Please fix Endless Archive difficulty

loosej · November 2023

Lugaldu wrote: »

Whatever they decide on difficulty, the main problem with EA is that it forces you to play for hours without stopping, you can't save your progress, you either play until you collapse or keep getting thrown back to 0.

Yeah it's really unfortunate they chose to design it like that.

I've done a couple runs now, and have to say it's the most fun I've had in a PvE setting in a long time in this game. But after arc 2 I'm pretty much exhausted, so I've just accepted that a run for me is 2 arcs max. I would actually love to get to the higher stages and experiment with multiple builds to survive the different versions of the arc bosses, but the way it is designed now that just won't happen.

I kind of get what they're trying to achieve, mimicking old school games with limited lives and no save options. I'm someone who grew up with these games, so I actually like the idea. But when I used to play Alex Kidd on the master system, I could at least walk away for a while and continue when I came back...

The solution could be as simple as keeping the 5 minute grace period you get when leaving the instance, but adding "The timer pauses when you are offline, and resumes when you return."

Sennecca · November 2023

Lugaldu wrote: »

Whatever they decide on difficulty, the main problem with EA is that it forces you to play for hours without stopping, you can't save your progress, you either play until you collapse or keep getting thrown back to 0. This concept is the most unhealthy activity I have ever seen.
It's absurd that you have to fight your way through mobs over and over again for hours before you have the opportunity to face your next personal challenge with the next arc. Yesterday I got further than ever before, but I had to stop in the end because I had been awake for far too long already. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated because I know I would have gotten further, but I could not because I also have a real life with obligations. It's frustrating knowing that next time I'll start from 0 and probably won't get any further because I just don't have the time to play for hours.

I wonder if it would be possible to have some sort of currency that if you make it through arc 2 to arc 3 a certain number of times, you could purchase an item that would let you enter leaderboard runs. Arc 1 and 2 would be like training, learn the mechanics of who you run across, farm for some things. Arc 3+ (or some random arc) would be where the leaderboards begin and after proving yourself on the easier arcs so many times, you could join the leaderboard runs if you wanted to bypassing arc 1 and 2 if you wanted. Would that work? EA is already heavily nerfed in arc 1 compared to pts IMO and people who like to challenge themselves, know the mechanics and have good rotations, would get bored spending too much time on the low level arcs. People who are Still learning the rotations and their classes would still have a couple of arcs to practice and over time perhaps pick up on some mechanics of bosses they've never seen. Would that work?

Sennecca · November 2023

I'm not as good as a lot of people, but I enjoy trying to challenge myself and if that involves dying to figure out that I'm doing something wrong and fix it then all the better. I consider myself no better than a middle range player but like to be able to take on some challenges when I want to. If everything in the game is so easy that I beat it all quickly, What else is there to do?

Kaelthorn_Nightbloom · November 2023

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Quethrosar wrote: »

how do you do more than 1 dps with that setup ?

My secret

I do around 30k single target and 15k aoe while fully maxxed out on defense. I also have 41k health and 22k shield. That's without Gaze of Sithis and I'm constantly block weaving.

If it wasn't for the random 1shot mechanics and having to spend 3 hours getting back to Arc 5, I would be at Arc 6 or 7.

This can be achieved with heavy attack build or bash build. If you block weave it is a bash build. If you have such big shield is either sorc, arcanist or DK. But if you use Bash build it is a Sorc because it is the best option.

I wouldn't be surprised if a Thews of the Harbinger tank running Void Bash and Azureblight spamming 4-5 aoe dots gets 1st place on the Solo Leaderboards. You'd have to swap back to single target build for bosses but the trash packs would be safer and faster with an aoe tank.

I was thinking to try maser 2 hand as backbar for adds.

I tried many monster sets with Oakensoul Bash over the past few days and the best combo for adds seems to be Void Bash + Velidreth and Void Bash + Nerien'eth. 1pc druid 1pc trainee. Also Shooting Star is very good.

It's still a slog though and would be much faster with the 2hander. Or Force Pulse with status effect boons.

Or just make an Arcanist

Jaraal · November 2023

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Quethrosar wrote: »

how do you do more than 1 dps with that setup ?

