Infinite Archive U43 is amazing!

SilverBride · August 20

I got the Werewolf Marauder, but he killed me so fast I didn't have time to see what mechanics, if any, he was using.

Faulgor · August 20

Maybe I'd care if they didn't completely kill my frost Warden.

EF321 · August 20

This new vision gives you permanent pet, which seemed cool until I realized that it counts for sorc's pet/no-pet boons and it took away my Hardened Ward heal

ESO_player123 · August 20

EF321 wrote: »

This new vision gives you permanent pet, which seemed cool until I realized that it counts for sorc's pet/no-pet boons and it took away my Hardened Ward heal

That is not cool at all. I did choose it so it counted towards the achievement and kind of liked it. But if that is how it works then I will skip it in the future.

Dagoth_Rac · August 20

EF321 wrote: »

This new vision gives you permanent pet, which seemed cool until I realized that it counts for sorc's pet/no-pet boons and it took away my Hardened Ward heal

Does it also take away max magicka/stamina and replace with max health (Expert Summoner passive)?

EF321 · August 20

Dagoth_Rac wrote: »

EF321 wrote: »

This new vision gives you permanent pet, which seemed cool until I realized that it counts for sorc's pet/no-pet boons and it took away my Hardened Ward heal

Does it also take away max magicka/stamina and replace with max health (Expert Summoner passive)?

Yes, and turns class mastery script into heal instead of aoe damage.

SkaiFaith · August 20

Grec1a wrote: »

After months of blood, sweat, tears and failed attempts I eventually managed to complete the daily quest 47 times. Thanks to Xynode's IA mechanics guide, I'd managed to defeat nearly all the Arc 1 bosses at least once. Imagine my disappointment today when - with just 3 fragments to go to get the mount - I found they'd made IA harder, with new bosses that weren't in the guide.

To my huge relief, my second run was 100% 'old' content, but who knows when I'll be able to get those last two fragments? "More difficulty" may equal "more fun" for some players, but not all of us...

@Grec1a since you've run IA 47 times you should have enough IA currencies to spend at Filer Ool, which has a rotating store with items such as the collectibles you need to obtain the mount you desire!
You could not even need to run IA anymore and just wait for the week your needed item is on sale...

Aurielle · August 20

The updates are kinda neat, but playing IA again today to Arc 4 reminded me again why I don’t bother with IA in general… it’s such a slog, especially from Arc 3 onwards.

Junipus · August 20

EF321 wrote: »

This new vision gives you permanent pet, which seemed cool until I realized that it counts for sorc's pet/no-pet boons and it took away my Hardened Ward heal

It also comes into the portals to the unknown with you, particularly when fighting Aramril which gives you an unexpected buff since none of the other verses or visions transfer over as well.

M1SHAAN · August 21

I've been having a great time with most of the new additions too! However, I have many questions about the new meteor mechanic. In the run my partner and I did it wiped us all three times we got it (including once after we had completed the stage, though thankfully it didn't reset it or take our thread).

What stages can the meteors spawn in? Our first was in one of the new fire stages, which made sense. But then the second one dropped in a stage that didn't have any lava/fire at all (iirc it was one of the ones with inky liquid on the ground). Do we have to constantly be looking over our shoulder for these things?
Can the meteors drop anywhere in the stage? If so that sucks for huge stages where you might not have line of sight to everywhere.
How long do you have to kill the meteors before they explode? All three times we got them we barely realized they were there before they exploded and killed us. They seemed to have a decent chunk of health, too- do we have a rough idea of how much of a dps check this is, assuming you notice them right away?
Are the meteors a guaranteed one-shot or can you build tanky / block / dodge / survive some other way?

Any insights folks have on any of these questions would be much appreciated

Stafford197 · August 21

Have they added an option to Save our progress in any way?

Infinite Archive was interesting when it was new, but the idea of needing to run for many hours on end to get to high arcs is just not appealing.

