Pub 120 event pitfalls, long wait timers, blah

The waiting

I'll start off by saying I like the idea of having more things to do, more ways to participate. I think it's a good idea, as we saw with the last ToT, having different things to do breaks up the monotony, the nightmares, Tmaps, ToT, and champ spawn running was nice as it gave us choices where to spend our time. The key being that I could pick my activity for the day and jump right in then and there, no matter when I logged in, and do it. Since I'm sure the contrarians will chime in,
'Oh but username you had to wait for the champ to respawn, or the town to switch for the ToT' Ok cool, so sometimes if unlucky I had to wait like 15 minutes. 
'Ok then participate' No, the ToT portion is f**king boring and there's nothing I can do about that for 4+ hours at a time, even if I participate.

That's where I think this one falls short: everything is happening in sequence and in some cases on very long timers and even dependent on other player's involvement or just purely wait , ie, nothing I can do about it.

For example, I'm looking forward to the 'void pool' portion of the event.... but it's only active for 1 run in possibly an 6-8+ hour time window? As it currently stands I have not been able to catch the void pool portion on Baja with my play schedule at all.

A player that prefers to do crafting activities spends a ton of time gathering resources to destroy the walls... again possibly every 6-8+ hours?

Why? Why not have each activity on it's own individual timer. I don't want to wait to do this, or wait to do that. As it currently stands, at minimum if I want to do a specific activity during this event it's at least a multiple hour wait, and on less populated shards, it's very possible for some of these activities sit stagnant for a long time.

My suggestion:

• Have the walls respawn every X minutes (with some way of bypassing them to get in to the city, maybe a rope bridge)
• Have the commanders spawn every X minutes, only one at a time (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool).
• Have the boss spawn X minutes after all commanders have died (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool).
• Run the void pool on a X minute interval in the center of the town.
• Run the ToT portion on an 4hr on/off cycle. Or just remove it, ToTs are boring bot fests. 

Let's get all the activities running simultaneously so players can pick what they want to do without waiting forever.

Rewards

I like the turn-in point rewards overall, especially the inclusion of luck gear, which players have been asking for a long time. The deco is great, there is a good amount of it, and I like the new artwork. I hope this trend continues; doesn't make any sense to re-release old gear when you can put luck on it (or skills) and reduce the pure stats a bit, so we have more options.

Balron bone armor again? Kind of annoying, considering how many were given out exactly 1 year ago. Again, was a perfect opportunity to make something different: lower the stats a bit and put luck on it so players have more options. Sigh.

Phase 1 (destroying the walls) rewards aren't worth the effort spent. Crafters should be rewarded with turn-in point drops in addition to the rubble, especially for the catapulting part.

IF all the phases of this event were able to run simultaneously, each should have their own unique set of rewards that don't overlap with other activities and can only be gotten through doing that specific activity. IE, rubble only by breaking walls. Certain deco only from the generals/boss. Etc.

Travel

Having everything in Ilshenar, especially the unnecessary run through the Serpentine Passage, feels like an anti-bot measure which as always just ends up being more annoying for legitimate players as the constellation users don't care (they're afk anyway).

Overall

Like the idea, don't like the execution. Should be removed from live servers and sent back to TC1. This could be something awesome but I think falls short in it's current implementation. The multiple 'anti-bot' measures are waaay too obvious and at minimum mildly annoying for legitimate players.

Great write up, you win this award.

Tell me you have not actually done the event without telling us you haven't done the event.

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

I'd say 30 mins to  90min.  Depends how long they let phase 5 last.  The luck potion lasts an hour.  You should hope it takes more than an hour.

Pawain said:

Great write up, you win this award.

Tell me you have not actually done the event without telling us you haven't done the event.

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

I'd say 30 mins to  90min.  Depends how long they let phase 5 last.  The luck potion lasts an hour.  You should hope it takes more than an hour.

Correct, seems like you've not touched it yet. The ToT portion lasts 4 hours by itself (that's irrelevant of shard) and on Baja yesterday it took them ~2 hours to get through main city walls. Great troll post, as always!

Almost like this information is public and you can go look it up yourself if you haven't done the event yet.



So much for 30-90 minutes

Larisa said:

Well instead of doing the ToT portion in the dungeon, get on a thief and go find those chests!

Although I have no interest in chests, you are on the right path: the chests seem to be active the entire time no matter what is going on with the city/walls/ToT. I believe this is how the entire event should be, everything happening at the same time and independent of other 'phases' so we are free to do whatever we want when we want. Do you understand?

Late in the event when I (or you, or anyone) haven't gotten XYZ reward I would like to spend my time playing working towards that reward, not waiting for a certain phase to start/end, which is at minimum at even @Pawain 's math of 4 hours of the ToT + 90 minutes = 5.5 hour intervals between a certain phase happening.

Larisa said:

Well instead of doing the ToT portion in the dungeon, get on a thief and go find those chests!

Perfect time for that as most people are in the dungeon and you have free reign to go chest hunting..AND they keep respawning..which I like! I have yet to find one of the rare stealables..my guildmate found his first one today! But I love the hidden chests and so glad they brought them back!

Well instead of doing the ToT portion in the dungeon, get on a thief and go find those chests!

username said:

Pawain said:

Great write up, you win this award.

Tell me you have not actually done the event without telling us you haven't done the event.

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

I'd say 30 mins to  90min.  Depends how long they let phase 5 last.  The luck potion lasts an hour.  You should hope it takes more than an hour.

Correct, seems like you've not touched it yet. The ToT portion lasts 4 hours by itself (that's irrelevant of shard) and on Baja yesterday it took them ~2 hours to get through main city walls. Great troll post, as always!