My secret

I do around 30k single target and 15k aoe while fully maxxed out on defense. I also have 41k health and 22k shield. That's without Gaze of Sithis and I'm constantly block weaving.

If it wasn't for the random 1shot mechanics and having to spend 3 hours getting back to Arc 5, I would be at Arc 6 or 7.

This can be achieved with heavy attack build or bash build. If you block weave it is a bash build. If you have such big shield is either sorc, arcanist or DK. But if you use Bash build it is a Sorc because it is the best option.

I wouldn't be surprised if a Thews of the Harbinger tank running Void Bash and Azureblight spamming 4-5 aoe dots gets 1st place on the Solo Leaderboards. You'd have to swap back to single target build for bosses but the trash packs would be safer and faster with an aoe tank.

I was thinking to try maser 2 hand as backbar for adds.

I tried many monster sets with Oakensoul over the past few days and the best combo for adds seems to be Void Bash + Velidreth and Void Bash + Nerien'eth. 1pc druid 1pc trainee. Also Shooting Star is very good.

It's still a slog though and would be much faster with the 2hander. Or Force Pulse with status effect boons.

Or just make an Arcanist

Have you tried Sellistrix? Round them up with Void Bash, then stun and damage them all. It won't stun the bigger critters, but it will damage them, and it definitely gives you time to get the packs under control.

LouisaB75 · November 2023

Someone was asking about people who are finding arc 1 difficult sharing what they are facing. FWIW these are the cycle 4 bosses I have had along with my thoughts on why I had trouble.

Attempt 1 Serpent Lord. Only done the trial twice and not recently.

Attempt 2 I don't remember although it was one that I got through to arc boss (where I died instead).

Attempt 3 Lord Warden from ICP. Got past him but more by luck. Have done ICP a lot recently to farm a lead but in a group who burns him down before most of his mechanics kick in.

Attempt 4 I got the dragon. Was knocked from the platform when my companion tank died and he spun round at me at around half health. My second and third attempts didn't even last that long before I went flying.

Attempts 5 and 6 I got Lord Z (forgotten his last name, final boss from Cauldron). Okay until the adds but then died fairly quick. Although my achievements tell me I have done this dungeon it isn't often and again probably with a group who burned him quick or I spent most of the fight dead.

I think that, certainly in my case, it is lack of knowledge of the mechanics of the bosses I am suddenly facing in a solo (with only a companion) setting.

I would hope that in time I would become more familiar with them and progress further or even better, be able to at least unlock and do the daily quest.

I will definitely be checking out that video Someone mentioned above. Thank you for that.

Will also be keeping my fingers crossed that my next run at least gives me a fourth cycle boss I am familiar with.

Someone above compared arc 1 and 2 to normal Maelstrom Arena. As someone who is now breezing through that, but had real trouble at the ice and poison levels at first, this is probably a good comparison because practice and learning the mechanics is what got me to where I can breeze through. Just need to do the same for EA. But wish I could do it without the lengthy trawl to get to the bosses I have trouble with.

Kaelthorn_Nightbloom · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Bashev wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

Quethrosar wrote: »

how do you do more than 1 dps with that setup ?

My secret

I do around 30k single target and 15k aoe while fully maxxed out on defense. I also have 41k health and 22k shield. That's without Gaze of Sithis and I'm constantly block weaving.

If it wasn't for the random 1shot mechanics and having to spend 3 hours getting back to Arc 5, I would be at Arc 6 or 7.

This can be achieved with heavy attack build or bash build. If you block weave it is a bash build. If you have such big shield is either sorc, arcanist or DK. But if you use Bash build it is a Sorc because it is the best option.

I wouldn't be surprised if a Thews of the Harbinger tank running Void Bash and Azureblight spamming 4-5 aoe dots gets 1st place on the Solo Leaderboards. You'd have to swap back to single target build for bosses but the trash packs would be safer and faster with an aoe tank.

I was thinking to try maser 2 hand as backbar for adds.

I tried many monster sets with Oakensoul over the past few days and the best combo for adds seems to be Void Bash + Velidreth and Void Bash + Nerien'eth. 1pc druid 1pc trainee. Also Shooting Star is very good.

It's still a slog though and would be much faster with the 2hander. Or Force Pulse with status effect boons.

