Please fix Endless Archive difficulty

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Quethrosar wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

For anyone having troubles with finishing arc 1-4. Just create a tanky setup. Seriously that's really all there is to it. Build up around 40k HP and 30k+ resistances and You will not die to almost anything. Enchantments, status effects and offensive visions will carry the dmg. You don't need extra damage to complete endless archive You need survivability. It's basically what everyone who reached arc 7+ is doing already. It's also really usefull to buy upgrade that empower visions and optionally one that empowers versses. Your defense should come mainly from Your setup and offense from visions and verses.

It may sound harsh but if someone is incapable of finishing even arc 1 the fault for that is completly on that person's side mainly because that person didn't create a suitable setup and is lacking skill to compensate for that.

I can't speak to other classes, but I managed fine on my sorc (yes I used Oakensoul) with a damage shield running a lot. I also swapped out my Slimecraw monster helm for Mighty Chudan. The only thing that melted me too fast to reasonably react is the marauder. I don't think a single add that can spawn as early as arc 2 should be so extreme that it requires a tank. I feel like it would be unbearably slow if I had shed more damage, TBH. And honestly, being able to target prioritize adds I knew to be especially dangerous and get rid of them before they caused a ton of problems was important.

That is the whole point of the marauders. They are put there to shake things up, otherwqise EA trash fights would be very boring and repeatable. Arc 2 marauders doesn't require yet a full tank it just requires some level of tankiness and learning how to deal with them although making a more sturdy character makes things way easier since You can make a setup that marauder won;t be able to even scratch.

Also belive me it really won't be that slow if You go for a tank setup. I mean in later arcs it will become slower but that because even trash mobs will have close to 2M health but You will be still be doing relatively high numbers. Thing with EA is that offensive visions are way stronger than defensive ones which is why You want to build a tanky setup and gain offense through visions. Even in a full tank setup I was able to get 100-200k DPS on bosses. It's just a matter of proper setup and knowing the priorities when it comes to choosing visions.

People need to stop treating EA like another dungeon or arena where things can be easily burned through on a full DD setup. it's not that type of content. If You want to be succesfull there You need to chance Your mindset and stop following old comfortable rules. If You refuse to build properly You will be failing and it's completly Your fault.

wish people would say visions are the key. they are only good if you actually get good ones ! i rarely get the good ones.

i usually try to grab all of the set ones (scorching, ferocious, crystalline) as the avatar verses they give are really potent

other good ones:

focused efforts (+status chance, +status dmg) - probably one of the most OP ones for applying dmg, with 4x stack of this you can get almost 100k dps just spamming elemental susceptibility even on a full tank character
resolute mind (+duration of cc immunity, restores stats on ccbreak) - very useful support vision that even having 1 stack basically makes cc breaks free and restores other stats
enduring efforts (+duration of applied major/minor effects) - can make many buffs/debuffs last almost 2 minutes with enough stacks so your spending less time buffing

the only ones which are truly useless are the +xp/gold ones, and the most niche one is the pet dmg one

the pet dmg one does affect stuff other than sorc pets/warden bear

the pet one at a minimum affects blastbones and most of the necromancer pets
likely (but i havent thoroughly tested) how it affects temp summoned pets such as morkuldin sword, maw of infernal, shadowrend

i also am not sure if the pet one affects other procs such as scavenging demise, defiler, or aegis caller as im not sure of those count as pets or just visuals of the proc

EdjeSwift · November 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

i usually try to grab all of the set ones (scorching, ferocious, crystalline) as the avatar verses they give are really potent

other good ones:
focused efforts (+status chance, +status dmg) - probably one of the most OP ones for applying dmg, with 4x stack of this you can get almost 100k dps just spamming elemental susceptibility even on a full tank character

resolute mind (+duration of cc immunity, restores stats on ccbreak) - very useful support vision that even having 1 stack basically makes cc breaks free and restores other stats

enduring efforts (+duration of applied major/minor effects) - can make many buffs/debuffs last almost 2 minutes with enough stacks so your spending less time buffing

the only ones which are truly useless are the +xp/gold ones, and the most niche one is the pet dmg one

100% agree with this list. The set ones can make runs super ridiculous/fun, like shredding Act 7 Tho'at in less than 40 seconds.

This is why I urge people to not avoid the mini-games and get those upgrades to vision/verses and choices ASAP, even with the worst luck the chances of you getting absolutely worthless visions are rare, but can still happen, but it helps mitigate it.

Jaraal · November 2023

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

That's very different to demanding, that whole bosses should be deleted from the early experience, so I don't have to bother with learning their respective mechanics while I'm on the way to my daily.

Also thanks for the transcription of the central parts of the video posted above. Was very helpful for me.

I haven't really made up my mind in that regard of boss pool, as I'm waiting to see non-bugged leaderboards. If just getting to Arc 2 is really good enough to get you on the leaderboard, then maybe they're right. When I think about it, a lot of the playerbase avoids dlc dungeons and trials because the real versions are too much for them. It's possible these EA versions are as well.

