Defeating Balreth

Emohsnevar · June 2014

During Beta and then after Launch I enjoyed fighting Balreth at lvl 9 and soloing him. He was a tough fight, and it really felt like you accomplished something.

Well I recently created an Alt character and I went into today at lvl 10 to fight Balreth, knowing that you guys supposedly nerfed him from what he was before.

I was EXTREMELY disappointed. The fight was pitiful, it felt like I was killing a cuddly little bunny rabbit. I killed him in less than 5 seconds and I was like WTF??? The mobs outside of the portal were harder than this fight. I was deeply saddened by Zenimax's decision to make Balreth a VERY SQUISHY water balloon.

PLEASE MAKE HIM HARDER!!

Just pitiful fight.

Nebthet78 · June 2014

He was a pain to kill solo for my NB character at Vet level.

AKSb16_ESO2 · June 2014

Yes, Balreth is a joke now. Doshia too. No challenge any more.

Phinix1 · June 2014

If I remember correctly he was still reasonably challenging at veteran levels. If he was the one that keeps running into the lava and regenerating health...

I sort of wish that ZOS would not cater as much as they do to the vocal minority that complain on the forums about the game though. Horse hooves are a perfect example. They RUINED the way they sound, just because some people complained that sliding a volume control was too hard for them?

What would be preferable to destroying fun content by making it too easy, would be to add more content that anyone can do. That takes a lot longer though, and honestly, I would rather they devote their time to fixing what they already have..

It is a delicate balance though. You can't make things TOO challenging, otherwise you are catering only to a small niche of hardcore mashers that will attrition grind one dungeon for a week, dying hundredes of times, just to get a skillpoint.

I do agree that SOME things, like veteran Fungal Grotto and perhaps others, do need to be toned down a little in places. It is always a challenge to find the right balance.

Fortunately it feels like most of veteran content is pretty close to perfect.

krismd_ESO · August 2014

Unfortunately it's just as easy as a Veteran character. He just kinda stands there; doesn't heal in any significant way and dies very quickly. Utter disappointment after being a memorable encounter during the early days of the game.

AngryNord · August 2014

AlienDiplomat wrote: »

What would be preferable to destroying fun content by making it too easy, would be to add more content that anyone can do. That takes a lot longer though, and honestly, I would rather they devote their time to fixing what they already have..

The Balreth quest is a quest you MUST do to advance the EP storyline. These quests _have_ to be accessible to everyone. Keep the über-hard stuff for the optional questlines.

Ashtaris · August 2014

Although I agree that you need to make it accessible to everyone, there still needs to be some kind of a challenge. A few weeks ago, I went back there as a VR1 or 2 to complete the Stonefalls storyline. My wife was with me as her NB character, and we were both expecting it to be a good fight. After killing him in about 5 seconds, we both commented: "Your kidding, that's it?". Quite a change from the first time I encountered this monster with another character. I do agree it needed to be toned down a bit to do solo, they tipped the scales too far in the other direction.

Ranger · August 2014

AlienDiplomat wrote: »

If I remember correctly he was still reasonably challenging at veteran levels. If he was the one that keeps running into the lava and regenerating health...

I sort of wish that ZOS would not cater as much as they do to the vocal minority that complain on the forums about the game though. Horse hooves are a perfect example. They RUINED the way they sound, just because some people complained that sliding a volume control was too hard for them?

What would be preferable to destroying fun content by making it too easy, would be to add more content that anyone can do. That takes a lot longer though, and honestly, I would rather they devote their time to fixing what they already have..

It is a delicate balance though. You can't make things TOO challenging, otherwise you are catering only to a small niche of hardcore mashers that will attrition grind one dungeon for a week, dying hundredes of times, just to get a skillpoint.

I do agree that SOME things, like veteran Fungal Grotto and perhaps others, do need to be toned down a little in places. It is always a challenge to find the right balance.

Fortunately it feels like most of veteran content is pretty close to perfect.

Exactly
This has gotten to be a complete walk through at low lvls now.
Horse sounds changed but quests still bugged, like Carzogs Demise where you must relog to continue because Lambor doesn't show. ( broken since update 2 )

Seen other great games go by the way side because Devs listened to the minority as well. Joint Operations comes to mind. Started out with realistic bullet drop ect. but after a few complaints they turned it into just another arcade shooter and everyone left.

stefan.gustavsonb16_ESO · August 2014

Dear Balreth, Doshia, Gutsripper, and may other memorable monsters from early levels who put up a good fight: we miss you! You may have been a bit too hard on some of us, but your wimpy clones are a disappointment to everyone. Please come back from your vacation.

Brabok · August 2014

I like it when bosses are hard to kill, that way you will always remember them, most of them even by name.
Balreth was majorly borked at release and has undergone since so many makeovers he should look liek michael jackson now...
not much left of the original challenging opponent there.
shame really