I totally agree Finmakin, I like the dungeon and I think it should be tough. Like I said, I have done this quest line on many different classes. Some classes are able to power through solo with no problems like my Rogue in the video above. Other classes do have quite a problem getting through this one fight in this dungeon solo. My HR really struggled, and like I said my OP was one shot immediately through his shield. But besides this one fight the dungeon was fun and challenging on all of the classes I soloed it with. I would not change the difficulty for a Solo run, I would however look at the boss mechanics to make sure there is time to recover between attacks for those classes who can not readily dodge them. Like you pointed out though, if the character is set up for "Tanking" properly they should not have a problem surviving Keresta if the attack through the shields is fixed.
As far as party play in this dungeon goes I think it may be way to easy. Keresta is the only challenge and once past that fight you face the dragon which is very challenging to do in a party.It is not challenging because the content is hard or the dragon is strong, it is hard because the dragon dies easily and the mechanics are a bit confusing for people who are used to rushing in and KILLING everything in their path.
I really like this concept, and I think it will work once the little bugs are fixed. For party or group play the dragon needs way more HP, as even my companion can kill him by accident. The length of time the Green HP bar is displayed needs to be extended, maybe even a pause in the fight? I don't know, but as someone posted above if you have your sounds turned off or your settings different than default you will miss all of the important cues to let you know how to complete the dungeon.
One idea is to have Celeste meet you at the entrance to the dragon's lair and make the player interact with her once again so that the mechanics are clear and can not be missed by someone who has the sound turned off or a non standard setup. You will still have people who just "click through" but there will not be a doubt then that they had the chance to see the instructions. Besides this one fight though the only thing that slows a party of 3 or 4 down is the time it takes to click on things like the sconces or the pieces of armor. I think this dungeon could be really fun and challenging to a group if the difficulty was ramped up a bit for group play.
I'm sure some might not agree, but I think that if scaled properly and a chest added it would be an excellent dungeon to add to the random queue. I know a lot of work went into this questline, and it would be a shame for it to just be a one off for most players. If it were added to the queue it would insure that those who struggle with the mechanics would have yet another option to be able to complete this content and enjoy it.
Big thanks to the developers for this quest line. It is really fun! (albeit a bit frustrating while being tuned)
Waning Darkness (Keresta Boss fight) I have done this fight on several classes, solo and in parties. This boss can one shot tanks through shields, and often uses two big attacks in a row, one melee and one spell that often double kill you if you have soulforged or use a scroll too fast.
I managed to kill her in this video, but failed the Dragon fight following this and had to do it all over again. The next time I spent 10 or more scrolls and was sent to the campfire several times before I killed her.
The fight is fun, but should be scaled for parties and for solo. Her powers and melee attacks need to be toned down a bit for solo so that one shots or even worse double one shots don't happen as frequently.
Before you say it, I do not main a rogue so I honestly have little clue how to play this class properly. Please be nice about my lack of skill and choice of encounters and set-up.
my easyest fight against Keresta was with my Ranger, by watching you video i realized why; since i'm 90% archer i could avoid like 8/10 hits and kill her with no trouble.
My figther and Barbarian are much better equipped and had much more hard time beating her becuase she hit hard... (got 2 or 3 250k hits... on my fighter) if i wasnt on tank mod i would be oneshoted for sure...
Edit. Did the last quest as Wizard (4 times, the moonbeam likes to worn of just before my smolter kill the dragon...) but i didnt had the trouble i was expecitng, i got down a few times but that is what one should expecto from last cmaping boss before max Level... again as wizard i got only a few hits so i cant confirm if the bugged 300k hits got fixed...
Post edited by rafaelda on
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dread4moorMember, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 1,154Arc User
Subraxaker (shadow dragon final fight) As has been commented on 1/2 dozen times for the past 2 weeks, after killing him sometimes the amulet does not work and you are stuck, forced to reset: Preview patch happening today. No patchnotes as of time I am posting this, but I am hopeful this is fixed on this patch because after forced to burn 5 scrolls on an end-game-geared toons because Vampires hit very hard and the 1-shotting Keresa, very frustrating to be stuck unable to use the amulet and end this loooooong quest. This happened on all three of me preview toons, btw. Not a fluke.
