Official M17: Stardock Recon Quests and Expeditions

ncoreadev · July 2019

If you play through the Stardock, Reconnaissance Quests, Fragment and Warden Expeditions, please share your feedback and any bugs you find in this thread.

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Formatting Your Feedback and Bugs
For posting feedback and bugs, please follow the following format to ensure your feedback and bugs are seen clearly and processed in a timely manner, thank you!

Type: Bug/Feedback (Please only choose one)
If you are listing a bug please have this text in RED, if you are posting an opinion or feedback please use CYAN. If you are replying to another user's post, asking a question, or just engaging in general discussion, please do not color your posts, general discussion is welcome and we will read all of it, regardless of color! You can use BBCode to color your text:

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Examples:
Bug: The red dragons fly through the environment, walls and pillars!

Feedback: The Gith should have noses.

arazith07 · July 2019

Progression through the "Teachings of Zerthimon" quest feels extremely slow. I have been working on the quest for 3 days now still on the first listed step of 0/4 for gathering the fragments. I realize we need to first gather 2 of each type of intelligence, then do Warden Expeditions for stardock rod peices, then once we get x number of those we can do the fragment expeditions. I feel like this quest should be broken up or have multiple steps so the player has a sense of progress.

It will also be nice to be able to do the warden expeditions step every day, maybe by doubling the number of intelligence gathering quests/day or lowering the limit to 1 needed for each warden expedition.

As it stands now, the daily effort required for this expansion is minimal, with not a lot of new gameplay, especially on days when we can only do 2 intelligence quests with no expeditions or rewards.

theelusiveone · July 2019

Are the Warden Expeditions meant to be group only?
I just tried one and my IL 23.6K toon was promptly killed by the first mob and could hardly make a dent in them.
I used no runes and the critters had normal HP bars.

phoenira · July 2019

I copy my report from the uprising patch notes

If you hand in the quest from 'Githyanki in Terminus' the quest name states '1. turn in text', which is definitely wrong

Another curious thing - if you complete the search for the key in warden expedition (happened in Illithid) the success message reads '"Testing" complete!' - sounds wrong

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and some new feedback as well:

I did the warden expeditions pairs (two every second day) no two times (day 2 and day 4) and the corresponding quests. "Teachings of Zerthimon" still show 0/4. I know that I have to get to the fragment expeditions, but as it states nowhere how to get there I just have to hope that by doing warden expeditions and the corresponding quests it will unlock sometime in the future. An indicator or information how close you are to unlocking both warden and fragment expeditions would be great!

I personally like the warden expeditions, they feel great and do make a little challenge regarding the end boss. The githyanki endboss though can still be controlled: Is this intentional? The Illithid endboss cannot be controlled. I had no problems killing the normal mobs, the boss was okay as well. I always used one rune.
(for reference: 25k wizard; 165k power, everything on cap regarding tower of the mad mage (80k arpen, 80k defense, 95k crit, ...); I did the warden expeditions before the current patch)

It could be that I have not found him/her yet, but in Stardock there is only a trader for githyanki trinkets but not for illithid trophies. Is he/she somewhere else or is he/she missing currently?

hustin1 · July 2019

I just started the expedition that Kavatos sends you on with my 23k warlock. You're really going to have to tone down these encounters or be prepared for some ungodly howling when everyone else tries to enter them solo. Remember when we warned you about how Mod 16 would be received? Tell the killer DM on your staff to put the keyboard down and step away from the PC. No joke, guys. Intellect Devourers are hitting way too hard and everything has WAY too much control resistance. You've already gimped the hell out of us with these sadistic cooldowns and now you're hitting us with 6-to-1, 7-to-1, even 8-to-1 fights.

I take that back -- don't ask your killer DM to step away from the PC. FIRE THE SOB. FIRE HIM TODAY.

I'm having to burn up scrolls of life like there's no tomorrow. This is unacceptable.

I don't know who the hell you think you're gearing these encounters for, but it SURE AS HELL isn't the average player. I've got 156k power and 80k armor penetration and I can barely scratch these enemies.