Almost like this information is public and you can go look it up yourself if you haven't done the event yet.



So much for 30-90 minutes

Because they are talking about test center and the small shards which had 1 player breaking the walls and they went afk for 30 mins.  I was there taking pics.

It would be great if the ToT part lasted 4 hours. It usually lasts 22 hours. 

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

username said:

Pawain said:

Great write up, you win this award.

Tell me you have not actually done the event without telling us you haven't done the event.

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

I'd say 30 mins to  90min.  Depends how long they let phase 5 last.  The luck potion lasts an hour.  You should hope it takes more than an hour.

Correct, seems like you've not touched it yet. The ToT portion lasts 4 hours by itself (that's irrelevant of shard) and on Baja yesterday it took them ~2 hours to get through main city walls. Great troll post, as always!

Almost like this information is public and you can go look it up yourself if you haven't done the event yet.



So much for 30-90 minutes

Because they are talking about test center and the small shards which had 1 player breaking the walls and they went afk for 30 mins.  I was there taking pics.

It would be great if the ToT part lasted 4 hours. It usually lasts 22 hours. 

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

Pawain said:

Because they are talking about test center and the small shards which had 1 player breaking the walls and they went afk for 30 mins.  I was there taking pics.

It would be great if the ToT part lasted 4 hours. It usually lasts 22 hours. 

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

With wait times between phases and a 4 hour Tot you're looking at minimum of ~5.5 hours and that assumes all other phases are basically immediately defeated. With the void pool portion possibly going on for 2-3 hours, static 4 hour ToT, static wait times between, it could be 8-10 hours. That's insane if you're trying to chase a kill on the boss monster for 1 item. Even worse on Atlantic the thing will probably melt in 30s with 400 people attacking it. Lol

Yes, it would great if everything lasted the entire day so everyone could pick which activity they wanted! I don't think you realize but we're on the same side advocating for the same thing if that's your stance.

Pawain said:

username said:

Pawain said:

Great write up, you win this award.

Tell me you have not actually done the event without telling us you haven't done the event.

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

I'd say 30 mins to  90min.  Depends how long they let phase 5 last.  The luck potion lasts an hour.  You should hope it takes more than an hour.

Correct, seems like you've not touched it yet. The ToT portion lasts 4 hours by itself (that's irrelevant of shard) and on Baja yesterday it took them ~2 hours to get through main city walls. Great troll post, as always!

Almost like this information is public and you can go look it up yourself if you haven't done the event yet.



So much for 30-90 minutes

Because they are talking about test center and the small shards which had 1 player breaking the walls and they went afk for 30 mins.  I was there taking pics.

It would be great if the ToT part lasted 4 hours. It usually lasts 22 hours. 

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

username said:

Pawain said:

Because they are talking about test center and the small shards which had 1 player breaking the walls and they went afk for 30 mins.  I was there taking pics.

It would be great if the ToT part lasted 4 hours. It usually lasts 22 hours. 

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

With wait times between phases and a 4 hour Tot you're looking at minimum of ~5.5 hours and that assumes all other phases are basically immediately defeated. With the void pool portion possibly going on for 2-3 hours, static 4 hour ToT, static wait times between, it could be 8-10 hours. That's insane if you're trying to chase a kill on the boss monster for 1 item. Even worse on Atlantic the thing will probably melt in 30s with 400 people attacking it. Lol

Yes, it would great if everything lasted the entire day so everyone could pick which activity they wanted! I don't think you realize but we're on the same side advocating for the same thing if that's your stance.

Yes it would not surprise me if they opened a pure tot portion somewhere else.  Like they opened the ant hive.

Personally I also want a lot of some of the Boss monster drops from the satchel.

username said:

I don't think you realize but we're on the same side advocating for the same thing if that's your stance.

Nah, he just switch his gun ffrom shoulder, after his misinformation he did a Paiwan.

Pawain said:

Yes it would not surprise me if they opened a pure tot portion somewhere else.  Like they opened the ant hive.

"It would not surprise me if by the end of the event; they fill in a part of your demands"

Pawain said:

Come back when this has been on Atlantic for 3 days and tell us how long it takes.

Pawain said:

Come back when this is on Atlantic and tell us how long they take to do the other parts not on a timer.

As always in that left field.. with the "ratourous" twist; a total 180.



@username as you said tho.. you realize why they did that choice.. you just dislike it.. if they open everything all at once.. at all time.. bots will be at it 24/7, not a good look (they going to split their bots.. the same few name 24/7 "attended" on every spots).. here if everyone would be like @cookie and not writting their own script.. they will have to do some manual labor between phases.. like when you doing laundry in 70 min u need to put the clothes in the dryer..

Here if they can't datamine they can't do a good 24/7 bot..
PS: I agree tho.. kinda dumb knowing the constellation people does know and gonna mainstream that script for their users. So at the end.. who's really getting punish here? The legit dumb dumb.. that won't be 24/7 on multiple accounts.

I'd rather they open everything.. more options/fun while sanctioning the bad users and their bots.

KroDuK said:

@ username as you said tho.. you realize why they did that choice.. you just dislike it.. if they open everything all at once.. at all time.. bots will be at it 24/7, not a good look (they going to split their bots.. the same few name 24/7 "attended" on every spots).. here if everyone would be like @ cookie and not writting their own script.. they will have to do some manual labor between phases.. like when you doing laundry in 70 min u need to put the clothes in the dryer..

Here if they can't datamine they can't do a good 24/7 bot..
PS: I agree tho.. kinda dumb knowing the constellation people does know and gonna mainstream that script for their users. So at the end.. who's really getting punish here? The legit dumb dumb.

