How would YOU improve infinite archive over the years ahead?

Destai · December 2023

First and foremost, a save option. Second, put in apex-quality rewards. Third, more environments.

spartaxoxo · December 2023

Gameplay Balance Changes
1. Reduce damage of light attack and bleeds from Gothmau
2. Limit the number of tornadoes the tornado marauder can spawn at once
3. Put a delay of respawn on tho'at shards during add stages
4. Make tentacles knock back tho'at shards so that they don't get hidden underneath them

Quality of Life Balance Changes
1. Add a save that removes you from the leaderboard
2. Allow you to skip to your last completed arc, removes you from the leaderboard and gives you randomized visions
3. Marginal increase on archival fortunes earned when solo/companion to make up for the fact that you can't go as far
4. Make visions and verses a little stronger when with a companion and medium stronger when solo. It shouldn't be enough to replace duo as the optimal choice (duo gets the benefit of two people picking verses) but could make things a bit better.

New Content:
1. New Side Portal Quests
2. New rewards themed after new chapters
3. New "Wings" of the archive, with new bosses and new adds. These wings should could maybe look different to the other wings
4. Training Grounds with Flier Ool (or whichever flier) where you can spawn specific bosses and practice on them without having to do the entire archive. Perhaps give star ratings based on how well the mechanics were followed. So, even if you beat it because you burned it so fast, you'd know if there was some mechanic you handled poorly.
5. New Achievements and New Upgrades to go along with those achievements.

CameraBeardThePirate · December 2023

Bobargus wrote: »

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

Bobargus wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Bobargus wrote: »

I know i have written this more than once in the past, but i would have added a seperate difficulty options for those who care about using the correct builds, skills, and gears, and also for those who don't care about - or don't want to need - any of those things and just want to have a casual and chill experience.

tl,dr: normal/casual and veteran difficulty options.

arc 1 is already the "normal" difficulty, people have cleared it with no gear equipped, and you could use pretty much any gear to clear it, especially now that companions are virtually immune to 95% of the dmg from the archive they can actually tank bosses (with only a few exceptions)

using "the right" gear just allows you to clear it much faster (on a dps spec character ive cleared arc 1 in ~15-20 min at the fastest)

I disagree. A couple of days ago, i have tried to do the infinite archive with a level 25 nightblade in a solo setting, with no companions, good build or gear, and i got my behind handed to me by the adds. First turn, first stage, first arc.

That needs to change.

You shouldn't expect to clear content balanced for max level at level 25. Normal =/= low level.

I mean cmon, you don't even have over half your skills and passives.

Why should a pve content have to be limited to being suitable just for beginners or endgame players, when that content can be designed or updated to be flexible enough to work for everyone?

It only takes a week or two of casual questing to get to level 50. Not much longer after that to get to CP 160 with the adjusted leveling curve of CP 2.0.

IA is balanced for beginners - Arc 1 is intended to be approachable by everyone.

That doesn't mean you should expect to be able to clear it with a character that hasn't even unlocked all their abilities yet. That's how a leveling system works - the entire point is that you grow stronger as you level. What would be the point of leveling up if you could tackle any content in the game at level 25? You wouldn't expect to be able to beat Alduin in Skyrim without leveling up a bit first.

That's like complaining about not being able to compete in a footrace with your shoes untied. Tie your shoes and maybe you'll have more success.

Belegnole · December 2023

I would delete it.

spartaxoxo · December 2023

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

IA is balanced for beginners - Arc 1 is intended to be approachable by everyone.

That doesn't mean you should expect to be able to clear it with a character that hasn't even unlocked all their abilities yet. That's how a leveling system works - the entire point is that you grow stronger as you level. What would be the point of leveling up if you could tackle any content in the game at level 25?

That's like complaining about not being able to compete in a footrace with your shoes untied. Tie your shoes and maybe you'll have more success.

IA is NOT balanced for beginners. That's fine, not everything needs to be. But, saying it's for them DOES imply they should be able to complete it. They actually advertised it as challenging content not beginner content, so every player should able to do it but not necessarily when they first start out.

CameraBeardThePirate · December 2023

spartaxoxo wrote: »

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

IA is balanced for beginners - Arc 1 is intended to be approachable by everyone.

That doesn't mean you should expect to be able to clear it with a character that hasn't even unlocked all their abilities yet. That's how a leveling system works - the entire point is that you grow stronger as you level. What would be the point of leveling up if you could tackle any content in the game at level 25?

That's like complaining about not being able to compete in a footrace with your shoes untied. Tie your shoes and maybe you'll have more success.