On an other note, it's not clear how to start the campaign -- more like clear as mud. I eventually found it with Kavatos purely by the process of elimination. Recommend just having Knox be the go-to guy for campaigns.

When I neared the other end of the bridge, this is what you just sent charging down the bridge all at once. Take special note of the extra three critters who just stealthed. You expect the average solo player to handle this? I don't think even I can handle that. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

And here they all are, in case you choose not to believe me. No one can handle this. I just buffed up to 170k power (and I have 80k defense). I barely survived after using three health stone charges. When the Foundry was still a thing, one golden rule was DO NOT STACK ENCOUNTERS. Just because YOU can handle it doesn't mean the average player can. You need to learn this.

And, if you think the above 9-to-1 fight is acceptable, then I submit that you've learned nothing from the Mod 16 disaster.

Unknown · July 2019

This content has been removed.

arazith07 · July 2019

@hustin1 This weekend, all critter's damage was increased instead of just the critical hits which was the intended change. Once they get back into the office and fix things, it should be the same difficulty as the rest of the expeditions. I did this on the first day of preview and it was no problem.

As far as that bridge goes, if you are having trouble with it after they fix the damage, don't take on both groups at once, pull them separately. Know your limits and be patient with pathing mobs so you don't pull more than you can handle. A developer should not be fired just because someone would rather just rush in and not think and expect to be fine. Leave the zerging to parties of endgamers who can handle it.

vorphied · July 2019

hustin1 said:
I just started the expedition that Kavatos sends you on with my 23k warlock. You're really going to have to tone down these encounters or be prepared for some ungodly howling when everyone else tries to enter them solo. Remember when we warned you about how Mod 16 would be received? Tell the killer DM on your staff to put the keyboard down and step away from the PC. No joke, guys. Intellect Devourers are hitting way too hard and everything has WAY too much control resistance. You've already gimped the hell out of us with these sadistic cooldowns and now you're hitting us with 6-to-1, 7-to-1, even 8-to-1 fights.

I take that back -- don't ask your killer DM to step away from the PC. FIRE THE SOB. FIRE HIM TODAY.

I'm having to burn up scrolls of life like there's no tomorrow. This is unacceptable.

I don't know who the hell you think you're gearing these encounters for, but it SURE AS HELL isn't the average player. I've got 156k power and 80k armor penetration and I can barely scratch these enemies.

On an other note, it's not clear how to start the campaign -- more like clear as mud. I eventually found it with Kavatos purely by the process of elimination. Recommend just having Knox be the go-to guy for campaigns.

When I neared the other end of the bridge, this is what you just sent charging down the bridge all at once. Take special note of the extra three critters who just stealthed. You expect the average solo player to handle this? I don't think even I can handle that. WHAT THE HELL IS WRONG WITH YOU PEOPLE?

And here they all are, in case you choose not to believe me. No one can handle this. I just buffed up to 170k power (and I have 80k defense). I barely survived after using three health stone charges. When the Foundry was still a thing, one golden rule was DO NOT STACK ENCOUNTERS. Just because YOU can handle it doesn't mean the average player can. You need to learn this.

And, if you think the above 9-to-1 fight is acceptable, then I submit that you've learned nothing from the Mod 16 disaster.

1. Relax.

2. The power tray you're using in that screenshot is terrible for AoE; of course you are going to struggle when fighting a large number of mobs. KF and HG do not belong in an AoE loadout, and you're not using an effective AoE Daily. TC doesn't count as one, especially not now, and BoH isn't terrible, but Accursed Souls is far better for groups.

3. Like arazith07 said, if damage really is too high because of a mistake, they will fix it. I didn't get the bridge map in my Warden Expedition, but I noticed in the cavern-type maps that the mobs were a bit tougher than usual but not outrageous. Definitely not like some of the reports here with people being one-shot by normal mobs. I do think that no-rune difficulty was higher than one-rune difficulty in MEs on live, though.

hustin1 · July 2019

arazith07 said:
@hustin1 This weekend, all critter's damage was increased instead of just the critical hits which was the intended change. Once they get back into the office and fix things, it should be the same difficulty as the rest of the expeditions. I did this on the first day of preview and it was no problem.

