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Drake Pens and the Master Alchemist--too much?

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  • beatannierbeatannier Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 692 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Many times I go into daily solo–instance (like Prison) I get invited to the party or just invite some low geared player if he "LFG Prison" to help him. Many time I go solo–instance I take somebody with me. As 16 gs CW I have no challenge so it is just another daily to do.

    My advice: Just "/lfg LFG Prison" and wait to get invited. Our community in game is really helpful.
    Many times I help others and many times I get a help from others. It is MMO. Use the seconds M and just ask others for a help.
    It is really common, just look at the LFG and Zone chat, especially a few minutes after the daily reset.

    Good luck ;)
  • osiris2106osiris2106 Member Posts: 37 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    The warden boss really isnt that hard. I have killed him on 3 different classes of varying gs.

    I must admit it was harder work on my low gs Saboteur Whisperknife as i had to manage my stealth well and dodge a LOT in a tight space to slowly clear the room.

    For FURY SW he's a joke. Ensure you have full AP prior to entrering his room. Enter. Pop Tyrannical Threat, stick a Ty Curse on him and his 2 guard drakes, stick a warlocks bargain on him, hit dreadtheft, move around to avoid the interupt. GG

    Combat HR. lol look at him, he dies. No realy i just dropped a thorn ward and rain of arrows on him and ran in and used fox shift, then put Careful attk on him and jsut sit there spamming rapidstrike ;p

    The Whisperknife was hard as i was running lashing, vengeance and shadow strike. but doable
    [SIGPIC][/SIGPIC]
  • alkemist80alkemist80 Member Posts: 957 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    The boss can hit hard, just don't stand in his attacks.

    Killed him with no problems on my 16k combat HR. Rain of arrows, thorn ward, fox shift. Ranged and melee versions. Melted into the ground.

    Killed him with no problems on my 12K saboteur TR, which is semi perma. Lashing blade, path of the blade, smoke bomb and gloaming cut. Start up PotB, smoke bomb, go stealth, spam gloaming up on what needs to die first depending on stealth meter. Lashing blade right before stealth ends, go back into stealth. Rinse and repeat. The AoE from PotB and the new smoke bomb will take care of most of the trash. For some reason if my stealth wasn't up, I just used my rolls to kite and then go back into stealth.

    If you can't power zerg the fight, it needs a little strategy to complete it.
    Banshee (Devotion Justice Oathbound Paladin) - Crueladevil (Soulbinder Damnation Scourge Warlock) - Sindania Balefire (Master Infiltrator Trickster Rogue)

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  • aulduronaulduron Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,351 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Neither my CW, GWF or HR have had any problems with him. That he hits hard is news to me. I guess I've never let him hit me.

    CWs have been getting out damaged all through mod 4. Give it a rest.
  • yokanaanyokanaan Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 151 Bounty Hunter
    edited November 2014
    It's module 5 with artifact cloaks, belts and weapons. It should be hard. It's a nice feeling when sth is tingling you more than the rest of stuff and requires you to move and use a potion sometimes.
    That said I haven't seen a thread about difficult PvE content in a while - nice one.
  • reiwulfreiwulf Member Posts: 2,687 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I tried it today for the first time, I was about to die twice, I have 28k hp and I got hit by his first skill, I ended up with 500hp or so, but I managed to kill him at the end. I just had to evade most of his attacks (yay for new TR dodges!) but I had to pot twice or three times.
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  • zebularzebular Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 15,270 Community Moderator
    edited November 2014
    I had a bit of trouble too on my main (CW, SM)because he is specced to fight close range and teleport out when he needs. Yet, there, it's such a confined space, all I was doing was teleporting into another hit. I came within inches of defeat at least 6 times and the only thing that saved me each time was Thayan Bastion. Either the adds need toned down just a pinch, or I would rather see there be more maneuvering room. The fight took me longer than it took me to run the rest of that instance.

