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How are people feeling about veteran content?

Tavore1138
Tavore1138
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Just interested - obviously I have gone through the main quests and so on, beaten Mr Bal and am now progressing through my first veteran area.

As I expected I am finding it pretty challenging & it would be dull if it simply reverted to be being 'normal'.

However I am also finding it a very mixed bag in terms of consistency of challenge in the same region (which is becoming a little frustrating) - as in I can fight what is ostensibly the same mob twice with similar tactics and in one combat I will win a challenging battle, in the next I will almost literally be killed in a single hit... and I am mean a hit from a nameless mob member not a boss.

I am specced towards health, I have current fully maintained heavy armour and level appropriate weapons etc.

So... my question is - is this simply me or is it that these areas vary quite widely in levels of challenge even though the 'monsters' are marked as being the same level as each other?
  • GrundelWolfe
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    I had originally been fully specced magicka. This put my magicka at 2087, and health was at around 1200

    I just re-specced full health, put on magicka enchants on armor, and use magicka food. My magicka sits at 2037, and health is now around 2200 (with emp bonus).

    There is simply no reason to put attribute points into anything but health. I'm glad I tried this cause it has saved me from needing help on the harder boss fights now. The missing 50 magicka points is well worth having 1000 extra health.
  • Sihnfahl
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    I find it a bit cheesy, really. Instead of returning to the overarching 'Cyrodiil is collapsed internally and the factions are at blows again' storyline, they go to a 'what if fate meant for you to have been part of THIS faction...'

    Same content you'd see if you made a new toon in that faction, only tougher.

    So the only reason you'd roll a toon in another faction is so that you can fight for that faction in Cyrodiil if you got through Vet 10.
  • South_of_Heaven
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    Yea, I don't get it. Health is 15 per point while magicka is 10. But their enchantments (on the same level) add the same amount, don't they? Am I missing something here?
  • Turelus
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    Still not there yet. :p
    Been active since day one of early access and only now level 46, reading everything and 100% of each zone takes a while it seems.
    @Turelus - EU PC Megaserver
    "Don't count on others for help. In the end each of us is in this alone. The survivors are those who know how to look out for themselves."
  • GrundelWolfe
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    Sihnfahl wrote: »
    I find it a bit cheesy, really. Instead of returning to the overarching 'Cyrodiil is collapsed internally and the factions are at blows again' storyline, they go to a 'what if fate meant for you to have been part of THIS faction...'

    Same content you'd see if you made a new toon in that faction, only tougher.

    So the only reason you'd roll a toon in another faction is so that you can fight for that faction in Cyrodiil if you got through Vet 10.

    I agree. If I wanted to do the other alliance quests, I would have chosen that alliance to begin with...

    It really feels like it was an afterthought. Especially since most quests, and dungeons are from the same cookie cutter mold.

  • Darkro
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    Sihnfahl wrote: »
    I find it a bit cheesy, really. Instead of returning to the overarching 'Cyrodiil is collapsed internally and the factions are at blows again' storyline, they go to a 'what if fate meant for you to have been part of THIS faction...'

    Same content you'd see if you made a new toon in that faction, only tougher.

    So the only reason you'd roll a toon in another faction is so that you can fight for that faction in Cyrodiil if you got through Vet 10.

    To be honest that is what I love most about this. I get to see all content...without having to go trough 3 characters on 3 different factions.
    This basically lets me play the faction I LIKE, see all content and get my character stronger while retaining same faction in cyrodil.
  • roguearchonb14_ESO
    To be perfectly honest...I hate it. Ever since hitting VR1 I've all but lost interest in the game. Going to the next zone and doing more random quests--only against more difficult mobs and with a proportionally tiny XP gain--is more than a little boring in my book.

    The Cyrodiil campaign I'm in is so heavily skewed toward AD that they currently hold all but one keep. PvP in general has been "spend three minutes running to battle, PvP for two minutes, die, respawn all the back where I started" over and over again. I'm sure I suck at PvP...just testing the waters at the moment, but the water stinks to me right now. Of course if I was playing on the side with more numbers it might be a different story...

    Still haven't tried any end game PvE content yet.

    All in all, leveling was more fun than any other MMO I've tried, but now that I'm in to VR content...I'm having trouble finding the motivation to log on these days.
  • Lonn87b16_ESO
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    I am specced towards health, I have current fully maintained heavy armour and level appropriate weapons etc.

    So... my question is - is this simply me or is it that these areas vary quite widely in levels of challenge even though the 'monsters' are marked as being the same level as each other?

    It's not just you, I too have met with the same fate.

    A nord dragonknight in a full set of heavy armor for the appropriate level, specced for health and have added a few points to stamina just to be able to get a little better stamina regen, but it's the same thing, added to that, I've put out points for every armor/health/spell resist I possibly could and along with "Razor Armor" (mutated "Spiked Armor") that hands me an extra 1250 or so armor (of course this is deducted towards the overcharge) and some of the normal unnamed regular mobs could just poke me twice and I'm dead.

