Fish-Bait for WHALES

xydaxyda · November 2014

Often when I see him in the alert menu I simply jump on an alt and skarn's bane + ebon ruin him to death till he goes away. Works every time.

Easy Peasy.

pantagruel01 · November 2014

avianos wrote: »

"Remove Ao-Qephoth from Existance and Punish everyone who was responsible for him"

I'm not even joking, I freaking hate him, he is the Epitome of Fake Difficulty

Huh? Outside of bursts, he's real difficulty -- dealing with life drain and devour essence is an entirely reasonable technical challenge, and his shadowfeast simply isn't fast enough to overcome the dps of even a mediocre team. The problem in bursts is that both his hit points and the percent healing from shadowfeast get multiplied, making the overall healing rate ridiculous. There are still a couple ways of beating him, but they're specialized.

Shadowfeast should probably not be a percentage heal at all, which would solve a lot of its problems.

spinnytop · November 2014

avianos wrote: »

"Remove Ao-Qephoth from Existance and Punish everyone who was responsible for him"

I'm not even joking, I freaking hate him, he is the Epitome of Fake Difficulty

Not really. Considering the many different ways you can use skill, build, or sheer power to beat him, I'd say he's one of the game's best examples of a well designed encounter.

bombkirbz · February 2015

spinnytop wrote: »

Not really. Considering the many different ways you can use skill, build, or sheer power to beat him, I'd say he's one of the game's best examples of a well designed encounter.

Ok. But he doesn't belong in this kind of random queue type thing. Every other boss was designed to be easy enough to do with a bunch of random people of random skill levels. This guy sticks out like a sorethumb and looks like he was designed for a premade that knows what they're doing. He should be removed. He has no place in such an environment.

WoW learned this lesson a long time ago when they implemented a ton of hard bosses that one shot you if you did one thing wrong in their encounters back in Cataclysm expansion. It was frustrating because most players are average joes and they'd always do something wrong and kill everyone in the group. There was a huge sub loss at the time because it was impossible for the average joes (the bulk of all gaming communities) to get anything done or get through these instances without being kicked by the more skilled players who just wanted it to be over. Ever since then they have separated the very demanding content into hard modes and challenge mode versions of instances with optional/better prizes that premades can do together.

You can't put ONE demanding boss out of like thirty faceroll bosses. It does not blend nor mesh nor anything. It is the opposite of good design only because its placed in the wrong facerolly environment. Move him to some premade-only mode and then he has an excuse to exist.

And NO being forced to build your character a certain way is not good design. This game is about free choice and design. If we're being forced to build a very specific skillset to defeat this one forgettable boss something is very wrong.

raighn · February 2015

bombkirbz wrote: »

Ok. But he doesn't belong in this kind of random queue type thing. Every other boss was designed to be easy enough to do with a bunch of random people of random skill levels. This guy sticks out like a sorethumb and looks like he was designed for a premade that knows what they're doing. He should be removed. He has no place in such an environment.

<snip>

You can't put ONE demanding boss out of like thirty faceroll bosses. It does not blend nor mesh nor anything. It is the opposite of good design only because its placed in the wrong facerolly environment. Move him to some premade-only mode and then he has an excuse to exist.

And NO being forced to build your character a certain way is not good design. This game is about free choice and design. If we're being forced to build a very specific skillset to defeat this one forgettable boss something is very wrong.

He's really not that hard when people actually work with his mechanics. When he uses Life Drain, BLOCK, you'll practically kill his healing from ranged this way. If your in melee and he targets you with Devour Essence, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. It really is that simple. No special builds required. Just block and move.

Certain powers can certainly make the encounter easier though... Anything that causes Trauma, Skarn's Bane, and Pestilence will all help with Ao'Qephoth alerts, but they aren't "Required". Infact, anything that reduces his resistance or buffs your own damage will make him easier. It's just like any other alert boss in that respect. The only thing that makes him different is the fact that you actually have to react to him... actually wait there are other alert bosses who you have to react too as well...

Jack Fool, you have to block or die...
Rakshasa, AoE down his mind worms or constantly move him away from them...
Baron Cimetiere, block or kill self...
Freon, Move out of the snow storm so you can see him again, and kill his icecages FAST or die...
Ripper, Block his stun and keep blocking after it, the damn thing is broken and will still stun you after you stop blocking, so just wait a bit before you stop... the same goes for his Knockback, seriously the exact same thing, it will still knock you after you've blocked it.

