Given the difficulty of completing a map (and time), the rewards are pretty light.
I have 4 purple companions ( A Cleric, Fairy, Phoera, and Galeb Dhur ), and have found the
top tier maps virtually impossible to do, considering the number of key-heavy puzzles. Funny that you need
to already have a high level thief companion to win another one - what's the point?
And the most ridiculous thing there are only 4 rogue companions. Getting two of them is basically almost impossible. Drow is a PL only and Lightfoot comes as a rare reward for tier 6. So there are only kobold and wererat thief left.
First of all, it's simply not fun to play. There's no strategy or skill involved, and bad luck can make a dungeon unwinnable even with good heroes. It's also completely pay 2 win in that you have literally zero chance to win the bigger dungeons without (expensive) epic heroes.
Second, the rewards are complete rubbish. For all the time you spend on SCA, you can get much better rewards for actually playing Neverwinter. It doesn't offer any real incentive for most missions. Worse still, the only real incentive it does offer are two new companions. One of which is earned in the tutorial level, and the other requires you to already have a team of epic heroes which makes it unobtainable for most and pretty useless to those who can obtain it.
All of this means that the most you'll probably play CSA is once, to get the free tutorial companion. I will not be playing SCA again unless it is improved significantly, both in gameplay and in rewards offered. The only thing SCA might be useful for, is to extend your Invocation timer if you can't get ingame for a while.
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khimera906Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 898Arc User
edited December 2013
You guys are right, SCA is not a big deal, but I think you got it a bit wrong. This little mini-game is not here to replace the main game. it's a just a "little amusement" while you can't log in the main game. It's not supposed to be an alternative for farming or getting epic rewards, it's just an addition. I know it's far from perfect and it can get really frustrating, but for what it is, it's kinda decent. Nothing spectacular, mind you, but it doesn't hurt to have it either. Hopefully it will get better in the future.
I hate dancing with Lady Luck. She always steps on my toes.
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nwnghostMember, Moderators, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
edited December 2013
Another thing SCA needs is a "surrender" button. Sometimes you do a challenge and get to the stage where even if all your next rolls fit the target 100%, you won't have enough dice left to beat the challenge.
That would be more expedient than spending 2 more minutes rolling dice for no purpose.
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ladymythosMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 637Bounty Hunter
Yeah the only feedback I heard was to make it easier to get the free stuff. No Improvements necessary. Just actually spend some time and do a little work to get companions that can do the thing. There are a lot of lazy people in this game.
I don't care about free stuff at all. I just want a game that feels like an actual game, not a completely luck-based clickfest. There's no strategy to it, no player skill, no companion skill, no nothing. You either win or lose, or there's not a darn thing you can do to sway it in either way. Where's the fun in that?
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khimera906Member, NW M9 PlaytestPosts: 898Arc User
There's no strategy to it, no player skill, no companion skill, no nothing. You either win or lose, or there's not a darn thing you can do to sway it in either way. Where's the fun in that?
Not entirely true. Even though it's mostly a chance game, there is some strategy to it. You can chose which dice to use or discard based on what you're going to need in the fallowing rounds. Plus if you need 3 Shields, it's obviously better to use a single dice with 3 Shields on it, if possible, not 3 dices each with one Shield. It's not much but there is a bit of strategy needed.
I hate dancing with Lady Luck. She always steps on my toes.
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sirjestoMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 176Bounty Hunter
I don't care about free stuff at all. I just want a game that feels like an actual game, not a completely luck-based clickfest. There's no strategy to it, no player skill, no companion skill, no nothing. You either win or lose, or there's not a darn thing you can do to sway it in either way. Where's the fun in that?
Sounds like the same incorrect argument that some people take on Poker......
I've beat the epic dungeon 6 times and the last time I didn't lose a single fight. Pretty sure that wasn't luck.....
