Drake Pens and the Master Alchemist--too much?

lewstelamon01

I'm all for challenge, sure, but let's take a serious look at the Drake Pens final boss: the Master Alchemist.

If you're unfortunate enough to be stuck in the splat he opens with--while simultaneously dodging two rage drakes, and you have less than 28k HP....pray that your Soulforged is up because you're going to be kissing dirt. Even with the temp HP boost from Vampiric Embrace.

And that's the easy stage of the fight. The adds...oh, the adds. FOUR more Rage Drakes? Elite level mobs...seriously? That's just waves one and two.

The final wave throws in an interrupt-happy Guard Drake, so if you're a SW like me, Dreadtheft is a mission to pull off its full duration--so you're left with your biggest gun either unusable or severely gimped. Did I mention the size of the room limits maneuverability?

I have 15k GS. Took me four tries to handle it solo. Now, there are those that are gonna say "lol, get a group then." Fine. This is a daily, though. A group should be needed if you want to get it done fast, but it should at most be a moderate challenge to get it done solo. I've seen epic dungeon bosses less challenging.

Either the adds should be toned down a notch or the power of the boss should be dialed back by 30 or so percent. You'd think he was packing napalm in whatever it is he throws at you.

grorim

The guy hits harder than any other single boss that I've ever fought in the game. Maybe its just because i have fought him with a tr and sw both times, but I have never had issues with any boss using them but him. Any advice on the guy? Because if this is going to be a daily, advice could be **** useful

twilightwatchman

grorim wrote: »

The guy hits harder than any other single boss that I've ever fought in the game. Maybe its just because i have fought him with a tr and sw both times, but I have never had issues with any boss using them but him. Any advice on the guy? Because if this is going to be a daily, advice could be **** useful

He's beatable with a WK Scoundrel TR using the right build. Quite easily in fact.

He's rock hard for a Hellbringer SW regardless of build as you never get the chance to use Dreadtheft. Too many interrupts in too confined a space. I did manage to beat him using a Soulbinder build but that was early on with some bugged feats.

He's easily the most difficult Daily boss so far. In fact that entire lair can be pretty unforgiving. But people wanted harder content...

damnataanimus

twilightwatchman wrote: »

He's beatable with a WK Scoundrel TR using the right build. Quite easily in fact.

He's rock hard for a Hellbringer SW regardless of build as you never get the chance to use Dreadtheft. Too many interrupts in too confined a space. I did manage to beat him using a Soulbinder build but that was early on with some bugged feats.

He's easily the most difficult Daily boss so far. In fact that entire lair can be pretty unforgiving. But people wanted harder content...

I found him quite easy as a temptation sw....

The whole lair was to be honest

demonkyuubi

the lair boss? think i just breezed through that place on my MI scoundrel.....

some of the heroics outside were more difficult actually. like the heroic with a mini-boss surrounded by tons of reinforcements. somewhat annoying, but still beatable with daze spam. almost died a few times though due to not dodging the heavy hits since i was checking how powerful my deflect was.

nurmood

The warden boss?

Yo he he is so eazy like i didnt use encounterz thats how strong i am lolololololol

Srsly i think think this guy is in a right spot - people will have difficulties - they can party up. Dont make content easier please!

bubette

As a Damnation SW, I had no problem with either the Warden or the adds. I just kept moving and blasting away at them, primarily focusing on the Warden to get him down first. Once he dropped, the adds were then finished off. The key is you have to keep moving and not allow them to box you in.

myowmyow

vasdamas wrote: »

I really loved how CWs in my party cried because some TR outperformed them by 50% in a dungeon today. Really was about to cry myself as I thought this day would never happen for rogues lol

LOL! I think it is funny, too! CWs have been dominant over most classes for quite a while - hard to accept defeat when used to complete dominance. LOL!

I had no trouble beating him with my TR, regular style, without stealth.

rabbinicus

grorim wrote: »

The guy hits harder than any other single boss that I've ever fought in the game. Maybe its just because i have fought him with a tr and sw both times, but I have never had issues with any boss using them but him. Any advice on the guy? Because if this is going to be a daily, advice could be **** useful

What is your playstyle? So far I've taken him down fairly easily with my DC and my TR. DC is a Righteous DO, hit him with Divine Glow, Daunting Light, and Sunburst in rotation (sunburst timed for his big swing attack) with astral seal and the newly buffed lance of faith as at wills. TR is a Scoundrel MI, hit him with Dazing Strike, stealthed Lashing Blade, Deft Strike when he winds up for his big swing, then alternate between Duelist's Flurry (stealth on final shots if you can) and the newly buffed sly flourish.

