At what restrictions you give to yourself can you make overland challenging?

Lyserus

^This
Many have complained the overland is too easy, and rightly so for maxed out players.

Now before ZOS decides to give us an optional hardcore overland, what can you do to make overland chanllenging for your character?
That is, you cannot ignore the mechnics, and you will be killed if you are not careful

Cadbury

Other

I play blindfolded and handcuffed

Danikat

Clear my cp

I use no CP on the majority of my characters for exactly this reason. I kept seeing people complaining that the overland (or the entire game) was too easy and when I got to level 50 I thought it was about right for me, so I decided not to use CP to keep myself at that level.

I did invest 10 points into The Shadow on my main for the increased gold, and I use CP on my crafter and thief to make up for the fact that all their skill points go into non-combat things (that will change when my thief is a higher level, but that will be a while). But other than that I don't use them.

I do wish there was a way to assign them and then disable them - so I could run like that most of the time and then turn them back on if I want to kill a world boss when there's no one else around, or if I want to do group content where they'll expect me to have CP assigned. At the moment the only way to do that is to assign them and then pay to remove them, which seems pointless.

casparian

If purposefully restricting yourself is the only way to make overland challenging, then it's too weak by definition. Content is too weak when players' progression renders that content bland and unchallenging. So if the only way to make it challenging is to remove aspects of that progression (rendering your acquisition of CP, gear, skills etc. moot by doing the things you've listed in your poll), then overland combat is too easy, even if you can manage to make some fights feel hard.

I don't want every beginner to be forced into vMA-level content just to get through Glenumbra questing, but I do want there to be an option available to me to engage in overland PVE questing where my character's progression makes a difference.

Violynne

Other

Play a hybrid.

Then watch as a mudcrab kicks your butt.

Lyserus

Danikat wrote: »

I use no CP on the majority of my characters for exactly this reason. I kept seeing people complaining that the overland (or the entire game) was too easy and when I got to level 50 I thought it was about right for me, so I decided not to use CP to keep myself at that level.

I did invest 10 points into The Shadow on my main for the increased gold, and I use CP on my crafter and thief to make up for the fact that all their skill points go into non-combat things (that will change when my thief is a higher level, but that will be a while). But other than that I don't use them.

I do wish there was a way to assign them and then disable them - so I could run like that most of the time and then turn them back on if I want to kill a world boss when there's no one else around, or if I want to do group content where they'll expect me to have CP assigned. At the moment the only way to do that is to assign them and then pay to remove them, which seems pointless.

There should be an option to disable cp （except the traits, like treasure hunter）in overland, it's not like it will affect others

Iluvrien

Other

Overland doesn’t need to challenge my maxed out character. He has done a great number of things to get to that point.

He gets his engagement through the development of the story. He doesn’t need to spend the time on the edge of survival. That doesn’t assist the narrative. It interrupts it.

Everstorm

This debate comes up a lot and we all know the pro's and cons of a veteran instance by now. What I would really like to hear is Zenimax' opinion on this, whether or not they even see it as an issue that the people who pour the most time into their game find it hard to enjoy the questing part of ESO when questing has always been the strong point of the Elder Scrolls games.

casparian

Iluvrien wrote: »

Overland doesn’t need to challenge my maxed out character. He has done a great number of things to get to that point.

He gets his engagement through the development of the story. He doesn’t need to spend the time on the edge of survival. That doesn’t assist the narrative. It interrupts it.

That's how you play and that's great. The game should provide players with your preferences a way to play the game as they like.

But some of us find that the current ease of overland questing disrupts the narrative. I find it highly immersion-breaking when some of the greatest villains in TES history can be light-attacked to death, or when enemies who have been talked up as frightening and dangerous by quest NPCs turn out to be literally unable to kill me if I just stand there, even if I'm in a squishy build. Challenge, difficulty, and complexity help immerse me in the narrative, because part of what the narrative tells me is that I'm about to face some challenge, difficulty and complexity.

ZOS should maintain your ability to play without combat features that you find immersion-breaking. But I would also like for them to introduce a way for me (and players like me) to play without combat features that we find immersion-breaking.

fioskal

Other

If I'm doing solo overland quests I usually just slot skills that need to be leveled (or morphs of skills I don't usually use). I try to have at least one damage skill so that I don't have to heavy attack everything to death but it slows the combat down enough where it's somewhat interesting.

Tandor

It's already challenging for me

It can be quite tricky with the monitor turned off !

I actually thought my monitor had failed one day when playing EQ in the early days, the screen went black. It was my first experience of being blinded in the game.

As for ESO I find the overland content sufficiently challenging. My CP is 200 on one account, and 0 on the other. My gear, build and tactical knowledge are standard non-competitive player stuff. I wouldn't dream of attempting to solo any world bosses.

jedtb16_ESO

Violynne wrote: »

Play a hybrid.

Then watch as a mudcrab kicks your butt.

i'm playing a hybrid nightblade atm, it does ok.

Tasear

I don't add up till after lvl, but only cause I am lazy. Still though it's not hard with food and gear. Though not to say I would want it differently. It's just I don't personally find quests engaging in battles, so had fewer chances to enjoy the stories. So my personal wish is that quests not necessarily more harder but more fun adventure.

Starlock

Other

I don’t care about the type of challenge talked about in the opening post at all. That isn’t why I play this game. Or any other game, for that matter.