IA is NOT balanced for beginners. That's fine, not everything needs to be. But, saying it's for them DOES imply they should be able to complete it. They actually advertised it as challenging content not beginner content, so every player should able to do it but not necessarily when they first start out.

They did advertise Arc 1 as approachable for beginners though. That's the entire point of the scaling difficulty system.

They advertised IA as something that was for everyone - beginners may find arc 1 challenging but that doesn't mean it's insurmountable for them.

spartaxoxo · December 2023

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

spartaxoxo wrote: »

CameraBeardThePirate wrote: »

IA is balanced for beginners - Arc 1 is intended to be approachable by everyone.

That doesn't mean you should expect to be able to clear it with a character that hasn't even unlocked all their abilities yet. That's how a leveling system works - the entire point is that you grow stronger as you level. What would be the point of leveling up if you could tackle any content in the game at level 25?

That's like complaining about not being able to compete in a footrace with your shoes untied. Tie your shoes and maybe you'll have more success.

IA is NOT balanced for beginners. That's fine, not everything needs to be. But, saying it's for them DOES imply they should be able to complete it. They actually advertised it as challenging content not beginner content, so every player should able to do it but not necessarily when they first start out.

They did advertise Arc 1 as approachable for beginners though. That's the entire point of the scaling difficulty system.

They advertised IA as something that was for everyone - beginners may find arc 1 challenging but that doesn't mean it's insurmountable for them.

Do you have a source for that? I saw it being advertised for everyone, but I didn't see anything that specifically said it was for new players.

If it's insurmountable for MOST new players, then it's not designed for them.

Personofsecrets · December 2023

I'd make it have an ending.

Sarannah · December 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

One: Chase upgrades which cost millions of fortunes and make the gameplay in there more fun:
-Upgrade: Have a 5% chance per stage to grant one of each of the transformations, without having unlocked all the visions for it. (Cost 1 Million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You permanently keep 10% of each and every verse choice throughout the archive as if it were a vision. (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You get to pick one verse and have a 50% chance to spawn that verse at every verse choice(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 5 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: When dying, you have a 50% chance not to lose a thread. (Cost: 10 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Instead of the second wave of mobs at every stage, have a 10% chance to spawn a marauder. (Cost: 1 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Treasure scamps drop a 100% increased fortune amount(double). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Pick your favorite unknown portal and have a 50% chance to spawn this unknown portal at any unknown portal spawn(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 4 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Terrorizing the archive: When you damage a mob, you have a 2% chance to kill them instantly(does not work on boss stage adds, bosses, and Tho'at). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)

Two: As a small chance let the archival fortune pouches leads of all rarities drop again even after completing them once.

To keep people playing the archive, and to keep it fresh for those spending a lot of time in there.

ill be honest ive spent a LOT of time in the archives and those costs are insane

even with all of the time ive spent in the archive ive only maybe earned like 600k archive fortunes (it costs about 125k to buy all of the current upgrades, then i spent another roughly 150k on ichor to finish the mount, and about 60k on style pages, maybe another 30k on treasure maps and have about 250k fortunes sitting around right now)

people who are barely clearing arc 1 or 2 are barely making 15k fortunes to be able to buy the monster style page each week as is

i also see the suggestion of a 10% chance to spawn a marauder as the 2nd add wave in each add stage to be a massive massive nerf considering how hard they are in later arcs (especially gothmau) its usually a death sentence and i doubt anyone would buy that lol

Well, that is entirely the point.... chase upgrades which take a long while to get, even for those going in every day. And not all upgrades should be fine for everyone, like the marauder one. Some choices of upgrades could be fun for some who want a real challenge(maybe a way to disable this upgrade so players aren't stuck with it). Some of the upgrades I mentioned are just for fun and a major change of pace in the archive. Those who would farm millions of fortunes would probably welcome some strange/heavy upgrades.

As for some of the other replies, arc 1 Tho'at is already very very easy. Especially now that companions are unaffected by the aoe's. You can basically afk during this fight now and let the companion do all the work. So I don't think any further changes to arc 1 are needed, the companion change was enough in my opinion.

joergino · December 2023

Belegnole wrote: »

I would delete it.

Absolutely the same here. Delete it and good riddance.

TaSheen · December 2023

joergino wrote: »

Belegnole wrote: »

I would delete it.

Absolutely the same here. Delete it and good riddance.

But you're not forced to engage with it? I won't touch it, but I'm happy it's there for those who are enjoying it.