DC doesn't have much in the way of lifesteal, but with enough damage AS does more than enough healing. TR is packing enough lifesteal to stay full after his big swings land.

postagepaid

This fight was designed by someone that has never played a squishy character in their life. Possibly never bothered to test their attempt at content either.

TINY area with very little room to move and for a solo fight a stupid number of adds makes the fight hard due to poor design rather than actual mechanics. To sell stuff as a solo instance then force you into a situation where you can't do much more than basic at wills is just plain stupid. A 50% increase to the final arena would retain the trickiness of the inevitable boring adds mechanic but reduce the thoughts of F this.

Given that the focus is on pushing players into the new stuff to hell with the old I can see that balancing is obviously going to be tricky but they obviously never considered that lagwind dale (which tiamat looks to be a clone of as soon as you open the map) is now a dead zone pretty much so that you will be without those boons. My characters that I've bothered grinding the tyranny stuff on have still to unlock the skirmish/instance due to the fact you can't guarantee the campaign items you need on any given day.

Tiamat has been tacked on so it's less of a module and more of a dragons 1.5

I only stomached lagwind for one character, tried it on my SW and found noone about for any encounters so have left it and never gone back. Well of dragons has the same feeling to it. I'll give it a week but honestly I can't see myself enjoying it.

Dread ring may have been a little small but at least it felt like a half decent zone to do stuff in.

geltab

LOL i walked up to the warden and he just gave me the chest saying "I'm Out!!(drops mic)" Combat HR btw....

vortican

It took me 3 deaths before beating the Prison Warden with Master Infiltrator TR because of his adds. The room practically filled up with them because I was focusing on him instead of the adds and didn't have any AoE slotted (first time for this fight). He was not particularly tough but the insane number of adds that built up were the problem. It's a really small area so it's hard to avoid damage but I think with the right powers it could have turned out better. I will definitely experiment with solo-ing that lair with more AoE and perhaps Dazing Strike to see how it goes. It's not that difficult of a fight though.

lewel555

How do you open the last cage in the same room that the warden and what is the loot?

grorim

rabbinicus wrote: »

What is your playstyle? So far I've taken him down fairly easily with my DC and my TR. DC is a Righteous DO, hit him with Divine Glow, Daunting Light, and Sunburst in rotation (sunburst timed for his big swing attack) with astral seal and the newly buffed lance of faith as at wills. TR is a Scoundrel MI, hit him with Dazing Strike, stealthed Lashing Blade, Deft Strike when he winds up for his big swing, then alternate between Duelist's Flurry (stealth on final shots if you can) and the newly buffed sly flourish.

DC doesn't have much in the way of lifesteal, but with enough damage AS does more than enough healing. TR is packing enough lifesteal to stay full after his big swings land.

Pure damage with both, but Im pretty good at dodging in tight spots if I have to say so myself. We have the same moveset with TR too, except I use bait and switch instead of deft strike. I guess the problem with the warlock is the constant interrupts. Also, thanks everyone else for their answers too

beckylunatic

lewel555 wrote: »

How do you open the last cage in the same room that the warden and what is the loot?

The "loot" would be the repentant cultist companion, and you need a key.

I don't know if it's going to be two layers of RNG like the baby yeti, or if they keys will be much more rare but then you'll get the companion for sure.

beckylunatic

grorim wrote: »

Pure damage with both, but Im pretty good at dodging in tight spots if I have to say so myself. We have the same moveset with TR too, except I use bait and switch instead of deft strike. I guess the problem with the warlock is the constant interrupts. Also, thanks everyone else for their answers too

It'll be not-good to use Dreadtheft and chances seem high that I'll switch out for Pillar of Power in there.

myowmyow

You will all get better with practice.

Remember when the Ghost Story dungeon was first released? There were lots of complaints about how hard it was. I struggled a little at first.

After you run any dungeon several times, you tend to find it easier to survive.

canis36

grorim wrote: »

The guy hits harder than any other single boss that I've ever fought in the game. Maybe its just because i have fought him with a tr and sw both times, but I have never had issues with any boss using them but him. Any advice on the guy? Because if this is going to be a daily, advice could be **** useful

I had some difficulty with the camera, but other than needing a few potions my Scoundrel build MI TR didn't have that much difficulty murdering him.

leandreav1

Did notice the interrupts, but not that was particularly hard. I'm decently-ish geared though, nearly 15k tempt SW.

ulviel

My first thought after killing him: "and that's it? he's already dead?" But then, I am 17k righteous DC.