If I had my way....
I want most of the playerbase to be able to do Arc 1.

I think that good elite players (like the type that can do vma/vvh comfortably) should be able to beat Arc 4.

And I think Arc 5+ is probably something that only duos can do comfortably, although especially talented solo players may be able to as well.

I also want a way to reach later arcs faster so I don't have to care about it. I'd be fine if it meant you don't get leaderboard or quest credit. It's just going to get really old, really fast to want to wait hours to get to the best parts.

I disagree regarding the leaderboards.

To qualiy for them as a duo on pc eu you already have to beat 7.4.3 currently up from 5.3.1 a bit more than a week ago.

Solo leaderboards are entirely another topic, as using a companion disqualifies you from participation (I'd also suggest a separate leaderboard for runs with companions btw.), thus strongly distorting the metrics.

Additionally, while EA is definitely made for either solo or duo experience, the stats of the enemies in there stay the same, regardless of mode. In fact it's the very same EA, only the respective leaderboards are changing. It's expectable and only logical, that duos do far better in there.

I agree tho, that most of the playerbase should be able to do Arc 1. But not without challenge. A beginner should get the very same experience at Arc 1 as more seasoned players get out of higher Arcs.

The interview you paraphrased also shows clearly, that zos is expecting, that interested participants are willing to adjust their builds and tactics to succeed, while most of the complaints around here come from players, which aren't interested in that type of playstyle (That's not an assumption. They said so for themselves several times and refused any help offered.).

Once again, I'm not arguing against adjustments of mechanics, if that is necessary to improve the experience of the average playerbase. It's not necessary to outright delete any bosses from Arc 1 tho, as there are far more subtle ways to achieve this goal.

And of course I entirely oppose the idea of splitting EA into two separate modes difficulty-wise. That's simply nonsensical.

If you reached Arc 2, that means you only cleared Arc 1, right? So something like 2 1 1 making the leaderboard would indicate only a leaderboard level player can beat Arc 1 solo.

I would expect duos to reach further than a solo can, rather it being impossible for a solo even at stage 1. That doesn't sound like solo content.

edit: But I need time and the leaderboards to be fixed before I can use them to have a good idea of where the playerbase is at.

Don't forget, that the solo leaderboards are only listing those players, which did their run entirely without companion. That's almost a forgotten art nowadays.

I agree tho, in a month or two we have a much better picture of the overall performance, if they get the leaderboards fixed. Although I doubt that will be the case unfortunately.

Yeah. I had wanted to see where the initial part of console was at by looking at not only the high leaderboard scores, but also the ones that just barely made the leaderboard. I figured maybe the low end would be like arc 3 and the top would be 4-5. But, I saw scores for Arc 1 in there. At first, I thought that was an indication that it was too difficult. But, then I saw it had to be bugged because there was a couple of 0 point scores on the leaderboard. And then I saw a thread saying the leaderboard was deleting scores. So, it's not useful for now, other than a recording your personal progress.

Another thought about companions:

I can't say for sure how they are doing in the actual encounters, as I never used any of them. I have no doubt there is much space for improvements tho.

What I noticed is, that players using a companion are treated "unfairly" by putting them on the same leaderboards as duos. Even if they would do nearly as well as a real player (which they obviously don't), the couldn't rezz you, if you're downed. That's a systemical disadvantage, which isn't fitting for competitive settings.

Counting those runs as "solo" weren't fitting either, as solo players then had the very same disadvantage, as people with companions experience at present.

So, the only viable solution for this problem, is to implement a third leaderboard for those runs. Then we can freely decide to run solo, with a buddy or with a companion.

Yes, because companions can't use verses or visions. If they shared your EA buffs, it would be different. They also can't use portals, pink bubbles, stand behind pillars, can't tell blue and gold pads apart, can't detonate dead rats, etc. And they aren't smart enough to stay away from laser beams.

I use them primarily as synergy generators and Minor Brutality bots. I don't miss them very much when they are dead, and I make a few solo runs for the leaderboard rewards, as it's virtually impossible to get on the duo boards with an AI partner. I also would like to see a solo + (companion) leaderboard, because it would be interesting to see who can set up their assistants the best for success in the EA.

SilverBride · November 2023

EdjeSwift wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

The final boss for Arc 1 is disproportionately more difficult than the rest of the Arc and should be brought more in line with the rest of the Arc.

From what I understand in your posts regarding this encounter is that the difficulty lies in the fact that you are unable to do damage due to the fact that you have to constantly move to avoid being hit by their various area damage effects. And the micromanagement of watching for other enemies to spawns and handle them.

If that's correct, perhaps slotting a damage shield of some sort which will allow you to stand in some of the AoE to do damage for a little bit might help? Or some strong self-healing to allow you to take some damage and still do damage?

Then I would be spending all my time shielding or healing rather than doing damage.

