About Endless Archive - One Big Problem

Baldagrim · November 2023

Before I say anything else, I want everyone to know that I like the endless archive. I do think it is a good addition to the base gameplay and can get really into it (Though I haven't gotten pass Arc 2 yet). But after many retries, I don't think one part of the game seems possible to complete.

Theater of War - Part Five

I don't like this and I feel it really needs to be overhauled. I just finished a run where I attempted this three times and on two of those times, I died due to:
- Shard of Chaos
- Mind Terror Pull
- Aramril's Disc Volley
AT THE SAME TIME!

I watched as my character get stunned, pulled, and drained from max HP to defeated in just a moment. I am trying to acquire new gear and reworking my companion's skills or switch out to a new companion entirely because this has passed my twelfth attempt with no success. Right now, I am angry at this because the rest of the content I more or less liked.

Treacherous Crossing - This is my favorite. (Though the UI about what pools which switch disarms aren't as responsive as I would like).
Hafael's Butchery - My second favorite, I enjoyed running around with less and less stamina, using the terrain to my advantage. It is always satisfying to FINISH HIM! on the Butcher.
Ghostlights - Well...it's okay. The timer is a little lenient, but not much to keep it challenging. Though, I have had a light bug out and return to its spot despite standing right next to it.
Flier's Flight - Fourth and Fifth frustrated me until I stopped and looked at the controls, then realizing I had a snare and stun helped deal with the Hushed, but I would have liked a self-heal personally.

The first three stages of Theater of War were fun. But when I saw the Shard of Chaos on the fourth, my exact response was, "Oh no, this is bad. Spiking the difficulty once again, are we?"
I got through it, but I hoped there would not be two...until there were. And no matter what way I played it, I would lose and again after 12+ attempts, I am just...at a loss. There are no guides I could find to help me with this. Even the "Ultimate Endless Archive" guides just gloss over the Paths to the Unknown and don't engage with the content, so much for "Ultimate".

One way to fix the problem on the developer's end is by getting rid of the mind terrors or stagger their summons with the activation of the shards because trying to manage all these elements while managing your own character seems too much to handle. There are other issues with the game that could help address the problem (more control over companion AI, reworking the base classes to be more in line with the other three introduced later, or have better resource management options), but those are not for this post.

Thank you for reading this and everyone have a nice day.

EdjeSwift · November 2023

I have a love/hate for this fight, stage 5 requires a change in your load out if you're not already equipped with a gap closer/ranged interrupt, especially if you're set up for a DPS spec.

As for the Mind Terrors, you can try to time it where you kill the first before they trigger the second crystal, then when the second crystal is pops, you either stick with them and cancel their channel, it's going to happen within 10 seconds of the port, or go to the crystal, DPS it down, then gap close/interrupt then back to the the crystal. If you get another mind terror, dance away from their AoE and burn the crystal, but if you're not fast enough and she channels again, drop everything to interrupt them again. I've been successful on stage 5 with this strategy/loadout multiple times, but when I don't switch things up and try to brute force, I fail.

LokiPagan · November 2023

Seriously, I'm with you on this, it feels impossible. I've almost done it, but there are just too many bloody mind terrors that keep stunning me and destroying my stamina. This is extremely frustrating.

They really need to actually test the game...I'm 100% sure all the devs played it with another player, not a companion.

EdjeSwift · November 2023

LokiPagan wrote: »

Seriously, I'm with you on this, it feels impossible. I've almost done it, but there are just too many bloody mind terrors that keep stunning me and destroying my stamina. This is extremely frustrating.

They really need to actually test the game...I'm 100% sure all the devs played it with another player, not a companion.

If you're fighting more than one mind terror you're going too fast. They spawn at 75, 50 and 25% health. You can kill each one before the other spawns.

Tyrant_Tim · November 2023

EdjeSwift wrote: »

LokiPagan wrote: »

Seriously, I'm with you on this, it feels impossible. I've almost done it, but there are just too many bloody mind terrors that keep stunning me and destroying my stamina. This is extremely frustrating.

They really need to actually test the game...I'm 100% sure all the devs played it with another player, not a companion.

If you're fighting more than one mind terror you're going too fast. They spawn at 75, 50 and 25% health. You can kill each one before the other spawns.

