Dragons need balancing now...
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doomette✭✭✭✭✭
✭Dusk_Coven wrote: »But what happened? Alik'r Dolmens too good in comparison? Where did people go for their farming?
If you want to go dragon farming then Southern Elsweyr is the place to go.
Northern Elsweyr dragons are terribly placed and badly designed. Two of the locations are so remote that new players, with low mount speeds (if indeed they even have mounts) will never get there and experienced player simply won’t bother as it takes so long for critical mass to be reached. This makes spawn rates lamentably slow. The upshot is that few bother to do their 3 dragons a day and those few spend their entire time camped out in the starter area landing zone. Meanwhile the dragons sit, like glorious turds untouched by players in their remote zones. My characters have got all the dragon achievements in Southern Elsweyr, none have got them all in Northern Elsweyr despite it having been out for longer and having had 2 months of special events cantered around dragon killing.
In contrast Southern Elsweyr dragons are conveniently placed, and spawn very frequently and attract more than enough players to make them fun to do.
As far as the Soul Bind attack goes, it’s offensive not because it’s so powerful, or because it’s unusual and hard to counter (especially for new players with fewer skills), but because no one in the game explains it. If the dragon daily quest giver had an optional dialogue sequence where they explained to the player exactly how dangerous the dragons’ attacks were and that they would have to purge themselves, that would be fine. Failing that the death recap should be specifically clear about exactly what killed you and how to counter it. Inquisitive newer/less experienced players would be rewarded for curiosity (rather than being punished for ignorance). Nothing is more counter productive and demoralising (and, sadly more typically ZOS) than being repeatedly one-shot by attacks that are never explained.
TL:DR Southern Elsweyr is where you go for top dragon action.
Another annoying thing about Soul Tear is that it persists after the dragon dies. It really should go away like how adds should die with their boss.
And speaking of unexplained one-shots, the strafe attack still doesn’t have a telegraph. Sure, it’s more immersive to have to watch the dragon, which you should learn to do quickly, but every other ground-based attack in this game has a warning area. How are we supposed to joke about standing in red when there’s no red to speak of? It just seems very inconsistent.
Hmm like dragons ever having reliable damage indicators was a thing. At least now they have some.
I think we need to face the fact that dragons were last year’s thing and will receive the same level of ongoing care and attention that Summerset’s geysers have (ie none). They’ve served their purpose, had their update (in the U24 Dragonhold update) and now will be left to thrive or fester depending on where they land. No one significant at ZOS is championing dragons any more.
All we can do is hope that whatever comes next in Greymoor has learned the lessons of the dragons.
But don’t the geysers scale to number of players involved? That at least helps with their longevity, and doesn’t screw over people who got the chapter well after the crowd have departed. I feel bad for the players who still need the NE dragons for motif chapters, achievements, whatever, at least on XBox EU.
Geysers, like dolmens, scale to the number and level of players by adjusting the number, nature and quality of the opponents. This isn’t something you can do with dragons. They are what they are. If there aren’t enough players the dragon ain’t going down.
One more nail in the coffin of the Elsweyr dragons.
Which sucks, because while I’m annoyed during the fight that I’ve fallen for the dragon trap again (as I mentioned before, seeing a fight on a brand new, no potions, no gear alt and jumping in), there’s definitely a pretty fun and celebratory mood after the handful of us take it down. Well, mostly the actually geared players take it down, I just try really hard to not use up my two soul gems, heh. The new dragons are a lot more fun than old pushover ones, but so much fun when there aren’t enough people, and I do not have the attention span to solo them.0 -
Narvuntien✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭I have managed to kill them with low numbers, but it costs a lot of soul gems.
There is just so much to do in this game that while I enjoy dragon hunting I just don't do it all the time.0 -
Rittings✭✭✭✭✭
✭Make a group. Ask your guildies for help. Slot a purge, heal, and/or shield. Two people can down a dragon as long as at least one stays alive while the other one is ressing. You are not entitled to 1-minute dragon kills, even if that is what you got used to.
Not looking for 1-minute kills... I put on Fortified Brass on my magblade and I can solo most of the dragons - unless those hateful graveyards appear... and then it's toast time.
But I think what I'm asking for is a complete rethink on them. Maybe add that the more different people that hit the dragon, the tougher they become (capping at say, 10-20 people). That way, 2-manning is an option. But for players who play at unsociable hours (and there are a few of us) there is little to no chance of ever completing daily quests of killing 3 dragons... it would take the best part of an hour.0 -
Donny_Vito✭✭✭✭✭
✭The dragons were fun, but they just don't offer the usefulness that other grindy spots do.
You still see lots of people farming Geysers around Summerset because of the alchemy mats they drop which are useful. Make dragons drop something useful that endgame players need, and they will be grinded again.2 -
Rittings✭✭✭✭✭
✭Donny_Vito wrote: »The dragons were fun, but they just don't offer the usefulness that other grindy spots do.
You still see lots of people farming Geysers around Summerset because of the alchemy mats they drop which are useful. Make dragons drop something useful that endgame players need, and they will be grinded again.
Probably the best solution offered...1 -
daemonios✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭Make a group. Ask your guildies for help. Slot a purge, heal, and/or shield. Two people can down a dragon as long as at least one stays alive while the other one is ressing. You are not entitled to 1-minute dragon kills, even if that is what you got used to.