This boss should be toned down so it's not constantly running full speed toward me and constantly casting aoe's right on top of me. The only time it stands still is when it's in a shield and we can't cast on it then.

The way this boss is now it is way more difficult than it should be for Arc 1.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Braffin wrote: »

That's very different to demanding, that whole bosses should be deleted from the early experience, so I don't have to bother with learning their respective mechanics while I'm on the way to my daily.

Also thanks for the transcription of the central parts of the video posted above. Was very helpful for me.

I haven't really made up my mind in that regard of boss pool, as I'm waiting to see non-bugged leaderboards. If just getting to Arc 2 is really good enough to get you on the leaderboard, then maybe they're right. When I think about it, a lot of the playerbase avoids dlc dungeons and trials because the real versions are too much for them. It's possible these EA versions are as well.

If I had my way....
I want most of the playerbase to be able to do Arc 1.

I think that good elite players (like the type that can do vma/vvh comfortably) should be able to beat Arc 4.

And I think Arc 5+ is probably something that only duos can do comfortably, although especially talented solo players may be able to as well.

I also want a way to reach later arcs faster so I don't have to care about it. I'd be fine if it meant you don't get leaderboard or quest credit. It's just going to get really old, really fast to want to wait hours to get to the best parts.

I disagree regarding the leaderboards.

To qualiy for them as a duo on pc eu you already have to beat 7.4.3 currently up from 5.3.1 a bit more than a week ago.

Solo leaderboards are entirely another topic, as using a companion disqualifies you from participation (I'd also suggest a separate leaderboard for runs with companions btw.), thus strongly distorting the metrics.

Additionally, while EA is definitely made for either solo or duo experience, the stats of the enemies in there stay the same, regardless of mode. In fact it's the very same EA, only the respective leaderboards are changing. It's expectable and only logical, that duos do far better in there.

I agree tho, that most of the playerbase should be able to do Arc 1. But not without challenge. A beginner should get the very same experience at Arc 1 as more seasoned players get out of higher Arcs.

The interview you paraphrased also shows clearly, that zos is expecting, that interested participants are willing to adjust their builds and tactics to succeed, while most of the complaints around here come from players, which aren't interested in that type of playstyle (That's not an assumption. They said so for themselves several times and refused any help offered.).

Once again, I'm not arguing against adjustments of mechanics, if that is necessary to improve the experience of the average playerbase. It's not necessary to outright delete any bosses from Arc 1 tho, as there are far more subtle ways to achieve this goal.

And of course I entirely oppose the idea of splitting EA into two separate modes difficulty-wise. That's simply nonsensical.

If you reached Arc 2, that means you only cleared Arc 1, right? So something like 2 1 1 making the leaderboard would indicate only a leaderboard level player can beat Arc 1 solo.

I would expect duos to reach further than a solo can, rather it being impossible for a solo even at stage 1. That doesn't sound like solo content.

edit: But I need time and the leaderboards to be fixed before I can use them to have a good idea of where the playerbase is at.

Don't forget, that the solo leaderboards are only listing those players, which did their run entirely without companion. That's almost a forgotten art nowadays.

I agree tho, in a month or two we have a much better picture of the overall performance, if they get the leaderboards fixed. Although I doubt that will be the case unfortunately.

Yeah. I had wanted to see where the initial part of console was at by looking at not only the high leaderboard scores, but also the ones that just barely made the leaderboard. I figured maybe the low end would be like arc 3 and the top would be 4-5. But, I saw scores for Arc 1 in there. At first, I thought that was an indication that it was too difficult. But, then I saw it had to be bugged because there was a couple of 0 point scores on the leaderboard. And then I saw a thread saying the leaderboard was deleting scores. So, it's not useful for now, other than a recording your personal progress.

Another thought about companions:

I can't say for sure how they are doing in the actual encounters, as I never used any of them. I have no doubt there is much space for improvements tho.

What I noticed is, that players using a companion are treated "unfairly" by putting them on the same leaderboards as duos. Even if they would do nearly as well as a real player (which they obviously don't), the couldn't rezz you, if you're downed. That's a systemical disadvantage, which isn't fitting for competitive settings.

Counting those runs as "solo" weren't fitting either, as solo players then had the very same disadvantage, as people with companions experience at present.

So, the only viable solution for this problem, is to implement a third leaderboard for those runs. Then we can freely decide to run solo, with a buddy or with a companion.

Yes, because companions can't use verses or visions. If they shared your EA buffs, it would be different. They also can't use portals, pink bubbles, stand behind pillars, can't tell blue and gold pads apart, can't detonate dead rats, etc. And they aren't smart enough to stay away from laser beams.

I use them primarily as synergy generators and Minor Brutality bots. I don't miss them very much when they are dead, and I make a few solo runs for the leaderboard rewards, as it's virtually impossible to get on the duo boards with an AI partner. I also would like to see a solo + (companion) leaderboard, because it would be interesting to see who can set up their assistants the best for success in the EA.