    I'm a tad curious how my main MoF other classes would fare, but don't have the will to run more than one character through WoD atm due to other reasons.
  • rickcase276rickcase276 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,404 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I tried it today for the first time too, on my Righteous DC. I got lucky and did not get hit by his first skill, and was able to kill the two original rage drakes and take him down to about 1/4 hp using 3 divine daunting lights and one empowered. But then the adds came and I had to run around in circles using my encounters when I could and pots in between. But I was able to kill him, but was not too easy.
  • trauthortrauthor Member Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I had to run around a lot, but I had more trouble with the prison warden. Dazes, dodges and smokebombs kept the drakes off of me (mostly), but the warden's adds kept swarming me. The warden's chamber seemed pretty small, too. It was still one of the better challenges, though.
  • ainarelainarel Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 49 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Actually, for a Temptation warlock with 13% Life Steal, he wasn't too hard for me. The boss in the prison was a bit harder, and this one died quickly since I focused mostly on him with as much Dreadtheft as I could put on him + Killing Flames, Curses and Fiery bolt since it really refills my health perfectly. Once the boss was down I could finish up the adds who already were dented more than half their HP.
    Frankly, I find I survive greatly in PvE these days with Temptation build. But PvP is an utter disaster and it bummes me greatly because I like my class and wouldn't want to cave for another class main char. After the mod launch PvP became unbearable with all the stun+one-two-hit-deaths from TRs and HRs and GWFs that I'm pondering wether Fury build would help my survival there. As for PvE, I'm pleased with how hard it is to kill me off now.
  • zebularzebular Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 15,270 Community Moderator
    edited November 2014
    My extremely powerful CW built for close-quarters combat advantage damage holds his own in all content I have put him against, yet this fight gives me issues for some reason. I'm also getting one shot by the Drake Riders outside in the zone (the ones riding the red drakes).

    I feel that three things are causing these issues for me:

    One being that the overhead healthbar is royally bugged that I depend upon.

    Two being that it just down right feels as though there is some bug causing massive damage to get through my defenses.

    The third issue is that I just don't have maneuvering room in that fight. I teleport out of something and unwittingly teleport into something. No time to even glance somewhere to a good position with a teleport.

  • herundrionherundrion Member Posts: 238 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    The main issue I think everyone is facing is actually the Assassin Drakes. They can stack their DR debuffs on you to the point that any hit can kill you.
    If their debuff doesn't stack or you kill them fast enough, it should not be a problem to dodge the Rider's attacks.
    Co-Founder of -Valor-
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  • zebularzebular Member, Neverwinter Moderator, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 15,270 Community Moderator
    edited November 2014
    herundrion wrote: »
    The main issue I think everyone is facing is actually the Assassin Drakes. They can stack their DR debuffs on you to the point that any hit can kill you.
    If their debuff doesn't stack or you kill them fast enough, it should not be a problem to dodge the Rider's attacks.
    That could be, I'll pay more attention next time and see if I notice that happening with the DR stacks. That surely does compliment my feeling of something tearing through all my defenses and causing me to be one shot.
  • rashylewizzrashylewizz Member Posts: 4,265 Bounty Hunter
    edited November 2014
    I think for 1/3rd - 1/4th of a daily, this is too grindy, a little bit and not fun at all
  • piejalpiejal Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 403 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I just 15k GS HR and dont have a prob going solo
    just need to know how
  • arabaturarabatur Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 778 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    The defence debuffs and interrupts made it quite frustrating on my CW and I except my SW will suffer to. At least there is more room to manoeuvre than the Prison Warden. It's just going to take a few runs to work out the best tactics/abilities.

    Zeb's right about those Drake Riders though- both them and the mounts hit real hard!
    Definitely not an Arc User.
  • m1nuendm1nuend Member, Neverwinter Beta Users Posts: 0 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Difficultier forces you to become better. Or team up. We need more hard content, not less of it. Even if they are dailies. Make difficult dailies that are more rewarding, I'd say. Then you could either go hard for all of them, or do a few if you were struggling. Greater rewards for greater struggle.

    Challenges forces you to use your brain and concentrate more intensely. It's a good thing.

    And like someone else said, when you've done it a few times it becomes easy breezy.