Not looking for 1-minute kills... I put on Fortified Brass on my magblade and I can solo most of the dragons - unless those hateful graveyards appear... and then it's toast time.
But I think what I'm asking for is a complete rethink on them. Maybe add that the more different people that hit the dragon, the tougher they become (capping at say, 10-20 people). That way, 2-manning is an option. But for players who play at unsociable hours (and there are a few of us) there is little to no chance of ever completing daily quests of killing 3 dragons... it would take the best part of an hour.
I doubt that would have the effect you're hoping for. I still go dragon hunting from time to time. I see people dying from unblocked wing strikes and fire breaths and strafe attacks. If you tell those people dragons can be duo'd and they still die to preventable attacks, they're going to ask for yet more "balancing". Also, at least in southern Elsweyr, I've never had an instance where there's nobody doing dragons, even at weird hours. If you need the ones in Northern Elsweyr, sticking to the one that spawns near the wayshrine in the NW corner, calling out in zone chat, and flagging the dragon as in combat (just attack it and kite it, staying alive isn't hard if that's your sole focus), usually gets your a few more people within a couple of minutes.1 -
tigerborn62✭✭✭Donny_Vito wrote: »The dragons were fun, but they just don't offer the usefulness that other grindy spots do.
You still see lots of people farming Geysers around Summerset because of the alchemy mats they drop which are useful. Make dragons drop something useful that endgame players need, and they will be grinded again.
Probably the best solution offered...
Agreed. In fact, all world bosses should drop great loot. Not just good, but great. For me, I love Craglorn so much. I don't see people do the world bosses too often, though. I think overland group events like wb are so much fun. Indeed, make them worth doing!
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Starlock✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭tigerborn62 wrote: »Donny_Vito wrote: »The dragons were fun, but they just don't offer the usefulness that other grindy spots do.
You still see lots of people farming Geysers around Summerset because of the alchemy mats they drop which are useful. Make dragons drop something useful that endgame players need, and they will be grinded again.
Probably the best solution offered...
Agreed. In fact, all world bosses should drop great loot. Not just good, but great. For me, I love Craglorn so much. I don't see people do the world bosses too often, though. I think overland group events like wb are so much fun. Indeed, make them worth doing!
If you put out a call you can usually get a group together.
One thing the developers could add is an indicator showing that a world boss is under attack, similar to dragons. That's a great gameplay addition that should be expanded to everywhere else in the world. Considering making a thread on it...3 -
xaraan✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭✭✭✭It makes sense that dragons are super dangerous, but this is what happens when you use them as spammable gimmicks like anchors instead of special creatures. This is also what happens in almost every zos expansion, the world bosses and events like dragons and anchors are almost impossible solo which is how the zone is when there is no event. This can be a fun challenge for some that just want a grueling experience in defeating a world boss in VVardenfell solo, but for most players it's not do-able. Add that in Elsweyr, to do the daily you have to fight 3 dragons, not just one boss and it's just another repeatable quest that will only be do-able when they have events and get population in the zone.
And Elsweyr still isn't truly dead yet, wait until Harrowstorm is out lolEdited by xaraan on March 5, 2020 6:02PM-- @xaraan --
nightblade: Xaraan • templar: Xaraan-dar • dragon-knight: Xaraanosaurus • necromancer: Xaraan-qa • warden: Xaraanodon • sorcerer: Xaraan-ra
AD • NA • PC0 -
Integral1900✭✭✭✭✭
✭✭Just ignore them now, not worth the effort for the pitiful reward. Easier just to bash basic enemies for five minutes. One run round a pve delve will get you far more loot0 -
Rittings✭✭✭✭✭
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I doubt that would have the effect you're hoping for. I still go dragon hunting from time to time. I see people dying from unblocked wing strikes and fire breaths and strafe attacks. If you tell those people dragons can be duo'd and they still die to preventable attacks, they're going to ask for yet more "balancing". Also, at least in southern Elsweyr, I've never had an instance where there's nobody doing dragons, even at weird hours. If you need the ones in Northern Elsweyr, sticking to the one that spawns near the wayshrine in the NW corner, calling out in zone chat, and flagging the dragon as in combat (just attack it and kite it, staying alive isn't hard if that's your sole focus), usually gets your a few more people within a couple of minutes.
Like I say, staying alive to the dragon isn't the issue so much as the amount of adds that can now spawn that do a crap ton of damage on TOP of what the dragon is doing. The debuff and dots the dragon can put on you (whilst purgeable, if you have the magicka for it) are utterly vile too - and completely unblockable or undodgeable .. no amount of kiting gets you out of the way of it all.
I think the bottom line is though, when it stops being fun, and becomes a real effort and chore - the video "game" aspect loses it's charm.0 -
Grianasteri✭✭✭✭✭
✭It's pretty apparent now that dragons are harder to kill since so few are now doing them... they were fine when you had 20 people killing them at once... but now you're lucky if you have another person helping you 2-man it... and that makes the quests almost impossible to kill 3 - at least if you are a daytime player only.
I think its great that there is a real challenge for people.
We could simply consider, that hey, its a massive dragon, tough, you should not be able to kill it on your own, move along and do something else.
But I do recognise the frustration for solo players trying to get quests done.
One way to tackle the issue would be for them to scale to how many players are engaged in the fight. Frankly I think all World Bosses should so this.0