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

i personally dont think that running with a companion should count for the duo leaderboard because of how frankly useless they are

a lot of buffs also would not work on companions from the visions and such as well, as companions dont have a lot of stuff we do:

no mag or stam (as skills are cooldown based)
no block or dodge cost (as those are also cooldown based)
they dont heavy attack
cant trigger synergies

so theres a lot of verses and visions that would straight up not be able to apply to them, just further reasoning that companions are straight up not player replacements, but just very fancy combat pets, that have no more functionality than sorc pets or warden bear

MidniteOwl1913 · November 2023

SilverBride wrote: »

All classes should be able to complete Arc 1. It's the starting Arc and is supposed to be the least difficult and should not be dependent on being a tank or healer etc. to get past a final boss that is disproportionately difficult by comparison with the rest of the Arc.

In fact none of the Arcs should be dependent on being a specific class. It should be doable by all.

I agree with you. For a daily, and a dungeon that will have leads, gear, and card fragments, the majority of players should be able to roll up and just do the content and it shouldn't take all day either. Arc one, only arc one.

For me it's the RNG of bosses. The difficulty range is so wide it's a serious problem. The crab thing on one end and the dragon/serpent on the other. WIth 68 bosses and only 3 lives I will not see any one boss often enough to learn and practice the mechanics. I haven't made it to the boss in arc 2 yet but the Tho'at in arc one has one thing going for it, it is predictable.

MidniteOwl1913 · November 2023

Quethrosar wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

Galeriano wrote: »

For anyone having troubles with finishing arc 1-4. Just create a tanky setup. Seriously that's really all there is to it. Build up around 40k HP and 30k+ resistances and You will not die to almost anything. Enchantments, status effects and offensive visions will carry the dmg. You don't need extra damage to complete endless archive You need survivability. It's basically what everyone who reached arc 7+ is doing already. It's also really usefull to buy upgrade that empower visions and optionally one that empowers versses. Your defense should come mainly from Your setup and offense from visions and verses.

It may sound harsh but if someone is incapable of finishing even arc 1 the fault for that is completly on that person's side mainly because that person didn't create a suitable setup and is lacking skill to compensate for that.

I can't speak to other classes, but I managed fine on my sorc (yes I used Oakensoul) with a damage shield running a lot. I also swapped out my Slimecraw monster helm for Mighty Chudan. The only thing that melted me too fast to reasonably react is the marauder. I don't think a single add that can spawn as early as arc 2 should be so extreme that it requires a tank. I feel like it would be unbearably slow if I had shed more damage, TBH. And honestly, being able to target prioritize adds I knew to be especially dangerous and get rid of them before they caused a ton of problems was important.

That is the whole point of the marauders. They are put there to shake things up, otherwqise EA trash fights would be very boring and repeatable. Arc 2 marauders doesn't require yet a full tank it just requires some level of tankiness and learning how to deal with them although making a more sturdy character makes things way easier since You can make a setup that marauder won;t be able to even scratch.

Also belive me it really won't be that slow if You go for a tank setup. I mean in later arcs it will become slower but that because even trash mobs will have close to 2M health but You will be still be doing relatively high numbers. Thing with EA is that offensive visions are way stronger than defensive ones which is why You want to build a tanky setup and gain offense through visions. Even in a full tank setup I was able to get 100-200k DPS on bosses. It's just a matter of proper setup and knowing the priorities when it comes to choosing visions.

People need to stop treating EA like another dungeon or arena where things can be easily burned through on a full DD setup. it's not that type of content. If You want to be succesfull there You need to chance Your mindset and stop following old comfortable rules. If You refuse to build properly You will be failing and it's completly Your fault.

wish people would say visions are the key. they are only good if you actually get good ones ! i rarely get the good ones.

Honestly, it's just the whole RNG thing. It plays way way too much into how far you can get. I really hate that. If I could pick just one thing to change that would be it.

KlauthWarthog · November 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

i have had a tank companion able to survive against the arc 2 marauder with a lot of healing support while i burned it down, but the biggest problem they have is generally with mechanics

large aoes, actual mechanics like the serpent or zha'jassa, or even tho'at with the ice puddles they will instantly die against

like i still dont know what they were thinking when they made zha'jassa curses affect pets (companions, warden bear, sorc pets, etc) as they have 0 concept or way to know how to cleanse that

not like they would survive to the explosion phase anyway

Lugaldu · November 2023

EdjeSwift wrote: »

This is why I urge people to not avoid the mini-games and get those upgrades to vision/verses and choices ASAP, even with the worst luck the chances of you getting absolutely worthless visions are rare, but can still happen, but it helps mitigate it.

Yes, but, the mini-games take even more time, I often skip them to come faster further because I am really limited with my play time and the non-existance of some kind of save function/skip arcs to speed up the progress.

EdjeSwift · November 2023

MidniteOwl1913 wrote: »

I agree with you. For a daily, and a dungeon that will have leads, gear, and card fragments, the majority of players should be able to roll up and just do the content and it shouldn't take all day either. Arc one, only arc one.