Btw, who needs Sunburst? Chains are better. There are also some single target spells that would be better in this particular situation. People knocking MY mobs back drive me crazy.

grimelrok

the OP can't be serious, I did this on my TR and it was a joke, the mobs died so fast I looked around for something bigger spawning in after and thought it was all just trash mobs at first, till I realized the quest updated to tell me to loot the chest lol.

rollingonit

Dude scared me at first, first time through on my GWF; rest of mini dungeon easy and smooth. Suddenly I lost like 1/4 health at the mini boss. But still completed easily. DO Righteouness DC was easy sauce, HR pathfinder was easy; then got too tired to do the rest of my characters

I know my SW will have trouble and will be the only one to trouble me cause 10k GS almost exactly hehe

ainarel

twilightwatchman wrote: »

He's beatable with a WK Scoundrel TR using the right build. Quite easily in fact.

He's rock hard for a Hellbringer SW regardless of build as you never get the chance to use Dreadtheft. Too many interrupts in too confined a space.

Being a SW temptation-hellbringer I've beaten him alone. Wasn't too easy but doable, and walked out with full health. The Accursed Souls daily is a life-saver there.

lewstelamon01

Hellbringer Fury SW with Accursed Diabolist 4 piece set. Wasn't an easy solo, but I soloed him first time. And yes, for the most part I used Dreadtheft. It's pretty standard SW tactics--dreadtheft and dance around the mobs in a wide circle. Curse + Vampiric Embrace helps too. Oh, and some extra HP slotted can be a lifesaver.

What kinda build you using, though?

healary

Don't get hit and you won't die in 2 swings. He is not that hard to solo even for characters with 10-11k gs. Fill up your daily meter before going in. Kill the 2 drakes first but don't use the daily. They don't respawn even if you die. Keep fighting him with at-will and encounter powers. When adds come, by then a chunk of his hp should be gone, unload the daily. One third more of his life will be gone in 1 daily plus the adds are pretty much wiped.

The strategy for the not so geared ones is pretty much the same used in Ghost Story.

rhoric

There was only a couple posts here that gave an actual strat to use. I died several times on my Damnation specc'd warlock. I was eventually able to kill him.

grorim

lewstelamon01 wrote: »

Hellbringer Fury SW with Accursed Diabolist 4 piece set. Wasn't an easy solo, but I soloed him first time. And yes, for the most part I used Dreadtheft. It's pretty standard SW tactics--dreadtheft and dance around the mobs in a wide circle. Curse + Vampiric Embrace helps too. Oh, and some extra HP slotted can be a lifesaver.

What kinda build you using, though?

Same warlock build with thayan daily instance set. Basically, I soften him up a bit with warlock's bargain and use dreadtheft while dancing around . I do have to mention though, at the time of the first post my computer was having issues loading the instance, so it seemed as if he was teleporting around and just taking making atacks without me noticing. That never had happened before, so I guess I just assumed thats how the battle was suposed to be. Now its working fine, and its easier than before. Still hits hard, but eh, can handle that

ashnvf

twilightwatchman wrote: »

He's rock hard for a Hellbringer SW regardless of build as you never get the chance to use Dreadtheft. Too many interrupts in too confined a space. I did manage to beat him using a Soulbinder build but that was early on with some bugged feats.

Not sure what you mean. This fight seemed easy to me with a fury Hellbringer build.

mehguy138

I liked that fight, tried to face tank him at first like all other solo-stuff in this game, but was suddenly awakened by those fast heavy hits. Would like to see more of this.

twilightwatchman

ashnvf wrote: »

Not sure what you mean. This fight seemed easy to me with a fury Hellbringer build.

Think it's a gear thing. My Warlock is still gearing up but had handled all other bosses up to that point with no trouble. I just wasn't outputting enough DPS to burn down the adds before the Black Dragonwings all powered up.

He's a cakewalk with a moderately geared WK Scoundrel.

twilightwatchman

mehguy138 wrote: »

I liked that fight, tried to face tank him at first like all other solo-stuff in this game, but was suddenly awakened by those fast heavy hits. Would like to see more of this.

The first thing that caught me out with my SW was the interrupts from his two Guard Drakes. Kept me from using my normal WB/DT rotation.