Thoriorz · August 21

Stafford197 wrote: »

Have they added an option to Save our progress in any way?

Infinite Archive was interesting when it was new, but the idea of needing to run for many hours on end to get to high arcs is just not appealing.

This.

ZOS can add a million cool things, but until you can't save progress in IA, so I'm going 2 arc and bye. Being there for xy hours straight is not my cup of tea unfortunately.

SilverBride · August 21

Same for me.

I had cut down to just one Arc, but now after the changes I am doing two so I can get the new quests done. But I will probably go back to just one Arc again after the new wears off because sitting that long without getting up etc. is just too tiring.

I really don't see why a save would be bad. We still only get a certain amount of threads, and when those are gone that run is over. Does it really matter if we use them all in one sitting or a few?

pklemming · August 21

Um, were we playing the same thing? The introduction of meteor mechanics, effectively putting a hard cap on (in)finite archive. The introduction of SE, DSR and LC mechanics to the game. The watering down of FE with new visions, but no visions really taking up any of that slack, making it even more of a slog than before. I still get tired after 4-5 hours in there, but my average arcs completed is now less. We don't die, we leave due to fatigue.

One of the new fire arenas is so small that if you get a marauder there on a higher arc, you have zero space to avoid mechs

Bittog seems a tad overtuned, too.

Imo, it actually made it a lot worse. New stuff, sure. Better, no.

They need to look at something like Vampire survivors. Whilst not the same, it is roguelite and stupidly addictive. An example of a well made game, that draws you back time and again. All I feel after 5 hours in IA is not wanting to go back again. I will for achieves, then leave it alone again. They seemed to miss the essence of what makes a good roguelite actually good.

tomofhyrule · August 21

M1SHAAN wrote: »

I've been having a great time with most of the new additions too! However, I have many questions about the new meteor mechanic. In the run my partner and I did it wiped us all three times we got it (including once after we had completed the stage, though thankfully it didn't reset it or take our thread).
What stages can the meteors spawn in? Our first was in one of the new fire stages, which made sense. But then the second one dropped in a stage that didn't have any lava/fire at all (iirc it was one of the ones with inky liquid on the ground). Do we have to constantly be looking over our shoulder for these things?

Can the meteors drop anywhere in the stage? If so that sucks for huge stages where you might not have line of sight to everywhere.

How long do you have to kill the meteors before they explode? All three times we got them we barely realized they were there before they exploded and killed us. They seemed to have a decent chunk of health, too- do we have a rough idea of how much of a dps check this is, assuming you notice them right away?

Are the meteors a guaranteed one-shot or can you build tanky / block / dodge / survive some other way?

Any insights folks have on any of these questions would be much appreciated

The new meteors are spawned by the Fabled Mystics. That means they could appear as early as cycle 1.4 when the Fabled start showing up.

You always want to focus the Fabled down, but the meteors make the Mystics probably the highest priority. They'll spawn one in every so often - I didn't time it, but it feels like it's around a minute. It has the same countdown as you have in Rockgrove or Scriveners of about 10-15 seconds to kill the meteor before it explodes, but I don't know what the health is. I think it's somewhere around 200k plus or minus.

I have a full tank in the Archive and I can survive one blowing up - it takes me to about 30-40% from full. I am in all heavy and specced mostly into health though (which means there's no way I'm making the DPS check).

Gabriel_H · August 21

The two new marauders, as well as Gothmau, need some tuning for solo runs. Other than that, it be fun additions.

Aurielle · August 21

Thoriorz wrote: »

Stafford197 wrote: »

Have they added an option to Save our progress in any way?

Infinite Archive was interesting when it was new, but the idea of needing to run for many hours on end to get to high arcs is just not appealing.

This.

ZOS can add a million cool things, but until you can't save progress in IA, so I'm going 2 arc and bye. Being there for xy hours straight is not my cup of tea unfortunately.

