Splitpaw Saga Feedback June 23

[Saavedra]

<DIV>Please post your Splitpaw Saga feedback here.</DIV>

[Jumah]

<DIV>Just speaking of the first level that is on live here. I know this has been talked about in other places but since you asked for feedback, here is a little. I am confused how this can be called a solo zone. almost every encounter in the place is a group of mobs, labeled as solo. I have played it numerous times over the last week, with my 42 Wizard, and I always get chased out of the zone, or outright killed. Every encounter seems to be 50% casters, and they chain stun/silence me, which naturally makes things very difficlut for a Wizard. Maybe I need to work on my resists or something, but they are all in the neighborhood of the high 1000's, I have no idea what is required to resist these spells, but I am obviously nowhere near the mark. In addition, the melee ( and caster) mobs here, hit like a jackhammer in trippleshot mode. Seriously, 3 or 4 hits and I am dead. I get this kind of treatment nowhere else in the game, with the exception of the Orcs in Zek. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Making it a challenge is one thing. Making it exceedingly difficult is another thing. Making it neigh impossible...... well..... that simply does not make sense to me. I like to think I have a pretty good handle on my class. Been playing wizards and casters for breadth of my time in MMO's and pen and paper RPG's for decades before that. i am trying not to flame here, just offering some feedback.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>On the whole, I love the level dsign and the look of the Gnolls therein. The moveable objects add a new depth to the game play and level design that is much welcomed to this genre, and I can not adiquitly express my pleasure in seeing chests drop coin! So on the whole, great job. The story is something I look foreword to unraveling after live. Some feedback on how/why the mobs are as deadly as they are would be nice. even if just to say I am completely off base.</DIV>

[alyn2]

<DIV>Same problem here, 48 inquisy. I can just barely manage a group where 3 are casters. Four casters at once. . .I spent 6 deaths learning that there is nothing I can do to win aganist them. . or get past them. Hows a bout limiting casters in true solo instance to no more than 2 per group of 4?</DIV>

[SavinDwa]

<P>There are a lot of neat things I like about the zone.  Moving the boxes around is a hoot.   I just decided to ignore the "solo" idea.  Some classes and certain levels will not be able to solo that zone without doign some really silly things.  In my case I have a 36 ranger that I tried.  I can see a way it might be done, but its stupid.  Since the mobs don't respawn I could go down and take the casters out from a distance and run like hell or evac and then go back and get the next one.  Kinda of silly.  I can't think of anyway for a level 36 ranger to actually take on and beat a group of 4 yellows that have casters that stun.  Kiting down there is also stupid.  Then we come to the final mob.  I don't see how I could do him solo, even if I picked off all his friends.</P> <P> </P> <P>Anyway, it doesn't bother me, its a great 2 player zone</P> <P>What would be nice to know is how the zone is meant to scale.  Its obvious solo.  But I didn;t see a difference between a solo level 38 inquisitor and a the same inquisitor plus a level 36 ranger.  The mobs looked the same.  Would it change if we had 6 in the group?</P> <P>By the Way ... some classes are not great soloers and it has nothing to do with the dungeon.  Assassins and Rangers are incredable damage machines in a group, but we are not designed for soloing groups of mobs.  That's fine, it all works out in the end.</P>

[Jumah]

<DIV>Oh I agree about the soloing deal. My time is about 50/50 soloing/grouping whenever I play, depending mostly upon my mood. With a friend, we can decimate the zone, but not in such a way as to make it boring. We need to work at it a bit and take it slowly, pick off wanderers and so forth. They way the zone scales for level of player/group is awesome, and I look foreword to seeing the application of this code to other zones in the future.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>My confusion (which is mostly what it ammounts to, not really complaining) is in how these groups, when I do try to solo them, can be so much more powerful than other groups of the same level in other areas. I can take solo groups of 42~44 mobs in EF and Feerrott (granted with much personal risk, and a few deaths per night but still). But 3 out of 4 encounters down here result in my death, and that 4th encounter is 5/50 on whether I'll have to run for the door or come out on top by a hair.</DIV>

[OpethPA]

<P>Level 46 swashy and I think this is a great solo zone. </P> <P>It's challenging and has killed me a few times but I can solo it with about 75% success now. It requires a combination of slows, mez, poison and every skill I have to pull it off. </P> <P>I can not say anything for any other class but I believe this zone is just right as a solo level. </P> <P>Challenge, skill, excitment, reward and death. .All things that make a game fun. </P>

[Ricassari]

Enchanter here - forget soloing even blues. The root bug that teleports rooted mobs instantly to you does this make a totally bullsh*t zone. Fix the classes first before doing more $$$ expansions and packs !!!!! <div></div>

[Jaas]

<DIV>I have just spent 6 deaths of learing how to fight in this zone and dont really see any reason to return if this how the zone is when it goes live.  I am a L24 Ranger and Im just not up to this zone. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>The single blue cons I can kill easy enough, the single white or yellow I can do if I get lucky. By lucky I mean I can get behind the mob with my bow and no more then 1 of my 4 shots miss and no more then 2 Swindler's Luck (and the 1 flip). Once Im in toe to toe melee Im at a serious disadvantage so really need that head start. If the mob is still over 50% when melee starts Im dead. AND there is no where to run (ok, what is life without some risk). Ok, single mobs tough but doable. Now for the group mobs.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Once the single mobs around the 'abduction' zone in was cleared I found I could run away from a fight by going down the center cave (looks like that is why that cave is there). Great, this is what I needed to get the grouped mobs. I cleared a few grouped mobs by getting in a back shot, wounding arrow, and open shot; this was usually enough to kill the first mob if not it was so close to dead melee was not a problem. Sometimes I could melee a 2nd mob down then run away. Clear agro and then come back to finish the group. This was great; some patience and skill was needed but it was do-able (got to know the layout of the center cave really well).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then I get to the final 2 groups (around the chest on the pillar) and there all standing there with there backs to the wall. There was no where I could stand to flank any of the last 8 mobs. There is no way I can take these groups with out my back shot (my last death was trying). This is when I left.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I suggest you reposition the mobs so one can be flanked and the rest have to be taken in a given sequance. I would suggest that the mobs pace back n forth but then the rogues would knife me in the back.</DIV>

[Gand]

