Solo Scaling - before people freak out

Gillysan

I wanted to comment on how this will affect everyone, even those people that profess to not be elite and can't do it. The truth is that you can, you just need to stop and think.

Let's say you are having trouble with the L30 Main Story. Some will say they can't do it now because they can only ever do it when they out level it. There are ways to to swing the stats in your favor.

• Just like in pvp, a L30 player Battle Leveled is not the same as a v10 player. If you return at a higher level, the quest will be your level, but you should have more SP's invested in the passives. Also your skill bar should have some morphed and ranked skills, maybe even maxed out. You are much stronger against the NPC's even if they are "battle leveled"
• Sets - hopefully by now you have learned about armor sets, maybe even tried some different ones. These make a huge difference.
• Jewelry - also get a set. Also enchant them with resists to face a particular quest or mob.
• Don't ever only play with the same skills on your hotbar. Once they are leveled up consider changing out a couple for the sole purpose of leveling them up. Even if it's a skill you don't particularly like. Respec to level them up if you have to. Skills are the tools in your toolbox. The more tools you have the more situations you can handle by using the right tool.
• Potions - learn to use potions, make them or buy some for a particular encounter.
• Kiting - this is only for those who have never done it. There is (mostly my terms) block kiting - backpeddling with block up, casting self heals and offensive spells. Circle kiting - try to stay to the back or sides of the mobs. Interrupt - learn to hit the bosses with a bash when their animation starts. Goes well with any kiting. There is more but only wanted to hit the very basic.

It might take more effort and planning, but it's highly doable. Now you have something to be proud of and will have learned more about how the game works.

Nestor

Gillysan wrote: »

Once they are leveled up consider changing out a couple for the sole purpose of leveling them up. Even if it's a skill you don't particularly like.

Just want to add that some skills only become useful after you Morph them. Depending on your Build of course.

I will use one of my slots just to load a skill I am not using to level it, even if it is not part of my rotation. I have discovered some gems that way come Morph time.

onlinegamer1

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

adriant1978

Still don't see why this was not made optional to give us non-l33t players a choice. I almost ragequit over Halls of Torment and probably would have done if I hadn't finally beaten it about 6 levels higher.

Gillysan

adriant1978 wrote: »

Still don't see why this was not made optional to give us non-l33t players a choice. I almost ragequit over Halls of Torment and probably would have done if I hadn't finally beaten it about 6 levels higher.

I agree with you about it being a choice. However, I have to question whether you were really trying or simply impatient.

Nox_Aeterna

Lets just point out what this is OP , stop with the sugar coating:

Another "awesome" call by zen , that STILL DIDNT LEARN you must give player OPTIONS.

They deserver each and every single sub they lose lols , really , i have never seen a company that dont matter how many times make the same mistake , just doesnt get a clue and makes even more mistakes lols.

AlnilamE

adriant1978 wrote: »

Still don't see why this was not made optional to give us non-l33t players a choice. I almost ragequit over Halls of Torment and probably would have done if I hadn't finally beaten it about 6 levels higher.

I was at least 10 levels above with my NB before I beat that. But the OP is right. I now have a siphoning skill that is absolutely fantastic for taking out harvester bubbles.

My sorc just did it last week at V1 as I had kind of forgotten about the main quest in the midst of everything else there is to do in game...

I'll let you know how my templar fares when she gets to that level.

adriant1978

Gillysan wrote: »

I have to question whether you were really trying or simply impatient.

I have a particular blind spot for Harvester mechanics and still fear them even now. For non-solo content I have the option of bringing a friend but Halls of Torment I really felt I needed to outlevel. I have just started an alt similar to the character who I almost ragequit over it with, so I guess I'll see if I have L'd 2 P since then

timidobserver

Just add a casual mode switch to all solo instances that turns off scaling for people that need to do that.

onlinegamer1

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

Quoting myself because people didn't bother to read it.

Pre-1.5: you failed at a solo quest, you went away, leveled over it, then came back

Post-1.5: you fail a few times, and suddenly, magically, the mobs get weaker and weaker until you beat it.

Nox_Aeterna

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

Quoting myself because people didn't bother to read it.

Pre-1.5: you failed at a solo quest, you went away, leveled over it, then came back

Post-1.5: you fail a few times, and suddenly, magically, the mobs get weaker and weaker until you beat it.

Enter , get naked , suicide over and over, then go for it .

Or they could just the player the option for this to never happen since the start...

Nah , i guess the first option is better :P.

Btw , that one must wonder how much "weaker" they become.

Naivefanboi

Nox_Aeterna wrote: »

Lets just point out what this is OP , stop with the sugar coating:

Another "awesome" call by zen , that STILL DIDNT LEARN you must give player OPTIONS.