    The OP didn't mention what class he was, so it's a bit difficult giving advice.

    But if a lot of people with the same GS says they found this easy, then that says something about OP having more to learn about his class and powers. That's not a bad thing, it just means there are room for improvement and learning.
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  • nolashmendesnolashmendes Member Posts: 25 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    yes with a CW its easy ^^
  • bubettebubette Member, Neverwinter Knight of the Feywild Users Posts: 17 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    As a damnation SW I've done both scenerios, the one with the warden and the alchemist, and didn't have a problem at all. The key to both is you have to shoot and move, not allowing them to encircle you. SW's can do this easily enough and it works.
  • ryugasiriusryugasirius Member Posts: 996 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I had no issues with both new lair bosses. But I've attempted them only with my 17k CW so far... so I can't really speak for other classes (eventually I'll get there some day, with all the alt-unfriendliness of Mod4/5 it'll take a while).
  • rappscalli0nrappscalli0n Member Posts: 12 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I just railed the Prison Warden with my CW - didn't even notice that there may be something difficult about it :D So i can't even tell if this can be difficult for other classes, the fight was too short. That concludes that there is no challenging single player content for a CW - you can just melt everything everywhere.
  • iambecks1iambecks1 Member Posts: 4,044 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I officially love this boss as of today , he gave me a nice treat , a green companion with a fairly decent active bonus xD

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  • kattefjaeskattefjaes Neverwinter Beta Users, Neverwinter Hero Users Posts: 2,270 Bounty Hunter
    edited November 2014
    zebular wrote: »
    My extremely powerful CW built for close-quarters combat advantage damage holds his own in all content I have put him against, yet this fight gives me issues for some reason. I'm also getting one shot by the Drake Riders outside in the zone (the ones riding the red drakes).

    I'm sorry, but if you're having trouble, that is not an "extremely powerful" CW- shiny gear or no. This boss is really not that hard, even my middle of the road cleric dropped him easily. My "nothing to write home about"-level CW stomped him on autopilot, as did my moderately well-geared SW. If you're having trouble killing him with a reasonably geared CW, then you're doing something very wrong indeed; assuming that you have stacked useful stats rather than just GS padding, of course.

    Do you have enough ArPen? How's your HP? Are you wearing a sensible set? What spells are you using? If you're having a random mental block on this fight, mastery CoI on the boss, then Icy Ground/Chilling Cloud, Oppressive Force, Steal Time and Sudden Storm made the boss wither and die effortlessly on my SS/Thaum CW.

    A CW can trample this stuff without breathing hard. Even the "deliberately awful" MoF/Oppressor 2+2 fail setup CWs should romp home, let alone a reasonably equipped and specced wizard. Heck, my CW has no orange gear, no artifact weapon, and went through this fight like a hot knife through butter. The boss barely outlived the first rotation, then I just had to go and clean up all those annoying adds that were spitting stuff, obscuring my vision. That was a the main challenge, to overcome the MILD GRAPHICAL INCONVENIENCE OF DOOM :)

    So umm, yes, please everyone else, dodge the red a bit, use a potion if you must. Don't stand there dying to an easy fight, and demand that all the flavour be nerfed out of PvE yet again.

    Edit: should point out that I haven't tried on my GF, GWF, TR or HR- as the grindy alt-hostility of mod 4 led to them being mothballed, sadly.
  • matiagronxmatiagronx Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 251 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    nurmood wrote: »
    Srsly i think think this guy is in a right spot - people will have difficulties - they can party up. Dont make content easier please!

    Reminder so we dont get off track.

    And by the way, the reward is a powerful companion, u have to fight for it for the sake of balance and reason. Gear Score gives u the right to be in well of dragons, doesnt mean that all content is ranked for it.
  • kolatmasterkolatmaster Member Posts: 3,111 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    The bosses are definitely hard then other Dailies, and that is a GOOD thing. It's important for us to be challenged... :)
    iambecks1 wrote: »
    I officially love this boss as of today , he gave me a nice treat , a green companion with a fairly decent active bonus xD

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    I want that companion so badly!!!
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  • gabrieldourdengabrieldourden Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 1,212 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I did it with three different characters:

    Pathfinder Trapper HR (18,8k GS): very easy slotting constrictive, rain and hindering. No pots needed, the flood of dots healed me pretty fast and small drakes died with one application of constrictive, hindering strike or rain.