<span><blockquote><hr>Jumah wrote:<div>Just speaking of the first level that is on live here. I know this has been talked about in other places but since you asked for feedback, here is a little. I am confused how this can be called a solo zone. almost every encounter in the place is a group of mobs, labeled as solo. I have played it numerous times over the last week, with my 42 Wizard, </div><hr></blockquote>You are about to get Ring of Cold, a group root. Makes the zone easier to solo. I solo it fine as a wiz from 44-48 with enough danger and deaths to make it interesting.</span><div></div>

[healing wind]

<DIV>Hello, im a level 45 inquisitor who did the splitpaw den yesterday. The solo arena was pretty easy for me to complete but it didnt seem like they were scaling up. Like the first guy was easy the second encounter was hard then the third spider was extremely easy then after tha it got challenging. One thing i didnt like about the arena was that after you talk to the arena npc that sends the mobs out it takes the mobs forever to turn attackable and we dont really need this time as we can rest as long as we want and then ask the npc to send the mobs out. Also when running down in the little tunnel has extremely bad pathing mobs can dissapear for for 30 seconds if you have them chase you around down there. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ok this is my feedback on harclave.</DIV> <DIV>The story teller had us waiting for 5 minutes to get his quest. you should just be able to hail him and get through his story and get his quest. Harclave is a extremely hard zone for me. After you cross the first plank and get to the secon mob i would get adds and killed. I couldnt solo the mushroom things or the 3mob encounter at  the bottom of the pit. Also with harclave you can zone in and out and light the same torches for an update. I wanst able to get past that part as the mobs where too hard.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also everyone in my guild except for me tried to zone in and to the splitpaw den crashed and get a "fatal error when trying to log in. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>edit-extra note</DIV> <P><SPAN class=time_text>Tried harclave again....died in 5 minutes.</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by healing wind on <span class=date_text>06-24-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:07 AM</span>

[Aggravat]

<DIV>Level 50 warlock here.  Well i went back in after the last patch and thoroughly got trounced by the 51 down arrows (4 a pop sometimes 5).  If you expect a warlock to solo this area you need to relook at a few things, they nuked me twice as hard as before and landed hits before i could cast many spells.  I suggest you incorporate CASTERS into your thinking on mob balancing =)</DIV>

[Dae]

Regarding the whole chain stifle from Deceivers thing. It seems to kick in once you reach level 24 (and spawn an instance appropriate for that level). Before my Berserker got to 24 he was soloing the place with no problems and only the odd stifle. Now he's having the same problem as everyone else. It's not impossible but it's not pleasant either. <div></div>

[Jumah]

<DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Gandix wrote:<BR><SPAN><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Jumah wrote:<BR> <DIV>Just speaking of the first level that is on live here. I know this has been talked about in other places but since you asked for feedback, here is a little. I am confused how this can be called a solo zone. almost every encounter in the place is a group of mobs, labeled as solo. I have played it numerous times over the last week, with my 42 Wizard, </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>You are about to get Ring of Cold, a group root. Makes the zone easier to solo. I solo it fine as a wiz from 44-48 with enough danger and deaths to make it interesting.<BR></SPAN> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Yeah, this zone was completeley impossible for me at 41. When I hit 42 I got Ring of Cold (an encounter Root/Snare/DoT) and thought I would revisit the place. I can take the blue groups *usually* but whites will chase me out or kill me and yellows decimate me. If enemy group composition was all melee, the zone would be cake. SO I would think 1 or 2 casters per group would make it a challenge, but the last 5 or 6 runs through, there was normally 1 melee and 4 casters per group and the chain stuns/silences would make me a punching bag the instant I rooted the encounters, consistently. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Maybe it is SUPPOSED to be for small groups (2 to 3 people) instead of soloers, in which case I would say it is well balanced. But if there is any intent at all for soloability, something needs to be addressed, and I would start looking at group compisition initially.</DIV>

[Fee]

<DIV>Most of the time there's way to many casters in the solo group encounters. Almost 80% of the time that I pull a group of 5ish mobs 4 of them are casters. Now this normally isn't that bad since casters don't have much health and tend to be easier to kill, but that's not the case here. I get chain stunned and stifled almost the entire fight so I can't even use any of my skills and just have auto attack (I'm a Paladin).  I don't get how when I use a stun on a mob that it breaks the moment he takes damage, but these mobs can cast a 9 second stun on me and keep kicking my butt while I have to sit there and accept it.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>These are the hardest solo mobs that I've ever fought because I have to use almost my entire power bar and just heals since I'm stifled most of the time. I've noticed though that almost all my pain comes from that one Gnoll with the spider pet. If I can kill him really, really fast to get rid of the spider I can actually win the fight. If I can't kill him fast enough, I'm dead because his pet has this really annoying 14 second stifle proc (obsidition webbing or something like that).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>What makes these mobs so hard is just the huge amount of casters in all the groups. If there were only 2 casters for the pack of 4-5s it would still be challenging, but doable. Having these pack of mobs being all casters (or 4 casters and one melee) makes the battles down right frustrating and almost impossible for some classes. If I couldn't heal myself I would be dead on almost all these encounters.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Other then that I don't find much wrong with the whole place, but I can only take so much of it since it's pretty stressful with all these super caster groups.</DIV>

[Ethelwo]

As  L50 berserker I had to run away from the mobs like a little girl a few times. Isn't that sad. But I have never died.

[Cowdenic]

Any idea about in the first instance if the 3 things you have to kill after poking the explorer are going to be put on a loot table?

[Kai Longbla]

I had no trouble with this zone playing as a 22 Templar going solo. Just had to watch how I setup my play style vs mob type. I always kill the casters first, but it helps to have the heavy armor capabilities.I see no problems with the zone difficulty. Keep it up!! If it is hard or harder, it just hones your skills as a player and causes you to force learn your character, manly for those who do not yet know the true abilities per class and sub-class.