They deserver each and every single sub they lose lols , really , i have never seen a company that dont matter how many times make the same mistake , just doesnt get a clue and makes even more mistakes lols.

should go check out destiny then, itll make ya grartefull for zos and eso, just came back 3 weeks ago. best of luck

adriant1978

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

Post-1.5: you fail a few times, and suddenly, magically, the mobs get weaker and weaker until you beat it.

I'm going to apply a healthy dose of "believe it when I see it" to this. I'd still rather have the option to turn off scaling entirely than rely on some AI to decide if I'm having difficulty.

Phantax

Glad to see they are finally adding some degree of difficulty to the game.
Well done Zen

Gillysan

Harvesters were a challenge on my Templar, granted I was self gimped with maxed woodworker and alchemist skill points. Here is where circle kiting became essential, although the fight took awhile.

Don't fight boxed up in a corner. If you have to, run behind a rock or a pillar to break line-of-sight and pull the Harvester out into the open. Start running around the Harvester, trying to keep to the sides and back at all times. They have a hard hitting frontal cone attack, but they stop turning to cast this attack. The attack takes a couple of seconds to cast as well. This keeps you out of that nasty attack.

As you circle, cast your range spells, if you are close enough take a few swings. Your main focus isn't your attacks though. Concentrate on the kiting, staying to the sides and back of the Harvester. Weapon swap and heal as needed.

When she casts the orbs, make sure to take them out. Then immediately go back to the circle kiting. Again, don't worry about attacking the Harvester as much as keeping to the back of her.

My Templar is high HP, attributes are 29 health/10 magicka/10 stamina. My armor glyphs are health. I put the trait to increase enchant effect on the helm, chest and legs since the other slots give only 40% glyph enchant effect. This is good to keep from being one shotted and lasting longer in a fight. It's not the only choice you can make but you can see how there are ways to take maximize things between attributes, skills and gear. I don't have a NB high enough give a specific example. He's my enchanter and so far only sits in the bank at level 24.

Gillysan

Oh yeah, be sure to learn how to "break free". RMB down + LMB tap. You make that animation when succeed. Drains your stamina, so watch that.

Divinius

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

So, go in, take off armor, get killed 20 times, and then it's the equivalent of being over-leveled by 10 levels?

I suppose that's a workaround, but meh. See, here's why this is dumb:

What if I WANT to try to beat it "the way I'm supposed to"? I go in, get my butt kicked in, and want to try a few new tactics until i get it "figured out"? I can't do that, because the game is going to give up on me on put the fight into "easy mode" for me?

Instead of this idiotic (again, NON-OPTIONAL) "hold your hand" crap, they could have just made the level-scaling optional. I want to choose whether I want to beat it at level, or just out-level it. Not be forced to do it at level first, and then be forced to let the game put me into easy mode.

Darn it, ZOS! Quit forcing your stupid ideas on me! Give us the options to "Play how we want!"

Gilvoth

Divinius wrote: »

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

So, go in, take off armor, get killed 20 times, and then it's the equivalent of being over-leveled by 10 levels?

I suppose that's a workaround, but meh. See, here's why this is dumb:

What if I WANT to try to beat it "the way I'm supposed to"? I go in, get my butt kicked in, and want to try a few new tactics until i get it "figured out"? I can't do that, because the game is going to give up on me on put the fight into "easy mode" for me?

Instead of this idiotic (again, NON-OPTIONAL) "hold your hand" crap, they could have just made the level-scaling optional. I want to choose whether I want to beat it at level, or just out-level it. Not be forced to do it at level first, and then be forced to let the game put me into easy mode.

Darn it, ZOS! Quit forcing your stupid ideas on me! Give us the options to "Play how we want!"

well said. i agree with you.

AlnilamE

Divinius wrote: »

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

So, go in, take off armor, get killed 20 times, and then it's the equivalent of being over-leveled by 10 levels?

I suppose that's a workaround, but meh. See, here's why this is dumb:

What if I WANT to try to beat it "the way I'm supposed to"? I go in, get my butt kicked in, and want to try a few new tactics until i get it "figured out"? I can't do that, because the game is going to give up on me on put the fight into "easy mode" for me?

Instead of this idiotic (again, NON-OPTIONAL) "hold your hand" crap, they could have just made the level-scaling optional. I want to choose whether I want to beat it at level, or just out-level it. Not be forced to do it at level first, and then be forced to let the game put me into easy mode.

Darn it, ZOS! Quit forcing your stupid ideas on me! Give us the options to "Play how we want!"

Well, you can give it a few tries to work out tactics, then leave the instance and come back again.

MissBizz

Last night I stayed up late once I know 1.5 was coming so I could beat mannimarco.. 3 levels over.. Almost raged, needed guild members to send a different weapon, glyph, and almost potions. I'll be interested in seeing how fast and by how much the enemies get weaker.