I have to argue that this discussion point doesn't quite lineup with the difficulty conversation here.

Leads - I get them primarily from the mini-game chests/scamps, which are not difficult once you understand them and they drop from the early Arcs.

Gear - There's a lot of gear that you can't just "roll up and just do" to get, you usually need to find a group to get the good stuff.

Card Fragments - Same as leads, they come from the mini-games.

Dailies - There are a number of dailies out there where you can't just "roll up and just do". Harrowstorms, Nymics, World Bosses.

The dungeon CAN be soloed, but it is much easier to do it with other players.

Edit: There is no shame in asking for help, I took @Necrotech_Master up on their offer to help with the Act 4 Achievement because I'm a primarily solo player and I really wanted to see/understand the mechanics of the later Acts because while I will eventually get there, I was hitting a soft "wall" in getting over my lack of patience at how slow things were dying in Act 4.

boi_anachronism_ · November 2023

Alinhbo_Tyaka wrote: »

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

[

spartaxoxo wrote: »

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

You missed bolding this

I did not. Bolding is typically done when you want to highlight a word, phrase, sentence, etc from a whole. It's not usually done for a large amount of the conversation.

Furthermore, I think separating it from the context of them saying that it was designed for both, gives the impression that it's duo alone. Rather than the idea of duo being something they wanted to touch on for a little bit. I believe they were saying at that part that they had wanted to create duo content since Maelstrom Arena, not that Endless Archive is balanced exclusively around duos.

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

This is whats being refered to as well as another segment previewing necrom. But sure. Conviently pick out what you want

I made it very easy for everyone to come to their own conclusion by basically putting the whole question.

Additionally they straight up say if you choose to go solo you will have to build for that

Yes, I quoted that part as well. The arena is built for both solo and duo, but solo will need to build for it. While duo will have more flexibility.

No lol. You also do it to highlight important parts of the conversation but okydoke.

Ok how can you balance something for both a team and a solo play while being the same content. Having to specifically build for it in solo means it will by default its going to be harder. Thats a no brainer. Two people in just about any gear can cruise arc 1. Ive done it with another player both in glass cannon gear. Having arc 1 be overland level doesnt balance it. It just makes that arc easier which simply means players will continue to be angry when they hit a brick wall in arc 2 because the difficulty gap wil ramp up so significantly. They will then move on to wanting arcs up to 5 nerfed so they can get their achievements. I would remind you that Maelstrom was significantly harder when it was first released only to meet a massive uproar.

Ive never heard of an mmo like this where the second they realize they may have to geoup for content they get angry. Before you say all elder scrolls games were solo welp take a look at final fantasy they had what, 14+ games of solo games before they did an mmo and they have miles more group content then eso.

Now i have never at any point argued that it shouldn’t have some adjustments made (cant remember if it was this thread or another one). I have said that the mechanics for the final boss should be toned down a bit because the difficulty gap is too large. I have said that you should be able to continue if you have to leave while still having threads but lose leaderboard score. I have said i believe bosses for earlier arc should be more curated. I have also suggested having 1 additional thread in arc 1. What i cant get on board with is nerfing it to overland difficulty. It should still retain some challange and i am firm on that belief.

As i said go watch the interview between skinny and matt they discuss the difficulty.

The desire to not have to group with other players is not something unique to ESO. FFXIV also added content that could be run solo in response to players requests. I could make it to floor 20 in Palace of the Dead on a solo summoner as could a number of other players. They also added a robust companion system for solo players to be able to go into dungeons without having to group with other players. The large scale adventure instances could also be played successfully solo though things were safer if you joined a group. I would also put Level Sync under the umbrella of solo friendly since it allows players who want the original challenge to play synced or lesser skilled players to play over geared to be able to complete the content. If I had to compare the two I would say FFXIV has done more to allow solo play of group content than ESO which is still very group oriented for the average player.

So lets compare for a second just the basics. For groups Ffxiv has tons of 8 man trials with extreme and savage difficulty, they have 24 and 8 man raids several designed specifically as ultimate difficulty and not just hm, they have open world dungeons of super bosses where you need a ton of people to clear. eso has... uh 12 trials for 12 people, some dlc dungeons with optional hms that just have a few additional mechanics... mmm vet blackrose, vet dsa... some of the newer world bosses. Since we are talking about things that can be feasibly soloed or with companions even if they arent designed as such: all base game dungeons except direfrost because of the pressure plates, all quests and stories are specifically solo player experiences. They are the bulk of dlcs with only 1 trial and 2 dungeons typically added. normal dsa, all base game world bosses, all delves, all public dungeons, all overland in general is designed to be easy for solo players as there are no random world bosses except the two wandering in deadlands and galen. Maelstrom, Vateshran, blackrose is soloable with a companion while not super easy. Craglorn was originally designed specifically for group play but was subsequently nerfed because people wanted to do it solo. Ff may have a lot of solo content but they also have more group then eso by a mile. Eso is heavily wighted towards solo and made companions so players could solo even more content and skip group activities. Any time an activity is added where grouping is advised to get through it people are upset. Bastion, newer world bosses, ect. Over the years players have actually said that trials were a waste of resources because the raid community is so small.

spartaxoxo · November 2023

Galeriano wrote: »

People need to stop treating EA like another dungeon or arena where things can be easily burned through on a full DD setup. it's not that type of content. If You want to be succesfull there You need to chance Your mindset and stop following old comfortable rules. If You refuse to build properly You will be failing and it's completly Your fault.