Wolfshade · December 2023

Background and areas are now in Apocrypha (Chapter) Style. But in Future Chapters, maybe we could find Archive and the other Tho`s in new areas and the Style depends then to the actual Gamechapter.

Maybe we travel north, the Syle will be cold and frosty. We go Hammerfell, the Style could be desert-like. If there comes an Chapter with other deadric-areas, the archive could be look like the these.

Caligamy_ESO · December 2023

Seeing floor after floor of green lighting and inky black water is exhausting, I would love if it were more of a thing like transporting us to different scenic vistas throughout Tamriel. Ya know.. like that orb in the IA lobby suggests with its blinking scenes before you enter?

Araneae6537 · December 2023

Soarora wrote: »

I’d add new trash mobs, maybe new environments, and a save progress function. I think the rewards are fine since they’re a rotating vendor with plenty of options.

Agreed, additional levels and enemies in the future, and additional side quests just for fun and additional chances at currency and leads, etc.

I agree that there should be a function to save or a way to skip or at least progress more quickly (boss stages only?) through arcs once certain achievements are met.

I think the rewards are good but wouldn’t mind additional options eventually from the rotating vendor, new achievement mounts/pets/furnishings, maybe even ways to get transmute crystals or gear from other parts of the game. Just ideas; I’m happy with the rewards for now.

SkaiFaith · December 2023

Bobargus wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Bobargus wrote: »

I know i have written this more than once in the past, but i would have added a seperate difficulty options for those who care about using the correct builds, skills, and gears, and also for those who don't care about - or don't want to need - any of those things and just want to have a casual and chill experience.

tl,dr: normal/casual and veteran difficulty options.

arc 1 is already the "normal" difficulty, people have cleared it with no gear equipped, and you could use pretty much any gear to clear it, especially now that companions are virtually immune to 95% of the dmg from the archive they can actually tank bosses (with only a few exceptions)

using "the right" gear just allows you to clear it much faster (on a dps spec character ive cleared arc 1 in ~15-20 min at the fastest)

I disagree. A couple of days ago, i have tried to do the infinite archive with a level 25 nightblade in a solo setting, with no companions, good build or gear, and i got my behind handed to me by the adds. First turn, first stage, first arc.

That needs to change.

CP 2.000 here.
I took my brand new Necro at level 6 completely solo with crafted sets of level 4 and I got to 1-3-3 and then I got out because Boss fights were too tedious not doing much damage with weak skills.

On the other hand I tried with a level 32 DK, different build, and died immediately.

It's hard to have a definite say on balance when so much depends on your specific situation.

Personally I'm loving Infinite Archive and I'm really happy to see they are willing to take it further next years.

At the moment my main criticisms are:
- too little fortunes. I play many hours and I don't get enough of those, so I'm sure a lot of players that have not much time would appreciate to be able to actually earn something valuable in a reasonable amount of time.
- mini games should be a bit easier. They are fun at the beginning but they become "a slog" at last stages, even more because some requires specific setups and we can't use the armory in there (console). Be kind with us, no need to make us suffer XD
- it takes too much time for a solo player to reach Arc 5. I don't have a perfect solution; people suggested many ideas. I hope the Devs will do something about it.
What I mean is: It takes me almost 5 hours to reach Arc 5 solo, and even if I still have my threads by that time I probably have to eat or sleep - it's just Arc 5! I would get it if I was at, like, Arc 8 or 9 by that time, but 5 after 5 hours of solo play... Seems asking too much from the player.
The Archive is infinite but not our free time, and I think us solo players would like to see further arcs without having to "give up our health".
(Question: is this because going in solo or duo are the exact same experience and not balanced differently?)

There are other "minor" things, like it would be nice if Companions' runs would count as Solo instead of Duo, or the fact I would like to see "overland zones" from all over Tamriel (something like what you already did with Sanity's Edge revisiting old cities) instead of those Apocrypha Libraries everywhere, especially if the Infinite Archive remains a theme for 2024, 2025 and the whole duration of the ongoing storyline - I get it if we remain in those areas for lore, but if books summons entire locations instead of just enemies it would help with not getting tired.

Edited to add the last brackets.

Araneae6537 · December 2023

Enemy-of-Coldharbour wrote: »

Add save points and make Arc 1 easy enough (Arc 1 final boss needs nerf) so ANYONE can complete it to knock out the daily.

Have you tried it since the last update made companions and pets viable in the Archive? Tho’at is super easy with a tank companion — take out the Tho’at shard blobs when they appear and then DPS Tho’at Prime at your own pace.

