Because I've just attempted this new mission and had one of the easiest fights in a long time against an Iconian, one of the most powerful beings in the galaxy, then had to give up the mission (read: "rage quit") after coming up against its Harbinger bodyguard.
As I have very proudly declared in the past, I'm "King of the Noobs" (probably not all that correct, I've been here since beta, I'm just terrible at the game) so I'm pretty good at telling if content is too easy (normally because I can actually do it). From what I have managed of the mission, I'm seeing a huge drop in difficulty between the space section (which was easier than it normally is, but still at a decent enough level) and that fight I ran into trouble with (at which point the difficulty spiked).
From the noob/casual point of view, I'm seeing the problem as down to how the fights are working out. When we start the ground section, we build up a huge group on NPCs which pretty much overpower everyone they come up against. By the time we are fighting the Iconian, there's still plenty of them around, although they do dwindle away down eventually to just one of them that can't be removed (presumably for later dialogue I can't reach). The Iconian fight itself is easy because the way we defeat them is by removing their shield (as far as I can tell), if anything happens to our character and we have to respawn, the shield damage always remains. In the case of the Harbinger fight, we are taking on a fight effectively four times longer than the Iconian one will be, but with the added penalty of not being able to die and respawn (as that will totally restore their health, at which point I have to ask why this is still in game because it was totally removed from space combat years ago, yet remains in ground combat in certain random fights).
This is just my personal experience of the mission, others will no doubt have their own views on the difficulty level throughout the mission, but I'm as casual as they get and can get through most of it with no issue apart from one fight which seems far more difficult than anything else in the mission (seriously though, if anyone can give me any tips on how to beat this guy I'll be very grateful, I can get them down to 40% but no lower).
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This would go much farther in attempting to assist in establishing tactics to be used.
Meanwhile: I ran this in a team with my son, my Sci - Triage, Vascular Regenerator, Nanite health monitor, Endothermic (the popsicle fire) field and hyperonic radiation. Using full Mk XIV VR Dyson set.
Borg Engie (replicating emplacement kit) and Android Tac (mostly tac buffs with a grenade) packing MACO or Omega Mk XII sets round out my contribution, along with PC (Son) Engineer and his science Borg healer.
Did the obvious - stayed at longer ranges (so that I wasn't in those flame-circles of doom and could avoid them), spammed weapons fire / Sci captain powers / offensive powers, tossed a triage to keep squad healthy, kept my nanite health monitor up, used "spray" secondary on the Dyson gun more often than the anti-expose sniper mode - to help keep down on targets...
To rob a line: [quote: Mariemaia Kushrenada] Forum Posting is much like an endless waltz. The three beats of war, peace and revolution continue on forever. However, opinions will change upon the reading of my post.[/quote]
I was lucky I think, I had a whole army of away teams and NPC's who somehow managed to survive that far - they all just fell on top of him and killed him. I didn't have time to even shoot him.
However the one in the gate room on New Romulus to face during Blood of the Ancients, yeah he kicked my teeth in repeatedly. I'm kinda getting the hang of fighting them now, just keep at range and keep moving.
I have a lot of issues with Command's performance in space. But on the ground, it's fun. And **SPARKLY**
My main is Command/Commando, I do fine in space, but I do WELL on ground.
"He shall be my finest warrior, this generic man who was forced upon me.
Like a badass I shall make him look, and in the furnace of war I shall forge him.
he shall be of iron will and steely sinew.
In great armour I shall clad him and with the mightiest weapons he shall be armed.
He will be untouched by plague or disease; no sickness shall blight him.
He shall have such tactics, strategies and machines that no foe will best him in battle.
He is my answer to cryptic logic, he is the Defender of my Romulan Crew.
He is Tovan Khev... and he shall know no fear."
My character Tsin'xing
All the Iconians ever do is delegate.
My character Tsin'xing
The gist I get from STO is that there seems to be very few Iconians in the current era. But Heralds? Their abundant and do a fine job for what they're supposed to be. If you were an Iconian, why get your hands dirty when the Heralds are actually very good in doing your bidding? On top of that, you get tons of them.
As for the use of servitors, I think that's due to the Iconians' desire to be the ruling, dominant force of the galaxy. They want to be the rulers and turning the galaxy asunder leaves nothing. What use is being ruler of an empire if everything is destroyed, dead? If you have people that are willing to already fall under your direction and do your bidding, why not take advantage of that? Your goal was to dominate them in the end, anyways.