It is fun little browser game that you can play when you just want to waste a few minutes, like waiting in line at the DMV. That it gives you a few bits and bobs is nice for the main game is nice. So what if it doesn't take much skill, it is meant as a add on/time waster just like most browser games. Didn't expect great things from SCA and it does what it says. I like it for what it is.
[SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
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denverralphyMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 145Bounty Hunter
There's no strategy to it, no player skill, no companion skill, no nothing. You either win or lose, or there's not a darn thing you can do to sway it in either way.
There's plenty of strategy in SCA. Selecting the proper die/dice to discard or play to ensure your next roll has a higher chance of success is strategy. Sure there is an element of random chance in any dice game, but strategy will significantly increase your chance of success. Just clicking dice that can be played simply because they can, will lead to failure more often than not. And then of course there's choosing the right companion for the task at hand, and looking ahead to ensure you don't get stuck with a companion with zero chance of success.
I currently have the following companions that I'm attempting to use:
Cleric ( L30 )
Galub Dhur ( L30 )
Phoera ( L30 )
Fairy ( L30 )
Wererat Thief ( L15 and leveling )
* First question, what is the best mixture of companions for success? The Cleric appears to be best all-around
for mixed symbols. Galub Dhur for offense/shields, Phoera for magic, and Fairy a weaker version of the Cleric.
Thief for keys I guess.
* Are there any better companions that I could pick up?
* Do enhancements/equipment have any bearing on the strength of the die rolls, or it is based solely on companion type and level?
* When looking at the special dies on the right, how do you know what the other sides could give you? I'm having a hard time figuring out which dies to keep and which to keep rolling.
* Many times, on late rolls, it appears to get stuck on just shields. Not sure if that's a bug, or am I not understanding how it works?
1) Noone knows what's the best mixture yet. Though I can tell you that you need at least one thief, a warrior (Neverember guard in my case) with high perception and swords rolls and cleric/mage with good magic rolls. The last slot mostly is up to your preferencies.
2) I have removed all runes from my CIW and noticed no difference before/after.
3) Learn what each dice does, I mean learn it to know what you can roll with it. All possibles rolls pop'up when you move cursor on that dice. (for example tempus (red one) has rolls of swords 3/4, perception 1/2, combination of 1 perception and 3 swords, and wild roll with a demon face on it)
4) I guess you don't quite understand it. Though I assume you had only Tempus red dices left which are only capable of good swords/perception roles.
If you hover your cursor over the dice it will show you all the possible results. At for PC browsers.
Runes and gear have zero effect on compaions for SCA. Only type and level matters.
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wiserwithageMember, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 49
edited December 2013
From what I've found, you want a couple of companions who are specialized in one extreme or the other. Then your other two companions can be a blend of the categories.
Case in point, I've got both of the $60 packs unlocked on my account. The Sylph and Dire Wolf represent two different extremes. From the Sylph, I've got great access to magic and keys. Then from the Dire Wolf, I've got great access to stars and shields. If I've got a challenging mission, it usually falls under the specialty of one of these companions. From that point, I'm finding that it helps to have a couple of different mixes. My goal is to get a companion with magic / stars for one slot and keys / shields for the other slot. I'm still not sure if a thief / warrior blend is possible, but it's worth looking into.
I think if we could get more information on the wiki concerning pets and their stats/powers that would be helpful. I know I'll try to get some info added when I can... http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Sword_Coast_Adventures
Foundry - Fight Club? (nw-dluqbofu7)
- JailBreak (in development)
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dardoveMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 0Arc User
I think if we could get more information on the wiki concerning pets and their stats/powers that would be helpful. I know I'll try to get some info added when I can... http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Sword_Coast_Adventures
If I remember, I will add my companions to that list today.
I currently have the following companions that I'm attempting to use:
Cleric ( L30 )
Galub Dhur ( L30 )
Phoera ( L30 )
Fairy ( L30 )
Wererat Thief ( L15 and leveling )
* First question, what is the best mixture of companions for success? The Cleric appears to be best all-around
for mixed symbols. Galub Dhur for offense/shields, Phoera for magic, and Fairy a weaker version of the Cleric.