    This has just gotten all worse as I've gotten upwards and onwards, I've been VR4 a few days and I stopped playing that character since even the most lesser of creatures are starting to become so strong that it's impossible to take them down, one mob is fine, I might stay above 50% of my health with one mob... Two of them (The combination of mobs wouldn't matter) and I'm dead and that's with self healing from "Green Dragon Blood" which heals for 33% of my missing health, along with a passive that gives me an extra 12% of healing received when my "Razor Armor" is active.
  • South_of_Heaven
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    As I said in another thread:
    It would make leveling on Vet much more interesting if there was one/all of these things:

    - An extra way to customize/develop your character in veteran ranks since leveling is quite slow.
    - An extra meaningful collectible at veteran ranks.
    - A few random invasions from people of the other faction

    Or something else that changed the experience even subtly.

    The annoying part about this whole thing is that vet does nothing new at all. Even gold rewards are the same, while the content is harder, only items just scale. It kind of feels like the game is punishing you after killing Molag Bal.
    Edited by South_of_Heaven on April 24, 2014 5:50PM
  • aeroch
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    I'm not finding it terribly difficult. Mobs seem to get a larger bonus from 50 to VR1 than, say, 49 to 50, but it hasn't been tough to overcome. Haven't tried a VR dungeon yet.

    Personally, I really like the idea of repeating the other faction's quests. I'm not really a fan of rolling alts so I like that I can experience all the PvE content on my main character.

    Stomping lil newbies in Cyrodiil has been a blast as well.
  • Lonn87b16_ESO
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    The annoying part about this whole thing is that vet does nothing new at all. Even gold rewards are the same, while the content is harder, only items just scale.

    Yeah, the same amount of gold, though the exp has been buffed up for the main quests, dolmen, solo dungeons and world bosses.

    My biggest issue has to be that the mobs still only give about 48 experience each along with the massive 2-4k exp for every sidequest.

    I started out doing 100% in each zone, noted that it's not really necessary, so I started to skip everything except the main quests, dolmen, solo dungeons and world bosses and it gets way faster since not even 10 sidequests equals up to one of those things.
  • htoncic
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    The only thing I don't like about veteran content is that the mobs are unnecessarily tough. It takes what feels like ages to kill them, and any group of more than 2 mobs means I need to be super focused or die. And it seems most of the player base hasn't caught up with high VR areas yet, so I'm doing most of the stuff solo, and let me tell you, some quests make me pull my hair out. And then there are mobs that I simply can't beat (I'm looking at you, trolls).

    Listen, veteran content doesn't have to be a breeze, but it also doesn't have to feel like I'm trudging through it. I think taking it down a notch or two would improve the experience greatly.
  • Jade1986
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    Im not sure how I feel about it tbh.....when I am absolute max level I like to feel powerful, and when I am just starting off, I like to feel weak >_<. Constantly being weak at max level seems a bit ...strange.
  • Tavore1138
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    The concept of playing through the other areas is OK, I'd always planned to do so anyway being a bit of a TES completist and since I have become quite attached to my character doing it this way is OK.

    I'm a Nightblade, but sort of wish I'd done a DK instead, and I carry a fair bit of self-heal with Blood Craze and Swallow Soul. I wear a 5H/2M armour set which gives me some bonus sneak but really is about protection.

    Obviously there are a lot more skill points available with the potential of two more regions worth of shards so I'm going to see what neglected skills I can level up to help me. But I can see that in 10 potential levels I am only going to get a relatively small boost to things like health so progression through VRs is going to be limited to the true 'pros'.

    I'm not calling for nerfs but it is encouraging to see that I am not alone :)

    BTW just had the fight with queenie's treacherous courtier (I think it was level 8 in AD and was a git then) and it was truly brutal - should have sent him against MB!
  • michaelpatrickjonesnub18_ESO
    It really feels like it was an afterthought. Especially since most quests, and dungeons are from the same cookie cutter mold.

    You heard what the developers of Guild Wars 2 said just days after release. They said that their one mistake was underestimating how quickly players complete content these days.

    It's the same with this game. Except that they knew players would sack this game in a matter of days, so it's a cheap way of giving them more useless goals to achieve. You have to tie them down somehow, or they complain.

    More, more, more, they want.

    Inject game here ---> [juicy arm vein]
  • bigscoothb14_ESO
    Just hit V2 and I like it. When I hit V1 I had to re-spec my skill points, enough to max out
    Blacksmith
    Clothing
    Woodworking
    Light Armor
    Passives on destruction staff
    and most of dark magic

    Im building up on Storm Calling with skyhards. I had a tough time on V1 till i redone my skill points. Only have 10 ability's and 2 ultimate's but about all of the passives. Still have random stuff like Persuade Intimidate and keen eye but happy with the results. I am also wearing all purple gear and purple Staff, 3 Warlock 3 Song of Lamae 3 Whitestrake's Retribution.