Or just make an Arcanist

Have you tried Sellistrix? Round them up with Void Bash, then stun and damage them all. It won't stun the bigger critters, but it will damage them, and it definitely gives you time to get the packs under control.

On paper, the Sellistrix coefficient is 2-3x less dps than Velidreth and Nerien'eth. But maybe it's worth using for the stun even if the dps is a little lower. I'll give it a try. Right now I'm farming the early arcs for achievements and testing sets.

There's also Defiler but it's 5 pieces so I'm not sure it's worth it.

The Major Maim on Void Bash should be good for Arc 4 and beyond.

Olen_Mikko · November 2023

Please don't touch the difficulty. People need to learn how to play their class instead of crying. Seriously. This game has already way too little challenging content.

Endless Archive should actually become harder way faster and offer bigger rewards. Now it is kinda boring and time consuming

Bashev · November 2023

Olen_Mikko wrote: »

Please don't touch the difficulty. People need to learn how to play their class instead of crying. Seriously. This game has already way too little challenging content.

Endless Archive should actually become harder way faster and offer bigger rewards. Now it is kinda boring and time consuming

Indeed, now I just have to spend 2.5 hours in order to reach the fun part. What I dont like is the adds with half a million HP at later stages. I like the boss fight though.

Jaraal · November 2023

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

On paper, the Sellistrix coefficient is 2-3x less dps than Velidreth and Nerien'eth. But maybe it's worth using for the stun even if the dps is a little lower. I'll give it a try. Right now I'm farming the early arcs for achievements and testing sets.

The two sets you mentioned are 20% and 15% chance to proc, whereas Sellistrix is 100% chance, every 6 seconds.

LikiLoki · November 2023

I can't even pass the first round. I am a simple player who enjoys quests. There are a lot of people like me. This archive is not suitable for us.

Bashev · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

On paper, the Sellistrix coefficient is 2-3x less dps than Velidreth and Nerien'eth. But maybe it's worth using for the stun even if the dps is a little lower. I'll give it a try. Right now I'm farming the early arcs for achievements and testing sets.

The two sets you mentioned are 20% and 15% chance to proc, whereas Sellistrix is 100% chance, every 6 seconds.

On a bash build you do 5 direct hits per second. It is very easy to proc them. But in order to make them good you have to invest in some damage.

Btw there are some really nice offensive verses and if I am lucky to pick them my damage doubles.

Bashev · November 2023

BTW did anyone have performance issues in arcs 4 and 5? At some point I have massive screen teering. The game shows me 130+ FPS but it is terrible even on a Gsync monitor. Once i do reloadui which takes some time it is way better.

Is it possible that combat log addon is doing this and not the game itself? I tried without it but I think i had similar result.

Kendaric · November 2023

LikiLoki wrote: »

I can't even pass the first round. I am a simple player who enjoys quests. There are a lot of people like me. This archive is not suitable for us.

^This ^

I'd have no complaints about it if it would have been appropriately advertised. As it stands, it's not content for all players.
I can safely say that I won't be doing it again after my first try. I'm just not the type of player for it.

Zyaedra · November 2023

Lugaldu wrote: »

Whatever they decide on difficulty, the main problem with EA is that it forces you to play for hours without stopping, you can't save your progress, you either play until you collapse or keep getting thrown back to 0. This concept is the most unhealthy activity I have ever seen.
It's absurd that you have to fight your way through mobs over and over again for hours before you have the opportunity to face your next personal challenge with the next arc. Yesterday I got further than ever before, but I had to stop in the end because I had been awake for far too long already. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated because I know I would have gotten further, but I could not because I also have a real life with obligations. It's frustrating knowing that next time I'll start from 0 and probably won't get any further because I just don't have the time to play for hours.

what exactly "forces you to play for hours without stopping"?

the achievements for specific arc levels stop at 4. even solo it only takes about an hour to get there even for a scrub like me lol.
the path/order is always different (or at least intended to be).
there is no "final boss" or best loot at the end, like other arenas.

if it's leaderboards, i agree something should be done.

Tandor · November 2023

LikiLoki wrote: »

I can't even pass the first round. I am a simple player who enjoys quests. There are a lot of people like me. This archive is not suitable for us.