As far as that bridge goes, if you are having trouble with it after they fix the damage, don't take on both groups at once, pull them separately. Know your limits and be patient with pathing mobs so you don't pull more than you can handle. A developer should not be fired just because someone would rather just rush in and not think and expect to be fine. Leave the zerging to parties of endgamers who can handle it.

You can't split the groups. The ones shown literally appear and charge down the bridge at exactly the same time. They stop at the location shown and wait for you. There's no splitting them. I didn't pull either group -- when I saw them approaching I backed up fast and waited to see if they stopped. Neither one appears until after you have cleared the bridge and move towards the other end.

finmakin · July 2019

People who group with me regurally knows that I have a pervers habit on that bridge.... /grin

salidor · July 2019

vorphied said:
I didn't get the bridge map in my Warden Expedition, but I noticed in the cavern-type maps that the mobs were a bit tougher than usual but not outrageous.

Sure still beatable for my 25k dc even with single damage Skills (and Daily to heal myself) but never for the average Player.

Don't get me wrong here - sure the damage they do is a bit over the top and the damage they can take before dieing slowing it down, but still seems solo beatable (half an hour each).

If its intended to be Group Instances for average players, this may stay as it is but if not better roll some changes back ^^

Nevertheless old ME should be better untouched and not in that difficulty.

arcanjo86 · July 2019

@ncoreadev warden expedition can't be completed solo enemies have too high hp values and too high damage values

gabrieldourden · July 2019

> @salidor#0795 said:
> I didn't get the bridge map in my Warden Expedition, but I noticed in the cavern-type maps that the mobs were a bit tougher than usual but not outrageous.
>
>
> Sure still beatable for my 25k dc even with single damage Skills (and Daily to heal myself) but never for the average Player.
>
> Don't get me wrong here - sure the damage they do is a bit over the top and the damage they can take before dieing slowing it down, but still seems solo beatable (half an hour each).
>
> If its intended to be Group Instances for average players, this may stay as it is but if not better roll some changes back ^^
>
> Nevertheless old ME should be better untouched and not in that difficulty.

It's beatable only if you can self-heal fast. My healing SW can slowly crawl through it, my HR can't kill mobs fast enough (but can slaughter bosses)

finmakin · July 2019

I have the impression that not all expeditions are affected by this.

Right after patch I did my first warden and got pretty hard fights… like I was soloing a 3 rune run on live.
Yesterday i got 2 more easy ones (like on live).. havent looked for todays pair...

My guess for Devs is to go trough all of them to check if all are ok and fix the affected ones.

hustin1 · July 2019

gabrieldourden said:
> @salidor#0795 said:

> I didn't get the bridge map in my Warden Expedition, but I noticed in the cavern-type maps that the mobs were a bit tougher than usual but not outrageous.

>

>

> Sure still beatable for my 25k dc even with single damage Skills (and Daily to heal myself) but never for the average Player.

>

> Don't get me wrong here - sure the damage they do is a bit over the top and the damage they can take before dieing slowing it down, but still seems solo beatable (half an hour each).

>

> If its intended to be Group Instances for average players, this may stay as it is but if not better roll some changes back ^^

>

> Nevertheless old ME should be better untouched and not in that difficulty.

It's beatable only if you can self-heal fast. My healing SW can slowly crawl through it, my HR can't kill mobs fast enough (but can slaughter bosses)

Funny that you mention that. I had the same experience where the bosses were by far the easiest part. As for my rant above, this was just the initial expedition to get to Stardock. I haven't tried anything beyond the first day (and I'm not sure I should post about them today even if I did -- I've been suffering from a runny nose and sneezing fits for the past 13 hours. "Grumpy" doesn't begin to describe my mood).

finmakin · July 2019

Ok... I agree with Hustin1 that the trash mobs are somewhat overpowered and too hard for non tank classes, they should be toned down a bit... lets say 10% but not lower, reason for that is that most players already have their gear from current ME runs.
On the other hand the new Warden expeditions have some very nice bosses to beat..

arazith07 · July 2019

> @finmakin said:
> Ok... I agree with Hustin1 that the trash mobs are somewhat overpowered and too hard for non tank classes, they should be toned down a bit... lets say 10% but not lower, reason for that is that most players already have their gear from current ME runs.
> On the other hand the new Warden expeditions have some very nice bosses to beat..