Once again. Just build a tanky setup.

I did change my build to add some defense and it's not a full DD setup. But it shouldn't require a tank build for a single add that isn't even the boss of the arena. It should require more defense than one might usually use, but not a full tank setup.

If my build can handle tho'at, dragons, and lady thorn, it should be able to handle the marauder too.

There is a variety of verses and visions in the Endless Archive, that are designed to help a variety of build types complete it. If only one build type is able to perform because of an bonus loot add, then that add is overtuned and should be nerfed IMO.

Tandor · November 2023

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

What i cant get on board with is nerfing it to overland difficulty.

Assuming you're referring to normal everyday overland content as opposed to say world bosses, can you actually point to where anyone suggested that?

boi_anachronism_ · November 2023

Tandor wrote: »

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

What i cant get on board with is nerfing it to overland difficulty.

Assuming you're referring to normal everyday overland content as opposed to say world bosses, can you actually point to where anyone suggested that?

Its been said in multiple threads with people suggesting ea should scale from overland up to what it is now and that it shouldn’t bother other players since it will be quick for them to clear. If you want to dig through 70 odd pages in 3 or 4 threads to find them be my guest, thats not my job. Im not google for the eso forum. Your perfectly capable if you want to find it.

I'll give you a hint: start with page 1 in this thread.

Im not gonna continuing commenting on this. Its obviously a waste of time. Zos will do what they want to do.

ajkb78 · November 2023

The point of how they've done it is that the difficulty covers the full spectrum. Normal mode *is* arc 1. Veteran mode is arc 2. Beyond that it gets tougher. But I do feel people's pain here.

I think the ideal solution would be to have the difficulty ramp up more slowly, so new players or players who want to solo or play with companions without feeling like the companion is a complete joke, or players with dexterity issues can play through multiple arcs. At present they pretty much get arc 1 and that's it. Say arc 3 ends up being the same difficulty as the end of arc 1 is now. But then once you get that far, give players the option to start at arc 3. Either by setting veteran mode or interacting with some furnishing in the archive. Then everybody gets a chance. The average-and-below players get to play through multiple arcs and feel a bit of the endlessness, the average-and-above players get a choice of either easy farming or jumping in to something that will challenge them more.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

ajkb78 wrote: »

The point of how they've done it is that the difficulty covers the full spectrum. Normal mode *is* arc 1. Veteran mode is arc 2. Beyond that it gets tougher. But I do feel people's pain here.

I think the ideal solution would be to have the difficulty ramp up more slowly, so new players or players who want to solo or play with companions without feeling like the companion is a complete joke, or players with dexterity issues can play through multiple arcs. At present they pretty much get arc 1 and that's it. Say arc 3 ends up being the same difficulty as the end of arc 1 is now. But then once you get that far, give players the option to start at arc 3. Either by setting veteran mode or interacting with some furnishing in the archive. Then everybody gets a chance. The average-and-below players get to play through multiple arcs and feel a bit of the endlessness, the average-and-above players get a choice of either easy farming or jumping in to something that will challenge them more.

veteran mode isnt until arc 4

SilverBride · November 2023

ajkb78 wrote: »

I think the ideal solution would be to have the difficulty ramp up more slowly, so new players or players who want to solo or play with companions without feeling like the companion is a complete joke, or players with dexterity issues can play through multiple arcs. At present they pretty much get arc 1 and that's it.

This is exactly what the problem is and what should happen. Thank you.

@ZOS_GinaBruno @ZOS_Kevin Please take this into consideration. I would love to be able to enjoy more of this new feature.

Nilandia · November 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

i have had a tank companion able to survive against the arc 2 marauder with a lot of healing support while i burned it down, but the biggest problem they have is generally with mechanics

I'll do you one better. My ranged DPS companion in full medium armor face tanked a marauder with no heals from me and somehow managed to survive. I have no idea how she did it.

Jierdanit · November 2023

SilverBride wrote: »

All classes should be able to complete Arc 1. It's the starting Arc and is supposed to be the least difficult and should not be dependent on being a tank or healer etc. to get past a final boss that is disproportionately difficult by comparison with the rest of the Arc.

In fact none of the Arcs should be dependent on being a specific class. It should be doable by all.

The lowest class highscore on PC/EU is 9/1/1 for Templar. Every other class got to at least arc 10.

