Difficulty difference from VR1 to VR2

countesscrownub18_ESO · May 2014

I am about 1/2 the way through the VR2 area.

The difficulty in killing mobs has more than doubled. I now have 3 to 4 mobs in every fight and they have DOUBLE the HP's then what they had in the first VR1 Area. However, I have the same weapons...maybe 3 damage more and the exact same skills.

I'm not having a actual problem killing the normal mobs or 3 of 4 yet. However, named mobs even in solo dungeons have significantly increased in difficulty. Gargoyl's hurt, mini godzillas hurt.

I"m very worried about what the VR3 area will be like.

And lets throw in that I am still only getting 40exp a kill?????? Seriously 40 exp? I need 910,000 to get VR3. What I find interesting about this is my add on says I am getting 500 to 600 a kill but when I count the increase in the exp bar its about 40.

Judging by exp and difficulty a normal player will take several weeks to a month to get from VR1 to VR10. WHY are there no new skills??????? Why do weapons and armor only increase SLIGHTLY in DPS or AC? Why do the mobs increase DRASTICALLY in damage and hp's?

This is not balanced.

nerevarine1138 · May 2014

Well, since VR kill xp is being heavily increased as of today, the second half of your thread is now invalid.

As for double-hp, etc., I think you may be exaggerating. There's a difficulty bump every VR level, but I found that by upgrading my weapons/gear when I hit a new VR level, I'm able to kill enemies with about the same amount of effort as in prior zones. If you aren't upgrading your armor and weapons... well, we've found your problem.

beeriod · May 2014

Hi there love the "Mini Godzillas" name.
There is now a difference in xp and Vp so you may get 500 xp for a kill but to progress in rank you need VP which untill Craglorn patch is released it will be about 40 per kill hope that clears that up. My play style changed dramaticly and for the better since i hit the VR zones and by VR3 I had somethign i was happy with untill I hit VR10 then it all changed again

cjmarsh725b14_ESO · May 2014

The reason vr1 areas are so easy is because they are just upscaled versions of the newbie areas from the other factions. After the zones where you level past vr1, you start to experience the normal pace and difficulty of the game.

TaffyIX · May 2014

I absolutely love the difficulty of the VR Zones!
It is most refreshing compared to most of the other MMO's I have played.

ESO VR's can be challenging, but not in a totally overbearing way.

countesscrownub18_ESO · May 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Well, since VR kill xp is being heavily increased as of today, the second half of your thread is now invalid.

As for double-hp, etc., I think you may be exaggerating. There's a difficulty bump every VR level, but I found that by upgrading my weapons/gear when I hit a new VR level, I'm able to kill enemies with about the same amount of effort as in prior zones. If you aren't upgrading your armor and weapons... well, we've found your problem.

If the patch notes from PTS are correct they are roughly doubling it. So now I may get 90 a kill?

Actually I did. I bought all new upgraded blue armor and better weapons for my build when I entered the VR2 area. BUT this

cjmarsh725b14_ESO ✭✭✭
6:54AM
The reason vr1 areas are so easy is because they are just upscaled versions of the newbie areas from the other factions. After the zones where you level past vr1, you start to experience the normal pace and difficulty of the game.

explains the drastic increase from 1 to 2. Thank you!

nerevarine1138 · May 2014

It really isn't that drastic an increase. Every VR area is "just an upscaled version" of the normal area. And it certainly isn't "double" HP or damage dealt, because I'm not doing double the damage, yet I'm still able to take enemies down with the same number of hits as in prior zones. I'm also not dying instantly, which is what would have happened if VR2 mobs actually did double the damage of VR1.

smokes · May 2014

TaffyIX wrote: »

I absolutely love the difficulty of the VR Zones!
It is most refreshing compared to most of the other MMO's I have played.

ESO VR's can be challenging, but not in a totally overbearing way.

i love the difficulty, not so fond of the lacklustre XP gain, it's quite the kick in the balls once you hit vet content.

if that is truly fixed, i will be incredibly happy. my g/f might even start playing with me again... that didn't come out right... but hopefully you know what i mean!

countesscrownub18_ESO · May 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

It really isn't that drastic an increase. Every VR area is "just an upscaled version" of the normal area. And it certainly isn't "double" HP or damage dealt, because I'm not doing double the damage, yet I'm still able to take enemies down with the same number of hits as in prior zones. I'm also not dying instantly, which is what would have happened if VR2 mobs actually did double the damage of VR1.