[Kizee]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kai Longblade wrote:<BR>I had no trouble with this zone playing as a 22 Templar going solo. Just had to watch how I setup my play style vs mob type. I always kill the casters first, but it helps to have the heavy armor capabilities.I see no problems with the zone difficulty. Keep it up!! If it is hard or harder, it just hones your skills as a player and causes you to force learn your character, manly for those who do not yet know the true abilities per class and sub-class.<BR><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Hehe... wait until you are chain stunned/stiffled and rooted and die before you get 1 spell off. The come back and tell us how you feel. :p

[Devilsbane]

<P>- Skills that increase automatically as you level (such as light armor, great axe, etc.) are no longer listed.</P> <P>Hey guys, we need that info! Bring it back! Without that info we adventures will not know when we can use an item that is currently to powerful for us.</P> <P>- To download the files necessary for the Adventure Pack, run EverQuest II and click "Download Options" on the launchpad. Under "Optional Downloads," check the box next to "Adventure Pack #2: The Splitpaw Saga." If you wish to receive the files right away, check the box next to "Download Immediately." If you would prefer to let the files download in the background while you use your computer for other tasks, leave the box unchecked.</P> <P> </P> <P>Im not a programmer but could a player copy those Aventure Pack #2 files into his/her NON test folder?</P> <P> </P> <P>Message Edited by Devilsbane on <SPAN class=date_text>06-24-2005</SPAN><SPAN class=time_text>11:12 AM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Devilsbane on <span class=date_text>06-24-2005</span> <span class=time_text>11:12 AM</span>

[Na]

<span><blockquote><hr>Devilsbane wrote:<div></div> <div></div> <p>- Skills that increase automatically as you level (such as light armor, great axe, etc.) are no longer listed.</p> <p>Hey guys, we need that info! Bring it back! Without that info we adventures will not know when we can use an item that is currently to powerful for us. <font color="#ff0000">They implimented a new form of this. Instead of listing the skill and the skill level range, items will now list the classes that can use it and at what level it can be equipped. It was pretty complicated to loot and item, look at Required: Very Light Armor (184) and know when you could use it. This new system should simplify things.</font> </p> <p>- To download the files necessary for the Adventure Pack, run EverQuest II and click "Download Options" on the launchpad. Under "Optional Downloads," check the box next to "Adventure Pack #2: The Splitpaw Saga." If you wish to receive the files right away, check the box next to "Download Immediately." If you would prefer to let the files download in the background while you use your computer for other tasks, leave the box unchecked.</p> <p>Im not a programmer but could a player copy those Aventure Pack #2 files into his/her NON test folder?</p> <p> <font color="#ff0000">Certainly they could, but it wouldn't do them any good for now. In order to use the news zones, not only do you need to download them to your computer but the "enable new zones" flag on the servers need to be set. Right now the only flag that is set to on is the preview zone. On the 28th, they'll change all the flags for the zones to on and you'll be able to enter. </font></p> <p>Message Edited by Devilsbane on <span class="date_text">06-24-2005</span><span class="time_text">11:12 AM</span></p><p>Message Edited by Devilsbane on <span class="date_text">06-24-2005</span> <span class="time_text">11:12 AM</span></p><hr></blockquote></span><div></div>

[RedFeather]

I hear alot of complaints about the first SplitPaw area. <span>:smileymad:</span> To be totally honest it has actually been the best thought out solo instance I've ever played! It's not for people who aren't familiar with the absolute essentials of soloing with their class though. It should be advertised as a HIGH CHALLENGE - SOLO instance. I would be in heaven if more solo instances were designed this way. A perfect example of how much strategy there could be to soloing in this game. <div></div>

[Jumah]

<DIV><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> RedFeather1975 wrote:<BR>I hear alot of complaints about the first SplitPaw area. <SPAN>:smileymad:</SPAN><BR><BR>To be totally honest it has actually been the best thought out solo instance I've ever played! It's not for people who aren't familiar with the absolute essentials of soloing with their class though. It should be advertised as a HIGH CHALLENGE - SOLO instance.<BR><BR>I would be in heaven if more solo instances were designed this way. A perfect example of how much strategy there could be to soloing in this game. <BR> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR></DIV> <DIV>Again someone resorts to calling it a lack of skill.....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With 3 or more casters per group. As soon as I hit the group with anything, I am instantly either stunned or silenced. Then somehow, using suposedly the same spells I have, they continue to stun and silence me while they beat on me, until I either die, or suddenly break free at 10% health and have to run for the door.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am CONCERNED, not complaining, as I understand not everything should be soloable, even if asvertised as such. But these mobs have stuns with 9 second durations, and silences with 9 or 10 second durations, that they are able to recast before the duration expires. Now MY stun is a 5 second stun with a 10 second recast, and MY silence is a 5 second silence with a 30 second recast. So if I root them they can still perform their magic on me, and if I just try to blast one to dust beforethey can get off on their terade of stuns/silences, then they physically beat me to death before I can bring one down.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am trying to offer constructive feedback, as per the origional request by a dev, and people here turn it into a game bashing, or player skill bashing event. There is a mechanical issue here, not a player skill level issue, although I never close myself off to the possibility that I need to learn something new. I don't think that is the case here.</DIV>

[EtoilePirate]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Jumah wrote:<BR> <DIV><BR><BR> </DIV> <DIV>Again someone resorts to calling it a lack of skill.....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>With 3 or more casters per group. As soon as I hit the group with anything, I am instantly either stunned or silenced. Then somehow, using suposedly the same spells I have, they continue to stun and silence me while they beat on me, until I either die, or suddenly break free at 10% health and have to run for the door.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am CONCERNED, not complaining, as I understand not everything should be soloable, even if asvertised as such. But these mobs have stuns with 9 second durations, and silences with 9 or 10 second durations, that they are able to recast before the duration expires. Now MY stun is a 5 second stun with a 10 second recast, and MY silence is a 5 second silence with a 30 second recast. So if I root them they can still perform their magic on me, and if I just try to blast one to dust beforethey can get off on their terade of stuns/silences, then they physically beat me to death before I can bring one down.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I am trying to offer constructive feedback, as per the origional request by a dev, and people here turn it into a game bashing, or player skill bashing event. There is a mechanical issue here, not a player skill level issue, although I never close myself off to the possibility that I need to learn something new. I don't think that is the case here.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>It's true, it's not a skill issue.  I've done a LOT of soloing with my 42 Assassin but I can't get through Delving on my own.  However, paired with a 44 Brigand we whipped through the entire instance in about ten minutes; adding a third (pally, I think) we got that down to about seven.  So no, for some classes (I hate being stifled!!!) it's not really a great place to solo, but it's an absolutely brilliant zone for pairs... and one person is easy enough to find, usually. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As for everything Splitpaw beyond Delving... I think I've been in 12? separate Splitpaw zones in the last week, NOT including the pre-order zone.  Some are solo-only, some are group-only, at least one is Epic, and the rest have multiple paths, letting you choose how many people you bring in and which direction you go.  Not a one of the solo zones or solo paths are easy.  You have to figure out which gnolls do what and develop a very sound strategy, and use the geography as best you can.  They are all very, very challenging.  But I've done nothing but Splitpaw for over a week now (with the brief interruption of helping someone with Feerrott access), and I'm still enjoying the zones (except for the bugs.  Of which there are plenty.  You should see the reports we've been filing for playtests, hehe).  You may fail a bunch on the way, but you become a better player for it, and get a little farther on every attempt.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>That said, there may be times people just can't solo things.  I was level 39 when we started in these zones and it was physically impossible for me to do some of the things I can do now. 39 is a terrible level for assassins and nearly every single one of my vital skills was blue, green, or grey, and the mobs were level 40 and 41.  I wiped like mad.  It's much better now that I've just hit 42, and have gotten a ridiculous number of skill replacements (all lumped together.  40, 40.4, 40.8, 41...).  So yes, there may be times when you can't do it, but I think that with patience everyone should be able to find a way in the solo-only zones.</DIV>