So it very obviously is doable with any class.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Nilandia wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

i have had a tank companion able to survive against the arc 2 marauder with a lot of healing support while i burned it down, but the biggest problem they have is generally with mechanics

I'll do you one better. My ranged DPS companion in full medium armor face tanked a marauder with no heals from me and somehow managed to survive. I have no idea how she did it.

maybe all their constant dodge rolling? lol, its actually pretty good idea to just kite marauders if you cant face tank them lol

Tyrant_Tim · November 2023

You can’t kite the water/shock tornado Marauder, he fills the entire arena with tornadoes that about one-tap you.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Tyrant_Tim wrote: »

You can’t kite the water/shock tornado Marauder, he fills the entire arena with tornadoes that about one-tap you.

they dont actually take up the whole arena, and still do less dmg than his light attacks (they can hit you multiple times though if you stand in one)

on larger arenas you can kite the lightning marauder to an area further away from the lightning tornadoes to get a little more clearance on those

Braffin · November 2023

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

Tandor wrote: »

boi_anachronism_ wrote: »

What i cant get on board with is nerfing it to overland difficulty.

Assuming you're referring to normal everyday overland content as opposed to say world bosses, can you actually point to where anyone suggested that?

Its been said in multiple threads with people suggesting ea should scale from overland up to what it is now and that it shouldn’t bother other players since it will be quick for them to clear. If you want to dig through 70 odd pages in 3 or 4 threads to find them be my guest, thats not my job. Im not google for the eso forum. Your perfectly capable if you want to find it.

I'll give you a hint: start with page 1 in this thread.

Im not gonna continuing commenting on this. Its obviously a waste of time. Zos will do what they want to do.

No, it's not a waste of time.

Your comments are helpful for many and well argued overall. I'd definitely miss your opinion, which is based onto actual experience with the content in question.

There will always be those, which are trying to provoke and derailing this thread due to lack of logical and reasonable arguments.

Just ignore them. They aren't worth it.

Nilandia · November 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Nilandia wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

i have had a tank companion able to survive against the arc 2 marauder with a lot of healing support while i burned it down, but the biggest problem they have is generally with mechanics

I'll do you one better. My ranged DPS companion in full medium armor face tanked a marauder with no heals from me and somehow managed to survive. I have no idea how she did it.

maybe all their constant dodge rolling? lol, its actually pretty good idea to just kite marauders if you cant face tank them lol

It was the water marauder, so she was definitely in at least one AOE she couldn't dodge roll.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Nilandia wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Nilandia wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

KlauthWarthog wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

my experience with companions in the archive is that they are virtually useless on most boss fights from at least cycle 3 onwards

Pretty sure companions are literally just Pearlescent Ward fodder in that place.

i have had a tank companion able to survive against the arc 2 marauder with a lot of healing support while i burned it down, but the biggest problem they have is generally with mechanics

I'll do you one better. My ranged DPS companion in full medium armor face tanked a marauder with no heals from me and somehow managed to survive. I have no idea how she did it.

maybe all their constant dodge rolling? lol, its actually pretty good idea to just kite marauders if you cant face tank them lol

It was the water marauder, so she was definitely in at least one AOE she couldn't dodge roll.

the water one is probably the easiest

if it was mirri, having the cloak skill actually gives her a full 3 sec of immunity to all dmg which would be enough to avoid the big aoes

one of the aoe attacks (the lightning strike) still can hit very hard, at least in later arcs (in arc 8 the water marauders lightning strike aoe was hitting me for nearly 20k through block)

Lags · November 2023

Dragonnord wrote: »

fizzylu wrote: »

And I agree that the rewards are terrible.

Terrible rewards? Enlight us please with what is not terrible for you.

In Endless Archive (split between chests and NPC vendors) you have a new mount, you have a new pet, you have mementos, leads, new furniture, new equipment, you have gold, you now can even buy monster shoulders there, you have also a new coin to buy a lot of different rewards that will be coming too (you know that one of the NPC vendors changes weekly and will continue to bring all type of different items, right?)."

So what do you want? A TV? A car? A trip to the Bahamas maybe?

Give ZOS a break please.

wait why do they deserve a break? Because they put decent rewards into the game finally for 1 update? Its like people have been conditioned to play a completely unrewarding game, and dont realize what its like to play something rewarding. No, they dont deserve a break when it comes to this stuff. The community has been telling zos this for too long. Overwhelmingly. You cant just add in rewards to a new update and leave the rest of the game behind, especially not when zos wants eso to be a revolving door of casual players.

Ill agree to the point that rewards in this one dungeon are good, but that does not excuse the terrible, abysmal, no incentive, boring, lame, non existent, rewards throughout the rest of the entire game. Which is rather large. And please dont list mementos as a reward, like lets be honest most people dont want mementos. And body paint, face paint, and emotes, are not far behind. This is an example of what not to do.