Agreed, and it's all down to the marketing. Don't announce it on ESO Live as an Endless Dungeon for everyone, and then release it as a Grinding Arena for trialists. The marketing has been completely misleading, and still they won't tell us what the "intended audience" is as per the PTS patch notes.

I don't know why the veteran players are criticising the need for them to play through what for them is easy content each run, yet at the same time accuse casual players of wanting to nerf it. That's isn't the case, what we're saying is that it makes sense to increase the difficulty in the early arcs for the veterans who want to have a challenge from the start and then aim to work on their optimum builds and get on the leaderboard (consider it an enhanced version of the present design and call it "Veteran" mode}, while offering a separate "Normal" mode for the casual players who aren't interested in competitive play with leaderboards and meta builds etc and just want to play the darned thing a bit further than a couple of cycles in Arc 1. ZOS have Normal and Veteran modes in the other dungeons and arenas in the game, so why not in the Endless Archive? That would truly make it a feature everyone could enjoy, even more so with the same save facility that the other arenas already have.

Kirawolfe · November 2023

Just did Arc 1 with a friend and it was incredibly easy. The only challenging fight we experienced was the last one, if only because he hit much harder than any other mob.I had to heal my friend (who was tanking) for the first time.

We were on a level 25 Dragonknight and a level 41 Arcanist, both wearing crafted gear that was on the old side and not following any particular beginner guide.

I was not playing optimally (I have a Nightblade (1600cp) who I've done a lot of work with and can deal some decent damage with a solid weave), but the mobs didn't have a ton of health and went down pretty quick.

It was fun though, and I know it'll get harder as we go. I really loved having the end boss from Elsweyr show up

Any time I get to fight a dragon is a good day.

Elsonso · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

evymyu233 wrote: »

can we get antiquity leads in arc 1?i farmed 2 hours,no lead no recipe..

I got a gold lead from the reward chest in one of the optional areas (click all the pylons and run like hell across the ichor).

I got a gold lead from the Archive, as well. I don't recall where, but it might have been in one of the side areas.

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

This is a little much for Arc 1.

Yes, I understand the mechanic. I was in lazy mode parsing the boss because I didn't expect Arc 1 to do this much damage.

I suspect a lot of people aren't going to know the mechanics going into this battle. The amount of damage done there was one of my PTS comments.

Now that it is live, Endless Archive is a little much for a "daily quest", I think. I mean that in the sense of actually doing them daily. Maybe occasionally. Arc 1 is a little long. It seemed to go on forever. I was actually tired of being in there by the time I got to the Arc boss.

Braffin · November 2023

I think a proper save function and the ability to start at any already completed arc would solve most issues with EA.

Simply deactivate leaderboards for those runs as tradeoff.

Nerfing the content difficulty-wise is out of the question tho, as every player is able to complete at least Arc 1 and maybe 2 with a basic build.

If some people aren't interested in improving their character, it's their choice. So they should take the consequences themselves, instead of demanding all others to do so.

Tandor · November 2023

Braffin wrote: »

I think a proper save function and the ability to start at any already completed arc would solve most issues with EA.

Simply deactivate leaderboards for those runs as tradeoff.

Nerfing the content difficulty-wise is out of the question tho, as every player is able to complete at least Arc 1 and maybe 2 with a basic build.

If some people aren't interested in improving their character, it's their choice. So they should take the consequences themselves, instead of demanding all others to do so.

That's simply not the case, as evident in this thread. Nobody is looking for nerfs, they're asking for better balancing for normal and veteran play so that veterans wouldn't have to run constantly through easy content and casuals could play beyond the first couple of cycles in Arc 1. They're not demanding you take nerfs, rather they're suggesting your content is properly balanced for veterans throughout, and that their content is properly balanced for casuals throughout. The way to achieve that is simply by having two difficulty modes, just like the other dungeons and arenas in the game. Please read my earlier post a few posts above this one.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Elsonso wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

evymyu233 wrote: »

can we get antiquity leads in arc 1?i farmed 2 hours,no lead no recipe..

I got a gold lead from the reward chest in one of the optional areas (click all the pylons and run like hell across the ichor).

I got a gold lead from the Archive, as well. I don't recall where, but it might have been in one of the side areas.