Toxic_Hemlock · December 2023

Start out far easier, like public dungeon difficulty for those of us that don't want stress when exploring, remove the leaderboards for this. Make the difficulty optional and skippable for those that want the challenge. Rewards to be commensurate with difficulty, some of us just want to have fun.

As far as content:
Add in chests and random encounters within the maps, befitting the difficulty of said level...
Varied mobs and bosses also within the bounds of the difficulty...
More maps and locales for exploring...
Remove all one-hit kills mechanics until you add in HINTS for bosses NOT found in the OPEN WORLD and even then use them VERY sparingly until higher levels!

AzuraFan · December 2023

Araneae6537 wrote: »

Have you tried it since the last update made companions and pets viable in the Archive? Tho’at is super easy with a tank companion — take out the Tho’at shard blobs when they appear and then DPS Tho’at Prime at your own pace.

I can take out Tho'at...when I get the chance. It's the RNG with the cycle bosses that's the problem. Some of them are just too tough and shouldn't be in Arc 1. Whenever I die in Arc 1, it's to the third or fourth cycle boss.

katanagirl1 · December 2023

I would add a skip option for those who have previously cleared arcs.

Also I would change the verses from completely random to some weighting that takes into account the player’s build. Not stamina ones for magicka builds and no pet options for players with no pets. Stuff like that. You only get 2 before upgrades and if one is completely not usable it’s a waste.

Instead of having the urns to loot I would like the furnishing plans to drop from the bosses and adds instead to speed up the run. Most of these urns are empty or have nothing but ash and lockpicks.

DarcyMardin · December 2023

Add a save.

Give a no leaderboard option for those of us who like the content but don’t want to compete with elites.

Add some new rooms…it gets boring after a while.

Better rewards or larger amounts of currency for defeating bosses (so one can actually get rewards).

Give the filers even more great one liners (I love them!)

Necrotech_Master · December 2023

Sarannah wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

One: Chase upgrades which cost millions of fortunes and make the gameplay in there more fun:
-Upgrade: Have a 5% chance per stage to grant one of each of the transformations, without having unlocked all the visions for it. (Cost 1 Million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You permanently keep 10% of each and every verse choice throughout the archive as if it were a vision. (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You get to pick one verse and have a 50% chance to spawn that verse at every verse choice(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 5 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: When dying, you have a 50% chance not to lose a thread. (Cost: 10 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Instead of the second wave of mobs at every stage, have a 10% chance to spawn a marauder. (Cost: 1 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Treasure scamps drop a 100% increased fortune amount(double). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Pick your favorite unknown portal and have a 50% chance to spawn this unknown portal at any unknown portal spawn(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 4 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Terrorizing the archive: When you damage a mob, you have a 2% chance to kill them instantly(does not work on boss stage adds, bosses, and Tho'at). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)

Two: As a small chance let the archival fortune pouches leads of all rarities drop again even after completing them once.

To keep people playing the archive, and to keep it fresh for those spending a lot of time in there.

ill be honest ive spent a LOT of time in the archives and those costs are insane

even with all of the time ive spent in the archive ive only maybe earned like 600k archive fortunes (it costs about 125k to buy all of the current upgrades, then i spent another roughly 150k on ichor to finish the mount, and about 60k on style pages, maybe another 30k on treasure maps and have about 250k fortunes sitting around right now)

people who are barely clearing arc 1 or 2 are barely making 15k fortunes to be able to buy the monster style page each week as is

i also see the suggestion of a 10% chance to spawn a marauder as the 2nd add wave in each add stage to be a massive massive nerf considering how hard they are in later arcs (especially gothmau) its usually a death sentence and i doubt anyone would buy that lol

Well, that is entirely the point.... chase upgrades which take a long while to get, even for those going in every day. And not all upgrades should be fine for everyone, like the marauder one. Some choices of upgrades could be fun for some who want a real challenge(maybe a way to disable this upgrade so players aren't stuck with it). Some of the upgrades I mentioned are just for fun and a major change of pace in the archive. Those who would farm millions of fortunes would probably welcome some strange/heavy upgrades.

As for some of the other replies, arc 1 Tho'at is already very very easy. Especially now that companions are unaffected by the aoe's. You can basically afk during this fight now and let the companion do all the work. So I don't think any further changes to arc 1 are needed, the companion change was enough in my opinion.

adding in 30 million archive fortunes worth of upgrades is not adding value, just insane grind, i highly doubt many if any people would even get to 1 of those upgrades without so much burnout they would never touch it again

i like the archive, but would have serious burnout trying to earn that many archive fortunes

Tyhar · December 2023

My suggestion would be remove a stage. Just have 5 waves of mobs in a stage then a boss. Also, make the boss arena bigger so you don't get knocked off so easily. That or remove dragons from bosses cause they are too big for that arena.