[Saavedra]

<DIV>Howdy all.  Just an FYI, we found an error in our data that was making casters in groups more prominent throughout all of the Splitpaw Zones.  The issue has been resolved, and will be in the next Splitpaw Update.</DIV>

[RedFeather]

I never found it easy Jumah. I did die before It dawned on me that the monsters don't respawn, allowing me to kill a caster, run until the ecounter breaks, then return to take out the next caster. It's something I just had to do to finish the quest, and at no point did I think it was bad that I had to run away and recharge before taking on the next caster. I actually enjoyed that change of pace. <div></div>

[Z'Gk]

<P>NM misread the original post<BR></P> <P>Message Edited by Z'Gkar on <SPAN class=date_text>06-25-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>03:48 PM</SPAN></P> <P>Message Edited by Z'Gkar on <SPAN class=date_text>06-25-2005</SPAN> <SPAN class=time_text>03:50 PM</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Z'Gkar on <span class=date_text>06-25-2005</span> <span class=time_text>03:54 PM</span>

[Shaidh Shadowmy]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Saavedra wrote:<BR> <DIV>Howdy all.  Just an FYI, we found an error in our data that was making casters in groups more prominent throughout all of the Splitpaw Zones.  The issue has been resolved, and will be in the next Splitpaw Update.</DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Ah, acknowledgement, so we weren't just reading the earlier comments incorrectly.  When upwards of 2/3 of the gnolls in there were always mages/healers I figured something had to be wrong, especially after a Dev comment that the randomness was supposed to favor melee gnolls. <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One other thing I sent in feedback for, not on Test but I'm sure it's the same over there.  In the first Splitpaw zone - Delving into the Darkness - once you get past the first room with the broken teraporter and start to go up the corridor to the next group of gnolls, the spot they're in is a little buggy.  If you don't run right through the center of that corner you can get stuck, or worse start climbing up into the rocks.  It's a tight fit for elves, I'm not sure how different it is for smaller or larger races.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[wullailhuit]

<span><blockquote><hr>Saavedra wrote:<div>Howdy all.  Just an FYI, we found an error in our data that was making casters in groups more prominent throughout all of the Splitpaw Zones.  The issue has been resolved, and will be in the next Splitpaw Update.</div><hr></blockquote>Thank god for that,...my last instance (solo) had a group of 3 conjurors and a necro near the zone in , I don't think I managed to cast more than once the whole fight and died due to being permanently stifled and rooted. </span><div></div>

[Imperium]

I was afraid this was going to be changed... as a swashbuckler (50)... I actually had a tougher time with enciounters with multiple fighter mobs...  I ripped most of the casters to shreds, even with just autoattack if I was stifled. O well, challenge is good. <div></div>

[wurtin]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Shaidh Shadowmyst wrote:<BR><BR> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>One other thing I sent in feedback for, not on Test but I'm sure it's the same over there.  In the first Splitpaw zone - Delving into the Darkness - once you get past the first room with the broken teraporter and start to go up the corridor to the next group of gnolls, the spot they're in is a little buggy.  If you don't run right through the center of that corner you can get stuck, or worse start climbing up into the rocks.  It's a tight fit for elves, I'm not sure how different it is for smaller or larger races.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE>Yeah, as a gnome I got stuck sometimes too.  I've had to run through that so many times though you get a feel for the sweet spot, of course still as a gnome.  Prolly should take my Half Elf Pally through to see how he does.<BR>

[Hadious]

<span><blockquote><hr>RedFeather1975 wrote:I never found it easy Jumah. I did die before It dawned on me that the monsters don't respawn, allowing me to kill a caster, run until the ecounter breaks, then return to take out the next caster. It's something I just had to do to finish the quest, and at no point did I think it was bad that I had to run away and recharge before taking on the next caster. I actually enjoyed that change of pace. <div></div><hr></blockquote>Let me get this straight its a challenging solo instance but still takes "skill" by using the yell command? Most likely it was never intended and by all means have you had to use the yell command to defeat an encounter in the other solo content?  It should be challenging but still to the point where you can use your class's dps/utility to get by an encounter without having to run like a girl with your tail between your legs yelling to break an encounter. As for me, I cant solo it,  I know the Deciever's are the casters and silence but the second I put my pet on the deciever I get insta-silenced and cannot cast at all, and I dont know about you but necros arent the best in terms of dps with our staves nor do we wear plate.</span><div></div>

[Alarion1]

As a 31 Paladin it was originally a bit difficult to solo. Until I figured out the best way for me to go through it. If there is a Deceiver in the group, never attack it until it is out of mana. If you have a group of four deceivers.. well, time to /yell lol. With that said, I am able to complete the instance each time now w/o a death. I have also noticed that if you go in with a group mate, the deceivers will silence even if you don't attack them first (unless my friend was targetting them first and I didn't realize it) All in all, I am enjoying it and am looking forward to the full release! <div></div>

[Natch]

<P>50 Inquis here - I actually liked the zone being taylored to mobs around my level.  Yeah, most were group mobs of 3-4 mobs ... but as a inquisitor being able to wear some heavy armor and HoT myself - i clear the zone solo many times ... looking for those new, undiscovered items.  Trick is ... DoT their main caster/healer - HoT yourself - sit back and keep HoT on you and DoT on their caster/healer until the entire group is OOP.  Then it's a piece of cake to take them all down.  Yes - there has been some worried times when i was down to 10% health and was lucky to get a heal off - but talk about making the game fun by doing that <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></P> <P> </P>