Seriously? You can take each normal mob down in exactly the same amount of attacks with the same sequence?

Then maybe I am bugged. I can use the exact same sequence of attacks and I have to throw in 2 more special attacks and 1 more spell. Weapons have been upgraded obviously skills have not. However, I am only comparing VR1 area to VR2 area.

Phantax · May 2014

I hate to say this but maybe you're play style/build needs looking at. Many players have said that VR requires a re-think of your character build. In some cases yes, in others it just requires a re-think of your attack strategy. (for me it was learning I 'had' to take out any melee mobs first, and ranged could wait.

The difficulty level is about right, I've just hit VR6 areas and I'm only VR4.5 (now I'm struggling though)

The speed / xp gain from killing VR mobs is woefully to low, but apparently this is sorted in 1.1

Try a few minor changes first, see if that helps

nerevarine1138 · May 2014

countesscrownub18_ESO wrote: »

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

It really isn't that drastic an increase. Every VR area is "just an upscaled version" of the normal area. And it certainly isn't "double" HP or damage dealt, because I'm not doing double the damage, yet I'm still able to take enemies down with the same number of hits as in prior zones. I'm also not dying instantly, which is what would have happened if VR2 mobs actually did double the damage of VR1.

Seriously? You can take each normal mob down in exactly the same amount of attacks with the same sequence?

Then maybe I am bugged. I can use the exact same sequence of attacks and I have to throw in 2 more special attacks and 1 more spell. Weapons have been upgraded obviously skills have not. However, I am only comparing VR1 area to VR2 area.

I don't know what to tell you then. Since VR1, I have been able to take down any single normal enemy with a Surprise Attack followed by Flurry. A normal enemy that I don't have a stealth attack on usually takes an extra Flurry (or a few regular hits) to take down. I absolutely did not have to start doing double the damage to take down enemies.

dennissomb16_ESO · May 2014

I have found as I progress through VR that the difficulty has stayed about the same. As I level I upgrade some gear through crafting and find the fight difficulty pretty much the same. What can change drastically is some bosses and some mobs. There are some that are simply very hard and often don't match my set up/play style

StoneSilence · May 2014

The mobs get like 50-100 more HP from zone to zone. Their attacks do hurt though, so you have to block. Even the knife throws hurt.

The per-mob XP sucks, but you do get a lot of XP for World Bosses/Anchors/Dungeon completion.

Also the XP goes up after you get to VR4. I am getting 112XP per mob.. so I guess that will go up to 224 XP after the patch.

Anyway even now in 2-4 hrs of play I get 200K-600K XP when in a group and clearing a zone.

As for how long it takes to get to VR10.. well a few weeks sounds right. After all you have to do 2ce the amount of content that got you to lvl 50.

There are ways to speed it up if you have a group.

All this said, I do wish the zones were more relaxed. Being under pressure all the time isn't too much fun. If the over the ground content was lvl 1-50 difficulty, but the boss/anchor/dungeons stayed as they are, the VR zones would be much more enjoyable to me. Combination of "relaxed" and "high alert" to allow for playing differently according to mood and group availability.

Thechemicals · May 2014

Xp sux. When they fix xp...everyone will grind because questing gas a lot if noxp gaps

Soulshine · May 2014

Why does this always come up over and over? There is no significant difference in dmg from anything in these zones one way or the other. Landscape mob are simply not challenging even in groups of three / four, and dungeon bosses are doing what they should. If you find them too difficult, I'd say look at your gear and your build. If that is on point, then it likely has to do with how you are playing not what the mobs are doing.

As for xp, if you do all the zone bosses and anchor drops you easily get a boatload of xp for completing these, and the xp progression seems to correlate 1 VR level per zone if you complete all the quests in the zone. There are 10 areas to complete by the time you are done with the Main Story, so frankly they didn't even need to add xp for mob kills but too many ppl just wanted to be instant VR10s so there you go with the increase....