All of these alert bosses have mechanics that can destroy a party that doesn't react to them... but do you see people demanding them to be removed? No, you don't. Do you know why? Because people actually react to them. Stop demanding for Ao'Qephoth to be nerfed or removed and learn to react to his mechanics just like you do to any other alert boss.

chimerafreek · February 2015

I do agree that he shouldn't be in XP alerts, But on the whole, what I really don't like is the frequency of which he rotates in, Also he's available in virtually every alert type.

flowcyto · February 2015

Rad/Pyramid Power scaling up Shadowfeast is a problem in that it seems way out of whack. Everywhere else? *shrug* He's a bit unfair to teams of lowbies, but not completely unmanageable.

I would lower his shadowfeast HPS in Grabs, though, and in trade for more difficulty through other means. I hate seeing teams of lowbies fail just cause they lack the min required DPS as a group (assuming people are properly handling LD and DE), when that team could have been just fine everywhere else in a Grab.

doktormarengo · February 2015

I actually like old Ao' she's (I heard AO was a She.. not a he) - is actually an alert boss you just can't steamroll over easily with no real effort.

I've been on random PUG's that have beat Ao' in seconds and on others that failed miserably. The deal is Ao' just isn't for newbies or poorly geared players. You have to have some understanding of game mechanics and powers to take her down.

I almost feel like Ao' should drop an extra special reward, title, or something for defeating her a certain number of times. Or maybe a unique aura or costume piece - to make up for the difficulty and skill required.

lestylo · February 2015

gradii wrote: »

I think there should be a title, something cool sounding which has to do with killing space worms.

That would be cool. A few more perks and titles would be nice too.

deadman20 · February 2015

I personally like the idea of getting people to think about their setup before beginning or maintaining battle. People SHOULD learn to make use of everything at their disposal such as Blocking or reducing their target's healing capacity. My only issue with Ao'Qephoth is how cheap the fight really is. Block's only real use against Ao is for the Lifedrain ability, since Devour Essence and Shadow Form's +% Health on every attack is unaffected by Blocking Status. I don't think Shadow Form's Heal on Attack should be removed altogether, but it should tweaked to heal for a flat amount so that it isn't so ridiculous when low-DPS teams can't overcome it even with proper techniques.

soulforger · February 2015

deadman20 wrote: »

I personally like the idea of getting people to think about their setup before beginning or maintaining battle. People SHOULD learn to make use of everything at their disposal such as Blocking or reducing their target's healing capacity. My only issue with Ao'Qephoth is how cheap the fight really is. Block's only real use against Ao is for the Lifedrain ability, since Devour Essence and Shadow Form's +% Health on every attack is unaffected by Blocking Status. I don't think Shadow Form's Heal on Attack should be removed altogether, but it should tweaked to heal for a flat amount so that it isn't so ridiculous when low-DPS teams can't overcome it even with proper techniques.

I agree with this completely.

raighn · February 2015

A tip for anyone who believes they "absolutely have to have a power to debuff Ao'Qephoth" if you're an AT or just can't fit one of these powers into your build, then go farm Irradiates in the desert, they drop a device that applies a healing and resistance debuff to the target while dealing a small amount of particle damage... and it has something like 50 charges...

pantagruel01 · February 2015

Ao'Qephoth has three heals: drain life (blockable), devour essence (not blockable, but melee range), and shadowfeast (not blockable, tics every 3s as long as he hits with any attack at all including pestilence). The third is a pretty serious problem in bursts (heals 200k per 3 seconds).

chaelk · February 2015

one you can block,
one you can get out of range
and the third, you can break line of sight on.

I try to stay near a wall or truck if flying, then just drop TP if he targets me, instant break.