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

This is a little much for Arc 1.

Yes, I understand the mechanic. I was in lazy mode parsing the boss because I didn't expect Arc 1 to do this much damage.

I suspect a lot of people aren't going to know the mechanics going into this battle. The amount of damage done there was one of my PTS comments.

Now that it is live, Endless Archive is a little much for a "daily quest", I think. I mean that in the sense of actually doing them daily. Maybe occasionally. Arc 1 is a little long. It seemed to go on forever. I was actually tired of being in there by the time I got to the Arc boss.

really going to depend on the player

it usually takes me an avg of 30-45 min to clear arc 1 solo with/without a companion

running in a 2 person group, we can usually make it to the end of arc 3 within 2 hours

ive been doing between 2 and 3 runs each night since im still working on getting through arc 4 (ive probably made almost 100k archive fortunes since the release on monday)

code65536 · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

Have you tried Sellistrix? Round them up with Void Bash, then stun and damage them all. It won't stun the bigger critters

It won't stun anything.

Why? Because the pull from Void Bash is considered a hard CC. Everything that gets pulled will subsequently have CC immunity, and by the time that immunity wears off, they'll probably already be dead (at least on the earlier arcs).

ESO_player123 · November 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

evymyu233 wrote: »

can we get antiquity leads in arc 1?i farmed 2 hours,no lead no recipe..

I got a gold lead from the reward chest in one of the optional areas (click all the pylons and run like hell across the ichor).

I got a gold lead from the Archive, as well. I don't recall where, but it might have been in one of the side areas.

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

This is a little much for Arc 1.

Yes, I understand the mechanic. I was in lazy mode parsing the boss because I didn't expect Arc 1 to do this much damage.

I suspect a lot of people aren't going to know the mechanics going into this battle. The amount of damage done there was one of my PTS comments.

Now that it is live, Endless Archive is a little much for a "daily quest", I think. I mean that in the sense of actually doing them daily. Maybe occasionally. Arc 1 is a little long. It seemed to go on forever. I was actually tired of being in there by the time I got to the Arc boss.

really going to depend on the player

it usually takes me an avg of 30-45 min to clear arc 1 solo with/without a companion

-snip

35-40 min for a daily quest?? That is too much.

Firstmep · November 2023

I dont know how people cant pass the first arc, the mobs have the same hp and damage as overland quest mobs.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

ESO_player123 wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Elsonso wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

evymyu233 wrote: »

can we get antiquity leads in arc 1?i farmed 2 hours,no lead no recipe..

I got a gold lead from the reward chest in one of the optional areas (click all the pylons and run like hell across the ichor).

I got a gold lead from the Archive, as well. I don't recall where, but it might have been in one of the side areas.

SkaraMinoc wrote: »

This is a little much for Arc 1.

Yes, I understand the mechanic. I was in lazy mode parsing the boss because I didn't expect Arc 1 to do this much damage.

I suspect a lot of people aren't going to know the mechanics going into this battle. The amount of damage done there was one of my PTS comments.

Now that it is live, Endless Archive is a little much for a "daily quest", I think. I mean that in the sense of actually doing them daily. Maybe occasionally. Arc 1 is a little long. It seemed to go on forever. I was actually tired of being in there by the time I got to the Arc boss.

really going to depend on the player

it usually takes me an avg of 30-45 min to clear arc 1 solo with/without a companion

-snip

35-40 min for a daily quest?? That is too much.

vet pledges can take as long as that, which is a daily quest

doing 3 tribute wins against NPCs can take a total of about 30-45 min (15 min per game)

some of the battleground dailies can be arguably even worse than that if you keep getting poorly matched

cyrodiil conquest board has kill 150 players, which certainly wont happen in a day if your not playing in a busy campaign

theres quite a few dailies that can easily take more than 30-45 min, not all dailies will take 5-10 minutes, but your not required to do said dailies either (or any daily for that matter)

i personally hate daily crafting writs and those probably take the least amount of time of any daily unless your doing it on 20 characters or across multiple accounts