Nashaan · May 2014

I would have to disagree on the difficulty, I had more trouble transitioning my NB from normal to VR than I did from VR1 to VR2.
Once I had figured out an effective build for VR levels, the difficulty difference between the zones wasn't that noticeable (granted I am only VR3 at the moment so for all I know there could be a huge change I haven't seen yet lol).

nerevarine1138 · May 2014

Thechemicals wrote: »

Xp sux. When they fix xp...everyone will grind because questing gas a lot if noxp gaps

Or, and I know this sounds crazy, or the same people who already grind will continue to do that, and those of us who actually enjoy the storylines and exploration involved in questing will continue to quest.

countesscrownub18_ESO · May 2014

nerevarine1138 wrote: »

Thechemicals wrote: »

Xp sux. When they fix xp...everyone will grind because questing gas a lot if noxp gaps

Or, and I know this sounds crazy, or the same people who already grind will continue to do that, and those of us who actually enjoy the storylines and exploration involved in questing will continue to quest.

I like doing both. I'm that rare person who actually walks from one quest to another ....killing all the mobs in my path.

Phantax · May 2014

Soulshine wrote: »

As for xp, if you do all the zone bosses and anchor drops you easily get a boatload of xp for completing these, and the xp progression seems to correlate 1 VR level per zone if you complete all the quests in the zone. There are 10 areas to complete by the time you are done with the Main Story, so frankly they didn't even need to add xp for mob kills but too many ppl just wanted to be instant VR10s so there you go with the increase....

Utter rubbish, even Zenimax have had to admit their judgement of the VR xp was flawed, hence the fact they are doubling it !

Soulshine · May 2014

Phantax wrote: »

Soulshine wrote: »

As for xp, if you do all the zone bosses and anchor drops you easily get a boatload of xp for completing these, and the xp progression seems to correlate 1 VR level per zone if you complete all the quests in the zone. There are 10 areas to complete by the time you are done with the Main Story, so frankly they didn't even need to add xp for mob kills but too many ppl just wanted to be instant VR10s so there you go with the increase....

Utter rubbish, even Zenimax have had to admit their judgement of the VR xp was flawed, hence the fact they are doubling it !

What is "rubbish" is your logic. This was changed due to the sheer proliferation of complaining about the xp from mob kills. If people did the zones as intended they would not be complaining. End of story.

countesscrownub18_ESO · May 2014

Soulshine wrote: »

Phantax wrote: »

Soulshine wrote: »

As for xp, if you do all the zone bosses and anchor drops you easily get a boatload of xp for completing these, and the xp progression seems to correlate 1 VR level per zone if you complete all the quests in the zone. There are 10 areas to complete by the time you are done with the Main Story, so frankly they didn't even need to add xp for mob kills but too many ppl just wanted to be instant VR10s so there you go with the increase....

Utter rubbish, even Zenimax have had to admit their judgement of the VR xp was flawed, hence the fact they are doubling it !

What is "rubbish" is your logic. This was changed due to the sheer proliferation of complaining about the xp from mob kills. If people did the zones as intended they would not be complaining. End of story.

When I read this I think about South Park and the World of Warcraft Episode. Grinding out levels. Actually the amount of exp per kill is significantly less then what we got when going from 49 to 50 AND the amount of exp necessary is significantly higher.

Now I will admit the exp per quest is high. 5k to 12k so far.

Soulshine · May 2014

countesscrownub18_ESO wrote: »

Soulshine wrote: »

Phantax wrote: »

Soulshine wrote: »

As for xp, if you do all the zone bosses and anchor drops you easily get a boatload of xp for completing these, and the xp progression seems to correlate 1 VR level per zone if you complete all the quests in the zone. There are 10 areas to complete by the time you are done with the Main Story, so frankly they didn't even need to add xp for mob kills but too many ppl just wanted to be instant VR10s so there you go with the increase....

Utter rubbish, even Zenimax have had to admit their judgement of the VR xp was flawed, hence the fact they are doubling it !

What is "rubbish" is your logic. This was changed due to the sheer proliferation of complaining about the xp from mob kills. If people did the zones as intended they would not be complaining. End of story.

When I read this I think about South Park and the World of Warcraft Episode. Grinding out levels. Actually the amount of exp per kill is significantly less then what we got when going from 49 to 50 AND the amount of exp necessary is significantly higher.

Now I will admit the exp per quest is high. 5k to 12k so far.

As stated, if you level in the zone as intended there are no xp issues. Ppl planning on grinding for xp - and gold most likely - are the ones upset by the mob xp thus far. Not hard to see.