Sarannah · December 2023

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Sarannah wrote: »

One: Chase upgrades which cost millions of fortunes and make the gameplay in there more fun:
-Upgrade: Have a 5% chance per stage to grant one of each of the transformations, without having unlocked all the visions for it. (Cost 1 Million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You permanently keep 10% of each and every verse choice throughout the archive as if it were a vision. (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: You get to pick one verse and have a 50% chance to spawn that verse at every verse choice(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 5 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: When dying, you have a 50% chance not to lose a thread. (Cost: 10 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Instead of the second wave of mobs at every stage, have a 10% chance to spawn a marauder. (Cost: 1 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Treasure scamps drop a 100% increased fortune amount(double). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Pick your favorite unknown portal and have a 50% chance to spawn this unknown portal at any unknown portal spawn(can change this choice at any time with master Malketh, which will only activate from the next run on). (Cost: 4 million fortunes)
-Upgrade: Terrorizing the archive: When you damage a mob, you have a 2% chance to kill them instantly(does not work on boss stage adds, bosses, and Tho'at). (Cost: 2 million fortunes)

Two: As a small chance let the archival fortune pouches leads of all rarities drop again even after completing them once.

To keep people playing the archive, and to keep it fresh for those spending a lot of time in there.

ill be honest ive spent a LOT of time in the archives and those costs are insane

even with all of the time ive spent in the archive ive only maybe earned like 600k archive fortunes (it costs about 125k to buy all of the current upgrades, then i spent another roughly 150k on ichor to finish the mount, and about 60k on style pages, maybe another 30k on treasure maps and have about 250k fortunes sitting around right now)

people who are barely clearing arc 1 or 2 are barely making 15k fortunes to be able to buy the monster style page each week as is

i also see the suggestion of a 10% chance to spawn a marauder as the 2nd add wave in each add stage to be a massive massive nerf considering how hard they are in later arcs (especially gothmau) its usually a death sentence and i doubt anyone would buy that lol

Well, that is entirely the point.... chase upgrades which take a long while to get, even for those going in every day. And not all upgrades should be fine for everyone, like the marauder one. Some choices of upgrades could be fun for some who want a real challenge(maybe a way to disable this upgrade so players aren't stuck with it). Some of the upgrades I mentioned are just for fun and a major change of pace in the archive. Those who would farm millions of fortunes would probably welcome some strange/heavy upgrades.

As for some of the other replies, arc 1 Tho'at is already very very easy. Especially now that companions are unaffected by the aoe's. You can basically afk during this fight now and let the companion do all the work. So I don't think any further changes to arc 1 are needed, the companion change was enough in my opinion.

adding in 30 million archive fortunes worth of upgrades is not adding value, just insane grind, i highly doubt many if any people would even get to 1 of those upgrades without so much burnout they would never touch it again

i like the archive, but would have serious burnout trying to earn that many archive fortunes

The mindset of wanting to have it all right away doesn't fit an MMO that is supposed to be played for years. Not everything has to be achieved right away, or should be grinded for right away. Getting these upgrades should be natural over time. This is why I call them chase items, things to stay in the archive for long after getting all the achievements and gear.

I'm clearing two arcs every day, and I already have 100k+ fortunes and all now available upgrades. Millions really isn't that much, especially if we are talking years.

Forgot to mention in my first post:
Three: Let the unknown portals spawn with any difficulty, not just the highest(with an indicator which level unknown it is). So they aren't all too intense, like the Aramril fight. (this fight could use some serious changing, it takes way too long and is too tedious)

notyuu · December 2023

What would I add to EA?
a few small QOL changes to make it more accessable to all

1: Add in a save function, using it would NOT remove you from the leaderboards, however the save point would be lost when the leaderboards reset (cuz removing people from the leaderboards becasue they have irl obgliations and need to pause is dumb)

2: Buff all of the visions to be on par with focused efforts in terms of respective power given, cuz what sounds stronger, doing 500% more damage with burning/hemorrhage or 5/6% more damage with area of effect attacks or doing 2/3% more damage to bosses or taking 3/6% less damage from dots....yeah, exactly...and for the record I am NOT saying make the other visions +500%, I'm saying make them stronger, like say.... +10/15%

3: add in a button that lets you re-roll visions once per arc so you can do something about the dead pulls you get

4: make it so that if the storm maruder that summons tornados, summons another set of them, the first set despawns

5: reduce the light attack damage of that 4 armed maruder, after all there's nothing enjoyable about having them spawn in, run up to you all tee-hee style and slapping you with 3 light attacks in 3 seconds for 20K damage each

6: add an (expensive) buyable upgrade that makes verses last until you kill that cycles boss

AlterBlika · December 2023

I'd like to get rid of the threads limit. Let me play it as much as I want.

fall0athboy · December 2023

I'd like to see the amount of rewards expanded: More than 2 leads or at the very least, the complete removal of leads that can be found at static locations in the overworld.