I'd rather they open everything.. more options/fun while sanctioning the bad users and their bots.

Oh for sure, that's the whole last section of my post 😂 It's dumb, and every instance I can think of UO devs trying to 'punish' bots at these events only ends up punishing legit players. Remember the """anti-afk""" in Deceit that punished players for standing still? Yea, well as we saw, mostly legitimate players were the ones standing still, tamers/archers, the sampire bot armies never stopped moving. Rotating cities, etc, all just different levels annoying for legit players, whereas bots are 100% afk and don't give a rats ass. 

Speaking of which, all 5 aspects are already being botted on Baja 24/7 so I think they need to realize that no 'complication' of these events is going to stop the constellation client. It's almost like they had a fix for this and they chickened out. Anyhow, a different topic for another time.

OPEN UP ALL ASPECTS AT ALL TIMES! LETS GET FIRING ON ALL CYLINDERS @Kyronix @Parallax

Just 2 Questions.

Can you gate players into phase 3?

Can you Gate players into phase 4, or does the entrance stay open while that part is going on?

I followed the group on Baja with my toon that is old has 33 skill in some swords skills.  Stat sheet is horrible. Just clothes on.  Just reporting what I saw. It wished I could lore the mobs and show you the stats. I wished I could try to cast a spell. 

The group did just fine both sessions that I saw parts of. 
Very few complaints in chat or overhead.  Yes they had to wait around for the walls.  But it was the first days, they will get more involved in helping each other.

You get 5 of a random resource in the drop satchel.  Give those to the crafters after the event.
Realize it takes a lot of shots to break the walls.  Use one of your mule accounts and make the

Reinforced Barrel then Barrel of explosives. 
Each wall panel takes 1% damage per hit.1 player throwing 100 bombs takes a while. 
5 players who made their own Barrel will take less time. 
Aim for the same panel, only need to break one. 
Damage spreads to other panels. 

You have to take down 2 walls.

Then you move to the Catapult area. 
A Crafter has to make A Siege Deployment Kit and a Siege Ammunition Kit

Put those into a catapult and you get 10 shots.  Again 1 player shooting 100 shots takes a longer time here.  Multiple players need to step up.  You have 8 Catapults that can be used.

More players cooperating, the faster it goes. 
More players killing gates, the faster it goes.

The next stage has Commanders which are like Captains.  Those drop 1 or 3 drops upon death to all that do enough damage.  If players call out where the next one spawned, more players will get drops. Some on TC were pretty mean with the void rain but that's been nerfed.  

Next is a Krampus like encounter with a wicked boss who drops a satchel with a chance for a  deco item.

Next is the ToT that lasts 4 hours instead of all day.  Shards that do the previous parts fastest will do more time per day at this part of the event.   

Then a void pool event in the city.

Then I think a 30 min wait before you can break the walls again, just like spawn events have.


I like all the parts of the event but, I want many points. So, I would rather play the parts where you get drops and the part where I can get many cubes.

Someone needs to craft the items needed to get to the assault during the downtime.  You can tame a few Clydesdales during the down time.

"After the Dungeon timer is up, Void Energy will fill the dungeon and begin damaging any player within.

You must immediately exit the dungeon, as the damage ramps up over time and will eventually kill you.

During this time, the Void forces have rallied and are attempting to take back control of Mistas."

They should make the time a random amount to kill off those not paying attention.

 

KroDuK said:

@ username as you said tho.. you realize why they did that choice.. you just dislike it.. if they open everything all at once.. at all time.. bots will be at it 24/7, not a good look (they going to split their bots.. the same few name 24/7 "attended" on every spots).. here if everyone would be like @ cookie and not writting their own script.. they will have to do some manual labor between phases.. like when you doing laundry in 70 min u need to put the clothes in the dryer..

I've been playing the event on Origin, on a 2 day old character, with zero support, no scripts, uninsured gear (didn't have any gold to insure the suit), full hardcore, been really enjoying it, I love the flow of the event through the stages. On the first 3 bosses, I found my LRC suit.

I think the way it goes from the town, to the dungeon behind it is really cool.
Crafters are involved - that makes the server have to work together - yes it is anti-bot, because Bots cannot just 24/7 the content.

I have had to work my arse off, especially in the dungeon, mages perform really badly in there, in 2 hours, I got 4 drops, while the warrior I was helping got 26 drops. Our fireballs - which is possibly our best spell, does very little damage. I've been casting like a demon, must have cast 1 million spells ie button presses, in the time warriors press 1 button, there is an issue with class balance imo. The mage spellbook is a nice reward - but very expensive - the FC sash is nice, but warriors now get a full set of Talismans - this equivalent set does not exist for mages yet - I hope some time in the future.

I'm loving the event, no complaints there - I would like it noted, Mages need some serious rebalancing in pvm, and pvp.

Cookie said:

I've been playing the event on Origin, on a 2 day old character, with zero support, no scripts,

I've stopped here.. Do I need to explain why?

KroDuK said:

Cookie said:

I've been playing the event on Origin, on a 2 day old character, with zero support, no scripts,

I've stopped here.. Do I need to explain why?

Yep?
Just seems like you will never be happy. 🙂

CovenantX said:

can't you just log out in a safe spot (in the dungeon, maybe using another client to keep the characters safe until they're fully logged out) and use another client to see when the event resets to log back in on the character(s) within the dungeon?   

 if so, you could skip the lock-out, assuming you're not getting overloaded with drops before you're able to freely leave and re-enter as the others are trying to fight their way back.