Vikova · May 2014

If someone does not like the fairly slow pace of veteran questing, makes some friends and do dungeon speedruns. It is by far the fastest way to get through veteran levels.

I myself actually want to experience the other zones. I am already too late to be in the first couple waves of Craiglorn people, so I may as well take my time.

Eirikrhinnraudi · May 2014

I have not found much difficulty difference tip V4, but this only my opinion!

smokes · May 2014

Soulshine wrote: »

As stated, if you level in the zone as intended there are no xp issues. Ppl planning on grinding for xp - and gold most likely - are the ones upset by the mob xp thus far. Not hard to see.

you also have a lot of people not happy with a mandatory grind through both other factions in order to get into the new veteran content, craglorn + future content. it also makes rolling alts of other factions mostly pointless or very repetitive.

having the other factions as optional VR content would be great

having the other factions as mandatory VR content, is not great. thats what a lot of people aren't happy with and no, it's not just the people that grind.

if they'd "locked out" veteran ranks until craglorn was released, you'd probably have a fraction of the current complaints regarding VR content.

orablast · May 2014

I did post in another thread not long ago that I was having trouble with my NB in VR3 with mob 3 packs. I felt like I had to always eat food with health & magic to keep up.

My change was going vampire and using Night Mother's Gaze & Vampire Kiss crafted set gear with the Shadow Stone. Now I shred with my DW bar and rarely switch to my Bow bar. Drain Essence & Supernatural recovery are some sweet skills. I can't wait to max out the rest of the vamp skills. I have to admit, this change really made the game fun again.

Erlindur · May 2014

Soulshine wrote: »

As stated, if you level in the zone as intended there are no xp issues. Ppl planning on grinding for xp - and gold most likely - are the ones upset by the mob xp thus far. Not hard to see.

No, there are xp issues. I was curious about it and I took notes on the V4 map I'm currently in. I just finished the last world boss a couple of hours ago, did every quest (way past the achievement), every dungeon, every anchor, all the public dungeon bosses and the challenge. I even grinded the public dungeon some more for enchantment runes. I'm now sitting 300k short of V5 (out of 1.8M).

What I haven't done is any group dungeon or PvP. Yes, I know that I will get the vp I need from there but there are not enough vp in a veteran map to advance the level.

Zakua · May 2014

VR is fun, challenging and at times can feel a tad tedious IMO but overall I love the pace and the difficulty.

Mobs, for me at least, take a few more hits then they did when I was lvl49 or lower, no biggy. 3 NPC mobs can be a close call if I am not paying attention...and a random walk by #4 going agro on me means I am in trouble lol. Boss fights are a blast if I set the tempo early and dont Zerg mash my keyboard in freak out mode.

I'm glad they are adding to the points gained for trash kills. I like a little grind now and then to break away from the quests. My self and my 2 other IRL friends are all seeing this VP gain deficit. We are pretty systematic and OCD with completing zones before moving on...even still wee find our selves 100k + short ( even more now at V5) from the next vet rank. I'm glad the XP increase with new patch will at least make other options a tad bit more viable.

Soulshine · May 2014

Erlindur wrote: »

Soulshine wrote: »

As stated, if you level in the zone as intended there are no xp issues. Ppl planning on grinding for xp - and gold most likely - are the ones upset by the mob xp thus far. Not hard to see.

No, there are xp issues. I was curious about it and I took notes on the V4 map I'm currently in. I just finished the last world boss a couple of hours ago, did every quest (way past the achievement), every dungeon, every anchor, all the public dungeon bosses and the challenge. I even grinded the public dungeon some more for enchantment runes. I'm now sitting 300k short of V5 (out of 1.8M).

What I haven't done is any group dungeon or PvP. Yes, I know that I will get the vp I need from there but there are not enough vp in a veteran map to advance the level.

That you came up short does not mean there isn't enough in the zone. I have had the opposite experience in that I have easily leveled to the next rank prior to leaving each zone, so more likely it has to do with what you are not doing rather than the other way around. If you need more xp from mobs well, you will now be getting it. Not much else to say.

Erlindur · May 2014

@Soulshine, I'm curious. I've told you what I have done. What's left in the map? I avoided pvp and group content especially to measure the actual map xp. What is left?

Edit: I also had a surplus from V1 to V2 but that was because I did the V1 map plus the tutorial maps. That surplus quickly eroded. That was what made me curious in the first place.