Thief for keys I guess.
* Are there any better companions that I could pick up?
SCA is a form of an old TSR (aka Wizards) game called Dragon Dice. It's was their answer to Magic:The Gathering. You bought and collected dice packs with different types and rarity of die types. Except now the "rate" die types are the extra none-6 sider dice the companions have.
Every companion has 6 common dice they use. 1 2 and 3 Shields (Battle), 1 Thief, 1 Perception, 1 Magic. The rare dice have like 4 Shields, or Magic/Thief or 2 Magic, or Wild Card which matches anything. And the critical thing to look out for is have a good mix of the companion rare dice. Having a good mixture of every facing type allow you good success.
* Do enhancements/equipment have any bearing on the strength of the die rolls, or it is based solely on companion type and level?
Equipment and rune stones don't matter. Only the companions dice.
* When looking at the special dies on the right, how do you know what the other sides could give you? I'm having a hard time figuring out which dies to keep and which to keep rolling.
If you mouse over the companions rare dice, it will show you all of the possible facings. This is with a PC web brower. I don't know about any other like a touchscreen only device.
The key to encounters is to use as few dice as possible but not always. If you have the 3 Shields to match, and the choices between 3 Shield, 2 Shield + 1 Shield to choice from. Take the 3 Shield dice as it has will only cost one dice. If you have a die result such as Key/Magic to match against Key and Magic in the encounter, use the Key/Magic die.
The other thing you have to manage is having enough die facings for 2nd and 3rd parts of encounters, or if you don't beat an encounter in one roll. There is where you need to be aware of what facings each die has. Sometimes it makes better strategy to use more dice to match rather then the fewest. It may be better to match a 4 Shield with 2 or 3 Comon Die rather then a 4 Shield Companion die. That die may have Magic or Perception facings you'll need later on.
Also in choosingwhich die to through away...be aware of the facings on the dice. If a companion die has no facings for what you will be needing for the rest of the encounter, through it away. For example, if the companion die has shields and magic but you are needing keys, throw it away.
* Many times, on late rolls, it appears to get stuck on just shields. Not sure if that's a bug, or am I not understanding how it works?
Be aware of the die facings. The 6 common 6-sided dice everything companion has the following facings: 1 Shield, 2 Shield, 3 Shield, 1 Key, 1 Perception, 1 Magic.
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ikuruyoMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Guardian Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 132Bounty Hunter
edited December 2013
Completed several of the Epic dungeons and still no thief. I even went through and completed every challenge in one run to see if it was hidden somewhere on the map, nothing. Was using a set of 4 lvl 30 purples, the panther and dire wolf from the orignal packs have a lot of keys on their dice. Them with the pixie and a phoera are my standard set I take into the Epics and typically have all I need to succeed. The rest is just being careful about how i spend my dice and some luck.
If the next challenge is not a good match to one of my available companions I back up and use up my available ones on other challenges or on earlier ones on othe levels. I get some reward and can then use my good one for the next challenge in the path.
What dice are you talking about? What the heck am I missing?
I've been using the Man at Arms with my hunter/ranger character, and I like his taunt. But now that he is level 15 and due an upgrade, I want to look at other companions that will level to 30. I do have a Dire Wolf, given to me, but I prefer a companion that can hold aggro.
It feels you need 4 lvl 30s, you could maybe sneak a decent diced blue in; but you want those lvl 30s for the extra dice and the wildcard chance for the T6 (lightfoot thief dungeon).
I don't have 4 lvl 30s so it was rough going attempting the tier6. I used a Pheora lvl 30, Rust Monster lvl 30, Ioun Stone of Allure lvl 25 and my Blink Dog lvl 20. The green lvl 20 pretty much had little to no chance in almost every instance, but like it said it had a little chance and I know I cleared at least one fight/battle with my green Blink Dog/Pig. I made it to only the 2nd lvl probably near the end, but never did see the final boss/battle in the t6. Pretty sure I need at least 1 more epic.