    Master Infiltrator Executioner (with a bit of Saboteur) TR (12,3k GS): it took a bit of diligence but using gloaming cut, smoke bomb, path of the blade and lashing blade I managed to do it even today after the fix to SoD. Needed a few pots though.

    Hellbringer Temptation Warlock (15,7k GS): this was the most difficult even with the ton of lifesteal I have. Best array for me was Blades of the Vanquished Army, Harrowstorm and Warlock´s Bargain. Blades and Harrowstorm work for you even if you get thrown to the ground and hit a lot of targets in such a tight environment. Warlock´s Bargain ensures you get healing. All you need to do is dodge then. Needed some pots anyway. You can do that with Dreadtheft in place of Harrowstorm, but it´s more difficult as you often get interrupted or need to dodge.
    Le-Shan: HR level 80 (main)
    Born of Black Wind: SW Level 80
  • alkemist80alkemist80 Member Posts: 957 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I did the drake pens first on my combat HR first (16.1k GS) and it was ok. The small drakes were annoying since they primarily stay at range and just spit at you, but it wasn't difficult at all. Granted, combat has great survivability and I build for it. I use rain of arrows, thorn ward and fox shift, both ranged and melee versions. First I tried to just burn the boss but the drake spins were just getting annoying (being melee oriented) so I took those down, then concentrated on the boss, then cleaned up the rest. No pots needed.

    Second time around, I did it on my MI saboteur TR (11.5k GS) and it was surprisingly faceroll easy. Everything just stood around with ??? doing nothing but derping. I used Path of the blade, smoke bomb, lashing blade. I would pop PotB, smoke bomb in the crowd, go stealth and gloaming cut spam, lashing blade just when stealth would run out and did that until everything keeled over and died. Primarily used whirlwind of blades daily. If my stealth did run out and I couldn't go back into stealth right away, I did some light kiting. No pots needed.

    Have yet to try it on my Righteous DC.

    I find it nice to have fights where you do need to use some kind of strategy instead of just "powering" through it like a plow. Each class and build will have to do it some what different.

    Edit:

    Drake Pens on my Righteous DO DC (12.3k GS) was not hard at all. I did get to below 50% health a few times but I was able to heal myself up by just using Divine Glow. Used Forgemaster's flame, Chains of Blazing Light, Divine Glow and flamestrike. Lance of faith and brand of the sun. (I'm not even used to playing the new DC yet). I did what splash damage I could to the boss while working on the drakes and then separated them as best I could from the boss. This includes using dodges and timing attacks. After the boss was dead, I cleaned up the small drake adds.
    Banshee (Devotion Justice Oathbound Paladin) - Crueladevil (Soulbinder Damnation Scourge Warlock) - Sindania Balefire (Master Infiltrator Trickster Rogue)

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  • grac3n77grac3n77 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 234 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    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.

    I am a SW AS WELL I don't have any problem solo this daily. don't just get used to the flash light skill of ours there are still other skill that you can use.
  • khimera906khimera906 Member, NW M9 Playtest Posts: 898 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    I'm a MI Executioner TR (16.5K), not built for survivability at all, and I don't remember having problems with it. I slot Smoke Bomb for a bit of CC, otherwise all out DPS. I think you need to find a strategy that works for you. The fight is really not that hard ... from what I remember :D
    I hate dancing with Lady Luck. She always steps on my toes.
  • query523query523 Member Posts: 1,515 Arc User
    edited November 2014
    Really folks it's just learning curve. Remember a vit ago when folks thought that Ghost Stories was hard? And then figured out the rotation that worked for themand suddenly it wasn't a problem any more. We've run the instance 3 times per toon at this point. People were having trouble with Biggrin's before they figured it out too. in ancient times CN was considered a difficult run....
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