Non-solo dungeons needs a fix

chaz · January 2019

So, I like to bring to the already known attention by the developers of these dungeons that there are some players that like to solo challenge a veteran dungeon. However that said, there are some dungeons (possibly more than one) that you need at least two players.

Example, I was going through dire frost keep. Cleared out everything up top then noticed the closed and locked gate, I realized I forgot to go downstairs. Once there I had no issue until I cleared the last chamber and realized I could not get past that gate because there are 2 pressure plates on either side of the gate that need to be compressed simultaneously. I even took out a merchant and even dropped my atronach ultimate directly on it thinking the electric stone rock giant would have physical weight in the game.

Nope.

Now on my way out I noticed a smaller gate to the left, I walked up to it and was able to hit the switch through the bars on the other side of the gate, its the one you exit the boss chamber Dradda and fight 3 Ice trolls and one ice archer on the way out. So, having killed the boss Dradda through the bars of the gate to his chamber, the gate above on the second floor still did not open. And I could not reach and activate the switch through the bars to dradda's chamber from the other side.

So, anything like this situation needs to be readdressed and refreshed. The game is almost 5 years old now. One would think the dungeon master at zenimax would have a brain storm and d oa little tweaking here and there. So my suggestion, I would have a gate lever on both sides of those gates, and since in this game we cannot physically affect the environment like Skyrim by picking up a solid object, say for example a regular jar or urn to place on one of the pressure plates, then swap those out for 2 levers like you find in craglorn trials. Or another dungeon like crypt of hearts, because at least 1 person can activate both levers/switches to open the door/gate to get into the next section.

Thanks for reading.

No go. Make it happen. I say that because it's a huge posibility. Thinking outside the box. Taking an already existing game and just making baseline improvements. Instead of all your BS nerfs that pee people off to no end, focus on environment changes. You did it recently in cyrodiil. And look at the positive wave that happened with long time players like me thats been in there since day one. It was refreshing to see something new. Not stagnant, no go! Go build. Make me those switches. Oh and BTW, for pve, buff my damned sorc. All your pvp nerfs are rediculous. Before you messed with tanks, I had an immortal pvp tank. Then came the nerfs, now tank trash. Started all over and made a pve only toon. Thanks for that. (Sarcasm)

Go, why are you still reading? Get crakin', make me my switches. Upgrade dungeons with new coats of paint. Or I swear to Lord Dagon, I WILL STEAL YOUR DAMNED SWEETROLL!

Anotherone773 · January 2019

I think all group content( including trials) should have a "solo" mode that removes any mechanics like the DFK pressure plate that automatically require more than one person. But i think if you activate solo mode, you can only enter the instance solo. No using it to cheat and make it easier for your group.

Alaztor91 · January 2019

For your specific situation(Direfrost Keep), after you kill the Draugr boss that spawns those ice scamps that explode, you can either let an ice troll or whatever monster kill you and respawn at the dungeon entrance or just run to the entrance, there should be a blue portal that you can use to teleport to the room where you fight the Draugr boss(the one that requires activating the 2 pressure plates to reach). When you are inside the room you just proceed like normal and pull the lever and then the door at the middle room will open, and you can continue to Iceheart and Drodda.

Everstorm · January 2019

A nightblade can actually jump through the gate into the room with the boss with teleport strike. But going back to the entrance after the boss is dead and take te portal works for everyone.

Yuffie91 · January 2019

I would like old trials to be soloable. Just so I can get rid of the quests

chaz · January 2019

@alaztor91 , really? I will try that today however for personal achievement it kind of defeats the purpose of having a no death run. I solo dungeons with some of my magsorcs and post the videos online for entertainment and educational value that dungeons can be soloed.

Until then, how old this game is now we really do need a refreshed overhaul of some if not all of these dungeons.

eso_nya · January 2019

I was told about that long ago but had to swear to never mention it in the official forums so the lever doesnt get "fixed".

Please delete your post before the greens read it xD

Goratesque · January 2019

Those "dungeons" are supposed to be made for 4-players, you know that, don't you? So you can't "demand" a "fix" for something intentional. Same goes for other dungeons like Imperial City Prison.

