8 replies to this topic

[User101]

I just went through Balnamoon Cave and it's a nonstop killing area as the spawn just keep coming at me none stop. I didn't have time to eat just using pot only. I didn't try the elite quest as there's will be too many coming at me. Any chance that the spawn rate be lower maybe not in the whole cave but around the elite as it's hard enough to kill it alone already? I didn't do the quest atm as I would not likely to survive. Maybe when my level is higher.

[Irradiated]

I think I remember that quest.  An alternative would be mark it as 2-person.  One concentrates on the trash mobs that keep respawning, while the other takes out the boss.

 

It's only one of two non-dungeons I was unable to solo at or below level (the other being 'Test of Strength', as there is no bow option).

[thickenergy]

I managed to do all the quests in Balnamoon Cave at level on my sorcerer, including killing Thud, but just barely. Those Yetisaurus are no joke. Overall though, I think the spawn rates in the game right now are a little crazy. But I also think that if the spawn rates were more than just very slightly slower that a lot of the content would become fairly trivial. So far my biggest worry in dungeons, and going solo in general, has been getting to my goal quickly enough to not have respawns popping back all over me, not the strength of the bosses or final encounters.

[thickenergy]

So I'm in the Cursed Tower. Completed all the quests that require me to be on the first or second floor. This is doable at level, solo, as you can assault the required baddies from relatively safe points just next to the entrances and stairways. Which also lets you exit and enter again as need be to ditch the train of aggro gained from dashing between dungeons floor entrances and exits. The third floor is a different story, as you can't just dash to your quest goals because there's no way to ditch the aggro train following behind you and you have to fight a couple critters at the far side of the dungeon floor for one of the quests.

 

The main reason I bring all of this up is that the spawn rates are intense. To the degree that I think even a group is just going to have to zerg their way through the dungeon if they ever hope to get to their objectives. I wonder if there's not a way to balance the "should be done with a group" factor and the "you can get through this with keen tactics and strategy" factor.

 

I expect things to be difficult to impossible when going solo. But if the only alternative is to get enough people together to zerg the dungeon then I'd probably rather wait and make another solo attempt after I've gained a few levels. A zerg every now and then can be fun and cathartic, but it's rather bland as a regular diet. The more I experience the spawn rates in the open dungeons the more they feel like they have 'ZERG!' written all over them.

[Irradiated]

We may just be looking at some balance issues.  I couldn't get through Balnamoon solo, but was able to do the cursed tower just fine.

 

For me, the difference was this.  In Balnamoon, I couldn't burn the boss down fast enough.  By the time he was close to dead, too many mobs had respawned.  And at that level, I had nothing in the way of crowd control.

 

In the tower, I was able to stay ahead of the respawns.  I just kept moving and killing, and everything went fine.

 

As a mage, I would guess you were able to kill the boss in Balnamoon much more quickly.  But the 'glass' side of a mage would have much more trouble in the cursed tower.

 

BTW, to me the best solo areas are those that provide a real challenge at level, that I have difficulty completing.  But that can be done without dying if I play carefully and correctly, with reasonable gear and build (not necessarily the best).

[thickenergy]

I've actually switched from a mage build to a templar build since I did Balnamoon. In Balnamoon I didn't burn down the boss before the mobs respawned, I just made sure to get Thud into the far corner of the room. I managed to finish killing Thud just before the respawned mobs walked into aggro range. Then I hauled ass for the exit with them on my tail.

 

In the Cursed Tower there's no way my mage build would have survived the fights I got into on the third floor. Just the first room alone has five Cursed Demons in very close proximity. Even though I killed them relatively quickly, I kept having two respawn on top of me before I could make it out of the room. It was pretty ridiculous.

 

I think we're in agreement on what makes a good solo challenge. The difficulty of course being to balance the solo experience and the grouped experience. It's not that I think the spawn rates make things too difficult per se, it's that they demand a lot of strategy and tactical thinking be put aside in favor of expediency. 

[doublejesus]

It's not even challenging it's just frustrating, I mean kiting with a mage is the easiest thing in the world with the right talents but even though I can 100-0 mobs before they even touch me they respawn before i can make any headway in most dungeons. Just had a bug in Balnamoon where I got killed by Thud when I was overrun by respawns and when I came back he still had 200 health which is where he was at when I died.

[thickenergy]

I think part of the issue is that if the spawn rate is decreased then each mob is going to have to be tougher. The boss mobs should probably be a little tougher too. Cause right now the only thing keeping me from blowing through the open world dungeons I've been in (at the level of the dungeon or one level below) is the spawn rate.

 

Whether the spawn rate gets adjusted or not, dungeons shouldn't require a zerg to get through nor should you just be able to plod along with no worries if you kill everything slowly as you go. Despite the troubles I had in The Cursed Tower, I think it is designed really well. Once I found the null spots where I could rest and pull mobs without having other mobs wander into me I managed to work my way through the third floor. But it still required taking risks, good timing, and alertness. As well as a little trial and error.

 

Despite my previous posts, I think the speedy spawn rate may be the best compromise for balancing content between groups and solo players. Especially once the game is released and there are a lot more players in the same area simultaneously.

[doublejesus]

Yeah I mean honestly just one more minute on the spawn time would be a blessing, you don't need a high spawn time with one person in a zone but with a group of people then yes I agree the spawn times are actually good and as you bring up when there are actually people in the game I think the spawn times will be more adequate. But that's why I suggested a player check, if one persons in a zone then you know you don't need a stupid low spawn time because it's just one person. Also there is a difference between challenging and frustrating, the super high spawn times do not increase the challenge linearly as groups won't have this problem to such a degree(unless spawn times are higher with more people in the area which I will admit I do not know as I do not have anyone to play with). I'm not dying from a lack of personal skill, from inadequate gear/talent/stat build. I'm dying because as a solo player I can't compete with the spawn time of the enemy mobs, which isn't a challenge in my opinion it's a design flaw.