You do run into fights/battles with heavy needs on a particular die kind. Like ull find ones that need 9-10 keys, or 20+ shields. So it does feel like you need at least 1 char with a little stacked stat of each kind. And the green just don't have enough die/wildcards to even actually legitimately complete some of them.
It was fun/intriguing attempting them. The holiday dungeon is easy can do it with all whites, maybe a green/blue to ensure a tough battle you might find; but passable with all white. I probably found like 300 of my lights for the winter event doing the SCA. It's pretty much about maximizing the value of each die. And realizing when you should reroll, rerolling is a lot of times your friend.
Decent idea, completely dependent on quality of pet for the t6. But a interesting side game/puzzle overall. Please expand, will probably buy 2 more epic pets on my main just for this.
PS I did find a lesser mark of stability in the t6, but probably quite rare to see the refinement drop there but they do.
It feels you need 4 lvl 30s, you could maybe sneak a decent diced blue in; but you want those lvl 30s for the extra dice and the wildcard chance for the T6 (lightfoot thief dungeon).
The only realistic way of winning the Lightfoot Thief is by using 4 maxed out epic companions , this along with the fact that the only thing in the entire minigame worth ever trying to get is the Lightfoot Thief means I totally lost all interest in it and I'd be very surprised if I was the only one , that's all I'll say on the matter since I don't want to get into trouble for mentioning the thing we are forbidden to discuss on the ' forum ' .
The only realistic way of winning the Lightfoot Thief is by using 4 maxed out epic companions , this along with the fact that the only thing in the entire minigame worth ever trying to get is the Lightfoot Thief means I totally lost all interest in it and I'd be very surprised if I was the only one , that's all I'll say on the matter since I don't want to get into trouble for mentioning the thing we are forbidden to discuss on the ' forum ' .
I agree...excluding very slight bonuses for winter festival, without the ability to get the thief, I am no longer interested in this and thats a shame.
Foundry - Fight Club? (nw-dluqbofu7)
- JailBreak (in development)
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willsommersMember, Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild UsersPosts: 103
edited December 2013
I've been using 30 Galeb, 30 Phoera, 30 sylph, and 30 cat. Probably about 13/15 on T6 so far with the first few just learning.
Cat is invaluable as the thief roll. Galeb is really useful for melee and a little versatile. Sylph has a good combination with no definite strength. Phoera is a magic machine.
I have a few other 30s that aren't making the rotation yet and this combo seems the best out of what I have. I wouldn't get the companions just to do this, but I already had them. Thief seems super low %
Comments
And the most ridiculous thing there are only 4 rogue companions. Getting two of them is basically almost impossible. Drow is a PL only and Lightfoot comes as a rare reward for tier 6. So there are only kobold and wererat thief left.
WTB Class Reroll please
First of all, it's simply not fun to play. There's no strategy or skill involved, and bad luck can make a dungeon unwinnable even with good heroes. It's also completely pay 2 win in that you have literally zero chance to win the bigger dungeons without (expensive) epic heroes.
Second, the rewards are complete rubbish. For all the time you spend on SCA, you can get much better rewards for actually playing Neverwinter. It doesn't offer any real incentive for most missions. Worse still, the only real incentive it does offer are two new companions. One of which is earned in the tutorial level, and the other requires you to already have a team of epic heroes which makes it unobtainable for most and pretty useless to those who can obtain it.
All of this means that the most you'll probably play CSA is once, to get the free tutorial companion. I will not be playing SCA again unless it is improved significantly, both in gameplay and in rewards offered. The only thing SCA might be useful for, is to extend your Invocation timer if you can't get ingame for a while.
That would be more expedient than spending 2 more minutes rolling dice for no purpose.
Sounds like the same incorrect argument that some people take on Poker......