[raan]

tried this with a level 23 wizard, no chance. But here is a handy little trick that helped alot. Get xp till you have 99.5ish%. then go in and kill a couple npcs. Suddlendly you are 1 level higher then what the zoned is set for. Helps alot, just don't zone out or everything will upgrade when you come back. <div></div>

[Ethr]

<P>Those areas are a joke ! I am dying in there on the first level ...Trial of Harclave is impossible....I am being attacked by mobs of yellow and white at the same time ...I agree I exepected a little challenge ...send one at a time against me at the first level  for selection ! It is not my idea fun to be  constantly dying in there ! this is no fun and a waste of my time !</P> <P>The solo areana was fun good concept the mobs kept getting harder till I reached the champion and found him above my level ??? ahhh I thought it would be teared to my level ? I am not that high ...and it cheats ! I hit it does nothing it hits me and almost kills me ? my armour and buffs may need some improvment but not that much ! An average of my level is not mobs 2 levels higher then me for all but two of them !</P> <P>Get your act together guys ...in case you have not noticed this game is becoming a tomb ! and this pak will NOT help bring people back </P> <P> </P>

[Kendricke]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> healing wind wrote:<BR> <DIV>Hello, im a level 45 inquisitor who did the splitpaw den yesterday. The solo arena was pretty easy for me to complete but it didnt seem like they were scaling up. Like the first guy was easy the second encounter was hard then the third spider was extremely easy then after tha it got challenging. One thing i didnt like about the arena was that after you talk to the arena npc that sends the mobs out it takes the mobs forever to turn attackable and we dont really need this time as we can rest as long as we want and then ask the npc to send the mobs out. Also when running down in the little tunnel has extremely bad pathing mobs can dissapear for for 30 seconds if you have them chase you around down there. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Ok this is my feedback on harclave.</DIV> <DIV>The story teller had us waiting for 5 minutes to get his quest. you should just be able to hail him and get through his story and get his quest. Harclave is a extremely hard zone for me. After you cross the first plank and get to the secon mob i would get adds and killed. I couldnt solo the mushroom things or the 3mob encounter at  the bottom of the pit. Also with harclave you can zone in and out and light the same torches for an update. I wanst able to get past that part as the mobs where too hard.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Also everyone in my guild except for me tried to zone in and to the splitpaw den crashed and get a "fatal error when trying to log in. </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>edit-extra note</DIV> <P><SPAN class=time_text>Tried harclave again....died in 5 minutes.</SPAN><BR></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR>Try not standing in the same place.  Kill the first gnoll then use the plank.  Jump over, kill the first guard then wait for the patrol to come out of the tunnel.  Run into the tunnel and wait for them to pass.  Then exit, run to the left and pull the second brazier guard.  Use similar tactics throughout.  <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>If you just expect to run into a place and kill everything one after another, then you're going to fail a lot.  Try thinking as if you were there, and try using actual tactics from time to time.  Don't just blindly rush a room and smack everything.  Learn when not to attack.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Kendricke]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Ethrom wrote:<BR> <P>Those areas are a joke ! I am dying in there on the first level ...Trial of Harclave is impossible....I am being attacked by mobs of yellow and white at the same time ...I agree I exepected a little challenge ...send one at a time against me at the first level  for selection ! It is not my idea fun to be  constantly dying in there ! this is no fun and a waste of my time !</P> <P>The solo areana was fun good concept the mobs kept getting harder till I reached the champion and found him above my level ??? ahhh I thought it would be teared to my level ? I am not that high ...and it cheats ! I hit it does nothing it hits me and almost kills me ? my armour and buffs may need some improvment but not that much ! An average of my level is not mobs 2 levels higher then me for all but two of them !</P> <P>Get your act together guys ...in case you have not noticed this game is becoming a tomb ! and this pak will NOT help bring people back </P> <P> </P> <BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Care to explain what you found impossible?  I'm ripping through the content at all levels 20-45 with all four Archetypes.  It's not always easy with each, and some classes certainly have it easier than others, but overall, there's always a way to get through each encounter, so I've found.</P> <P>The champion's the hardest thing I've come across yet, and I've died several times, but then again, I thought it was SUPPOSED to be that hard.  You don't have to fight him, in any regards.  Just stop after the dwarven gladiator.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P>

[EtoilePirate]

<span><span><blockquote><hr>Ethrom wrote:<p>Those areas are a joke ! I am dying in there on the first level ...Trial of Harclave is impossible....I am being attacked by mobs of yellow and white at the same time ...I agree I exepected a little challenge ...send one at a time against me at the first level  for selection ! It is not my idea fun to be  constantly dying in there ! this is no fun and a waste of my time !</p> <p>The solo areana was fun good concept the mobs kept getting harder till I reached the champion and found him above my level ??? ahhh I thought it would be teared to my level ? I am not that high ...and it cheats ! I hit it does nothing it hits me and almost kills me ? my armour and buffs may need some improvment but not that much ! An average of my level is not mobs 2 levels higher then me for all but two of them</p><hr></blockquote></span> Harclave and the solo arena are NOT impossible.  They're just really hard and take a lot of time and patience. I wiped 10 times straight in play-testing Harclave (those play-tests are how we got the mender down in the Den, btw), but I loved every minute of it.  And I still haven't been able to beat the solo arena, but since they added the ability to stealth and therefore to use my combat arts, chances are I'll make it someday. The Splitpaw zones are NOT just like the rest of the game.  They require serious strategy and planning to do, and repeated attempts.  But for that, I found them loads more rewarding.  And that was even before they had loot added, hehe. </span>

[Jor]

<DIV>Maybe I'm lucky, it seems my class is quite well adapted to the first dungeon.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As a conjurer, I have a group stifle, so those '-' con caster gnoll are not that much of a problem.. Still I tank a lot <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>There's one huge race power that you should use if you have it : aura sense. I invis. myself, go check the next group to see which gnoll are arcane caster and which are healers.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Then I start the fight with the group stiflle and concentrate and healer first, then caster. If there's summoners, I kill them first to get ride of their pet.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>First time I find such a use to my race talent ;b</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Okay I admit it's a bit artificial, and has some 'assassin' feels to it, but it seemed the surest way to go through this dungeon without getting plastered....</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Now I tried the second one... Ouch : many white heroic mob... I can't remember the last time I killed a '++' con beast ; never did I kill a white one, that I'm sure <img src="/smilies/9d71f0541cff0a302a0309c5079e8dee.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Is this supposed to be solo ? Or is this a nice way to tell us 'none shall pass' and 'find another way' ?</DIV>

