Timed skirmishes and associated rewards

relkindx

I play an archer, so I'm not a huge DPS machine. I do pretty good for myself, but there is no way I can out DPS a lostmauth equipped GWF. I'm ok with that, I like playing an archer. Anyways, my feedback is that I don't enjoy the new style of skirmishes.

Awhile back, I read some news from Cryptic that they had received feedback that people thought dungeons were too long and that they were going to make more content like Lair of Lostmauth, which people apparently enjoyed. I was super excited. I totally agreed and was looking forward to that change. Over time Cryptic introduced Tiamat and then Stronghold HE's and now Dwarven Throne, Prophecy of Madness and Epic/Non Epic Demongorgon. While I do enjoy the short content and the somewhat replay-ability, I don't enjoy the win condition. Now it's just a DPS race. How fast can you burn down the monsters. Sure, you can cloak it in closing tears or protecting clerics, but its still a DPS race. Plus the only way to get the best rewards is to do it as fast as possible. If you aren't a DPS machine or don't have the DPS, you are out of luck.

Dodging, Defense, Deflection, strategy are out the window. Sure they may be some small strategy here and there, like bringing a TR to POM or figuring out how to line up Goristo, but its all a race against time. In POM, for example, at no point do I come close to dying, but it doesn't mean I'm going to get Gold, sometimes we just can't kill them fast enough.

I guess that's why I long for another version of eLoL. The goal was completion. I liked that. If we failed, we could try again. We got the same rewards no longer how long it took. It wasn't a race against time and those who weren't DPS machines could still contribute. If we could kill the boss, we won. Right now, I see people who sit by the campfire if we don't get Gold in the first phase of Demongorgon.

Anyways, that's my feedback. I don't prefer these timed based dungeons/lairs. I want more content like eLOL.

P.S. Please don't turn this thread into a "bring back the old dungeons" thread. We have enough of those threads. I want short eLoL style content. You win when you kill the final boss. No tiered rewards.

beckylunatic

Racing a clock also frequently makes players view support classes as a liability (whether or not this is strictly true).

There is something to be said for beating a boss in spite of the odds (undergeared, low DPS, weird builds, oddball party composition). Maybe it takes a while, but that makes the victory sweeter.

silverkelt

Out of the two PoM by far is the worst on utility, mobility/dps is by far the most important thing and having a TR makes it even better.

Any skirm that they make, that GIVES such a massive advantage to any one particular class, isnt designed correctly. In this case, GWF do tons of damage with at wills, so being greyed out 25% of the time doesnt matter, TRS with stealth, can open up way more portals then utility can.

Even sw, cw, hr is sub standard here.

That doesnt mean you cant do it with any sort of class, just that the easiest way is 3-4 gwfs and a tr.. thats why its such a terrible design.

All the great stuff utility does gets utterly trashed, due to them having slower encounters/mechanics.

WHAT I would do?

Make the first two phases 50% faster.. and normalize how you get gold in them. Increase BOSS by 50% more hps and 25% more outgoing damage.

This would AT least have more of a reason to bring a tank/healers.

Just this one skirm is a terrible design overall.

It wouldnt be so bad if you could skip them, but they do have books and rings you may want.