You are kicked out of Mistas and the Dungeon when the event ends. I’m not sure what would happen if a logged out character logged back in when it’s not active.

@username I was just fooling around on TC.  If there's 2 players trying to get into the city, the mobs that spawn outside the gate will most likely kill them over and over.  They will never get into Mistas.  Works great if a small group is there.  Then when you do get into Mistas with a couple of players, you can slowly kill the mobs and eventually kill the Commanders.  But there wont be a lot of drops/time.

I have no idea how many it will take to defeat a Champion.  What's going to happen when 2 players get to Stage 3 and find that they can not kill the Champion?

This will be the first ToT event where a player can't jump into a dungeon or landmass and find a spot and get drops solo at 2 am on most shards.


I just went on Baja and talked to the ones doing the event. They are on the second wall they have a group of 6 and growing. It's 11:30pm there.  They said at some point tonight there will not be enough players and they will basically stop until server up and the morning players get on.
But right now, there is a steady amount of new players going into the gate in Luna while I am writing this.  I'm sure they will finish this round of the event.  The next one wont begin until 2 or 3 am.

Give it a couple of weeks and we can see how it is going on shards not named Atlantic during the low use hours.  Players are going to have to work together more than they usually do to keep the event moving at a good pace the whole day.  

Pawain said:

Just 2 Questions.

Can you gate players into phase 3?

Can you Gate players into phase 4, or does the entrance stay open while that part is going on?

I followed the group on Baja with my toon that is old has 33 skill in some swords skills.  Stat sheet is horrible. Just clothes on.  Just reporting what I saw. It wished I could lore the mobs and show you the stats. I wished I could try to cast a spell. 

The group did just fine both sessions that I saw parts of. 
Very few complaints in chat or overhead.  Yes they had to wait around for the walls.  But it was the first days, they will get more involved in helping each other.

You get 5 of a random resource in the drop satchel.  Give those to the crafters after the event.
Realize it takes a lot of shots to break the walls.  Use one of your mule accounts and make the

Reinforced Barrel then Barrel of explosives. 
Each wall panel takes 1% damage per hit.1 player throwing 100 bombs takes a while. 
5 players who made their own Barrel will take less time. 
Aim for the same panel, only need to break one. 
Damage spreads to other panels. 

You have to take down 2 walls.

Then you move to the Catapult area. 
A Crafter has to make A Siege Deployment Kit and a Siege Ammunition Kit

Put those into a catapult and you get 10 shots.  Again 1 player shooting 100 shots takes a longer time here.  Multiple players need to step up.  You have 8 Catapults that can be used.

More players cooperating, the faster it goes. 
More players killing gates, the faster it goes.

The next stage has Commanders which are like Captains.  Those drop 1 or 3 drops upon death to all that do enough damage.  If players call out where the next one spawned, more players will get drops. Some on TC were pretty mean with the void rain but that's been nerfed.  

Next is a Krampus like encounter with a wicked boss who drops a satchel with a chance for a  deco item.

Next is the ToT that lasts 4 hours instead of all day.  Shards that do the previous parts fastest will do more time per day at this part of the event.   

Then a void pool event in the city.

Then I think a 30 min wait before you can break the walls again, just like spawn events have.


I like all the parts of the event but, I want many points. So, I would rather play the parts where you get drops and the part where I can get many cubes.

Someone needs to craft the items needed to get to the assault during the downtime.  You can tame a few Clydesdales during the down time.

@popps ; you make the items with your crafter and put them in a container.  Log off and bring in your fighter.  Grab them on your fighter and go to the event.

Your fighter can throw bombs and operate the catapults with the items your crafter made.
You could take your crafter there, he will get rubble and maybe a few drops.  But, its best to go there with your Fighter or Rouge, so you can blow stuff up and get to the next part without changing toons.

You may be able to make some gold by putting the crafted items on your vendor.  Name the items so they show up in vendor search. You could drop some runes by Luna gate and Honesty gate so players can by your explosives as they need them.

Players will buy explosives and elixirs if they can find your vendor.

@popps as for what templates,  Any template that can kill stuff is helpful at the walls and city gate.  Either melee or a mage using area spells kills the most.  Kill the red gates so the others don't get overwhelmed.

Tamers can kill stuff with a pet and area spells, melee can WW. Distance templates can shoot arrows or throw at mobs.  Archer/Thrower can help with the gates because they appear away from the crowd.

When you get into the city, any template that can damage will be fine.  Concentrate on the Commanders so you get a drop/s from each of of them.  Melee WW will kill more mobs per time.

For the Champion, any template will work, kill the spawn to help others.  Ideally I would want my tamer for the champion.  I'm going to attempt to drag around a melee and tamer to all of the parts.

For the Dungeon, bring a toon that can move and kill fast.  All templates can get drops, Melee will most likely get more drops per time because they can kill faster.  there are multiple entrances to Ankh dungeon, there may be a certain one that you find better to use for your play style.

I'm going to try all of my different templates and see which I like and which can get drops the fastest.

@Pawain There is only one way into Ankh Dungeon in this event. That is thru Mistas after the final boss has been defeated and the barrier opened.

Pawain said:

@ popps as for what templates,  Any template that can kill stuff is helpful at the walls and city gate.  Either melee or a mage using area spells kills the most.  Kill the red gates so the others don't get overwhelmed.

Tamers can kill stuff with a pet and area spells, melee can WW. Distance templates can shoot arrows or throw at mobs.  Archer/Thrower can help with the gates because they appear away from the crowd.

When you get into the city, any template that can damage will be fine.  Concentrate on the Commanders so you get a drop/s from each of of them.  Melee WW will kill more mobs per time.