[Gala]

<P><SPAN>Well its now 5th of July.<BR><BR>So far I think the Spitpaw Saga rocks.<BR>I came as a level 49 on 50% 5 days later soloing there I become 50.<BR>And during preorder I exped in both abduction and terraporter zone.<BR>Oh and I am a Fury.<BR>My gear exist of all the best buyable gear available. Inc proc weapon and shield.<BR>About 2800 a 2999 power self buffed.<BR>Thanks to gear about 59%migitation and 60%avoidance with all my buffs (including all 5 ring that give buffing)<BR>I got 2 ancient slayers rings of wisdom and the FBBS to a self total of 21% haste.<BR>About the same hp as power.<BR>Though if I did not had parry I would die in seconds. Though with combat upgrades I hope my AGI and AC will compensate enough that i still be able to solo as I did before.<BR><BR>First the 2 zones you can get 2 at preorder are compared to other Everquest 2 zones. Well. Amazing. Normally you kill one mob at the time. No tactic in there if you know how to kill the mob. In SP you get groups, mobs working together as solo. Though this makes them a lethal combination if I use every essence and capabilities I have I can beat any yellow group in there. Though it takes time to learn every spell I could use to my beneficial effect. I became sometimes OOP on a single group but most time just near 50% power left.<BR><BR>Yes, Its incredibly hard. Of the 12 times I went in there I died 6 times and finished it 5 times. My record time is about 45 min to whipe zone. (first success 3rd time in zone took 2 hours) Yes I have trouble when there are more then 2 mezzers in the group. Especially if there 3 there is a 75% of my death. Though my instant heals I can use every 15 min gives me enough time to cast my big heals and get back doing damage. (mana stone is very handy at times)</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>Then the upper tunnels. WOW a change of scenery. A big cliff in front of me group mobs on my left and front solo on my right. The first time I went in there was with my guild members they already tried the solo way but found nothing. (they could not blow up the wall that needs 3 explosions to break though they used one) So with me they went the group way. We died at the first meeting of the skeletons by mistake. It was trouble getting back after evacuation to resurrect as the plank we used to cross was across now to get the explosives. So the scout used invisibility and gathered every box he could find and made a bridge. Though jumping over did like 50% damage to most of us it was fun using every recourse there is.<BR><BR>Then killing every skeleton ghost poped. What we expected from killing a specific mob in a area. After them stone golems (well ghost) then nothing (jet) we also killed some blobs to get across and use explosives to blow a hole and found a named (after golems we suspected) we killed gotten loot none could use (mob was yellow and to easy to kill so no bads here) tough the god <SPAN class=libtitle>Brell Serilis </SPAN>the duke of below. I found it verry exiting that the avatars of the gods still remained on eq2.<BR>After seeing the zone to Spitpaw den (lower tunnels) we decided to kill the solo mobs some a bit back. We found after killing blobs solo ghost spawned where golems spawned. Then after them in the room gnolls spawned we killed no loot. well then we killed the solo gnolls at ledge and used one explosive to blow wall... nothing. Then we tried 3 at one time BOOM it was open. Yay. we learned something again.<BR><BR>In spitpaw we looked and amazed. We tried almost anything now. Though our berserker friend has trouble with the arena on easy level as a level 50 he is. He died now 6 times. Once he almost had it but forgot his power free abilities.<BR><BR>The best tactic on pit champ is to do quick damage on him before he runs out of power. Then he starts doing his real damage. His dots do like 80damage his nuke 180. His melee is 300 to me. Ouch. For chars that are build for long enduring like tanks this is a problem. Tough I seen plenty people around completed the quest as well as mages classes. So there is a way. Just really hard and you must use everything possible you got.<BR>Then the crawlers. We ended up at queen room with tons of eggs. Fist time we tried to kill the middle spiders. They kept on spawning after we still had 3 group adds yellow and after killing the about 5th group and still 3 adds we thought this is not right. And the defenders do nukes of 3k or 2,5k This is a pain on the main tank and agro for the healers (they have to heal of course). We died and tried again but then killing eggs. At about 75% of the eggs gone we gotten to close to middle spiders (my fault) and then the spiders started spawning again. And we evacuated this time.<BR>The hidden, Nice a way to do it group able and a way to do it solo like in upper tunnels.<BR>Drowned caverns, Getting lost in the water allot but we manage. We finished the fur quest and the water quest there both nicely done . Tough I would consider switching the porters as the shroom door leads to paw zone and paw guards leads to undead zone.<BR><BR>Arena group. Much easier then solo version when group well balanced. Though with 3 people its allot harder we managed to do it. And with a nice few on the water and nice fun items hat more you want then a ale.<BR><BR>The trail. OMG. Its UBER exp and nice loot. Though I died allot there when uberbuff on. (experimentation of tactics) its exiting for a while able to kill group mobs and having nice loot. I would add a 2nd plank at the first ridge. As if you fall trying to use 2 planks to get to the shrooms and live u can use sprocket lifts and 2nd plank to try again. Thought this zone has some tactics needed It lacks its group gear loot (well for solo its good loot) and I think it was not the most fun place you could be. But fun still.<BR><BR>In short. I like Spitpaw. Nice new features and things like steaming boiling ... bathing water. The views of battleling gnolls against ghosts. The sleeping enemy's, The shrooms, The arena, the tactics, the movable boxes, the explosives. All great work. </SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>Though its a shame that such design could not be added in current eq2 as well. It makes everything much more exiting And I have not seen breakable walls using melee or pots or chests like in BC in NF. That would make it look as everything from previous expansions would be also intergraded into the next expansion<BR><BR>Spellcheck update.</SPAN></P><p>Message Edited by Galafk on <span class=date_text>07-05-2005</span> <span class=time_text>10:34 AM</span>

[Smeegill]

