• Did you enjoy this new Trial overall?
  
  Yes, the ambiance was great and I really liked the concept of Seafaring Half-Giants
  
  
• What level and build was the character you used?
  
  810 cp Greymoor Template - Breton Magicka Necromancer DPS (Ilambris, Mother Sorrow, Perfected False God, Perfected Maelstrom Inferno)
  
  
• Did you complete Normal or Veteran (or both)?
  
  Veteran
  
  
• How did the difficulty compare to existing Trials on Normal and Veteran versions?
  
  Didnt try normal yet, and I dont think I will until it gets released on live to help friends farm gear, etc. Overall felt quite similar to Sunspire
  
  
• Did you try any Hard Modes? If so, which bosses?
  
  Yes, I tried all 3.
  
  
• Were there any mechanics you had difficulty with?
  
  First time there, but I had no troubles figuring them out, also I had companions with previous experience, so it was pretty intuitive, others were not so evident.
  
  
• Did you complete the Trial?
  
  Yep, in hard mode (the 3rd day we went there more or less)
  
  
• Do you have any other general feedback?
  
  Yes, I think we need to pay heed to how both Vrol's and Yandir's fights were designed (You need to engage with the terrain, interact with objects, make decisions about how to position the group and the enemies, etc). However, Falgravn's HM feels just stupid, is just a chunk of massive health (276 millions no less) and you need to work around that while paying attention to the tank's damage mitigation. The anti ressurrection mechanic is cool and well designed, though. But overall, the fight needs to be more engaging and driven to use your brain and perception through strategy and puzzles. Rather than just throw a Stat/DPS dense fight to burn with DPS or HPS. Dont get me wrong, it's a Hard Mode after all, and it's neither too easy, nor impossible to complete. But the way to clear it, is, quite frankly, just boring and unimaginative.
  
  I'd like to mention as really good examples of creative and fun PvE content:
  
  - Grapple bow mechanics at Unhallowed Grave along with Secret Bosses
  - Tarcir's fight at March of Sacrifices and sneak phases along with Indrik Secret Hunts
  - Catacomb phases on Velidreth
  - The twins at maw of lorkhaj and backyard running, also lunar phases
  - Refabricated Commitee at Halls of Fabrication and Hunter killers
  
  They are all really good examples on how to create fun PvE content, and my most sincere congratulations goes to the creators. I think most players strive to see similar fights, DPS should be important, but teamwork and intelligence/perception even more so.

Did you enjoy this new Trial overall?

Yes. It felt really good to have a full fledged trial again with ground to cover and plenty of add pulls.

What level and build was the character you used?

CP810 Magcro.

Did you complete Normal or Veteran (or both)?

Both. First normal with 7 people (1 tank, 1 healer, 5 dps), and then again on vet non-hm with a full group.

How did the difficulty compare to existing Trials on Normal and Veteran versions?

Quite a few things were one-shotting us, even on normal. Admittedly we had a smaller group and weren't able to keep the adds from stacking on each other, but some of the add pulls were pretty tricky.

Vet felt pretty easy. We beat the first two bosses in 1-2 serious pulls without really understanding what was going on. The final boss take a few tries and a lot of deaths, but we were able to beat it without too much trouble without understanding several of the mechanics.

Did you try any Hard Modes? If so, which bosses?

We briefly tried first boss HM and died pretty fast, but turned it off because we had limited time and wanted to try the whole thing.

Were there any mechanics you had difficulty with?

• The Tidebreakers' wave was extremely deadly at first until our tank learned how to call it. Then it become pretty easy. I like the additional difficulty it provided to add pulls, although it will likely be trivialized by an add-on once it hits live.
• Second boss - the far ballistae's shots often get blocked by the ropes on the ship, particularly towards the end of the fight. I noticed this on both normal and vet. I'm sure there's a trick to targeting it right, but it was annoying.
• Last boss - our first time through on normal, we didn't understand the shock line mechanic at all, so when the boss started it, we just kept dpsing and our healer healed through the damage. This continued until the boss was dead, completely skipping all mechanics and all of the downstairs phases. When I looked at a stream the next day and saw there was a downstairs phase, it suddenly made sense why the quest giver arrow was in the floor. You might want to ramp up the damage or make the boss immune when he reaches the threshold for the next phase.
• Last boss - on vet, we never figured out how the prisoner mechanic during the final phase worked, but we were able to dps through it (with a lot of deaths). It'd be great to make the mechanic more discoverable.

Did you complete the Trial?

Yes, on normal and vet.

Do you have any other general feedback?

The skin is underwhelming. No glowy bits, and it made my character look wrinkly. Why can't we have a trial skin that doesn't make our characters look like they've been underwater for 6 months?

You've said elsewhere that you plan on making all of the fights more difficult before launch. I hope that this includes adding new mechanics (or making mechanics that we were ignoring more visible), because at the moment everything was mostly stack and burn for dps. That said, the line mechanic on the final boss is fantastic.

Why no grappling hooks? I'm seriously disappointed by that.