For the Champion, any template will work, kill the spawn to help others.  Ideally I would want my tamer for the champion.  I'm going to attempt to drag around a melee and tamer to all of the parts.

For the Dungeon, bring a toon that can move and kill fast.  All templates can get drops, Melee will most likely get more drops per time because they can kill faster.  there are multiple entrances to Ankh dungeon, there may be a certain one that you find better to use for your play style.

I'm going to try all of my different templates and see which I like and which can get drops the fastest.

Any template that can kill stuff is helpful at the walls and city gate.  Either melee or a mage using area spells kills the most.  Kill the red gates so the others don't get overwhelmed.

For the Champion, any template will work, kill the spawn to help others.  Ideally I would want my tamer for the champion.  I'm going to attempt to drag around a melee and tamer to all of the parts.

For the Dungeon, bring a toon that can move and kill fast. 

Pawain said:

@ popps  you make the items with your crafter and put them in a container.  Log off and bring in your fighter.  Grab them on your fighter and go to the event.

Your fighter can throw bombs and operate the catapults with the items your crafter made.
You could take your crafter there, he will get rubble and maybe a few drops.  But, its best to go there with your Fighter or Rouge, so you can blow stuff up and get to the next part without changing toons.

You may be able to make some gold by putting the crafted items on your vendor.  Name the items so they show up in vendor search. You could drop some runes by Luna gate and Honesty gate so players can by your explosives as they need them.

Players will buy explosives and elixirs if they can find your vendor.

You could take your crafter there, he will get rubble and maybe a few drops.

NO! if you had read other posts you would see that if warriors guard the main gate, a crafter with a beetle full of ammunition can safely operate the catapult, getting rubble and drops as they do so.

Mariah said:

NO! if you had read other posts you would see that if warriors guard the main gate, a crafter with a beetle full of ammunition can safely operate the catapult, getting rubble and drops as they do so.

But it "has to be" a crafter in order to get rubble and drops when using bombs or operating the catapults, or the same rubble and drops can "also" be obtained by a fighter with no crafting skills and who did not craft any of the siege ammunitions or catapults but is only operating them ?

popps said:

Thank you for the heads up... from reading other players' posts, I got the impression that Mages might not be doing as good as other templates for this Event... a post I read was mentioning that with a Mage, the player was getting much less drops as a fellow player using a Warrior, for example... not sure about other templates like tamers, bards or spellcasters like Mystics, Necromancers etc.

Ok, an update, as I've put some serious mage time in on this now. I've got the FC1 sash on my 3 day mage, I'm happy, working towards the spellbook now, thats going to be harder.

Stage 1. Crafters and anything, to catapult walls, and kill mobs, I've not found this very great for drops, just a stage you have to get through.

Stage 2 - on the Mage, this is the ultimate Stage - I got 40 drops in 1 hour - 7 odd bosses, and a main Boss. Each boss I get 3-5 drops on the mage. The main boss was hard, he has an ability to mass kill, which when you have 60k gold in the bank, wipes you out - but he gives a cool satchel with possible rewards and a lot of drops - 6-7.

Then the final 4 hours dungeon stage, on the mage, I got nothing pretty much. In 2 hours of fighting so hard, I got 4 drops, and my warrior companion got 26 drops, we cleared the whole dungeon which was cool, then the mobs get heavier and heavier, it's cool for sure.

What I would do is - Craft/anything, then Mage, then Warrior.

Stage 5 - an invasion style back in the town, was a complete wipe-out, I've only done it once, and paragon Void Hounds everywhere, we didn't stand a chance, you have to protect NPC's in the middle of the town, there is nothing strategic you can do, as you are out in the open with mobs coming from all sides. I need to see this stage on Europa or Atlantic, to see the real possibilities. The Town Leader needs to be sacked, you would never hold a defensive position there. 🙂

No, it doesn't have to be the crafter, whoever operates the catapult will get the drops. BUT the siege ammunition kits weigh 30 stones each, and it's the one way that crafters can get their own drops.

Mariah said:

No, it doesn't have to be the crafter, whoever operates the catapult will get the drops. BUT the siege ammunition kits weigh 30 stones each, and it's the one way that crafters can get their own drops.

Yeah, I was generalizing, emphasising the point that is Crafter stage.

popps said:

Pawain said:

@ popps  you make the items with your crafter and put them in a container.  Log off and bring in your fighter.  Grab them on your fighter and go to the event.

Your fighter can throw bombs and operate the catapults with the items your crafter made.
You could take your crafter there, he will get rubble and maybe a few drops.  But, its best to go there with your Fighter or Rouge, so you can blow stuff up and get to the next part without changing toons.

You may be able to make some gold by putting the crafted items on your vendor.  Name the items so they show up in vendor search. You could drop some runes by Luna gate and Honesty gate so players can by your explosives as they need them.

Players will buy explosives and elixirs if they can find your vendor.

You could take your crafter there, he will get rubble and maybe a few drops.

Not sure I understood, can you please clarify this ?

You mention that the fighter can use bombs and operate catapults made by crafters but then mention to take the crafter there in order to get rubble and a few drops...

Does this mean that, even if the fighter throws bombs and operates catapults, only the crafters who crafted them (if they are logged and present in the area) can actually get rubble and other drops, not the fighter who operates them ?

Thanks for the clarification.

Shirley you can't be serious... 

James said:

@ Pawain There is only one way into Ankh Dungeon in this event. That is thru Mistas after the final boss has been defeated and the barrier opened.

Thanks.  Darn I was hoping for my own little area at one of the other entries 

Can you make a gate to let others join while fighting the Champion?