Tyrant_Tim · November 2023

There are two separate water ones. One that does a basic AoE blast repeatedly with an heavy attack and one that literally fills the entire arena with tornadoes progressively while heavy attacking constantly.

Last I checked I was #5 on the Solo Necromancer leaderboard and #14 on the Duos for Xbox before I lost my 198,000 Duos ranking due to a bug.

It’s not a learn-to-play issue, the Marauder with the longest name needs a limit on how many tornadoes can whip around the map if they are gonna bring your DD from 100% to 2-5% instantly.

Necrotech_Master · November 2023

Tyrant_Tim wrote: »

There are two separate water ones. One that does a basic AoE blast repeatedly with an heavy attack and one that literally fills the entire arena with tornadoes progressively while heavy attacking constantly.

Last I checked I was #5 on the Solo Necromancer leaderboard and #14 on the Duos for Xbox before I lost my 198,000 Duos ranking due to a bug.

It’s not a learn-to-play issue, the Marauder with the longest name needs a limit on how many tornadoes can whip around the map if they are gonna bring your DD from 100% to 2-5% instantly.

all of the marauders have issues, namely in the form of overtuned light attacks

that marauder your talking about (i call him the lightning one), i agree that the tornados should expire instead of lasting forever

the fire one is the worst though, as it has a strong ranged attack, overtuned quick melee attacks, along with a heavy bleed on the melee attacks

i expect the first major balance pass will likely be on the marauders

Araneae6537 · November 2023

Jaraal wrote: »

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

Jaraal wrote: »

SilverBride wrote: »

I've only gotten past the Arc 1 final boss one time solo and was only able to do that because I had a verse that was a giant green eye or orb that kept aggro off me so I could do damage. Without that I spend all my time running from the boss and the constant aoe and can't stand still long enough to do any damage.

That is a lot for Arc 1.

What class are you? If DK, try using Flames of Oblivion, and run multiple shields with Infernal Guardian for guided missile type damage that you can inflict while running/retreating if your DPS is low. IG is also a ranged AOE, and good for taking out those pesky range casters in the trash packs. Any class can also run Spiked Bone Shield, which gives you a 14k shield that returns 100% of melee damage to the attackers (and procs IG.)

Jorvuld's Guidance is great for extending the duration of your damage shields, as well as Major buffs. If you run Jorvuld's with Daedric Trickery, you will have 3 of the set's Major buffs up at all times overlapping. Also, certain werewolf builds are highly effective in the EA. Consider what sets might scale well with the layout of the Archive, and if you get the World skill buff verse, it's all over for the enemies.

If I have to micromanage as though I am going into a veteran trial for an Arc 1 boss then I give up trying to solo it.

And I still say this boss is disproportionately difficulty for Arc 1.

arc 1 tho'at isnt too much to manage, theres only like 4 mechanics you have to deal with

kite ice patches, dont do direct dmg to the mirror shield, kite the eye beam after she throws the sword, and block the heavy attack

in later tho'at fights you have to also deal with the additional bosses showing up in the fights, and managing to focus them down 1 at a time so your not dealing with more than 2 bosses at once

I honestly breathe a sigh of relief when I get to the Tho'ats, because the fights are pretty straightforward, and they give you plenty of room to work with... unlike the platforms. Just last night I pulled High Kinlord Rilis, which is usually a cakewalk, but at one point he put me in a blue bubble and literally chucked me off the platform to my death.

I'm not a fan of situations over which I have no control. The Tho'at fight is easy to control, once you understand exactly what is happening, and how to prioritize what's going on.

Any advice for facing Tho’at at the end of arc 3? Going to try again with a guildmate tomorrow!

Interrupt and kill the blobs first, don't stand in the silver puddles outlined in red, block her extremely telegraphed heavy attack, stay away from the laser beam, and stop damaging her when she uses the shield, as that spawns more blobs. While doing those things, focus on burning her down and ignore the shard atronach that spawns until she is dead. Then focus the atro, and ignore the manticora until the atro is dead, then kill the manticora, and collect your reward.

Be aware that the atro and manticora can spawn the blobs, just like Tho'at does. That is why it's important to focus one boss at a time, to avoid being overwhelmed by blob spawns that will one shot you if you leave them alone long enough. You need to be scanning the whole field for the blobs at all times. Master Malkhest will always be on one, but he can't kill one by himself. Adjust your area of affect color cue to something that stands out better in the black and silver than dark red does. Change it to pink or yellow for better visibilty. Also, when the manticora spawns shards in the sky, you have to roll dodge that the moment it falls or take heavy damage... a one shot if you aren't super tanky.

Well, we got to Tho’at 3.0 again — no problem with blobs and the human form goes down easy enough and then it’s chasing the ice atronachs all over, until the skyfall — got us multiple times! Well, as the tank I survived, but it took a huge chunk and I wasn’t able to get my partner back up fast enough.

We’ll have to work on that…

But we defeated Gothmau both times he came at us — no deaths to him this time!