Did you enjoy this new Trial overall?
It felt a bit like a dungeon compared to a trial, I expect once the bosses are buffed a bit, it'll be better

What level and build was the character you used?
Max level template characters to test new gear
Templar healer in Roaring opportunist and Jorvuld's Guidance
Necromancer healer in Roaring opportunist and Jorvuld's Guidance

Did you complete Normal or Veteran (or both)?
We've completed Vet and Vet HM for all bosses with multiple groups trying different strats

How did the difficulty compare to existing Trials on Normal and Veteran versions?
Vet HM was much easier than Sunspire, Halls of Fabrication, and Maw of Lorkhaj. Doesn't really compare to the mini-trials. On the first day, we did a run through of just vet to see all of the mechanics. Then went back through and easily cleared the first 2 bosses on HM. Our raid time ended before we got to try the final boss on HM. At a later raid day we cleared all 3 HMs multiple times and got speed run. In another group, we went in and cleared all HMs with little difficulty. It was a bit disappointing being able to clear all 3 HMs that quickly. The most challenging thing we've found, is figuring out how best to stack trash packs. I would imagine that since vet and vet HM do not differ for trash, it will be frustrating for progression groups.

Did you try any Hard Modes? If so, which bosses?
We have done HM for all three bosses

Were there any mechanics you had difficulty with?
For the first two bosses, meteors and lightning can target pets. Since the necro mage/archer/mender tend to be within the aoe radius for mechanics, getting hit with double mechanics was frustrating. Especially on the second boss, operating the ballista. Once the mage on the boat starts doing the animation for meteors, the ballista mechanic has a delay to exit and block.

On the trash before the final boss, some of the topography and attributes inhibit taunt and interrupts, I would assume because they block line of sight. While most of the mechanics are well done, the telegraph for Wrath of Tides isn't consistent, and spawns in oddly relative to the position of the Tidebreaker.

On the final boss, the resurrect penalty is interesting, but spawning downstairs to be one-shot by an add that's unavoidable is frustrating. The synergy on the second level of the final boss, is pretty confusing, most of us have no idea what it does, other than giving the healers a little extra work. There also don't seem to be major consequences for skipping some mechanics throughout the trial. However, that may have been intentional to allow people to see as much of the trial as possible in the first week of the PTS.

Did you complete the Trial?
Yes, completed the trial multiple times, and achieved speed run.

Do you have any other general feedback?
As previously stated on these forums, increasing the difficulty would help. The first boss fight stands between 2-3 minutes, which is really short, especially compared to last year's trial. The second boss fight is within the same time frame, and while there are some interesting mechanics, as it is, supports have been relegated to doing the mechanics and the DPS just parse.

Overall, I appreciate that the new trial is a full trial and requires the group to coordinate in order to clear easily. There are interesting mechanics that have a lot of potential, and that may yet be improved. I hope that the future patches will increase difficulty, and possibly encourage teams to get damage dealers to perform some of the mechanics. As it is, supports mainly focus buffs, debuffs, and doing the mechanics so the dps can just parse and kill bosses more quickly.

Would it be possible to get some telegraphs added? I’m usually good at getting out of red circles, but many mechanics here don’t seem to have them. The Tidebreakers for example, do a giant AoE that will one-shot if you don’t block, but there is nothing showing where or when this will occur unless you are specifically watching that one enemy. In contrast, the Sea Lurchers in March of Sacrifices do pretty much exactly the same attack, but we get a red circle that tells us where it will hit. It’s not a massive issue on PC since we already made addons to alert us about the poorly-telegraphed attacks, but I imagine this will be a pain point on consoles.

And it’s not just this one attack, I’d say at least half the mechanics in the trial are missing visual indicators: Shaman meteors, Raider javelins, various frontal cleaves, call lightning, some blood type AoEs on trash, Shock circles on last boss, the blood hands that chase you (sorry I don’t know all the correct names for these abilities). Even things that are fairly easy to see like the poison totem AoEs on 1st boss, are difficult to accurately judge size, can we get a red circle under the green fog like we have in vSO?

Alucu wrote: »

• Did you enjoy this new Trial overall?
  
  
  I'd like to mention as really good examples of creative and fun PvE content:
  
  - Grapple bow mechanics at Unhallowed Grave along with Secret Bosses
  - Tarcir's fight at March of Sacrifices and sneak phases along with Indrik Secret Hunts
  - Catacomb phases on Velidreth
  - The twins at maw of lorkhaj and backyard running, also lunar phases
  - Refabricated Commitee at Halls of Fabrication and Hunter killers
  
  They are all really good examples on how to create fun PvE content, and my most sincere congratulations goes to the creators. I think most players strive to see similar fights, DPS should be important, but teamwork and intelligence/perception even more so.

I totally feel you about the interactive mechanics thing, except I would say the Tarcyr example is actually not too great of one. Imo, its interactive-ness either needed to include the possibility to dps at the same time as getting the wisps (rework the wisp phase) or the wisp phases needed to be a lot less drawn out time wise. I hate stack and burn fights, but the Tarcyr fight honestly feels like a stack and burn with a simply annoying mechanic because of its drawn-outness. I guess it's subjective. But I think interactive stuff IN the actual fights (grapple in UG, MOL stuff, HOF stuff, and as an addition pretty much all of SCP Zaan HM) instead of interactiveness that STOPS the fight (Tarcyr, catacombs to an extent although they feel wayyyyy more fun than Tarcyr, or as an addition Frostvault HM rat phase) is better imo.