<P><FONT color=#ffff00 size=7>FANTASTIC!</FONT></P> <P> </P> <P>Thanks Devs.  this zone is dynamic, innovative and very fun.  I have found the solo and heroic instnaces to be challenging (but possible) and extrmely fun to do.  Haven't gotten a group to do the epic yet but look foward to it.</P> <P> </P> <P>Con: Bad pathing issues with pets and mobs needs fixed.</P> <P>Some of the above posters that are extremely negative honestly don't know what the hell they are talking about.  I am in a guild of 155 players and everyone I have talked to in guild just loves this.  The item that allows us to call to splitpaw is really innovative.  Our guild gives you a solid A for this adventure pack.  Bloodlines was a flop, but this one is right on the money.</P> <P> </P> <P>3 Cheers from me.</P> <P> </P> <P>Fizbiz, 50 Conjuror </P> <P>Everfrost</P> <P>Senior Member of The Brotherhood</P>

[Cusashorn]

<DIV>Solo Champion DEFFINITLY needs to be tuned down a little. He's a defiler, so he places damage shields and wards up.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>As a monk, a damage shield will do more damage to the monk than the champion can do himself. It's just not possible to defeat him. Period. His skills need to be retuned, or changed to a different class.</DIV>

[Kendricke]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Cusashorn wrote:<BR> <DIV> It's just not possible to defeat him. Period. </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>I know of monks that can defeat him at various levels.  Your statement is therefore false.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You said it yourself that he uses wards and damage shields.  What I don't get is that if you KNOW it hurts you to hit him, why you keep doing so while he still has power (hint, hint, HINT).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Cusashorn]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Kendricke wrote:<BR><BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Cusashorn wrote:<BR> <DIV> It's just not possible to defeat him. Period. </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <DIV>I know of monks that can defeat him at various levels.  Your statement is therefore false.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>You said it yourself that he uses wards and damage shields.  What I don't get is that if you KNOW it hurts you to hit him, why you keep doing so while he still has power (hint, hint, HINT).</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV> </DIV><BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>BECUASE HIS ****ING DAMAGE OVER TIME SPELLS KILL ME OFF BEFORE HE REACHES 70% POWER!</DIV>

[Jor]

<DIV>I'm only in the second dungeon</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>I'm LOVING IT !</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>Excellent job ! It brings some nice fresh change...</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>For me it's nothing to compare with the first extension, which I found rather bland and uninteresting. Here it's grand fun <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV>

[Pipp]

Just a few points: <ul> <li>Money is too easy to obtain</li> <li>Arena champion is slightly too difficult</li> <li>Pathing in instances is horrid</li> </ul> <font color="#ff3300"><b>Money is too easy to obtain</b> </font>Yes, this is what I am saying.  Money is very easy to get.  While I do like the fresh influx of money I find it rather disturbing when I think about the local economy.  Just doing Harclave alone as a 42 Bruiser I gather almost 40-60 gold per run.  While I wait for the timer to expire in Harclave I head over to the Hideout and kill all of the soloable mobs in there.  That one yeilds me about 20-30 gold per run.  That is almost a plat in about 4 hours. I would highly suggest lowering the drop rates of chests and tradeskill items in these zones to be more in line with the rest of the game.  The drop rate seems to be at least 4 times what the normal rate is.  This heavy influx of money to the economy can only cheapen existing items and lower the overall value of platinum.  I think I speak for everyone here when I say that we definitely do not want to only deal in platinum again as we did in EQ. Not only does this discourage grouping but I believe it will only hurt the overall game in the long run. <font color="#ff3300"><b>Arena champion is slightly too difficult </b></font>This might be a bit nit-picky but myself and several others of my same class line (Bruiser) have an incredibly hard time taking out the champion in the solo arena.  Several priest classes, scout classes and fighter classes that I speak to every day have all expressed the same anxiety about the champion in the arena.  It seems that mages have the easiest time with him due to root. I also constantly hear the argument, "Well I can solo single yellow con mobs 3 levels higher anywhere else, including melee/caster hybrid classes so why does the arena champion beat me down every time?". I would recommend simply lowering either his damage output or his hit point total.  This would seem to alleviate a lot of the issues that many are having with him. <font color="#ff3300"><b> Pathing in instances is horrid </b></font>Lastly I would like to state what has probably already been stated many times over:  the pathing in the instanced zones is horrible (but workable with some ingenuity). Take Harclave for instance (pun):  When I am going through the tunnels after taking out the Zygonoid Spore King there and am fighting random spiders / bees / worms I will get adds coming through the walls.  This is also true when I am on my way to Harclave's Ark:  Fighting the white con solo mobs near the wall will sometimes pull grouped Zygonoids through the wall.  I use "sometimes" rather loosely as it is more the practice than the exception. . . Other than those three points I myself have not had any other problems with the Splitpaw Saga and hope to continue to see more great enhancements to the game in the future. Katal 42nd Bruiser Befallen Dark Vengence <div></div>

[Crotal]

<P><FONT color=#ff0000>There is an issue with Shards becoming bugged and players unable to gain the trust of the Gnolls.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>One of my characters has both a dimly glowing, and a darkend shard in his inventory.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>Two other characters have only the darkened shards.  I have completed multiple gnoll quests (Fur for Fral, Investigating the Water Source, Hideout multiple times) yet do not yet have the trust of the gnolls.  Someone I group with regularly has done all of the quests I have, as well as harclaves, and is likewise unable to gain the trust.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>Other players have posted they have gained the trust with as little as 3 quests completed.  Others have claimed if they destroy thier shards, and start over out in TS that they are then able to gain the  trust after doing a few more gnoll quests.  There are multiple threads in the Splitpaw Saga forum relating to this issue.  We would love to see official word on a fix.</FONT></P> <P> </P> <P><FONT color=#0033ff>Overall I am quite pleased with the Adventure pack.  I think the central zone of Splitpaw Den will really add a sense of community to EQ2 that many have said was lacking.  Allowing players of all levels, and both starting cities to intermingle in one zone reminds me favorably of Nexus and POK in EQ1.  I think this cant help but get players to know new people, find groups, and really help retain players.  Adding the mender was a real boon to the zone (and for players players who do not yet have the trust of the gnolls and the handy recall item, a real nessicity).  The rewards of the quests are excelent, both monetary and experiance, and the story lines are great.  Having quests where you actually have to finish in a zone deeper than the start (Fur for Fral) was unexpected and pleasantly suprising.  I spent a lot of time searching the outer grotto, only to finnaly realise I had to use the terraporter to go elsewhere to finish.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#0033ff>The adventure pack was well worth the money, and IMO significantly better than Bloodlines (which I liked but never finished).  Please address the issue noted above, so that some of us can enjoy this pack to its fullest.</FONT></P> <p>Message Edited by Crotalus on <span class=date_text>07-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>08:15 AM</span>