I've beat the epic dungeon 6 times and the last time I didn't lose a single fight. Pretty sure that wasn't luck.....
There's plenty of strategy in SCA. Selecting the proper die/dice to discard or play to ensure your next roll has a higher chance of success is strategy. Sure there is an element of random chance in any dice game, but strategy will significantly increase your chance of success. Just clicking dice that can be played simply because they can, will lead to failure more often than not. And then of course there's choosing the right companion for the task at hand, and looking ahead to ensure you don't get stuck with a companion with zero chance of success.
Cleric ( L30 )
Galub Dhur ( L30 )
Phoera ( L30 )
Fairy ( L30 )
Wererat Thief ( L15 and leveling )
* First question, what is the best mixture of companions for success? The Cleric appears to be best all-around
for mixed symbols. Galub Dhur for offense/shields, Phoera for magic, and Fairy a weaker version of the Cleric.
Thief for keys I guess.
* Are there any better companions that I could pick up?
* Do enhancements/equipment have any bearing on the strength of the die rolls, or it is based solely on companion type and level?
* When looking at the special dies on the right, how do you know what the other sides could give you? I'm having a hard time figuring out which dies to keep and which to keep rolling.
* Many times, on late rolls, it appears to get stuck on just shields. Not sure if that's a bug, or am I not understanding how it works?
I have a lilend, and I like it, but I don't really know how well she compares to other purple pets.
No idea, but I think die are based purely on level.
If you mouse over the die during an encounter, you should see all the faces listed with their symbols
the basic 6 sided die have 3 shield faces (at least I am pretty sure they all do), so this is why you see so many shields.
- JailBreak (in development)
1) Noone knows what's the best mixture yet. Though I can tell you that you need at least one thief, a warrior (Neverember guard in my case) with high perception and swords rolls and cleric/mage with good magic rolls. The last slot mostly is up to your preferencies.
2) I have removed all runes from my CIW and noticed no difference before/after.
3) Learn what each dice does, I mean learn it to know what you can roll with it. All possibles rolls pop'up when you move cursor on that dice. (for example tempus (red one) has rolls of swords 3/4, perception 1/2, combination of 1 perception and 3 swords, and wild roll with a demon face on it)
4) I guess you don't quite understand it. Though I assume you had only Tempus red dices left which are only capable of good swords/perception roles.
WTB Class Reroll please
Runes and gear have zero effect on compaions for SCA. Only type and level matters.
Case in point, I've got both of the $60 packs unlocked on my account. The Sylph and Dire Wolf represent two different extremes. From the Sylph, I've got great access to magic and keys. Then from the Dire Wolf, I've got great access to stars and shields. If I've got a challenging mission, it usually falls under the specialty of one of these companions. From that point, I'm finding that it helps to have a couple of different mixes. My goal is to get a companion with magic / stars for one slot and keys / shields for the other slot. I'm still not sure if a thief / warrior blend is possible, but it's worth looking into.
Have to find and level a real fighter type tough.
http://neverwinter.gamepedia.com/Sword_Coast_Adventures
- JailBreak (in development)
If I remember, I will add my companions to that list today.
Not sure whats the best way to present this information, but I didn't feel the current breakdown of pets is showing as much as it could.
- JailBreak (in development)
I will let someone else worry about the best way to present it. In the meantime, I am adding what I can. I already made one pass.
SCA is a form of an old TSR (aka Wizards) game called Dragon Dice. It's was their answer to Magic:The Gathering. You bought and collected dice packs with different types and rarity of die types. Except now the "rate" die types are the extra none-6 sider dice the companions have.
Every companion has 6 common dice they use. 1 2 and 3 Shields (Battle), 1 Thief, 1 Perception, 1 Magic. The rare dice have like 4 Shields, or Magic/Thief or 2 Magic, or Wild Card which matches anything. And the critical thing to look out for is have a good mix of the companion rare dice. Having a good mixture of every facing type allow you good success.
Equipment and rune stones don't matter. Only the companions dice.