PS. With my first toon I beat him first try, no problems. Was not expecting to have so much trouble this time around.

Caroloces

Glad to see they are finally adding some degree of difficulty to the game.
Well done Zen

I agree with this, though I worry about that "compensation" part that will adjust the difficulty downwards if you repeatedly fail. I had to do Tempest Island 3 times before I successfully completed it, and each time I failed, my appetite was whetted for another go. The final triumph was a great feeling. I would hate to think that the baddies on Tempest Island took pity on me and went easier on me because I failed a couple of times.

For those who are distressed at dungeons scaling up as they level up, remember that the dungeon scales up to the group leader's level. So you could theoretically group with someone 4 or 5 levels below you, make them the leader of the group, and then you would still get the same manner of challenge (again, theoretically) that you've been getting pre-1.5.

Evergnar

Great post OP. This is one area where I think Zos really made a good choice. Adding an appropriate degree of difficulty back in while making sure those that still have trouble with content are accounted for and helped out in a dynamic way. Not sure what more as a player base we could ask.

Divinius

Evergnar wrote: »

Not sure what more as a player base we could ask.

The option to choose?

Amsel_McKay

This is a shame... I used to solo dungeons that I could never get a group for... so now there will be even fewer groups for low level dungeons.

Naivefanboi

AlnilamE wrote: »

Divinius wrote: »

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

So, go in, take off armor, get killed 20 times, and then it's the equivalent of being over-leveled by 10 levels?

I suppose that's a workaround, but meh. See, here's why this is dumb:

What if I WANT to try to beat it "the way I'm supposed to"? I go in, get my butt kicked in, and want to try a few new tactics until i get it "figured out"? I can't do that, because the game is going to give up on me on put the fight into "easy mode" for me?

Instead of this idiotic (again, NON-OPTIONAL) "hold your hand" crap, they could have just made the level-scaling optional. I want to choose whether I want to beat it at level, or just out-level it. Not be forced to do it at level first, and then be forced to let the game put me into easy mode.

Darn it, ZOS! Quit forcing your stupid ideas on me! Give us the options to "Play how we want!"

Well, you can give it a few tries to work out tactics, then leave the instance and come back again.

my thoughts exactly. whats really scary is this post apparently has 9 agrees....you can literally manipulate the system to have any kind of encounter you want. super super hard all the way down to roflstomp easy.....smh. times like this i feel sorry for zos and have little hope for the future of mmorpgs

DigitalHype

onlinegamer1 wrote: »

From patch notes:

"Solo scaling recognizes when you are having difficulty with a particular instance, and will compensate accordingly."

This is a more significant comment, than "scale to your level". I am disappointed they are doing this, and not giving us the option to retain static difficulty, and current behavior.

Having a game decide when something is too "easy" or "hard" and then move the goal posts is not to my liking.

I imagine this is driven by the need for feature parity with the console release. This is a "mechanic" that is all to commonly found in games there.

Divinius

jjf42001_ESO wrote: »

you can literally manipulate the system to have any kind of encounter you want. super super hard all the way down to roflstomp easy.....smh. times like this i feel sorry for zos and have little hope for the future of mmorpgs

You could already manipulate the system before this update to have "any kind of encounter you want." It was called, "How far above the level of this quest do you want to be?"

Instead, they took away that option, and forced their own, horribly flawed version on us.

If they had simply added the option to have it scaled to your current level, everyone would have been happy.

Requielle

Auto-scaling works well in games with a difficulty slider (see Diablo 3).

Auto-scaling without said slider is crap. No, I am not interested in going in and failing 'enough' for the AI to decide I need it easier - that is the definition of un-fun.

I have already unsubscribed. This was, for me, the straw that broke the camel's back in terms of frustration with this game.

Ranger

Seems to me there's a load screen tip at the bottom of the screen that says

" if an area is to difficult you should lvl up and come back later " or something

So much for that idea

lol

Gillysan

Ranger wrote: »

Seems to me there's a load screen tip at the bottom of the screen that says

" if an area is to difficult you should lvl up and come back later " or something

So much for that idea

lol

I'm not saying this implementation of scaling is right or wrong. However, my points still apply to this. So that statement isn't completely wrong but it could use some more details.

Ranger

Gillysan wrote: »

Ranger wrote: »

Seems to me there's a load screen tip at the bottom of the screen that says

" if an area is to difficult you should lvl up and come back later " or something

So much for that idea

lol

I'm not saying this implementation of scaling is right or wrong. However, my points still apply to this. So that statement isn't completely wrong but it could use some more details.

Just some tip the game provides during load screens which seems humorous at this point

actually I always wait and out lvl the solo stuff so I can breeze through and get back to questing.