If I'm melee, as soon as my picture is up, block and start backing off.

it's the people who insist on keeping attacking while he is targeting him, who are the problem.
Not his drains.
If you're doing xp runs, tell the people beforehand. as soon as he targets you , BLOCK and keep blocking.

avianos · February 2015

I can't believe that there are STILL people who Defend Ao-Qephoth's Fake Difficulty :mad:

raighn wrote: »

He's really not that hard when people actually work with his mechanics. When he uses Life Drain, BLOCK, you'll practically kill his healing from ranged this way. If your in melee and he targets you with Devour Essence, MOVE OUT OF THE WAY. It really is that simple. No special builds required. Just block and move.

Certain powers can certainly make the encounter easier though... Anything that causes Trauma, Skarn's Bane, and Pestilence will all help with Ao'Qephoth alerts, but they aren't "Required". Infact, anything that reduces his resistance or buffs your own damage will make him easier. It's just like any other alert boss in that respect. The only thing that makes him different is the fact that you actually have to react to him... actually wait there are other alert bosses who you have to react too as well...
Jack Fool, you have to block or die...

Rakshasa, AoE down his mind worms or constantly move him away from them...

Baron Cimetiere, block or kill self...

Freon, Move out of the snow storm so you can see him again, and kill his icecages FAST or die...

Ripper, Block his stun and keep blocking after it, the damn thing is broken and will still stun you after you stop blocking, so just wait a bit before you stop... the same goes for his Knockback, seriously the exact same thing, it will still knock you after you've blocked it.

All of these alert bosses have mechanics that can destroy a party that doesn't react to them... but do you see people demanding them to be removed? No, you don't. Do you know why? Because people actually react to them. Stop demanding for Ao'Qephoth to be nerfed or removed and learn to react to his mechanics just like you do to any other alert boss.

EXCEPT that those Bosses work Perfectly, they are NOT Bugged, They can easily be avoided using Strategy, they can be defeated in Low Levels and CANNOT Self Heal like CRAZY In Bursts making them Undefeatable

Ao'Qephoth is BROKEN!

Darkness Nemesis and Demoiselle Nocturne were EXACTLY in the state Ao'Qephoth is currently is when the On Alerts Lauched, their Shadow Feast healed them like CRAZY making them undefeatable, but they were FIXED

Infernal Nemesis and the Default Nemesis Trash use Devour Essence but IT DOESN'T heal them a Banjilion HP

Our DEVs decided to be lazy and NOT to fix him with the excuse that he is a "Challenge" using a GLITCHED Enemys as a Challenge! Except this is NOT A .Hack//Quadrilogy Game when the Data Bugged enemies are part of the plot and gameplay!

Ao'Qephoth is BROKEN and need to get FIXED and be banned from Bursts

I used Back-Up Ironclad on him in a Trainstoping smash and he lost 2 Bars of HP... only for him to Recover back those 2 Bars of HP because he Devour Essence a PUG member and UNDONE all the damage my Backup and the PUG done to him
I used Scan's Bane non-stop on him during Pyramid of Power Only for him to Recover FULL 3 Bars oh HP by Devour Essence a PUG member UNDOING all the damage done
I was tanking him in a Grab with a lvl 40 FF Archer GLASS CANNON Struggling to self heal, tanking, Blocking his Life Drains and dealing some damage, in an alert where I was the ONLY hi-level (the rest where lvl 15-20) and with a RADIANT who didn't give two ****s to help me stay alive by using REBUKE on me! I was the only member who dealed good amount of damage but I had to sacrifice dealing DPS to TANK and BLOCK (needless to say this alert took 15-20 Minutes)

and Once again I'm gonna Quote the Fake Difficulty part of CO's TvTropes

Unfortunately, Cryptic is infamous for not fixing bugs and design flaws. When it's done intentionally, to create "challenges", the result is Fake Difficulty at its worst:

Ao'Qephoth is nearly invincible due to his ridiculous regenerative abilities. These are the result of a passive power that heals 1.8% of the user's maximum HP per tick. Not much for player characters or regular bosses, but Alert bosses have over two million HP!

Ao'Qephoth is such a bull**** character that his alerts often sit unplayed at the top of the queue until they are randomly cycled out - and should players accidentally join due to inattentiveness, they usually all drop team the moment his name is announced during the preamble. He can be beaten, but doing so requires requires such careful timing, precision and powers, that in the "random PUG" setup of alerts it usually makes more sense just to quit and wait for a different end boss.

Remove Ao'Qephoth from the XP alert cycle

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