@popps whoever throws bombs or shoots catapults get rubble.  The scorched rubble seems to be less common or bad RNG for me.

The elixir acts as a void slayer.  Put on a weapon or book. 

I'll Lore mobs when it's on LS to see what their resists are.  If like the void mobs in royal city, fire and poison would fit the fewest.  Many of those are lowest in cold and energy.  A double axe or the new War Hammers will be great for this.

For casting you'll want high SDI and a 6 focus to do more damage, and pour the elixir on your book.

As cookie said, ideally you would change toons in different phases.

When the event began on Baja most melee toons had thier undead fire weapons from the last event in hand.
Also no elixirs,  they were progressing just fine with the group.  Seems they have few tamers there. 

Yes all templates can get drops, but whoever can kill the most mobs the quickest will get the most drops.
The devs added annoyances to the Commaders  to dismount, disarm melee players.  The champions do nasty things to player next to them.  This slows down melee damage in these parts. 

Look at the Cah page for these specific things.

No Lore sheets are posted for Champions yet,  but most likely Cu, Bear, Triton. Will be the best pets because of the damage spread.

@Pawain You can not gate into IIshenar.

James said:

@ Pawain You can not gate into IIshenar.

Thanks

So if two players go into the Champions phase, there is no way for others to join?

Is there a timer on that phase?  If I was one of the 2 players, we would be there dead.

Pawain said:

James said:

@ Pawain You can not gate into IIshenar.

Thanks

So if two players go into the Champions phase, there is no way for others to join?

Is there a timer on that phase?  If I was one of the 2 players, we would be there dead.

After the bridge and town barrier’s are opened, anyone can come and go as they want. The boss fights are open to everyone.

James said:

Pawain said:

James said:

@ Pawain You can not gate into IIshenar.

Thanks

So if two players go into the Champions phase, there is no way for others to join?

Is there a timer on that phase?  If I was one of the 2 players, we would be there dead.

After the bridge and town barrier’s are opened, anyone can come and go as they want. The boss fights are open to everyone.

Thanks.

I was confused about the rifts,  I thought they were gates and you fight them in another area.
Too many EM events.


When the City  gates are breached.  Players can find something to kill.

This is 2 of the 9 Bosses before the final Boss.

James said:

This is 2 of the 9 Bosses before the final Boss.

This is last night with the event bots

@username

I stand by my time estimate 90 minutes or less for Atlantic to do the event and take it to ToT mode.

So Atlantic and other shards can work together.
Crash the walls
Kill the Commanders   (Just like the Cowboys will do this season!)
Kill the champion
in 90 or less minutes.

At that point its ToT time.  

Then a 30 min wait.

So a 2 hour or less wait for active shards between ToTs.
Players are still getting drops during this "wait" time. Commanders give drops.

Some shards will have 4 or 5 hour waits for the ToT, but they are fighting during this time. The wall is the downtime for those not throwing bombs or shooting catapults.  

In off hours on small shards.  A person could log on a few times a day and the walls will still be up. They may break down a wall but can they fight the mobs on the bridge and get to the next wall.

In the past we could log on an hour at any time and gets max drops per hour.

This is the weak point in this event.  If the walls are down, a solo player can get some drops.
If the walls are up.  They may not be able to reach the city.  I can't.

@popps ; this is where your vendor can sell bombs and siege kits. When a casual player wants to try to break the walls. 

I play during primetime on LS.  There will be enough players for weeks.  We will have a lot of fun!

Pawain said:

@ username

I stand by my time estimate 90 minutes or less for Atlantic to do the event and take it to ToT mode.

So 90 minutes to get to a 4 hour wait. You're already at 5.5 before the void pool portion lasts. 
So, what you're trying to say is that my estimate of 6-8 hours between stages starting is exactly correct? Thanks!

90 minutes + 240 minutes for ToT + at minimum 60 minutes for void pool + 30 minutes between = 7 hours for a full cycle

90 minutes + 240 minutes for ToT + at crazy maximum 180 minutes for void pool + 30 minutes between = 9 hours for a full cycle

So if I am looking to get the Boss kill, and I am unlucky and log on as it dies, I could potentially have to wait 9 hours on Atlantic to get another shot to kill it? LOL! F**king dumb.

ACTIVATE ALL PARTS OF THE EVENT 24/7 @Kyronix @Parallax ;

(or don't activate the ToT 24/7 cause it's a bot fest, screw them)

I stand by the suggestion in the original post, with a minor tweak:

• Have the walls respawn every X minutes (with some way of bypassing them to get in to the city, maybe a rope bridge/tunnel), my suggestion X= 15 minutes
• Have the commanders spawn every X minutes, only one at a time (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool), my suggestion X=2-5 minutes
• Have the boss spawn X minutes after all commanders have died (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool). my suggestion X=2-5 minutes, then put it on a 15 minute timer before commanders spawn again.
• Run the void pool on a X minute interval in the center of the town. My suggestion X=15 minutes.
• Run the ToT portion on an 4hr on / 1-2hr off cycle. Or run it 24/7. Or just remove it, ToTs are boring bot fests, lets wean people off them.

The void pool portion could be moved to the center of the Serpentine Pass to not interfere with the other parts of the event, instead of moving the champions/boss to the side.

username said:

Pawain said:

@ username

I stand by my time estimate 90 minutes or less for Atlantic to do the event and take it to ToT mode.

So 90 minutes to get to a 4 hour wait. You're already at 5.5 before the void pool portion lasts. 
So, what you're trying to say is that my estimate of 6-8 hours between stages starting is exactly correct? Thanks!