SirAndy · January 2019

chaz wrote: »

... So, having killed the boss Dradda through the bars of the gate to his chamber, the gate above on the second floor still did not open. And I could not reach and activate the switch through the bars to dradda's chamber from the other side. ...

Almost there, once you kill the boss in the chamber below, walk all the way back to the dungeon entrance and use the portal to port into the chamber.

From there you can progress through the rest of the dungeon and finish it without ever having to use the two pressure plates.

Dreyloch · January 2019

I was gonna make some really nasty comments for the OP. But I'm not. The game has vMA. If you have done vMA on every single class, both stam and magicka, and did it topping the leader boards, with perfect no death/fastest possible times?
I would say you most certainly need more suitable content.

But until then (pictures or it didn't happen lol), I'll agree I would like something more than vMA to do solo that gives some decent gear rewards. I know that's not what your doing it for. But c'mon. The devs can't put forth time to make something "just for you" and maybe less than 100 other ppl that want to do this kind of thing.

What they should do is incorporate vet dungeon style content into the quest story lines. Stuff that's about as hard as vMA., but much shorter. So while your doing the questline, your going into solo-very-hard dungeons to get the quest items/gear drops/story progression. Heck, even give it a "Hard mode". Would this satisfy you?

josiahva · January 2019

Dreyloch wrote: »

I was gonna make some really nasty comments for the OP. But I'm not. The game has vMA. If you have done vMA on every single class, both stam and magicka, and did it topping the leader boards, with perfect no death/fastest possible times?
I would say you most certainly need more suitable content.

But until then (pictures or it didn't happen lol), I'll agree I would like something more than vMA to do solo that gives some decent gear rewards. I know that's not what your doing it for. But c'mon. The devs can't put forth time to make something "just for you" and maybe less than 100 other ppl that want to do this kind of thing.

What they should do is incorporate vet dungeon style content into the quest story lines. Stuff that's about as hard as vMA., but much shorter. So while your doing the questline, your going into solo-very-hard dungeons to get the quest items/gear drops/story progression. Heck, even give it a "Hard mode". Would this satisfy you?

NO! I hate the idea of ever-shorter content. I like the idea, but there is no reason a quest cant have a very hard solo dungeon that takes 30 minutes to get through, as long as it has decent rewards for doing so.

D0PAMINE · January 2019

Everytime I show someone the Direfrost solo trick, they're ecstatic.

chaz · January 2019

D0PAMINE wrote: »

Everytime I show someone the Direfrost solo trick, they're ecstatic.

Actually there is no way to get past this area to do this dungeon solo. I just recorded my session and uploaded it.

So if you have a """TRICK""" then post up a video please.

Ydrisselle · January 2019

Dreyloch wrote: »

I was gonna make some really nasty comments for the OP. But I'm not. The game has vMA. If you have done vMA on every single class, both stam and magicka, and did it topping the leader boards, with perfect no death/fastest possible times?
I would say you most certainly need more suitable content.

But until then (pictures or it didn't happen lol), I'll agree I would like something more than vMA to do solo that gives some decent gear rewards. I know that's not what your doing it for. But c'mon. The devs can't put forth time to make something "just for you" and maybe less than 100 other ppl that want to do this kind of thing.

What they should do is incorporate vet dungeon style content into the quest story lines. Stuff that's about as hard as vMA., but much shorter. So while your doing the questline, your going into solo-very-hard dungeons to get the quest items/gear drops/story progression. Heck, even give it a "Hard mode". Would this satisfy you?

That would mean many players wouldn't be able to do those questchains at all. I'd say it's a colossally bad idea.

Stebarnz · January 2019

Completely agree OP I'm tired of carrying turnips through dungeon content then when I try to help by offering advice I get told to STFU, or I'm an elitist.
But there are MANY game breaking bugs that need to be addressed first, but.... they don't care.

Leogon · January 2019

I've been asking for a vet solo mode of pretty much everything that can't be soloed since the non-soloable content started to show up in the game. I like to challenge myself in both real life and video games and doing things solo is always more challenging since you can't rely on others. Unfortunately, ZOS is either too lazy to give us that option or just doesn't care but I'm betting on the former 'cuz if you look at the content in this game, it's the same thing over and over again but with a different look. For example, I bet the new DLC dungeons have lazy one-shot mechanics and forced group mechanics. I also bet that the new house has too much space for its furniture limit. Btw, when it comes to that housing furniture limit issue, ZOS is either dumb or trolling us at this point. Hopefully, I'm wrong about those things but I doubt it.