Agreed. It’s frankly unhealthy. Even just sticking around to Arc 4 yesterday was more time spent sitting still than ideal — in fact, I ended it there mainly because my hands were cramping up and aching from holding the controller, and I had a wicked headache. If leaderboards are the issue, just have the game disable posting your leaderboard score if you log out at any point. I personally don’t care about the leaderboard, but am interested in pushing myself for the skill challenge. Playing progressively harder content for multiple hours in a single sitting with no opportunity to take a break longer than the time it takes to be auto-logged out sounds like a great way to develop a repetitive overuse injury (or have a stroke).

Jaimeh · August 21

Gabriel_H wrote: »

The two new marauders, as well as Gothmau, need some tuning for solo runs. Other than that, it be fun additions.

For me it's the new fabled mobs that need tuning, for eg., in higher arcs having the mechanics from the fabled mobs (like the storm from RG or the potions from DSR) during the new fire and ice arenas, and while you also have Thoat's extra mechanics (like the blobs or the beam) is a bit much...

Gabriel_H · August 21

Jaimeh wrote: »

For me it's the new fabled mobs that need tuning, for eg., in higher arcs having the mechanics from the fabled mobs (like the storm from RG or the potions from DSR) during the new fire and ice arenas, and while you also have Thoat's extra mechanics (like the blobs or the beam) is a bit much...

Storm is no different to the fabled fire and just needs interrupting. Brewmaster you can avoid his potion but I will say the shield they get needs removing - it's basically a dps check that can be failed if you don't have the right visions/verses. Lightbringer definitely needs a tune down and/or not to have a marauder spawn while it is alive.

alpha_synuclein · August 21

pklemming wrote: »

Um, were we playing the same thing? The introduction of meteor mechanics, effectively putting a hard cap on (in)finite archive. The introduction of SE, DSR and LC mechanics to the game. The watering down of FE with new visions, but no visions really taking up any of that slack, making it even more of a slog than before. I still get tired after 4-5 hours in there, but my average arcs completed is now less. We don't die, we leave due to fatigue.

For me the new mechs was the most fun part. It's good to have something different for a change. And the fact that the potion mech is now available to use (and works on bosses!) is very satisfying.

I'll agree on the time issue and need for save. I rarely get more than 2-3 hours of play in one sitting, and it won't get me past arc 6... It would be cool to see what's beyond.

pklemming wrote: »

One of the new fire arenas is so small that if you get a marauder there on a higher arc, you have zero space to avoid mechs

And this. We got Brewmaster, Lightbringer and the meteor guy on this arena. You can barely see a thing. Gothmau there would be a death sentence.

M1SHAAN · August 21

tomofhyrule wrote: »

The new meteors are spawned by the Fabled Mystics. That means they could appear as early as cycle 1.4 when the Fabled start showing up.

You always want to focus the Fabled down, but the meteors make the Mystics probably the highest priority. They'll spawn one in every so often - I didn't time it, but it feels like it's around a minute. It has the same countdown as you have in Rockgrove or Scriveners of about 10-15 seconds to kill the meteor before it explodes, but I don't know what the health is. I think it's somewhere around 200k plus or minus.

I have a full tank in the Archive and I can survive one blowing up - it takes me to about 30-40% from full. I am in all heavy and specced mostly into health though (which means there's no way I'm making the DPS check).

Ohhhh that makes total sense! We caught on to the mechs for the other new Fabled pretty quick but we didn't see the Mystics doing anything that seemed particularly dangerous so we'd focus on the others. Those sneaky fetchers! Thanks for all the info, I think I'm ready for a rematch with them now

Hvíthákarl · August 21

Aurielle wrote: »

Agreed. It’s frankly unhealthy. Even just sticking around to Arc 4 yesterday was more time spent sitting still than ideal — in fact, I ended it there mainly because my hands were cramping up and aching from holding the controller, and I had a wicked headache.