The removal of the Marauders, honestly. I don't think they're fun at all. I'd settle for nerfing Gothmau.

If I get all three of the avatar visions, give there a slight boost to the chance I get the verse.

Varana · December 2023

1) Once you've beaten the portals side quests once, make them spawn at 1st or 3rd level, not at the 5th. Progressing through them once is okay but the last stage is so annoying that I generally just skip them than deal with the tedium and (very likely) waste of time.

2) Constant updates to the cycle bosses. Esp. when new content is released, its bosses should be added to the Archive pool at some time. So if there's a new dungeon pack in March, the Archive should be updated with (some of) the bosses of that dungeon pack half a year or a year later.

3) More variety to the trash rounds. After a while, they get very same-y.

4) Some way of playing higher arcs even if you don't have hours and hours of uninterrupted play time to grind through the earlier stuff. You should get to a point where you can progress in some way in a two-hour session.

Paralyse · December 2023

1. To borrow an idea from WoW's Torghast, I would like to see occasional rare spawn NPC's (like Marauders, but they don't chase you down) in side rooms that can be killed for extra rewards such as fortunes, an extra verse, etc.

2. Most things in EA obey Line of Sight rules and cannot attack you through environment objects. A notable and key exception to this is the cast effects of Fabled NPC's such as the Flameshaper and Sun-Eater whose damaging AoE's ignore environmental objects and can/will damage you through walls. These abilities should be reworked to obey LOS behavior.

3. Even at Arc 2, Marauder Gothmau is extremely overtuned. I put my odds at killing him in any Arc around 20% on my main EA toon (HA oakensorc) and he's pretty much unkillable on melee toons such as my mag DK. (This is generally true of all three Marauders where ranged toons have a significant advantage.) He needs to be nerfed substantially to bring him more into line with Ulmor, etc.

4. When a Marauder spawns, no further waves of trash / adds should appear until the Marauder dies or the player(s) die. Last night in Arc 4 I got Gothmau on 2nd room during 2nd wave of adds (magma shalks/scamps) followed shortly by a Fabled Infuser and Fabled Flameshaper in the 3rd wave (Ogrim and Daedroth.) At that point you might as well just go ahead and lose a thread because it's not survivable.

5. The bug where you lose a thread without dying if you are too far away from the adds that spawn is still present. With kiting and LOS stacking being key mechanics to survive EA at higher Arcs, this bug can and has ruined good runs.

6. Some of the verses and visions need to be rebalanced or have their spawn rates changed. A good example is the Vision to reduce Ultimate cost that almost never shows up and is also one of the most powerful Visions (apart from the extra thread) in EA, or the visions that buff Assault, Guild and World skills which are underwhelming and do not feel impactful.

7. The introduction of "rare" and "epic" verses and visions that are more powerful than their regular counterparts. These upgraded versions would have a random chance to spawn at a percentage based on their rarity.

8. Remove Zhaj'hassa from the boss spawn selections since ZOS still can't get pillars to work right; heavily nerf Lady Thorn and Symphony of Blades, two bosses whose difficulty in EA is widely disproportionate to their respective difficulties in Castle Thorn and Depths of Malatar. With Symphony, e.g. you can have both the Wall of Golden Aurorans and the 4 color Aurorans spawn at the exact same time, something that is mechanically impossible in the actual dungeon (the 4 color Aurorans cannot spawn at the same time the wall mechanic appears.)

9. The ability to obtain Tel Var Stones and Alliance Points (the currency) through EA in exchange for Fortunes was touted (and mentioned several times in the livestream gameplay reveal on Twitch) but this does not seem to actually be present in EA, only the option to exchange Fortunes for Gold. ZOS should continue as originally intended and make Tel Var and AP purchasable for Fortunes in the same manner.