I would like to give my opinion about this trial from the Main Tank and the Off Tank point of view. Because I'm a tank.

I will also try to suggest a few changes that would make the fights more interesting.

This will only be about the bosses, and not about anything else in the trial.

I will also assume that the group that is doing the trial is a group that performs well in HM DLC trials.



FIRST BOSS

Opinion
First 50%
- MT: This fight is pretty good. The MT needs to dodge a telegraphed attack which requires good timing, and position the boss at the right place and facing the right way.
- OT: This fight is not very engaging. The OT needs to stack a pet on the boss, and the pet does very little, at least to the tank. They also enrage, which almost doesn't change anything, for the tank.

Last 50%
- MT: The fight changes a little bit. The boss now jumps to the MT's position, which is dangerous for the rest of the group, so the MT has to pay attention to this mechanic and choose the landing position accordingly. The boss also does something that resembles a shatter, which increases the damage done by the boss, which is noticeable when he heavy attacks, but the MT can still tank the boss with ease.
- OT: The pets don't spawn anymore, so the OT now has NOTHING TO DO.

Suggestions
First 50%
This fight could be better for the OT if the pets were more dangerous for the tank, or if their enrage mechanic actually meant something.

Last 50%
This fight could be much more engaging for both tanks, especially for the OT who has nothing to do. If the shatter mechanic would make tanking the boss extremely difficult or impossible for the MT, then the OT would have to tank the boss instead. If the pets were also still spawning after 50%, because why not, then tanks would have to swap between boss and pet.




SECOND BOSS

Opinion
First 50%
- MT: This fight is all right. The ice mechanic is a good mechanic, which requires fast reaction time and good positioning. However, this is the only mechanic that the MT has to deal with, so it makes the rest of the fight a bit empty.
- OT: This fight is perfect. The OT has to take care of 3 adds, position them correctly, be mindful of their ability (deadly cleave for bulwark and channel for the apothecary and raider), who also enrage, and on top of that needs to be careful not to step into the MT's ice. Perfect OT job.

Last 50%
- MT: This fight changes quite a bit and becomes a little bit more challenging. The double heavy attack and the channel from the storm twin both require attention as a misstep is lethal. The ice mechanic disappears.
- OT: The OT has NOTHING TO DO. So the OT has to do the ballista mechanic on the left side, which is in my opinion a repetitive and boring mechanic, so would be perfectly adequate for a lesser role like a DD (I jest).

Suggestions
First 50%
Nothing to change really, not exceptional for the MT but good enough.

Last 50%
The fight could be different and arguably more challenging for the MT, and infinitely better for the OT. This would require only one thing, which is keeping the ice mechanic after 50% make the storm twin stronger or behave in a different manner in order to interact better with the boss and the tank. Holding the storm twin and the boss at the same time would become pretty much impossible for the MT, because the combo of the ice stun and the storm twin's heavy attack would be impossible to deal with. The OT would then have to take the boss while the MT deals with the storm twin, then when this one is dead either the MT takes the boss back right away and repeat, or lets the OT deal with the next storm twin and they swap roles completely.
If not for the ice, then another mechanic that would at least require a tank swap or a significant contribution from the OT would also do. Make the storm twin do something different for example.



THIRD BOSS

Opinion
No need here to talk about different phases, because the fight is exactly the same from the beginning to the end. This fight, both for MT and OT, is the most boring, least engaging, most badly designed fight in the game. It's abysmal.

- MT: For the whole, obnoxiously long fight, the MT has exactly 0 mechanic to deal with. I do not count light and heavy attacks as a mechanic. The MT has to block the former, and dodge the latter. That's it. And to say that doing this is the same than any other fight in the game in any DLC trial, is frankly laughable.

- OT:For the first 10% of the fight, the OT has to deal with the lieutenant. It's something I guess, but not very interesting. Dodging the blood cleave attack has to be well timed. The chains are kinda there. But then, most importantly, for the whole rest of the fight, which again, is very long, the OT HAS NOTHING TO DO. The OT can literally /lute.
So pretty much for the 276 million health worth of fighting, both the MT and the OT have close to nothing to do.

Suggestions
Honestly, I don't know. The amount of work that is needed to make this joke of a fight better for tanks is so immense that it would need to completely redesign it. It's catastrophic.



A recurrent theme in this trial is that the OT has nothing to do, especially in the last half of the fight. This trial is overall poorly designed from an OT point of view and could be made much better with just some tweaks in the fights mechanics.

Overall, the first two bosses are good fights, but I'm a bit disappointed that the changes in PTS week 3 haven't made them better. They stayed pretty much the same and didn't require a change in strategy. They could have been much more interesting by just using the mechanics that look like they would mean something, like shatter, enrage, or additional entities.

The third boss is utter garbage and as such belongs in the trash can. From the tanks POV anyway.