Module 6 makes sword coast adventures massively easier?

quotable

I just tried a tier 6 adventure for the first time. With companions at levels 30, 30, 25, and 20, I won, though it did take substantial luck. With four companions all rank 30, it would be cake; the biggest problem was trying not to get killed by my rank 20.

Right now, getting four companions all rank 30 means you need four epics. As I read it, after module 6, it only takes four blues, and if you have epics, you can get better dice to make things easier yet. But it looks like the sword coast adventures could be an important source of companion gear.

Am I reading this entirely wrong, and module 6 doesn't make it massively easier? And there is no tier 7? If it does, I'm not sure if it's a good thing or a bad thing; it would certainly open up tier 6 adventures to a lot more people.

iambecks1

That's good if it is true , I want some of the awesome companion only gear that is dropping in T6 sword coast adventure dungeons.

suicidalgodot

That really would be nice, especially under the impression I got from (albeit only brief) test server visits: Full, active companions will become valuable again at top level play, even just as an additional aggro magnet...

ironzerg79

From what I can tell, Legendary companions get their dragonbone d6's upgraded to scrimshaw d8's. They add one side with magic/perception double and one side with a theivery/3 shield side, so it is substantially easier...with Legendary companions

quotable

I'll explain the situation. In a tier 6 lair, all encounters require the sum of (combat / 3) + (everything else besides combat) for a total of 9 things to win the encounter. For example, you might need 6 thievery and 9 combat, or 3 each of magic, perception, or thievery, or whatever. Some break it into multiple phases, while others let you get it all at once, as with lower tiers. But unlike lower tiers, the sum always reaches 9, rather than having some easier fights where you only need 6 or 7.

For a level 5 companion, the greatest total you can possibly deliver to the encounter is 7, making every time that companion takes a turn a guaranteed failure. For level 10, you can get a sum of 8. For level 15, a sum of 9. That means that it is theoretically possible to win a tier 6 lair with only white companions, but you'll have to use up all of your dice on every single successful encounter, as well as always using one of the double options (e.g., you roll 2 perception rather than 1 perception). So level 15 isn't quite a guaranteed failed fight, but it's awfully close to it.

For a level 20 companion, you can reach a sum of 10. That gives you a bit of leeway, but not very much, so it still takes a fair bit of luck to win, even in an encounter that matches up with the companion's dice perfectly. Right now, that's the cap for a green companion, but green companions are cheap enough on the auction house that presumably you can get at least that pretty easily.

For a level 25 companion, you can reach a sum of 12. That gives you a lot more margin for error, and makes it so that you can usually win an encounter that matches up with your dice pretty well. Some encounters are still unwinnable if they don't match your dice, though. Right now, that takes blue companions, which aren't trivial, but aren't terribly expensive for the cheapest of them, either. With module 6, you'll be able to get there with green companions, probably making it realistic to clear a tier 6 lair with just green companions.

For a level 30 companion, you can reach a sum of 14. Furthermore, all four of the colored dice have two "wild" options. If the encounter matches your dice well, a level 30 companion should usually win. Even if it doesn't match your dice at all, a level 30 companion still has a good shot at winning. So a tier 6 lair against four level 30 companions is going to be pretty easy. Today, that takes four epic companions, which is very expensive. Soon it will be only four blue.

At level 35, a companion can reach a sum of 16. That's a huge amount of spare dice and should make it so that even encounters that don't match your dice well at all are usually pretty easy. That's impossible now, but epic companions will get there in module 6.

At level 40, which will take legendary companions, you can reach a sum of 20. That should make pretty much any encounter a cakewalk for a level 40 companion, even one that is a horrible match for your colored dice. That, I'd think, would make sword coast adventures dreadfully boring. And that's why I'm not sure that this is a good thing.

Now, it would be possible to add a tier 7 that can be, if not hard, at least non-trivial for a player with four level 40 companions. But it would probably be just shy of impossible without some awfully high rank companions. And getting four legendary companions would be awfully expensive. So I'm not sure that would be a good thing, either.

mstrssihr

This is an awesome little addition to the Gateway and I'm excited to give a try. Just wish the Gateway was at all reliable. Atm I can't access it and the problems have been going on for a long time. (This webpage is not available)

tripsofthrymr

I win 95% of SCA games with purple companions as it is (making sure I have companions with different strengths). The real issue is the very low drop rate of the desirable companion (which I'm in favor of keeping low... some things should be fairly exclusive).