    Resetting skill points will not stop your research on weapon and armor traits, but will reset the timer on your Hirelings.
    Hells Bell___________________Highelf Sorc
    D-Argo______________________Orc DK
    Orici Adria__________________Breton Templar
    Primortial Erubus____________Woodelf NB
    Vortas______________________Darkelf Sorc
    Quickly-Kills-for-Skooma_____Khajiit NB
  • Sakiri
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    My main problem with vet questing is that Pact gets sent to Daggerfall first.

    Bloody hated Daggerfall quests :(
  • Minack
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    Absolutely horrible. Unfortunately, in order to be competitive in PvP, you need to be a high VR. It's pretty obvious the veteran content is just busy work designed to keep you from VR10 for as long as possible. How difficult it is depends on what class and build you chose. Certain boss fights are impossible to solo if you're the "wrong" spec but bringing in friends is sometimes impossible due to the phasing issue.

    The quests you do are essentially the same boring quests you did for you original faction at 1-49 with a different lore flavor added. There was no thought of balance. The mob HP is double or tripled and their damage output ranges between 25% to 75% more. Harvesters and Storm atronachs, already difficult, are made ungodly in the higher vet ranks. Certain boss fights are completely out of whack. The devs were lazy and as you progress through the ranks you get to see how boring and shallow much of the PvE content really is.

    I expect many people will get to VR3, get bored and just quit. There needs to be another way to efficiently gain VR besides their stale PvE. Cyrodiil should give, at least, equal amounts of XP for time invested.
  • codyyoungnub18_ESO
    Darkro wrote: »
    Sihnfahl wrote: »
    I find it a bit cheesy, really. Instead of returning to the overarching 'Cyrodiil is collapsed internally and the factions are at blows again' storyline, they go to a 'what if fate meant for you to have been part of THIS faction...'

    Same content you'd see if you made a new toon in that faction, only tougher.

    So the only reason you'd roll a toon in another faction is so that you can fight for that faction in Cyrodiil if you got through Vet 10.

    To be honest that is what I love most about this. I get to see all content...without having to go trough 3 characters on 3 different factions.
    This basically lets me play the faction I LIKE, see all content and get my character stronger while retaining same faction in cyrodil.

    ^ This, if I didn't I would be playing different MMO. Darkfall offers better openworld pvp and conquest in general far more skill since it is true aim, adjustment for arrow drop etc. And wow raiding selection far higher plus instant action without leaving the city.
  • Wavemoore
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    Being 49 and a day or two from joining you, I'm a bit disappointed in your experiences. It seems the overall impressions are the mobs are a bit overtuned.

    What surprised me the most is that the quests in the new faction zones are the same quests you'd do if you had started a new character in that faction. That doesn't make a whole lot of sense to me. I was expecting VR level quests specific to my faction with a story as to why I was questing over there. Sounds like a lazy filler concept to me really while they work on new content.

    I'll give it a shot, as honestly I've really enjoyed the 1-50 experience (apart from the frustrating bugs). Thanks all for sharing your experiences.
  • Tavore1138
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    I think main problem is that getting reset on a quest or a combat seems like so much more of a big deal - lose at L8 and you can go and gain a few levels, redo and still hit loot.

    Lose at V1 and the fight resets and nipping off and leveling is not an option. Lose 10 times with a range of tactics and you have a hefty repair bill and no way to progress.

    Sure you can find a chapel and reset but if you have to reset for fights it stops being an RPG and starts being a max/min problem solving effort. And is not cheap.
  • albinokitten
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    Glad it's not just me, I was trying out a caster cloth templar build (VR3). I found it hard to take on 2 mobs (not impossible, just hard), but 3 or more mobs and I would just stealth past them and hope not to be seen.

    I have now respeced multiple times trying out different builds (staying cloth since I've worked so hard on leveling it). Not much is helping at this point.

    It's fun and great when you have a few people around you, but I like to quest solo since I can pay better attention to the story. I miss the difficulty slider option in Skyrim now.
  • Dalriaden
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    Just hit V2 and I like it. When I hit V1 I had to re-spec my skill points, enough to max out
    Blacksmith
    Clothing
    Woodworking
    Light Armor
    Passives on destruction staff
    and most of dark magic

    Im building up on Storm Calling with skyhards. I had a tough time on V1 till i redone my skill points. Only have 10 ability's and 2 ultimate's but about all of the passives. Still have random stuff like Persuade Intimidate and keen eye but happy with the results. I am also wearing all purple gear and purple Staff, 3 Warlock 3 Song of Lamae 3 Whitestrake's Retribution.

    Resetting skill points will not stop your research on weapon and armor traits, but will reset the timer on your Hirelings.
    Don't ever drop persuade and intimidate they are useful on a lot of vr quests.
    Everyone I know had to respec and alter their playstyle when hitting VR which is a good thing imo.
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