10. At some point it would be nice to see the EA system used in other environments. I would love to do EA in Skyrim-style Draugr barrows, or the Ayleid ruins of Oblivion, through the various Dwemer ruins and Blackreach Caverns, in the ancient Dragonguard fortifications of Elsweyr, or in various other Daedric realms such as those of Mephala, Mehrunes Dagon, Hircine, etc. This would be fun and interesting and keep players coming back. It would also be nice to have a few more varied types of NPC's to fight against (Draugr are conspicuous in their absence!)

11. GW The Pilferer (Treasure Goblin) could spawn in random rooms of EA, not just boss arenas, similar to the Cartoklept in Scrivener's Hall.

12. Substantially nerf the Watcher Secret Room difficulty to bring it into line with the other Secret Rooms. It is by far the most difficult and the most buggy of those rooms, and it is far more frustrating than fun. When players would rather skip the content entirely or just enter and die as opposed to trying to complete it, that's a game design problem.

Araneae6537 · December 2023

1. To borrow an idea from WoW's Torghast, I would like to see occasional rare spawn NPC's (like Marauders, but they don't chase you down) in side rooms that can be killed for extra rewards such as fortunes, an extra verse, etc.

2. Most things in EA obey Line of Sight rules and cannot attack you through environment objects. A notable and key exception to this is the cast effects of Fabled NPC's such as the Flameshaper and Sun-Eater whose damaging AoE's ignore environmental objects and can/will damage you through walls. These abilities should be reworked to obey LOS behavior.

3. Even at Arc 2, Marauder Gothmau is extremely overtuned. I put my odds at killing him in any Arc around 20% on my main EA toon (HA oakensorc) and he's pretty much unkillable on melee toons such as my mag DK. (This is generally true of all three Marauders where ranged toons have a significant advantage.) He needs to be nerfed substantially to bring him more into line with Ulmor, etc.

4. When a Marauder spawns, no further waves of trash / adds should appear until the Marauder dies or the player(s) die. Last night in Arc 4 I got Gothmau on 2nd room during 2nd wave of adds (magma shalks/scamps) followed shortly by a Fabled Infuser and Fabled Flameshaper in the 3rd wave (Ogrim and Daedroth.) At that point you might as well just go ahead and lose a thread because it's not survivable.

5. The bug where you lose a thread without dying if you are too far away from the adds that spawn is still present. With kiting and LOS stacking being key mechanics to survive EA at higher Arcs, this bug can and has ruined good runs.

6. Some of the verses and visions need to be rebalanced or have their spawn rates changed. A good example is the Vision to reduce Ultimate cost that almost never shows up and is also one of the most powerful Visions (apart from the extra thread) in EA, or the visions that buff Assault, Guild and World skills which are underwhelming and do not feel impactful.

7. The introduction of "rare" and "epic" verses and visions that are more powerful than their regular counterparts. These upgraded versions would have a random chance to spawn at a percentage based on their rarity.

8. Remove Zhaj'hassa from the boss spawn selections since ZOS still can't get pillars to work right; heavily nerf Lady Thorn and Symphony of Blades, two bosses whose difficulty in EA is widely disproportionate to their respective difficulties in Castle Thorn and Depths of Malatar. With Symphony, e.g. you can have both the Wall of Golden Aurorans and the 4 color Aurorans spawn at the exact same time, something that is mechanically impossible in the actual dungeon (the 4 color Aurorans cannot spawn at the same time the wall mechanic appears.)

9. The ability to obtain Tel Var Stones and Alliance Points (the currency) through EA in exchange for Fortunes was touted (and mentioned several times in the livestream gameplay reveal on Twitch) but this does not seem to actually be present in EA, only the option to exchange Fortunes for Gold. ZOS should continue as originally intended and make Tel Var and AP purchasable for Fortunes in the same manner.

10. At some point it would be nice to see the EA system used in other environments. I would love to do EA in Skyrim-style Draugr barrows, or the Ayleid ruins of Oblivion, through the various Dwemer ruins and Blackreach Caverns, in the ancient Dragonguard fortifications of Elsweyr, or in various other Daedric realms such as those of Mephala, Mehrunes Dagon, Hircine, etc. This would be fun and interesting and keep players coming back. It would also be nice to have a few more varied types of NPC's to fight against (Draugr are conspicuous in their absence!)

11. GW The Pilferer (Treasure Goblin) could spawn in random rooms of EA, not just boss arenas, similar to the Cartoklept in Scrivener's Hall.

12. Substantially nerf the Watcher Secret Room difficulty to bring it into line with the other Secret Rooms. It is by far the most difficult and the most buggy of those rooms, and it is far more frustrating than fun. When players would rather skip the content entirely or just enter and die as opposed to trying to complete it, that's a game design problem.