The fact they haven't addressed this is baffling. Are they just ignoring whoever is pointing out at this OBVIOUS issue (unless you think your playerbase is comprised of automatons instead of actual people)? The possibility of no one noticing is real but I refuse to believe literally no one in the whole studio came up with the idea.

Re: The leaderboard. I wouldn't mind if they disable it for saved runs, but I don't see the why, as long as it's subject to the same conditions to other runs aka same group -or lack thereof-.

UrienOzul · August 21

IA is the reason I just uninstalled. Forcing me to grind currency for the class armor at 10k a pop for curated boxes with all three weights in the same box just feels terrible. I'm lucky to get 1.5k to 2k per run because I suck and can't make it through the 2nd arc. It's a ridiculous grind that I don't have the time or the patience for. Before anyone says, "not everything in the game is for you", I spent time on the PTS and found the Pyrebrand set helped me do more damage on my DK than ever before. Which means for a good player, it would have an even greater impact. Putting items in the game like this furthers the gap between good, average, and below-average players which is counterintuitive to all of the work they talked about when changing LA weaving importance and creating mythics like Oakensoul and Velothi. The combat in this game has always been an issue for me and my wife but we've done our best. Running with our companions, clearing content we never thought we would be able to.

I was really excited when they first announced IA because I don't get to run many trials or dungeons. I thought it would be perfect for me and my wife to run duo through dungeon-like content. The difficulty scales way too fast, completely killing our love of the game. 1st arc is boring and 2nd arc we are getting one shot. We have put our combat skills under a microscope and come to the determination it's just not for us. It didn't have to be this way. The scaling was increased to please the ones who wanted the challenge. They got what they wanted. Good for them. It was a fun 5 yr run for us but it is over now.

Sarannah · August 21

Did three more runs finishing arc 3. Was hoping to get the new marauders, but sadly I did not get either of them. Also still missing one new vision. Haven't bought the new upgrade either.

Have to agree that some things are overtuned, like the meteor and the brewmaster's shield. Both much too powerful. (Also gothmau still needs to be tuned down! He deals too much damage much too fast.)

Some other feedback:
-Create a solo+companion leaderboard.
-Add a "spawn marauder" scroll. (Add a marauder spawn to arc 1)
-Change the Aramril theater of war side area fight, as this fight takes WAY too long. Remove the adds and remove 1 of the crystals. (This fight takes about as long as clearing an entire arc, it's just not worth it.Note: I'm always going in solo+companion.)
-IA builds are tanky but still need to dish out damage, so they can't be full on both. This needs to be taken into account when creating new stuff like the meteor or marauders like gothmau. This also needs to be taken into account with the bosses and their mechanics.
-The fire arena still shoots fireballs at you when all mobs are dead. Causing the player to get in combat and being unable to select a verse or go through the portal. (This only lasts a few seconds, but shouldn't be happening.)
-We need more gather quests like the pages one.
-Pages in the ice arena need to spawn at either the beginning or the end of the arena. As these arena's are huge and pages can easily be overlooked when they are in a far off corner.
-Let the pet command vision also apply to companions.
-Make some more upgrades, these are fun to collect.

UrienOzul wrote: »

IA is the reason I just uninstalled. Forcing me to grind currency for the class armor at 10k a pop for curated boxes with all three weights in the same box just feels terrible. I'm lucky to get 1.5k to 2k per run because I suck and can't make it through the 2nd arc.

You do not have to buy those, you can just keep running the IA while they drop from Tho'at's chests. If you are having issues with the IA, just check the groupfinder or make a group yourself in the groupfinder. Many players can do the first 4-5 arcs solo, so they wouldn't mind it going faster with another player instead of a companion.