If you mouse over the companions rare dice, it will show you all of the possible facings. This is with a PC web brower. I don't know about any other like a touchscreen only device.
The key to encounters is to use as few dice as possible but not always. If you have the 3 Shields to match, and the choices between 3 Shield, 2 Shield + 1 Shield to choice from. Take the 3 Shield dice as it has will only cost one dice. If you have a die result such as Key/Magic to match against Key and Magic in the encounter, use the Key/Magic die.
The other thing you have to manage is having enough die facings for 2nd and 3rd parts of encounters, or if you don't beat an encounter in one roll. There is where you need to be aware of what facings each die has. Sometimes it makes better strategy to use more dice to match rather then the fewest. It may be better to match a 4 Shield with 2 or 3 Comon Die rather then a 4 Shield Companion die. That die may have Magic or Perception facings you'll need later on.
Also in choosingwhich die to through away...be aware of the facings on the dice. If a companion die has no facings for what you will be needing for the rest of the encounter, through it away. For example, if the companion die has shields and magic but you are needing keys, throw it away.
Be aware of the die facings. The 6 common 6-sided dice everything companion has the following facings: 1 Shield, 2 Shield, 3 Shield, 1 Key, 1 Perception, 1 Magic.
If the next challenge is not a good match to one of my available companions I back up and use up my available ones on other challenges or on earlier ones on othe levels. I get some reward and can then use my good one for the next challenge in the path.
I've been using the Man at Arms with my hunter/ranger character, and I like his taunt. But now that he is level 15 and due an upgrade, I want to look at other companions that will level to 30. I do have a Dire Wolf, given to me, but I prefer a companion that can hold aggro.
https://gateway.playneverwinter.com/
I don't have 4 lvl 30s so it was rough going attempting the tier6. I used a Pheora lvl 30, Rust Monster lvl 30, Ioun Stone of Allure lvl 25 and my Blink Dog lvl 20. The green lvl 20 pretty much had little to no chance in almost every instance, but like it said it had a little chance and I know I cleared at least one fight/battle with my green Blink Dog/Pig. I made it to only the 2nd lvl probably near the end, but never did see the final boss/battle in the t6. Pretty sure I need at least 1 more epic.
You do run into fights/battles with heavy needs on a particular die kind. Like ull find ones that need 9-10 keys, or 20+ shields. So it does feel like you need at least 1 char with a little stacked stat of each kind. And the green just don't have enough die/wildcards to even actually legitimately complete some of them.
It was fun/intriguing attempting them. The holiday dungeon is easy can do it with all whites, maybe a green/blue to ensure a tough battle you might find; but passable with all white. I probably found like 300 of my lights for the winter event doing the SCA. It's pretty much about maximizing the value of each die. And realizing when you should reroll, rerolling is a lot of times your friend.
Decent idea, completely dependent on quality of pet for the t6. But a interesting side game/puzzle overall. Please expand, will probably buy 2 more epic pets on my main just for this.
PS I did find a lesser mark of stability in the t6, but probably quite rare to see the refinement drop there but they do.
Fox Stevenson - Sandblast
Oh Wonder - Without You
Do not go gentle into that good night.
Rage, rage against the dying of the light.
- Dylan Thomas
The only realistic way of winning the Lightfoot Thief is by using 4 maxed out epic companions , this along with the fact that the only thing in the entire minigame worth ever trying to get is the Lightfoot Thief means I totally lost all interest in it and I'd be very surprised if I was the only one , that's all I'll say on the matter since I don't want to get into trouble for mentioning the thing we are forbidden to discuss on the ' forum ' .
- JailBreak (in development)
Cat is invaluable as the thief roll. Galeb is really useful for melee and a little versatile. Sylph has a good combination with no definite strength. Phoera is a magic machine.
I have a few other 30s that aren't making the rotation yet and this combo seems the best out of what I have. I wouldn't get the companions just to do this, but I already had them. Thief seems super low %