Wait for them to patch out the damage/hp bug that went in over the weekend. This is a bug.

finmakin · July 2019

arazith07 said:
> @finmakin said:

> Ok... I agree with Hustin1 that the trash mobs are somewhat overpowered and too hard for non tank classes, they should be toned down a bit... lets say 10% but not lower, reason for that is that most players already have their gear from current ME runs.

> On the other hand the new Warden expeditions have some very nice bosses to beat..

Wait for them to patch out the damage/hp bug that went in over the weekend. This is a bug.

In that case I would suggest to make these mobs a bit harder compared to Mod16 ME's (like a 2 rune ME on life) because most players are decked out with current ME gear…
Otherwise it would become too easy, and no progress in difficulty.. (I know I have a weird habit, the harder the better).. I am a dwarf anyhow ;p

b0rkch0p · July 2019

I can't even get past the first mob with my DC.. If you can't solo play whats the point? not everyone wants to team up all the time.. hopefully it'll get fixed

huijian · July 2019

I played expedition to stardock on 2 characters both just under 20k IL on ver. NW.115.20190701A.3 and it was admittedly bit easy then. Now after the NW.115.20190701A.5 patch, its impossible at 20k IL (along with regular ME also).

||EDIT|| - Version A.6 seems to working fine now

Besides that, stardock looks super cool and the quest is interesting, but the 4 day cooldown is too long for repeatable quests, and progression through this "sub-campaign" seems as though it will take a very long time without promise of any substantial rewards.

Master Expeditions are popular because its really the only "endgame" activity in mod16 worth doing; because nothing else in Neverwinter has any substantial rewards.

arazith07 · July 2019

Now that the damage bug was fixed, I went and did my first Fragment Expedition. I got the Dragon Knight at the end.

Between the Knight and the summoned dragon, there was too many CC's that you have to dodge and some of them have no telegraphs.

The red dragon fireball splats were not showing up on the ground. The exit portal is not visually present (only knew it was there because of the map). There was also no Fragment of Zerthimon in the chest or as a drop from the boss, or any drops from the boss (with 1 rune installed)

arazith07 · July 2019

2nd Fragment Expedition: Neolithed boss at the end.
New monster looks great But it just sat there and auto attacked and when it died, the room was a pool of green that seemed to recede, almost as if the pool should have been there during the fight. Again no drop from the boss and just normal expedition drops from the chest (1 rune installed)

I feel as though, since it takes 6 days of wait/quests to get to the fragment expeditions, that there should be more substantial reward, at least some companion equipment like with the warden expeditions. And how are we supposed to get the fragment of Zerthimon so we can unlock the Tower of the Mad Mage when this goes to live?

finmakin · July 2019

After a couple of days pretty hard trash mobs and relatively easy bosses I went in after todays patch.
And detected te opposite as what I expected, extremely easy and very weak.. all I had to do is cast Staff of Flowers, no fight whatsoever.

Dev's must (and should) realize that the Warden expeditions (correct me if I'm wrong) is a followup of the Mod16 expeditions and that the majority of player base are fully decked out with ME / LoMM gear what is taken intoo mod17 which means that these Trash mobs and bosses way too easy imho.

I have said it before, these trash mobs should have the HP and damage of (let's say) atleast 2 rune difficulty (mod16) to start with and make it atleast a bit challenging and from there 1,2, or 3 rune difficulties... A base difficulty of what you have with a 2 rune run in Mod16.

my two cents.

Unknown · July 2019

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Unknown · July 2019

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finmakin · July 2019

pariswinters#7118 said:
all the gith are female and naked

damage seems severely reduced, i can't take more damage then my insignias heal for, so in effect I cannot take damage.