What I do instead is exercise my creativity and ability to tell a story within the framework provided by a game. My main challenges in this game are getting the system to work with me on this, rather than against me.

DorianDragonRaze

It's already challenging for me

If you mean solo-ing overland bosses, yes, I can beat them, but it's still challenging for me.
Still I think abyssinian geysers should have been harder.

BretonMage

Other

I just treat it as a story I'm experiencing. Then I'll get my challenges by wandering into a world boss's lair (and dying)...

Iluvrien wrote: »

Overland doesn’t need to challenge my maxed out character. He has done a great number of things to get to that point.

He gets his engagement through the development of the story. He doesn’t need to spend the time on the edge of survival. That doesn’t assist the narrative. It interrupts it.

Exactly!

I do admit there's a slight disconnect if a potentially world-destroying villain is easy to kill, but I'd rather have that then - if they raised the difficulty level - to plod through a quest tediously dispatching the hundreds of hard-to-kill trash mobs.

Nestor

Where is the Get Drunk option?

Artim_X

Other

Have no weapons equipped, while Meditate and Overload are the only active skills. Activate my Overload bar and only use Storm Calling Skills on that bar.

max_only

Other

Play a class/build that is underpowered.

I guess I could have chosen “overland is already challenging enough for me”. I’m not struggling or anything, I can clear dolmens and dungeons by myself and whatnot, but if I take too much for granted every once in a while I’ll have a OH SNIP moment.

Lysette

Other

Overland content is just not meant to be challenging - it's for casual players, who don't know a thing about mechanics, no animation cancelling and for whom all is new and disturbing at first - and because they can go anywhere they want, the content has to be so, that they will not give up immediately.

In short it is meant to be enjoyable, without to have any combat experience.

wolfie1.0.

Other

The most challenging thing I have done is played with the ui off and in fp mode in the dark with a non backlit keyboard and not wearing my glasses.

FinneganFroth

I just work on skills I never use like destro staff or two handed. Something so pleasing about watching a skill jump two levels after one boss fight.

EvilAutoTech

I'm GoOd oVeRlAnD tOo WeaK nO mAttEr wHat

I don't think there is anything I could do to make overland challenging. It's not supposed to be.

I created new characters on the EU server and while they may not have an easy time of soloing every world boss, they have been able to solo some WBs. None are level 50.

They do get rekt by DLC WBs. Every time.

MehrunesFlagon

Other

giving my self brain damage. Seems like the only thing that would possibly work

firedrgn

Other

I dont put any skill points into any class passives. And am lazy about using cp points.

Kiralyn2000

Other

Being a mediocre player with a poor build.

(my Bow/- Stamblade "main" doesn't have Vigor, and so heals via Consuming Trap and Swallow Soul. Yes, Magika abilities. Oh, and the sets she wears are Night's Silence / Night Mother's Embrace. )



...the Magplar and Stamden I made later have better builds.

Robo_Hobo

I'm GoOd oVeRlAnD tOo WeaK nO mAttEr wHat

I've tried a lot of ways to make overland questing a little dangerous again.

-First I removed all my CP. It didn't make any noticeable difference.

-Then I put away my dungeon gear and just wore less optimal sets. Still didn't change anything.

-Then I removed that gear and crafted white non-set 160 CP armor and weapons. At this point it started making a small difference, but it started to feel less genuine because this was stuff I had to go pretty far out of my way to set up, it was less optimal than even using dropped gear from enemies. Keeping "questing gear" like that in the bank felt weird.

-Then I removed food buffs completely. Now, enemies were doing enough damage that I couldn't afk at a fight for more than 15 seconds and still be alive, but my own damage was still way too much, and my own self-healing was way too much. Longer fights felt a but clunky since in doing all of this my sustain was very bad, so I could only use a couple abilities before needing to heavy attack.

-Then I changed my Mundus stone to the Stamina Regen one since I was in a stamina-based character, removed a powerful self healing ability (crit surge, Stam sorc), and nerfed my weapons down to...I can't remember exactly, I think level 40 weapons, white non-set still. It was improved, but still the same problems as last time persisted, just to a lesser extent. Except now I think this was the point I was getting too annoyed with how much I've had to break down anything I'm using just to get a sense of danger when questing and gave up for the time being.

-Then I had a crazy idea and deleted all of my characters, all of my gear from the banks, etc, to start over on my account completely fresh without using CP, only using dropped gear, to get a more organic experience of questing early-game again. Still didn't work. That experience I had when I first started playing back at release is simply unobtainable. Still love the storytelling just as much, but it's just a visual novel when it comes to the gameplay aspect of them. Actually, less than a visual novel, because at least those have puzzles that it's possible to fail. It's either a nice story with overland quests but no danger to it, or a lot of danger and only a little story in the group dungeons and trials.

Sometimes I wish I could toggle off gameplay knowledge like I do Champion points.

BRogueNZ

Other

the most challenging part is doing any at all

Everstorm

Recently leveled up a Nord stamwarden. With average gear the bear can solo wamasus.without having to be healed. Think I'm gonna check what else it can solo.

Finviuswe

None. It isn't valid.

That is not the right way to promote difficulty or whatever. The difficulty of the overland content need to be increased.

Ragebull

Other

I don’t

I did all that grinding specially so I could destroy weak overland enemies in seconds like a god. I don’t care for a challenge from a bunch of no name henchmen and deadra. I know where to find a formidable foe if I’m looking for a fight