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Episode balance pass

captainhunter1captainhunter1 Member Posts: 1,626 Arc User
I think someone at Cryptic should do a full balance pass on all story episodes.

This issue became crystal clear after starting a new Klingon recruit (requiring all story arcs be played through). Things went fairly well up until the New Romulus arc. However, starting with the Warehouse mission there, my Captain started getting absolutely curb stomped both on the ground and in space.

I was playing with an XP bonus the whole time and playing nothing but the story episodes and occasional misc. patrol. I was level 44 when I hit New Romulus, a level 50 zone (but your character is 'boosted' to 50) and I don't know if this was the root of the problem. I'd hate to see what my level (with sub standard gear) would have been at this point if I hadn't been using a bonus.

Just prior, I had been having average fights against of all things, the Borg and Undine. But that Warehouse scenario was the start of majorly overpowered opponents. You would think that common Orion Pirates would be a pretty average challenge. Well not these guys. As soon as they turned into bad guys, they decimated my away team in 15 seconds. Again, the same away team the could stand toe-to-toe with Borg and Undine. As far as I could tell the Orions were made up of what in the Foundry were called 'Captain' level opponents. On top of that, the mobs were so closely spaced that 3-4 groups aggro'd on me simultaneously because a single BOff stepped too far forward. Trust me, as a former Foundry author, this is NOT how you balance a mission.

And as I said before, this mission was only the start of a very painful slog with the following episodes and story arcs. A balance pass is really badly needed to have a much smoother transition to tougher fights as a player progresses.

I'd be happy to volunteer my time if no one at Cryptic is available for this. I'd really like to help make the game a better experience for everyone, especially new players. I'm sure that shocking jump in deadliness is very discouraging them.

Post edited by baddmoonrizin on

Comments

  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    Warehouse is a tricky one because of the multiple groups in close proximity. I've had captains die there at every level.

    I think having at least 2 engineers with turrets, mortars, shield recharge and at least one healer helps.

    In space, do you have hazard emitters and BFAW? Plasma burn from beams and torps, plus the multiple tracking torps, plus the tractor beams can be a tough combo.
  • eladonwarps#6040 eladonwarps Member Posts: 231 Arc User
    I like Warehouse for similar reasons that I like Measure of Morality, there's more obstacles for cover and combat needs to be handled carefully.

    I'll admit, trying to use my Recruit Bat'leth for this mission lead to more deaths than I'm used to. On other captains, my preferred method is to "pin" the Away team back behind me and use a longer range weapon to pull groups back to the Team. Sniper Rifles are great for this. Then I can isolate and prevent the Hirogen groups from jumping in on an Orion group.

    The first mission I can think of that really makes you order Away Team to specific points is in the Deferi Cold War arc, and that's now available only at 65 or by having it shared by an ally who has already started past the first mission. So if anything, I think Warehouse could benefit from a pop-up reminder of some of those ground tactics.

    That and maybe a re-record with the newer Madran voice actor, it doesn't really sound like the person we meet elsewhere in the game.
    Call me "El," she/her only. I love my wife and I don't care who knows it!
  • davefenestratordavefenestrator Member Posts: 10,501 Arc User
    valoreah wrote: »
    The entire Delta Quadrant story arc needs to be revisited as well. Replaying it proved again to be a mind-numbing, soul crushing ordeal with wave after wave after wave after wave after wave after wave of Vaadwaur.

    That's nothing compared to the pain of being forced to help Neelix cook more slop.

    (Apologies to the strange person out there that enjoys Talxian content.)

  • spiritbornspiritborn Member Posts: 4,248 Arc User
    Yeah there's some episodes that are in desperate need of retuning, vaadwaur in particular have abilities that are essentially "and now you die" if you don't build to counter or simply outgear the mission, that should not happen in main story mission on normal difficulty.
  • peterconnorfirstpeterconnorfirst Member Posts: 6,225 Arc User
    I also made a new toon and played through some of the story content but without any issues.

    See that the difficulty is set to easy, I do so too and it is good enough for leveling.

    If it does not help please check out the build guides on league HP, ground stuff has recently been updated.

    Yes I know, all of it so so pay to win and expancive. No! You can get more than enough items for free out of past events, the boff ability trainer or super cheap from the exchange that playing through the story arcs should not pose a problem.

    It only does when one is unprepared in an mmorpg. I know so as I have just re-lived the whole experience the past month.
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    felisean wrote: »
    teamwork to reach a goal is awesome and highly appreciated
  • foxrockssocksfoxrockssocks Member Posts: 2,482 Arc User
    Warehouse has always been a rough one. If you don't manage the closeness of the spawns well it turns into a mess. It should also be scaling down to your level, I believe, as its an instanced area.

    That said, I've said it for a while now as I've leveled new characters in the past few years, there is a significant lack of early story content to get you to the right level for New Romulus and the Dyson Sphere. You have to skip over them to level up to them.
  • anodynesanodynes Member Posts: 1,999 Arc User
    some of

    I hope those two words used their knees because they're doing a lot of heavy lifting here.

    As others have said, the closeness of the spawns in The Warehouse is an issue, and away team stupidity tends to aggro nearby groups even when you don't realize it. I'm also pretty certain that there was a change in threat from NPCs last year where they now target those who heal and plant support devices with a much higher priority, so you end up losing your support in a cascading failure loop that will leave you alone and dead if you aren't paying close attention. That Hirogen Alpha or whatever his story names is at the end is no joke, either. Delta Quadrant and beyond, though, it becomes a whole different game on ground, at least until you get to the Discovery stuff, where they make up for the drop in difficulty with special bosses and endless waves.

    As far as space, I couldn't tell you about too much difficulty increase now, I try to get even throwaway characters up to where they can do around 35 impulse speed at full throttle, and that makes a world of difference, especially for Vaadwaur and Hur'q. The only difficulty in them is the hp curve after 55, where they just take forever to kill if you don't upgrade your weapons.
    This is an MMO, not a Star Trek episode simulator. That would make for a terrible game.
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