Hilarious statement, hire a tank who can take damage.

Unknown · July 2019

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arcanjo86 · July 2019

pariswinters#7118 said:
ranged attacks on enemies not engaged with my character in combat hit for 0 damage until i come within range for them to "activate" this group I hit at 2 times with searing javelin and about 8 times with lance of faith, all hit for 0

and this 0 damage lead to enemies not aggro to me, basicly for them to aggro and engage us we need to be on melee range this same problem happened in my wiz.

arcanjo86 · July 2019

finmakin said:

arazith07 said:
> @finmakin said:

> Ok... I agree with Hustin1 that the trash mobs are somewhat overpowered and too hard for non tank classes, they should be toned down a bit... lets say 10% but not lower, reason for that is that most players already have their gear from current ME runs.

> On the other hand the new Warden expeditions have some very nice bosses to beat..

Wait for them to patch out the damage/hp bug that went in over the weekend. This is a bug.
In that case I would suggest to make these mobs a bit harder compared to Mod16 ME's (like a 2 rune ME on life) because most players are decked out with current ME gear…
Otherwise it would become too easy, and no progress in difficulty.. (I know I have a weird habit, the harder the better).. I am a dwarf anyhow ;p

@ncoreadev#4548

like making them a party team requirement to do them, 0 crystallized essences 18k enemy ratings with green and blue quality drops for companion gear, shirt and pants, player gear and rp stones, with 1 crystallized essence enemy rating 20k with blue quality drops for companion gear, shirt and pants, class gear and rp stones, 2 crystallized essences enemy ratings 22k make epic companion gear only drop(no green or blue quality companion gear drops), new shirts and pants drop, epic quality class gear and epic rp stones drop, staff of flower set drop(1 piece only drops each run), music box set drop(1 piece each run) and max 3 crystallized essences with 24k enemy ratings only drop the +12k single stats companion gear, epic shirt and pants, to make player motivated to progress his character and be prepared for new trial TOMM.

finmakin · July 2019

arcanjo86 said:

finmakin said:

arazith07 said:
> @finmakin said:

> Ok... I agree with Hustin1 that the trash mobs are somewhat overpowered and too hard for non tank classes, they should be toned down a bit... lets say 10% but not lower, reason for that is that most players already have their gear from current ME runs.

> On the other hand the new Warden expeditions have some very nice bosses to beat..

Wait for them to patch out the damage/hp bug that went in over the weekend. This is a bug.
In that case I would suggest to make these mobs a bit harder compared to Mod16 ME's (like a 2 rune ME on life) because most players are decked out with current ME gear…
Otherwise it would become too easy, and no progress in difficulty.. (I know I have a weird habit, the harder the better).. I am a dwarf anyhow ;p
@ncoreadev#4548

like making them a party team requirement to do them, 0 crystallized essences 18k enemy ratings with green and blue quality drops for companion gear, shirt and pants, player gear and rp stones, with 1 crystallized essence enemy rating 20k with blue quality drops for companion gear, shirt and pants, class gear and rp stones, 2 crystallized essences enemy ratings 22k make epic companion gear only drop(no green or blue quality companion gear drops), new shirts and pants drop, epic quality class gear and epic rp stones drop, staff of flower set drop(1 piece only drops each run), music box set drop(1 piece each run) and max 3 crystallized essences with 24k enemy ratings only drop the +12k single stats companion gear, epic shirt and pants, to make player motivated to progress his character and be prepared for new trial TOMM.

I agree with you in this, these Warden expeditions should be progressively harder than the expeditions we have currently on life.
What I see now that these mobs are on same level as the ones in Mod16 and honestly... this is a joke imho

vorphied · July 2019

Include options to make it more difficult AND improve the rewards, but no-thank-you to party requirement. Choosing to party is fine, as is having difficulty levels that are impractical to complete without a party, but basic completion should remain party-optional.

Official M17: Stardock Recon Quests and Expeditions

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