I agree on many of those — especially losing a thread due to LoS is BS — and Gothmau needs adjustment.

3) Being ranged rather than melee is not an advantage except on Gothmau (and with him you’re probably dead anyway unless you’re a tank or have a very large arena). The other marauders do a LOT less damage if you stay in melee range of them.

6) I would like the visions for extra XP and gold removed entirely. They aren’t impactful even if earning XP and gold are among your goals.

7) There already is a large RNG element, which I know is by design, but rather than adding further levels of RNG, I’d rather additional upgrades toward strengthening certain visions, rerolling the selection, or other such advantages.

SkaiFaith · December 2023

SkaiFaith wrote: »

Bobargus wrote: »

Necrotech_Master wrote: »

Bobargus wrote: »

I know i have written this more than once in the past, but i would have added a seperate difficulty options for those who care about using the correct builds, skills, and gears, and also for those who don't care about - or don't want to need - any of those things and just want to have a casual and chill experience.

tl,dr: normal/casual and veteran difficulty options.

arc 1 is already the "normal" difficulty, people have cleared it with no gear equipped, and you could use pretty much any gear to clear it, especially now that companions are virtually immune to 95% of the dmg from the archive they can actually tank bosses (with only a few exceptions)

using "the right" gear just allows you to clear it much faster (on a dps spec character ive cleared arc 1 in ~15-20 min at the fastest)

I disagree. A couple of days ago, i have tried to do the infinite archive with a level 25 nightblade in a solo setting, with no companions, good build or gear, and i got my behind handed to me by the adds. First turn, first stage, first arc.

That needs to change.

CP 2.000 here.
I took my brand new Necro at level 6 completely solo with crafted sets of level 4 and I got to 1-3-3 and then I got out because Boss fights were too tedious not doing much damage with weak skills.

On the other hand I tried with a level 32 DK, different build, and died immediately.

It's hard to have a definite say on balance when so much depends on your specific situation.

Personally I'm loving Infinite Archive and I'm really happy to see they are willing to take it further next years.

At the moment my main criticisms are:
- too little fortunes. I play many hours and I don't get enough of those, so I'm sure a lot of players that have not much time would appreciate to be able to actually earn something valuable in a reasonable amount of time.
- mini games should be a bit easier. They are fun at the beginning but they become "a slog" at last stages, even more because some requires specific setups and we can't use the armory in there (console). Be kind with us, no need to make us suffer XD
- it takes too much time for a solo player to reach Arc 5. I don't have a perfect solution; people suggested many ideas. I hope the Devs will do something about it.
What I mean is: It takes me almost 5 hours to reach Arc 5 solo, and even if I still have my threads by that time I probably have to eat or sleep - it's just Arc 5! I would get it if I was at, like, Arc 8 or 9 by that time, but 5 after 5 hours of solo play... Seems asking too much from the player.
The Archive is infinite but not our free time, and I think us solo players would like to see further arcs without having to "give up our health".
(Question: is this because going in solo or duo are the exact same experience and not balanced differently?)

There are other "minor" things, like it would be nice if Companions' runs would count as Solo instead of Duo, or the fact I would like to see "overland zones" from all over Tamriel (something like what you already did with Sanity's Edge revisiting old cities) instead of those Apocrypha Libraries everywhere, especially if the Infinite Archive remains a theme for 2024, 2025 and the whole duration of the ongoing storyline - I get it if we remain in those areas for lore, but if books summons entire locations instead of just enemies it would help with not getting tired.

Edited to add the last brackets.

I want to add to my last comment that after thinking about the issue of taking too much time to reach later arcs I've come to the conclusion that lowering significantly enemies' health would help a lot, instead of reducing stages or waves of enemies.
At least when solo, the problem is you have to build tanky if you want to survive but this way you do too little damage compared to a duo and it takes forever to clear mobs' stages. Reducing substantially mobs' health and maybe lowering Th'oat's health a bit too would make a huge difference, and make me want to play more.

Paralyse wrote: »

12. Substantially nerf the Watcher Secret Room difficulty to bring it into line with the other Secret Rooms. It is by far the most difficult and the most buggy of those rooms, and it is far more frustrating than fun. When players would rather skip the content entirely or just enter and die as opposed to trying to complete it, that's a game design problem.

This feels necessary. Many of us get stuck on that. It's really too much, so frustrating that it demotivates me and make me want to quit the game for the day every time. I already tried so many times without luck that I'm considering to leave the portal upon entrance - not good. Please fix and take in consideration for future mini games.