I am Took.
"Full plate and packing steel" in NW since 2013.
Subraxaker (shadow dragon final fight) As has been commented on 1/2 dozen times for the past 2 weeks, after killing him sometimes the amulet does not work and you are stuck, forced to reset: Preview patch happening today. No patchnotes as of time I am posting this, but I am hopeful this is fixed on this patch because after forced to burn 5 scrolls on an end-game-geared toons because Vampires hit very hard and the 1-shotting Keresa, very frustrating to be stuck unable to use the amulet and end this loooooong quest. This happened on all three of me preview toons, btw. Not a fluke.
Vampires in Vanrakdoom, particularly the Assassins, do seem to have been brought in line with the other mobs in the area. Finally.
The Boundless Runic Corruption quest really needs its own thread...
But it is still bugging.
The blue circle one is a delta rune, the red circled ones are all the others except Gamma, all the uncircled ones are Gamma resonance:
This time it is Gamma is the one I don't have a set of, but the quest thinks I do, and there is extra Delta (happened 2x in a row):
At least this time I saw it bug before I thought I was finished, the order in inventory is Beta (3/3), Delta (1/3), Epsilon (3/3), Gamma (2/3), Alpha (1/3). I have the Depleted Artifact in inventory as well.
And because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I went back for another round (I was wondering where all the Mountain Seals I had came from, it would have made all the HE suffering this all represents worth it if they were dropping from HEs as well).
The red circled one is a gamma resonance.
As an addendum, I helped a Guild member complete the quest, no issues. At the same time I still get 0 recognition for Gamma Resonance. My character is Obsidian Moonlight 1.
Post edited by obsidiancran3 on
Obsidian Moonlight - Paladin Obsidian Oath - Warlock A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
Waning Darkness - the amulet doesn't seem to consistently summon/show the moonbeam. I had times when it wouldn't show or would show right before it faded. The dragon seemed harder this time around on a dps barbarian but it wasn't impossible.
I haven’t done it with my Wizard yet, just my Pali and ‘lock who are end game on live.
However this time the overall experience was much more in line with all the other content for the game leading to it. So aside from people finding bugs, it seems to be good now, including Waning Darkness.
Waning Darkness Dragon Fight: this is now my favourite dragon fight in the game, a pity you can only do it once per toon. The dragon felt more dynamic and the need to move around the arena and not just stand there was great!
The only point for improvement on it, is sometimes the beams appear very close to the walls of the room. This was fine on a tank, but a problem on a squishy toon like my Warlock.
Obsidian Moonlight - Paladin Obsidian Oath - Warlock A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
Assassins do appear to be more manageable. Vampires are still a bit over the top, they could be nerfed by another 10-15%.
on a 18k copy with old gear they did the same dmg as other mobs to me , what are you running vanrakdom with 10k il alt ?
The issue on the vampires is less their damage output and more the combination of decently high HP, an immunity dodge, and a knockdown with a short enough cast that a pack with two or more vampires (given the aggro range of mobs in Van, it's not unusual to end up accidentally fighting two packs at once) can just chainprone you while everything else eats you.
Comments
I like the dungeon and I think it should be tough. Like I said, I have done this quest line on many different classes. Some classes are able to power through solo with no problems like my Rogue in the video above. Other classes do have quite a problem getting through this one fight in this dungeon solo. My HR really struggled, and like I said my OP was one shot immediately through his shield. But besides this one fight the dungeon was fun and challenging on all of the classes I soloed it with. I would not change the difficulty for a Solo run, I would however look at the boss mechanics to make sure there is time to recover between attacks for those classes who can not readily dodge them. Like you pointed out though, if the character is set up for "Tanking" properly they should not have a problem surviving Keresta if the attack through the shields is fixed.
As far as party play in this dungeon goes I think it may be way to easy. Keresta is the only challenge and once past that fight you face the dragon which is very challenging to do in a party. It is not challenging because the content is hard or the dragon is strong, it is hard because the dragon dies easily and the mechanics are a bit confusing for people who are used to rushing in and KILLING everything in their path.