90 minutes + 240 minutes for ToT + at minimum 60 minutes for void pool + 30 minutes between = 7 hours for a full cycle

90 minutes + 240 minutes for ToT + at crazy maximum 180 minutes for void pool + 30 minutes between = 9 hours for a full cycle

So if I am looking to get the Boss kill, and I am unlucky and log on as it dies, I could potentially have to wait 9 hours on Atlantic to get another shot to kill it? LOL! F**king dumb.

ACTIVATE ALL PARTS OF THE EVENT 24/7 @ Kyronix @ Parallax 

(or don't activate the ToT 24/7 cause it's a bot fest, screw them)

I stand by the suggestion in the original post, with a minor tweak:

• Have the walls respawn every X minutes (with some way of bypassing them to get in to the city, maybe a rope bridge/tunnel), my suggestion X= 15 minutes
• Have the commanders spawn every X minutes, only one at a time (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool), my suggestion X=2-5 minutes
• Have the boss spawn X minutes after all commanders have died (on the outskirts of the city, tether there so they don't interfere with the void pool). my suggestion X=2-5 minutes, then put it on a 15 minute timer before commanders spawn again.
• Run the void pool on a X minute interval in the center of the town. My suggestion X=15 minutes.
• Run the ToT portion on an 4hr on / 1-2hr off cycle. Or run it 24/7. Or just remove it, ToTs are boring bot fests, lets wean people off them.

The void pool portion could be moved to the center of the Serpentine Pass to not interfere with the other parts of the event, instead of moving the champions/boss to the side.

Based on our small group of visiting EM bots most Atlantic players won't get looting rights or even see a mob in some cases...

Grimbeard said:

Based on our small group of visiting EM bots most Atlantic players won't get looting rights or even see a mob in some cases...

This is definitely on of my worries...

CovenantX said:

The main difference from what you say (and it may actually be in omitted details?) is that I'd have the bosses/Void-pool phases combined, and have one boss spawn every 10 waves, void-pool ends after the final boss spawns and is killed. each boss would have gaurenteed drops to each player with looting rights, as well as the trash mobs during each wave slightly increasing drop-rates with difficulty, and it would be the one part of the event meant for 'all' players to merge unto where the oher activities are more 'at your own pace' kind of things.

all phases of the event should be active pretty much at all times so there are different ways to play and still make progress toward the reward items you're interested in.

the key to it though, is to make each farming method to be as equally rewarding (for points toward the main event rewards) as the others, unique rewards for each "phase" also helps, so it offers something to those who just want to break up the monotony, so players don't feel pigeon-holed into a specific part of the content because it's more efficient than the others.    

I definitely agree about the bot-fest part -but the GMs do nothing about them, and devs shouldn't be creating events that are so bad for the players only bots are going to do it.  that's normally what happens when they take "how can we make bots have a bad time?" -if that's ever even part of the conversation. cause it always has basically the opposite effects.  and oddly enough, bots seem largely unaffected.

I agree with all that is said. Adding the champs as an interval spawn for the void pool would be a nice idea, there are definitely merits to either suggested ways, and either way would be better than it is now. I hope they take our advice on this as I think they've really thought out the event and rewards, but, have completely failed on the delivery method with this progressive event style. It's just isn't going to work.

Sadly, that's all these ToTs have been, boring grindfest that mostly appeal to bots... that's why I said we should phase it out. But really, the constellation needs to be dealt with and it wouldn't be a problem. Anyways, as I've mentioned in my original post, they're doing oh-so obvious anti-bot measures, which only ever end up hurting the legit attended players. I really have to run from the moongate, through the city, through the pass, to the dungeon just to participate in the ToT? That's a damn joke and is clearly some sort of pathetic anti-bot measure, along with it all in Ilshenar and all on a tight timer. But it wouldn't be a problem if all aspects were running 24/7, then a few minute walk isn't as bad.

On EM event night I used a Mystic Tamer w/Triton (AI, Chiv, Goo). Tons of BOTs - hard to see where the commanders & champ was nor was I able to keep sight of pet, except when it came back to me in ghost form.  I got 25 drops and rubble  of all the Commanders and a satchel from the Boss. Of the 10 "targets" I could only capture 3-4 of their name tags so I could command pet to "all kill" on the other 7 I would get as close as possible, command pet "all guard" me and then spam earthquake. It was definitely a preview of upcoming ATL chaos! The dungeon itself was ant-climatic and i barely got 5-7 further drops.

Hippo said:

On EM event night I used a Mystic Tamer w/Triton (AI, Chiv, Goo). Tons of BOTs - hard to see where the commanders & champ was nor was I able to keep sight of pet, except when it came back to me in ghost form.  I got 25 drops and rubble  of all the Commanders and a satchel from the Boss. Of the 10 "targets" I could only capture 3-4 of their name tags so I could command pet to "all kill" on the other 7 I would get as close as possible, command pet "all guard" me and then spam earthquake. It was definitely a preview of upcoming ATL chaos! The dungeon itself was ant-climatic and i barely got 5-7 further drops.

The blatant obviousness was sad I don't care if they are attended any group of 4 or 5 gargoyles casting the same pally spells over and over in perfect unison should be banned I assume they are At least paying accounts ej should not get any drops period 

The Crafters should be "passing the hat" at the end of Phase 3 to get reimbursed for the ingredients used to make the bombs and kits. The BOTs alone should be getting a large amount of Void Orbs, Black Crystalline and blackrock pieces.