Anyway, after reading the patch notes, I can't say I'm too excited for this update. There are some sets and changes to racial passives that look nice and the new guild UI looks nice as well but overall, meh. I'm not expecting to be blown away.

Xundiin · January 2019

Only way this would work is if you removed all gear rewards and possibly rewards period. Call it story mode. No mechanics, no need to learn the instance, no reward for completion. Doesn't even count towards achievements.

I have not done one trial in this game, so take that into consideration when I say the above. I'd like to, but I find my interest in this game comes and goes so I'm not reliable enough to be on a team. But I don't think you should be able to get any reward for this type of game play where others have to learn the place to an extent to get the reward.

chaz · January 2019

So, I was now able to run this entire dungeon on solo, as a true soloist, however that said, I'm disappointed because it ruined my no death run as it's required to use one life token in order to portal to the bosses chamber in order to activate the second floor gate switch from within. (Thanks for the idea folks of portaling)

That said, I am still on key focus on getting the developers, especially the dungeon master at zenimax to revamp these 5 year old dungeons now with zest and spice for those of us that are soloist and love to challenge ourselves in area's that was once thought of as only a four player crew access area.

Cyrodiil was recently updated with new things not seen in all these years until now, so why not breathe new life in these dungeons by paint mapping skins of enemies, bosses, new random banners, obvious drop places for heavy sacks and treasure chests , especially those as sometimes we go through without finding a blessed one.

Should never fear change, change is good.

Stebarnz · January 2019

Xundiin wrote: »

Only way this would work is if you removed all gear rewards and possibly rewards period. Call it story mode. No mechanics, no need to learn the instance, no reward for completion. Doesn't even count towards achievements.

I have not done one trial in this game, so take that into consideration when I say the above. I'd like to, but I find my interest in this game comes and goes so I'm not reliable enough to be on a team. But I don't think you should be able to get any reward for this type of game play where others have to learn the place to an extent to get the reward.

What difference would that make? If you are good enough to solo a dungeon that is supposed to need a group surely you deserve the reward more than the turnip sat at the back pulling 5k dps getting carried through the content.
If anything the reward should be greater.

kargen27 · January 2019

Stebarnz wrote: »

Xundiin wrote: »

Only way this would work is if you removed all gear rewards and possibly rewards period. Call it story mode. No mechanics, no need to learn the instance, no reward for completion. Doesn't even count towards achievements.

I have not done one trial in this game, so take that into consideration when I say the above. I'd like to, but I find my interest in this game comes and goes so I'm not reliable enough to be on a team. But I don't think you should be able to get any reward for this type of game play where others have to learn the place to an extent to get the reward.

What difference would that make? If you are good enough to solo a dungeon that is supposed to need a group surely you deserve the reward more than the turnip sat at the back pulling 5k dps getting carried through the content.
If anything the reward should be greater.

The reward is that you get to have fun and challenging content. I'm all for options that allow for more difficult ways to do the content already in the game but I don't think there should be any extra reward for doing so. Just take the same drop you would have received if you ran with a group.

Stebarnz · January 2019

kargen27 wrote: »

Stebarnz wrote: »

Xundiin wrote: »

Only way this would work is if you removed all gear rewards and possibly rewards period. Call it story mode. No mechanics, no need to learn the instance, no reward for completion. Doesn't even count towards achievements.

I have not done one trial in this game, so take that into consideration when I say the above. I'd like to, but I find my interest in this game comes and goes so I'm not reliable enough to be on a team. But I don't think you should be able to get any reward for this type of game play where others have to learn the place to an extent to get the reward.

What difference would that make? If you are good enough to solo a dungeon that is supposed to need a group surely you deserve the reward more than the turnip sat at the back pulling 5k dps getting carried through the content.
If anything the reward should be greater.

The reward is that you get to have fun and challenging content. I'm all for options that allow for more difficult ways to do the content already in the game but I don't think there should be any extra reward for doing so. Just take the same drop you would have received if you ran with a group.

Ye I'm good with that, but to suggest no reward is dumb.