Exactly, the strategy here is to clear the board before damaging the boss. If that can be done efficiently, it’s actually quite simple.

Also, if anyone is playing Melee in Endless Archive, they’re doing it wrong, later into the Arcs it gets way too dangerous to get close to mechanics.

Lexalious · November 2023

Tyrant_Tim wrote: »

Also, if anyone is playing Melee in Endless Archive, they’re doing it wrong, later into the Arcs it gets way too dangerous to get close to mechanics.

brawler setup would like a word.

jokes aside, you should use heal over time abilities like vigor and keep them up. nothing in this fight actually one hit you so don't panic. when you are dealing with the crystal know that the boss will start channeling soon so watch out for that. either range interrupt or start running to her when she starts the mechanic. kill the crystals ignore all the adds you will be fine. good luck o/

Sarannah · November 2023

Have to agree on the theater of war stage 5, even though I can beat her. She is tougher than anything in any of the arcs itself. Which takes too long to kill her. Halfing her health should make it a more fun minigame that doesn't take too long.

Tyrant_Tim · November 2023

Lexalious wrote: »

Tyrant_Tim wrote: »

Also, if anyone is playing Melee in Endless Archive, they’re doing it wrong, later into the Arcs it gets way too dangerous to get close to mechanics.

brawler setup would like a word.

jokes aside, you should use heal over time abilities like vigor and keep them up. nothing in this fight actually one hit you so don't panic. when you are dealing with the crystal know that the boss will start channeling soon so watch out for that. either range interrupt or start running to her when she starts the mechanic. kill the crystals ignore all the adds you will be fine. good luck o/

If you’re melee, you’re more likely to drop tentacles on top of where you need to stand to do damage during that fight.

Now, melee might not be too bad there, but once you start breaking into the later Arcs, being melee will get you killed. There are specific bosses that put up damage walls, and huge AoEs that will eat you alive as you walk through them to get damage back on target, not even counting the hordes of 2 million health+ adds that are all capable of killing you in one hit with a heavy attack.

LouisaB75 · November 2023

I only completed the final stage for her with another player and they had to res me constantly.

Now when I see that one I just port right back out. I don't even make it to the mind terrors. The crystals take me out way too fast.

I like the ghost lights and butcher best. Those I can manage.

I attempt the watcher one and can sometimes do it. Am getting better but it is hit and miss.

The switches I slip unless I have Ring of the Wild Hunt on me.

So yeah, theatre of war is just an auto skip for me now.

Carcamongus · November 2023

The 5th duel is certainly frustrating. I got a good idea it wasn't just me when a guildmate who's way better than me at solo content (vet arenas, perfect runs, etc) commented how hard that fight was. The mind terrors are bloody annoying and, yes, they can stun you at the worst possible times.

When you see a small AoE forming under your feet, run somewhere far so the tentacles spawn away from where you need to be. Crystal is a priority target, followed by the mind terrors. If both are active at the same time, RIP in peace try using AoEs to hit them. Yes, you'll need plenty of stamina in this fight. The duel gets much easier after the 2nd crystal is out.

EdjeSwift · November 2023

This fight is actually much more simple if you take it slow and steady and know the fight well.

Key points for this fight solo:
1. 90% - This is when Aramril goes invulnerable and activates the first crystal. You just go fight the crystal and come back to her only if she's channeling her doom spell.

2. 75% - First Mind Terror Spawn & First Teleport. Generally speaking, it's best to ignore Aramril unless she's channeling her doom spell and just take out the Mind Terror.

3. 50% - Second Crystal Spawn, Second Mind Terror, Second Teleport. This is when it gets hectic, generally speaking if she just hit her channel of doom spell, you've got some time to drop some dots/damage on the Crystal before you need to interrupt her again. For this phase you focus the crystal when not interrupting and once the crystal is done, you reset, kill the Mind Terror and interrupt her when necessary until the Terror is Dead.

4. 25% - Final Teleport and Final Mind Terror Spawn - Generally speaking you just focus her since if you get her to 15-17% the fight is done.

That's all this fight is, if you're patient, you can beat this, just keep your stamina/magicka up for your interrupts and know the %'s and be sure to be at high resources for the DPS races.