Hippo said:

On EM event night I used a Mystic Tamer w/Triton (AI, Chiv, Goo). Tons of BOTs - hard to see where the commanders & champ was nor was I able to keep sight of pet, except when it came back to me in ghost form.  I got 25 drops and rubble  of all the Commanders and a satchel from the Boss. Of the 10 "targets" I could only capture 3-4 of their name tags so I could command pet to "all kill" on the other 7 I would get as close as possible, command pet "all guard" me and then spam earthquake. It was definitely a preview of upcoming ATL chaos! The dungeon itself was ant-climatic and i barely got 5-7 further drops.

It's infuriating how blatantly obvious it is and the developers ignoring it creates conspiracy theories and a negative culture 

Hippo said:

The Crafters should be "passing the hat" at the end of Phase 3 to get reimbursed for the ingredients used to make the bombs and kits. The BOTs alone should be getting a large amount of Void Orbs, Black Crystalline and blackrock pieces.

Yes call out in chat for others to take the Resources from the bag and give to crafters.

Players dropped the previous bags with gems.

They have this event setup where AI doesn’t work on the Bosses.

Hippo said:

The Crafters should be "passing the hat" at the end of Phase 3 to get reimbursed for the ingredients used to make the bombs and kits. The BOTs alone should be getting a large amount of Void Orbs, Black Crystalline and blackrock pieces.

I agree, players should be giving them resources.

James said:

They have this event setup where AI doesn’t work on the Bosses.

Might make so more players can get credit.

Instead of ruining whole idea of event and phases I better see that all rewards that I pick from vendor will cost 1 artifact but become account bound, so if I have no time or interest but need arts from event I can eventually get in to few runs and buy all arts I need and then I can go back to my activities I like. After you bought first item for 1 point second will cost normal price and will have no account bound property.

James said:

They have this event setup where AI doesn’t work on the Bosses.

No, only US shards. The rest of the world will have to wait till next server up

keven2002 said:

FYI - Looks like publish is live on all shards now.

Cool. No heads up and still awful. Good job devs. I can't wait for my 1 in 9-hour chance to kill the boss where I don't get loot rights.

Hippo said:

The Crafters should be "passing the hat" at the end of Phase 3 to get reimbursed for the ingredients used to make the bombs and kits. The BOTs alone should be getting a large amount of Void Orbs, Black Crystalline and blackrock pieces.

username said:

keven2002 said:

FYI - Looks like publish is live on all shards now.

Cool. No heads up.

They have not tried anything but the Clydesdales on LS so far.  

Most did not know it was active, till I told them.

It is on the Patch screen.

I made some things to break the walls and stuck on a Vendor.  I play night shift, not days.

Yep this event is truly a joke @Kyronix by the time I was out of the dungeon and back in the city the void pool was already started and we'd lost a bit and then it ended within 8 minutes BECAUSE THE SPAWN IS IMPOSSIBLY HARD WHY ON EARTH DID YOU MAKE IT RAMP UP SO FAST
Joke event. Time to just go grab constellation client and bot this game so dumb. Why even bother anymore.

Final straw if this game doesn't get fixed I'm out. Peace.

username said:

Yep this event is truly a joke @ Kyronix by the time I was out of the dungeon and back in the city the void pool was already started and we'd lost a bit and then it ended within 8 minutes BECAUSE THE SPAWN IS IMPOSSIBLY HARD WHY ON EARTH DID YOU MAKE IT RAMP UP SO FAST
Joke event. Time to just go grab constellation client and bot this game so dumb. Why even bother anymore.

You said that part would take hours!  😂

Pawain said:

username said:

Yep this event is truly a joke @ Kyronix by the time I was out of the dungeon and back in the city the void pool was already started and we'd lost a bit and then it ended within 8 minutes BECAUSE THE SPAWN IS IMPOSSIBLY HARD WHY ON EARTH DID YOU MAKE IT RAMP UP SO FAST
Joke event. Time to just go grab constellation client and bot this game so dumb. Why even bother anymore.

You said that part would take hours!  😂

Ironically I was never able to catch it on Baja because you know the event takes 6 hours start to back up. I made that clear. Now I know why I wasn't able to catch it, it F**KING FAILS IMMEDIATELY, just like @Kyronix has at this event. You don't listen to ANY player feedback.

Sucks, I'm done, just close the thread @Mariah

They don't care, I don't care

Somehow with out the off shard trash Baja got it open this morning 

Grimbeard said:

Somehow with out the off shard trash Baja got it open this morning 

I didn't see any off shard chars help with breaking down the doors anyways, they just say there with their auto attack bots at the door for hours on end.

Of all of the events I've been around for in recent history... There really end up being two groups. Atlantic events, and every other server. Because of the population disparity between Atlantic and the rest of the game, it causes several other issues, like lag, difficulty, ability to do the events. It really causes them to have to design the events differently on Atlantic, to support the different needs of the player base.

The build was tested, likely by a small group - nothing that is going to match all the players on Atlantic AND their 27 accounts following them around throwing at every target. Once the events go live, especially recently, the dev team has done an excellent job of both balancing the event AND reducing the lag.

Last event, they opened it to the solen hives, which was AMAZING as a solo player to run through and get drops. I could get 100+ an hour, where in the normal town invasions I could barely get 10 due to overpopulation and lag.



So... My plan for this event, I'm just going to skip the first week or two, until they observe it and work out some of the kinks.

Does that kind of suck to miss out on the newest shiniest greatest things immediately? Yeah, it does. Does the event last until September? Yeah, it does. It's a personal choice, I can do something better with my time and wait for fixes, solutions, and understanding, and then once it's worked out I can go in and enjoy it at my own pace and leisure.

It seems they are attempting to implement something to deter the flappers out there running around in a train, so we'll see what happens over the next few weeks.