Please refer to my thread Hard Group Checks in U47 Dungeons for many others and my own negative sentiments regarding the pressure plates, and any other mechanics that exclude solo players from participating.

TL;DR: Punishments or exclusions for not playing the way intended in design is a net negative experience, as only those that are excluded are affected; it does not bring anything positive or engaging to anyone else. In my opinion, If the design team wants their content to be engaged with in groups, grouping should be incentivized instead.

I hope the criticism I'm expressing here and in the linked thread is constructive. I'm sorry if it comes across as judgmental or hostile; at the time I was disappointed and frustrated at being limited to engaging with the dungeon in a way I'm not inclined to on first pass.

To be clear, I enjoy playing in groups. I always help with gear runs, and I sign up for trials in my guild as much as I can. Not to mention that group play is fundamentally more engaging from a gameplay standpoint.

But I'll never get the full experience of the dungeon-- especially the narrative-- when playing in a group. Even with other players or guildies doing a lore run. Just having others present whose experience is dependent to some degree on you being mindful to them interferes with that.

There isn't a version of that where I pretend they're not there and engage with the content as if I were solo. So there isn't a version of this dungeon where I'll be able to engage with the full scope of the narrative and lore. That's what's frustrating to me about hard group checks.

Thoughts on first run of the dungeon, may edit or post again if I do it more.

Did you enjoy this new dungeon?
Somewhat, there's a couple cool things and one very annoying thing that makes 2nd boss a bit frustrating: how enemies move when there's other enemies nearby. This is a general problem as sometimes bosses no matter what content will get stuck trying to flank you, the tank, making it very difficult to get them to stand still (even if there's no adds nearby). This happened a lot during this boss as the boss would move out of the way of the adds instead of the adds moving out of the way of the boss.

How did the difficulty compare to existing dungeons on Normal and Veteran versions?
I think the only difficult part will be managing the 2nd boss add and boss placement depending on if the group can cleave minis equally or if they cannot. I think all things considered; it's on the easier side.

Did you complete Normal or Veteran (or both)?
We completed 2 of the 3 hard modes but had to stop with our last run at 32% on last boss' hard mode as we ran out of time to play.

Which was your favorite boss in this dungeon, and why?
I'm partial to the big argonian behemoth on the last boss because he's cute and rolls around. Mechanically, I think the 2nd one is the most interesting from a tank perspective, as frustrating as it is currently. If I get a good strategy down, it may become my favorite.

What level and build was the character you used?
CP 2000+ pure sorcerer tank in archdruid/lucent echoes/war machine/dragonstar sword and shield.

Did you happen to notice or find anything particularly interesting or different?
Using the chainsaw to break the first boss' shield was cool, though it is fairly irrelevant considering I just held her on the chainsaw (and figured it out immediately after I saw she was invulnerable). It does reward a tank that knows how to place a boss at least.

Do you have any other general feedback?
I loved the side... activities. I am now completely distracted by how fun that was. I will say though, it would be nice if there were different songs than just the one and the challenge version. I worry that the fun may die to repetitiveness. We missed the first 2 on the way through but we were snooping around the dungeon. It's a little disappointing that they're very obvious on the map.

The ring around the arena on the last boss denoting "aoe" is also a bit confusing, just as confusing as it is trying to explain what I'm talking about. There are the little aoes around the perimeter that of course do damage but the hollow AoE ring... I don't know if it's telling us to be in the middle or the outside because I tried standing in both places and I was fine as long as I didn't stand in the little AoEs.

I've completed this dungeon three times with three different groups, twice during PTS 1 and once during PTS 2.

I don't really have much to say about this dungeon. It's a perfectly cromulent dungeon, with fun side areas, and we enjoyed going through it.

It's this DLC's Exiled Redoubt, but I think it's fine to have an easier dungeon so that the DLC can cater to a wider range of players rather than have both be amped up to Black Gem levels.

A few specific things that we noticed during the PTS 2 run:

• During PTS 2, we noticed that we could open the drawbridge without having two people on the plates at the same time. I'm not sure if this is an intended change that missed the notes or if this was a bug.
• During PTS 2, the final boss encounter got stuck. Talen-Lah had left and Bar-Sakka, instead of joining the fight, just kept rolling around the side indefinitely. We had to wipe to reset this encounter. This problem did not occur on the next pull. I'll try to post a video of it later.
• During PTS 2, the final phase of the final boss encounter, where we fight Talen-Lah while Bar-Sakka is in the fight arena but immune, happened with over 6M health remaining on Bar-Sakka, whereas during PTS 1, Bar-Sakka was almost dead. We're not sure if this is intended or if it's a bug.

The HM is way way way too easy. We don't need an easy Hard Mode, there are already normal and veteran levels for each dungeon, please ramp up the HM challenge before release so it has more replayability.

Change up the secrets, playing the song was super cool, but it shouldn't be the same every time.

MoonPile wrote: »

Actually came in here to see what others said about doing those achievements... @code65536 since you've done both, can I ask what you thought?

The optional side content can be completed on normal. For Black Gem Foundry, these are pretty straightforward find-the-secret-and-beat-up-the-guy-inside type things.

For Naj Caldeesh, they are... different. In a good and entertaining way.

For Naj Caldeesh, you will need 4 players to complete the side content. It's fun, and I think people will enjoy it, but you will need 4 like-minded people who don't mind taking the time to, um, fully experience what these detours have to offer.

This dungeon is an unbalanced nightmare.
On normal difficulty it’s unbeatable, and we had good builds and companions.
It’s just too much.
This isn’t veteran difficulty, what the hell.
My girlfriend and I have completed every dungeon together, but today this one turned out to be impossible.
It’s unbalanced, as if it was released unfinished and without checking what difficulty it actually works on.
That’s not normal — making an unbeatable dungeon on normal difficulty.

Here’s according to the template

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Did you enjoy this new dungeon?
No. This dungeon felt like an unbalanced nightmare.

How did the difficulty compare to existing dungeons on Normal and Veteran versions?
On Normal it was far more difficult than any existing dungeon — practically impossible to complete, even with good builds and companions. It feels harder than Veteran, which makes no sense.

Did you complete Normal or Veteran (or both)?
We could not complete Normal.

Which was your favorite boss in this dungeon, and why?
None, because we couldn’t progress far enough — the balance prevented us from experiencing the dungeon properly.

What level and build was the character you used?
We had strong builds and companions, and we’ve cleared all other dungeons together as a duo. Still, this one was impossible.

Did you happen to notice or find anything particularly interesting or different?
Yes — the design feels like it was released unfinished and untested, at least on Normal difficulty.

Do you have any other general feedback?
Making a dungeon unbeatable on Normal is not acceptable. I’m talking about the basic run (without musical trials), and yet we couldn’t progress. At night, it’s impossible for us to find a full group of four people, so the dungeon is simply inaccessible. Our evening was ruined because of this imbalance.