I really like this concept, and I think it will work once the little bugs are fixed. For party or group play the dragon needs way more HP, as even my companion can kill him by accident. The length of time the Green HP bar is displayed needs to be extended, maybe even a pause in the fight? I don't know, but as someone posted above if you have your sounds turned off or your settings different than default you will miss all of the important cues to let you know how to complete the dungeon.
One idea is to have Celeste meet you at the entrance to the dragon's lair and make the player interact with her once again so that the mechanics are clear and can not be missed by someone who has the sound turned off or a non standard setup. You will still have people who just "click through" but there will not be a doubt then that they had the chance to see the instructions. Besides this one fight though the only thing that slows a party of 3 or 4 down is the time it takes to click on things like the sconces or the pieces of armor. I think this dungeon could be really fun and challenging to a group if the difficulty was ramped up a bit for group play.
I'm sure some might not agree, but I think that if scaled properly and a chest added it would be an excellent dungeon to add to the random queue. I know a lot of work went into this questline, and it would be a shame for it to just be a one off for most players. If it were added to the queue it would insure that those who struggle with the mechanics would have yet another option to be able to complete this content and enjoy it.
Big thanks to the developers for this quest line. It is really fun! (albeit a bit frustrating while being tuned)
My figther and Barbarian are much better equipped and had much more hard time beating her becuase she hit hard... (got 2 or 3 250k hits... on my fighter) if i wasnt on tank mod i would be oneshoted for sure...
Edit.
Did the last quest as Wizard (4 times, the moonbeam likes to worn of just before my smolter kill the dragon...) but i didnt had the trouble i was expecitng, i got down a few times but that is what one should expecto from last cmaping boss before max Level... again as wizard i got only a few hits so i cant confirm if the bugged 300k hits got fixed...
As has been commented on 1/2 dozen times for the past 2 weeks, after killing him sometimes the amulet does not work and you are stuck, forced to reset:
Preview patch happening today. No patchnotes as of time I am posting this, but I am hopeful this is fixed on this patch because after forced to burn 5 scrolls on an end-game-geared toons because Vampires hit very hard and the 1-shotting Keresa, very frustrating to be stuck unable to use the amulet and end this loooooong quest.
This happened on all three of me preview toons, btw. Not a fluke.
I am Took.
"Full plate and packing steel" in NW since 2013.
But it is still bugging.
The blue circle one is a delta rune, the red circled ones are all the others except Gamma, all the uncircled ones are Gamma resonance:
This time it is Gamma is the one I don't have a set of, but the quest thinks I do, and there is extra Delta (happened 2x in a row):
At least this time I saw it bug before I thought I was finished, the order in inventory is Beta (3/3), Delta (1/3), Epsilon (3/3), Gamma (2/3), Alpha (1/3). I have the Depleted Artifact in inventory as well.
And because I couldn't leave well enough alone, I went back for another round (I was wondering where all the Mountain Seals I had came from, it would have made all the HE suffering this all represents worth it if they were dropping from HEs as well).
The red circled one is a gamma resonance.
As an addendum, I helped a Guild member complete the quest, no issues. At the same time I still get 0 recognition for Gamma Resonance. My character is Obsidian Moonlight 1.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
Assassins do appear to be more manageable. Vampires are still a bit over the top, they could be nerfed by another 10-15%.
However this time the overall experience was much more in line with all the other content for the game leading to it. So aside from people finding bugs, it seems to be good now, including Waning Darkness.
Waning Darkness Dragon Fight: this is now my favourite dragon fight in the game, a pity you can only do it once per toon. The dragon felt more dynamic and the need to move around the arena and not just stand there was great!
The only point for improvement on it, is sometimes the beams appear very close to the walls of the room. This was fine on a tank, but a problem on a squishy toon like my Warlock.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.
TBH it would make more sense if you talked to Celeste first and then the 2 of you did the cut scene.
Obsidian Oath - Warlock
A whole lot of other Obsidian toons as well.