Not impressed with Infinite Archive

SeaGtGruff · February 12

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Rowjoh wrote: »

SeaGtGruff wrote: »

I haven't been as enamored with the Infinite Archive as I originally hoped I'd be, mostly because my two main characters aren't "gud enuf" to kill all of the Arc 1 bosses and the first Tho'at-- most of the time I don't even get to the first Tho'at.

It doesn't help that my approach is to leave once I lose my first thread, treating IA as a sort of "perma-death" challenge, since I'm not into grinding the same content to figure out mechanics. I'm happy to wait to fight a given boss another day-- unless I'd gotten it down to 20% or less of its health before it wiped me, in which case I might rez and immediately try again.

Ironically, I've had fun fighting the Arc 1 mobs and the bosses I've been able to kill, which seems to be the part of IA that most players seem to hate because they think it's too easy and boring.

Last night I finally managed to kill the first Tho'at. The fight took a long time because of how little damage I do, but now I think I'll at least be able to enjoy IA a bit more.

On the other hand, I died during the first mob fight of Arc 2 after a Marauder appeared. I did manage to stay alive for a while, but I wasn't putting much of a dent in the Marauder, so that wasn't much fun. Arc 1 seemed a lot more fun to me.

Go in with a companion or guildmate and you'll find it easier and go further, but more importantly you'll get a better understanding of mechanics which will then make soloing easier too

I finally collected Bastian on PC EU last week so my PC EU main could do the endeavor about playing IA with another player or companion. That was the first time I ever played IA without being solo-- although I'm not sure whether using combat pets is really playing "solo."

When I finally killed the first Tho'at on PC NA the other night, it was without Bastian, just my two combat pets. Now that I've figured out how to avoid quick death in that fight, I might try it without combat pets.

Dagoth_Rac · February 12

I like Infinite Archive a lot more than I thought I would! I think it is a very different style of combat than just about anywhere else in game. Almost all of the bosses have been changed in a way there are little to no DPS races or enrage timers. You can do a slow and steady approach that does not work elsewhere in game. It has brought neglected sets and skills out of the shadows because they shine in IA.

I am running with 50K+ health and mediocre (at best) DPS and it works! That never works in ESO, where just about all the PvE content is, "You died because you did not do 125 million damage per nanosecond." Maybe you can go in tanky and fight a war of attrition in really old content. But it has never been an option for challenging new content until IA.

In most of ESO, you hit a wall because you cannot smash buttons fast enough and DPS fast enough. In IA, you hit a wall because you are doing too much button smashing and too much DPS and don't have enough armor/health/regen. If you go in with your standard Dungeon/Trial/VMA build, you will indeed get your face smashed in. But if you build to survive, it can be quite exhilarating to see IA throw everything but the kitchen sink at you, and laugh it off because it barely tickles.

Sleep724 · February 13

Put far Far FAR too many hours into IA. So I’ll just say this.

Gothmau needs nerfing. If you don’t know who that is, you’re one of the fortunate ones.

Visions need buffing. They should allow for a variety of play styles to be viable, not just hoping and praying that RNG Gods give you Focused Efforts 3x.

Mathius_Mordred · February 13

As it is now I don't bother much usually got to arc 3 then leave as I'm bored and tired. IF, they allowed you to save progress, now that would be a different story.

MidniteOwl1913 · February 13

SpacemanSpiff1 wrote: »

rewards could be better, but it's fun to go in with a friend and see how far we can go. it also encourages situational awareness and strategy, which keeps me from getting too lazy. it's a pretty easy way to get seals of endeavors when possible.

i check it every week to see what undaunted style pages and leads are for sale.

Hmm, situational awareness? strategy? It doesn't seem like we are talking about the same thing at all. I rarely go past arc 2 maybe that's where those things matter?

colossalvoids · February 13

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

SpacemanSpiff1 wrote: »

rewards could be better, but it's fun to go in with a friend and see how far we can go. it also encourages situational awareness and strategy, which keeps me from getting too lazy. it's a pretty easy way to get seals of endeavors when possible.

i check it every week to see what undaunted style pages and leads are for sale.

Hmm, situational awareness? strategy? It doesn't seem like we are talking about the same thing at all. I rarely go past arc 2 maybe that's where those things matter?

If solo you'd really start paying attention since arc 4 probably.

FlopsyPrince · February 13

Sleep724 wrote: »

Put far Far FAR too many hours into IA. So I’ll just say this.

Gothmau needs nerfing. If you don’t know who that is, you’re one of the fortunate ones.

Visions need buffing. They should allow for a variety of play styles to be viable, not just hoping and praying that RNG Gods give you Focused Efforts 3x.

I would agree. Many choices are both worthless for my pet sorc, for example.

Hapexamendios · February 13

I really like it with a partner. Solo is OK.

Caligamy_ESO · February 13

LouisaB75 · February 13

After getting the achievements from EA - other than a few collection ones - I just do arc 1 and 2 for set item collection pieces. No desire to spend hours on end in there. Just making sure I keep my currency topped up for any leads I need from the shop.

I am unfortunately a dragon magnet in there. Even the regular guild mates I have gone in with have noticed that. I don't always go flying off the edge but when I do it is almost always to them.

ToT I only play against NPCs though even then I have to be in the mood for cards. I like the game as it can be fun and I really want the house guest Captain for my ship. But with so much other stuff to do in game it is often put aside.

thorwyn · February 13

Caligamy_ESO wrote: »

What dis?
Magic trickery?

