Infinite Archive is Incredibly Frustrating

Cellithor · July 24

On the hunt for the Torc of the Last Ayleid King leads, I have come to be very frustrated with the archive. Lets start with my most glaring complaint: Mythic leads simply do not drop. I have run Arcs 1 and 2 with a companion two times a day or so looking for these leads. I haven't seen a single one drop. If I ever get any kind of lead, which is an exceedingly rare occasion in the Archive, it's not for the Mythic I am trying to get. This already gives me a frustrated disposition going into the archive.

The first arc is never too bad, it's just a little monotonous. The bonus minigames are really what get me frustrated. So I'm presented with another opportunity to potentially open a chest in these bonus minigames and I cannot complete them most of the time.

Seriously, these little bonus games give me the same vibes as those skill machines in the shopping malls or carnivals that are designed to dangle a win in front of your face but cheat you out of the win through unfair design every single time so that you spend more money trying to win.

The duel is ridiculous. I get bombarded by channeled attacks that need to be interrupted every 2 seconds. I have to constantly walk away from the actual boss to go and babysit the green crystals only to then have to deal with some tanky add before I can go and deal with the actual boss. If you managed to get into a rhythm of dealing with all of this garbage to stay alive for any appreciable amount of time, you will eventually just run out of resources and die anyway.

The tomeshell hunt is awful too. Not only do I have to navigate around the whirlwinds and tentacles that kill you within like 3 seconds, you also get chased down by a hushed that runs significantly faster than you can move. Turning and trying to kill it works just as well as trying to outrun it.

Overall, the rewards you get for the time spent in the archive are simply too little. Such a time investment for maybe a couple thousand archival fortunes along with actual garbage equipment items and treasure items that are pointless to even sell for how little gold you actually get for them. Just let me have my leads and get out.

benzenexz · July 24

These games are actually spawning with increasing difficulty each time, ifbyou have not beaten the previous difficulty (trackable in the achievement). The easier versions are for you to get to know the rules of them. IMO even though they cna be a bit tricky but are just plainly doable, unless you have a terrible connection.

As of leads, the drop pool of leads is vast so you shouldn't expect that only the mythic lead drops. Other stuffs like style pages. If you do not want to invest time there to collect stuffs (class sets, pages, achievements, etc.), your better chance might be waiting for the rotation of the weekly vendor there and in IC.

DenverRalphy · July 24

Couple items of note to help you along..

Filers Wing (the tomeshell hunt):

Skills 4 and 5 are the skills to use when enemies are after you. When they're in front of you, you can stun them with skill 4 but I find it best not to break your back trying to get a direct hit. Just keep moving if you miss. Skill 5 is a snare that drops behind you slowing down the enemies as they chase behind you.
Skills 1, 2, and 3 are for the tomeshells. Skill 2 to reveal their locations if they're near you. 3 is your speed boost, best to keep this one ready to fire. Skill 1 is an aoe attack for when you approach a tomeshell.
No time limit. So don't try to rush it.

Treacherous Crossing (the switches puzzle):

Solo is easier than if you're grouped with another player. You can clear all 5 levels of this portal by simply locating the two switches that deactivate the two closest positions. Then starting with those two switches, deactivate them all (the other 4 won't matter which order you hit them). Then run like hell if your speed isn't the greatest.

Chasing Leads:

Before entering IA, take some cheapo treasure maps that you know drop motif leads and dig them up. If you haven't dug up any leads within 3 -5 treasure maps, don't expect to see many leads with that character for the day. Do that with each character if you have more than one, until you find one that has a daily RNG seed that's conducive to better dice rolls. Otherwise try again the next day after reset.