Lugaldu · November 2023

Zyaedra wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Whatever they decide on difficulty, the main problem with EA is that it forces you to play for hours without stopping, you can't save your progress, you either play until you collapse or keep getting thrown back to 0. This concept is the most unhealthy activity I have ever seen.
It's absurd that you have to fight your way through mobs over and over again for hours before you have the opportunity to face your next personal challenge with the next arc. Yesterday I got further than ever before, but I had to stop in the end because I had been awake for far too long already. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated because I know I would have gotten further, but I could not because I also have a real life with obligations. It's frustrating knowing that next time I'll start from 0 and probably won't get any further because I just don't have the time to play for hours.

what exactly "forces you to play for hours without stopping"?

the achievements for specific arc levels stop at 4. even solo it only takes about an hour to get there even for a scrub like me lol.
the path/order is always different (or at least intended to be).
there is no "final boss" or best loot at the end, like other arenas.

if it's leaderboards, i agree something should be done.

Sorry, but I can only see that as ironic. Very few people here will get to arc 4 within an hour... If anybody.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Lugaldu wrote: »

Zyaedra wrote: »

Lugaldu wrote: »

Whatever they decide on difficulty, the main problem with EA is that it forces you to play for hours without stopping, you can't save your progress, you either play until you collapse or keep getting thrown back to 0. This concept is the most unhealthy activity I have ever seen.
It's absurd that you have to fight your way through mobs over and over again for hours before you have the opportunity to face your next personal challenge with the next arc. Yesterday I got further than ever before, but I had to stop in the end because I had been awake for far too long already. The whole thing just left me feeling frustrated because I know I would have gotten further, but I could not because I also have a real life with obligations. It's frustrating knowing that next time I'll start from 0 and probably won't get any further because I just don't have the time to play for hours.

what exactly "forces you to play for hours without stopping"?

the achievements for specific arc levels stop at 4. even solo it only takes about an hour to get there even for a scrub like me lol.
the path/order is always different (or at least intended to be).
there is no "final boss" or best loot at the end, like other arenas.

if it's leaderboards, i agree something should be done.

Sorry, but I can only see that as ironic. Very few people here will get to arc 4 within an hour... If anybody.

it takes me roughly 30-45 min per arc, usually closer to 45 min if we get a lot of bonus portals, less bonus portals = less time per arc

Tandor · November 2023

Firstmep wrote: »

I dont know how people cant pass the first arc, the mobs have the same hp and damage as overland quest mobs.

Up until the boss at each cycle. They are definitely not on a par with overland quest mobs.

autocookies · November 2023

deleted

Braffin · November 2023

Tandor wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

I think a proper save function and the ability to start at any already completed arc would solve most issues with EA.

Simply deactivate leaderboards for those runs as tradeoff.

Nerfing the content difficulty-wise is out of the question tho, as every player is able to complete at least Arc 1 and maybe 2 with a basic build.

If some people aren't interested in improving their character, it's their choice. So they should take the consequences themselves, instead of demanding all others to do so.

That's simply not the case, as evident in this thread. Nobody is looking for nerfs, they're asking for better balancing for normal and veteran play so that veterans wouldn't have to run constantly through easy content and casuals could play beyond the first couple of cycles in Arc 1. They're not demanding you take nerfs, rather they're suggesting your content is properly balanced for veterans throughout, and that their content is properly balanced for casuals throughout. The way to achieve that is simply by having two difficulty modes, just like the other dungeons and arenas in the game. Please read my earlier post a few posts above this one.

Of course it's the case. A basic build imo is something easily aquireable (overland sets for example) put together with some basic thought about how the different parts are working together. Arc 1 in it's current state is the perfect testing ground of these builds especially for casual players, while veterans get this experience in higher Arcs.

Reaching ones personal limits in combat IS in fact all EA is about. That's why it's endless.

If someone isn't interested in this, fine. Others aren't interested in ToT, groups, PvP and whatnot.

The solution is always the same: If you aren't interested in a specific part of a game, don't use it.

There a enough people out there, which are interested in this gamemode. There are also a lot of casuals, which are working on better builds and are looking for chances to improve their combat skills. EA offers exactly these chances. It's a place where everyone is able to progress if they are willing to.

It's not a place solely for seasoned veterans and experienced raiders but indeed for the whole playerbase.

And there is absolutely no reason to destroy that.