Ingenon · February 13

I did Infinite Archive several times when it was first released on PS/NA. Nowadays, I rarely set foot in the place. For me, Infinite Archive is mind numbing repetitive. There seem to be only a few different room layouts, and it feels like I have seen them all. And the relative difficulty between runs is total RNG. Many runs through Arc 1 are trivial because of which bosses and visions I get, and there was one run where I wiped on Arc 1 Cycle 4 boss while getting verses and visions that were worthless for the build I was running. I don't feel in Maelstrom Arena that my results depend on RNG to the extent that they do in Infinite Archive. And the arena room layouts in Maelstrom Arena each look quite different to me, while the room layouts in Infinite Archive all look like Apocrypha to me.

peacenote · February 13

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Tedious activity I was forced into since I wanted the endeavors and don't do Trials nor hunt horrors in Imperial City.

I dislike it less than Tales of Tribute, but that is not saying much.

While I certainly think that ZOS should be open to enhancing functionality to appeal to a broader portion of the community, when it doesn't ruin the appeal of it to the people who are currently enjoying it, I can't help but notice that you've listed in this one short post four different types of content that you don't really enjoy in ESO.

Which tells me that what would really help you is more variety with endeavors, so that there are always three options of things you can do. You seem to only like specific kinds of content. Not judging! I tend to participate in and enjoy almost all ESO content, but I know that's not true of everyone. The content I avoid more than anything is heists; I'm horrible at them. But since you also don't like trials or IC horrors, it does seem like you wouldn't be a prime target for IA, either. Hope you end up enjoying it more, though!

Smitch_59 wrote: »

I hate IA because I suck at combat. I can't do it, nor can I do vet dungeons or trials. Been playing since 2015 and I still suck. I hate that I can't complete any difficult content. It makes me want to quit the game altogether.

First, I will say that this game has always had combat at its core, and in fact it used to be much more difficult. Before One Tamriel it was hard, especially on tanks and healers, to get through certain parts of the story line, even! You didn't mention PvP but that's very combat driven as well... so if you are really miserable around any combat that's challenging, I would say it really could be that this game isn't for you.

And I can definitely see why IA would not be in your wheelhouse, since it's for solo or duo. Probably you don't enjoy arenas, either, I'm guessing.

That said, the game is much friendlier for folks who struggle with combat today than it was in the beginning, due to power creep. You really can participate in all the stories, and have a lot to do with Tales of Tribute and Antiquities and whatnot, without needing to be good at combat. You can also easily check off world bosses and things off your list by waiting until there is an event in that area, and tackling them when it's very populated. There's no reason to do vet dungeons if you're just here for the stories - normals give you everything you'd need for the type of content you like. I'm not sure why you wouldn't just avoid the harder content and enjoy the rest of it, instead of quitting! I know I'll never be a PvP emperor but that doesn't make me want to quit the game entirely.

And, just in case no one has mentioned this to you, some classes and builds are much easier than others, so you might enjoy ESO a lot more if you haven't tried them. A one-bar sorc or an arcanist might be right up your alley!

El_Borracho · February 13

Could not agree more. Its a pointless grind for less than mediocre gear sets.

CGPsaint · February 13

FlopsyPrince wrote: »

Tedious activity I was forced into since I wanted the endeavors and don't do Trials nor hunt horrors in Imperial City.

And the one I just faced that ended me is one where it kept knocking me off the platform before I could finish the 4th cycle, I assume resetting my quest. Not impressed.

I dislike it less than Tales of Tribute, but that is not saying much.

1.) You're not being forced to do anything.

2.) This is 100% a situation where you simply need to learn the mechanics, which is the same for all fights. Once you know the mechanics, the first 3-4 Arcs are fairly easy. Difficulty ramps tremendously from Arc 5 and beyond.

3.) You're entitled to your opinion. Carry on.

CGPsaint · February 13

Smitch_59 wrote: »

I hate IA because I suck at combat. I can't do it, nor can I do vet dungeons or trials. Been playing since 2015 and I still suck. I hate that I can't complete any difficult content. It makes me want to quit the game altogether.

What platform/server are you on?

Necrotech_Master · February 13

the archive is one of my favorite activities, i been taking it slower on runs because i dont have much to obtain from there right now lol

the randomness of the visions makes it fun, though i wish some of the visions were buffed as they feel fairly insignificant and not hugely impactful

i also would say the marauders (especially gothmau) need some tuning on their light attacks hitting harder than most enemies heavy attacks (gothmau is especially bad with light attacks because of the nasty bleed)

CGPsaint · February 13

Comment deleted as my views and opinions are not relevant to ZoS.

Necrotech_Master · February 13

CGPsaint wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

the archive is one of my favorite activities, i been taking it slower on runs because i dont have much to obtain from there right now lol

the randomness of the visions makes it fun, though i wish some of the visions were buffed as they feel fairly insignificant and not hugely impactful

i also would say the marauders (especially gothmau) need some tuning on their light attacks hitting harder than most enemies heavy attacks (gothmau is especially bad with light attacks because of the nasty bleed)

Having Marauder Gothmau pop up in some of the smaller arenas will get your adrenaline pumping. How do you kite a dude with a 15 meter reach in an area the size of a postage stamp?!?!?!

if in a 2 player dps run, like 80% chance of wiping, or dodging till running out of stamina lol

a 2 player run with a dps and a tank is more doable, but the bleed still hurts even running armor capped tank with 45-50k max hp

if 1 player with a tank companion, its fine, the companion is nigh immortal against a marauder lol

honestly the easiest way to deal with marauders is using a companion because since the changes they are almost unkillable except in a few rare cases that seem to do extra dmg (the endling, rakkat (if they stand on the blue circles), yolnakriin)