Some tips: Create a special IA build to run the IA with. The fastest things to change on ANY dps character are: Place all your stats in health, take the shield-when-blocking CP in the blue tree, replace one dps skill for a shield skill(or heal or both), and maybe change 1 or 2 gear pieces to heavy and health. Maybe even add some reinforced traits or health enchantments if needed. Strategy: Always pick the damage visions and verses, even if they are not for your build! (These often interact with eachother in powerful ways. Especially with the right visions active, some verses become really awesome! And viceversa.)
Make sure to mostly rely on the archive to provide your damage output. Feels strange at first, but will become second nature when you do.
Note: I'm not an elite player and my furthest ever solo run has only been to arc 5.4.2, so take my advice with a grain of salt. But I can do arc 1-3 reliably easy with this strategy.

Hope this helps!

SilverBride · August 21

Sarannah wrote: »

Haven't bought the new upgrade either.

What new upgrade? I must have missed that.

*Starts searching through the long patch notes*

Sarannah · August 21

SilverBride wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

Haven't bought the new upgrade either.

What new upgrade? I must have missed that.

*Starts searching through the long patch notes*

For 15k you can buy: "Eye of the Infinite" a new IA account upgrade, which summons a watcher to aid you. Not sure what it does exactly, but it requires all of the new IA achievements to unlock. Killing the new marauders, 30x the new quest, gathering all new verses, gathering all new visions, and unlocking + using the new avatar. (click the second tab in the merchant that sells upgrades, and it will only show all the upgrades. Much easier to look through.)

PS: Use control + "F" in your browser to find keywords.

PPS: Does anyone know if deleting the new IA daily from the questlog(fabled kills or marauder kill) grants you the other daily, or if it is just gone for the day upon deletion?

Very late edit: Changed 15 to 30, to fix a mistake.

ESO_player123 · August 21

Aurielle wrote: »

The updates are kinda neat, but playing IA again today to Arc 4 reminded me again why I don’t bother with IA in general… it’s such a slog, especially from Arc 3 onwards.

Agree with you here. I always play with a companion, so, after getting the achievement, I only went to arc 5 one or two times. I usually do only 2 arcs (rarely 3rd). The time to go there simply not worth the reward in my eyes.

SilverBride wrote: »

Same for me.

I had cut down to just one Arc, but now after the changes I am doing two so I can get the new quests done. But I will probably go back to just one Arc again after the new wears off because sitting that long without getting up etc. is just too tiring.

I really don't see why a save would be bad. We still only get a certain amount of threads, and when those are gone that run is over. Does it really matter if we use them all in one sitting or a few?

Yesterday I did 3 arcs because I got two of the new Necrotic verses for the new avatar pretty quickly and was hoping for the 3rd. After killing the 3rd Tho'at and not getting it I decided that slogging through arc 4 is simply not worth it.

pklemming · August 21

Sarannah wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

Haven't bought the new upgrade either.

What new upgrade? I must have missed that.

*Starts searching through the long patch notes*

For 15k you can buy: "Eye of the Infinite" a new IA account upgrade, which summons a watcher to aid you. Not sure what it does exactly, but it requires all of the new IA achievements to unlock. Killing the new marauders, 15x the new quest, gathering all new verses, gathering all new visions, and unlocking + using the new avatar. (click the second tab in the merchant that sells upgrades, and it will only show all the upgrades. Much easier to look through.)

PS: Use control + "F" in your browser to find keywords.
PPS: Does anyone know if deleting the new IA daily from the questlog(fabled kills or marauder kill) grants you the other daily, or if it is just gone for the day upon deletion?

Meant to test this. the fabled quest is shareable, though. So if going as a 2, you can have an alt store the quest on them.

SilverBride · August 21

Sarannah wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

Haven't bought the new upgrade either.

What new upgrade? I must have missed that.

*Starts searching through the long patch notes*

For 15k you can buy: "Eye of the Infinite" a new IA account upgrade, which summons a watcher to aid you. Not sure what it does exactly, but it requires all of the new IA achievements to unlock.

Thanks. Sounds like this is going to take awhile!

KV_Tootn · August 21

I like the update on infinite archive.. Well done. Now its more chalanging and fun