[Kadurm]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Crotalus wrote:<BR> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>There is an issue with Shards becoming bugged and players unable to gain the trust of the Gnolls.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>One of my characters has both a dimly glowing, and a darkend shard in his inventory.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>Two other characters have only the darkened shards.  I have completed multiple gnoll quests (Fur for Fral, Investigating the Water Source, Hideout multiple times) yet do not yet have the trust of the gnolls.  Someone I group with regularly has done all of the quests I have, as well as harclaves, and is likewise unable to gain the trust.</FONT></P> <P><FONT color=#ff0000>Other players have posted they have gained the trust with as little as 3 quests completed.  Others have claimed if they destroy thier shards, and start over out in TS that they are then able to gain the  trust after doing a few more gnoll quests.  There are multiple threads in the Splitpaw Saga forum relating to this issue.  We would love to see official word on a fix.</FONT></P> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE><BR> <DIV>Not positive about this but from your post you seem to be missing one very valuable quest from the gnoll line that gives you the trust you speak of. The crawlers nest quest. I had all of the same quest you did, but my journal still showed "I need to gain the trust of the gnolls" I went in with some ppl and completed the small ring event at the end of the crawlers nest (quest given by a gnoll near the mender. can't remember his name atm Gomp or Fomp...) when that was completed I advanced my quest and recieved the glowing shard. </DIV> <DIV>Hope this helps..might, might not..can't say I didnt try.</DIV> <DIV> </DIV> <DIV>And to this date I too still have a Darkened Azure shard, a Slightly Glowing Azure shard and now the Glowing Azure shard.  Never got mine to combine either.</DIV><p>Message Edited by Kadurm on <span class=date_text>07-06-2005</span> <span class=time_text>01:17 PM</span>

[Crotal]

<P>Thanks for the tip.  I'd have kept doing quests if I hadn't seen posts by folks who had gotten by with as little as 3 quests.  As of now, I'm pretty sure there is a bug, even if I'm not positive that I'm affected by it.  Thats one reason I'd really like to see a dev comment on this.  Some folks seem to get by with just a trio of quests, while some have posted doing half a dozen or more and still not gained the trust.</P> <P>It may be worth noting that in addition to the quests I listed above, I have also completed eaters and the eaten, and the solo arena up to, but not including the champion.</P>

[Cusashorn]

<DIV>If they ONLY have darkened shards, they need to go back and do Delving into Splitpaw again. Everyone's shard was reset when Splitpaw went live.</DIV>

[Na]

<span><blockquote><hr>Cusashorn wrote:<div>Everyone's shard was reset when Splitpaw went live.</div><hr></blockquote>Are you sure about this? I got my first shard before splitpaw went live and I didn't need to re-do the Delving zone in order to get my update. I just did the quests in the den and the shard updated.</span><div></div>

[Encantador]

<P>I am very sure that it was not reset by default BUT if you did a second /claim on the shard then it was.</P> <P> </P>

[Cusashorn]

<DIV>well I had to do it over again. I claimed the shard with a 2nd character, but I don't think that counts the same.</DIV>

[Crotal]

<DIV> <P>Last night I ran my two lvl 21 frogs through the pre-release zone, delving into darkness.  And found that when completed, each had both the darkened shard, and the slightly glowing shard.</P> <P>At this point I decided to do the zone again with both my Defiler, and my wifes Inquisitor.  Both of which only had the darkened shards in thier inventory.  Once completed both of them had both shards.  I expect to do harclaves to night, and a couple of more quests over the week end to find out if I have discovered the solution.</P> <P>Devs, really, please comment.  This is affecting lots of people.</P></DIV>

[xyriel]

<DIV> <P><SPAN>Just have a small comment about the “loot will scale accordingly to the dungeon difficulty” comment.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>We tried the Filch quest yesterday on very difficult / heroic mob. The previous day I had soloed the Filch quest on normal.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>I think the loot was worst in heroic / very difficult than in solo normal. At the end, the named mob at the entrance had a different name but dropped the same item even though he was 6 levels higher than the solo version (I’m 46: solo difficult = 48/solo, With group we had a level 55 Herioc ++). He dropped the Ancient leather cap which is a very common / not very useful item (vendor loot).</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>You can imagine the disappointment everyone got after doing a whole dungeon<SPAN>  </SPAN>of level 53-54-55 heroic mob and getting about 75 totems for the gnoll language quest (please remove this from their loot table), a few trinkets (20ish silver) and 5 chest (with 5 adept 1 spells with no market value – 2.5gp each).</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>In the solo version I had about the same loot but I was alone so I got all 5 spells, all the trinkets. So payoff wasn’t bad (about 10-12gp). It really wasn’t worth the extra trouble of taking the “very difficult”.<SPAN>  </SPAN>Most people in my group were level 50 so they didn’t really care about the XP. They wanted loot.</SPAN></P> <P><SPAN>I’m not sure we’ll do a “very difficult” quest again. It takes more time for really not much more of a gain.</SPAN></P></DIV>

[bigmak20]

Very difficult is much more fun to play imo; so I played quite a few instances on it.  BUT the loot in very diff totally sucks and takes longer to get so you go broke at it.  NO.. THERE IS NO LOOT SCALING.  PERIOD.  SOE -IS- LYING about that.  OH WAIT.. the loot did scale for a week after difficulty scaling was announced.. it scaled to ZERO. (LOL) Now there -is- loot on diff and very diff but less then on normal and the level/value of the loot is the same per item. SO... what does SOE mean when they say the Loot Scales?  If it means scales -up- to match risk/reward at more difficult levels then SOE is lying.  We know SOE -never- coneals/fibs/obfuscates/lies and is always straight up and truthful -- so they must mean Loot Scales down to appropriately punish more capable players/toons and we all just misunderstood. <img src="/smilies/8a80c6485cd926be453217d59a84a888.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />

[strath]

Splitpaw is yet another adventure pack that = give sony  $ and you can powerlvl yourself thru anyu tier, solo, get master chests with very little risk. pretty lame way i see it, ill never buy these.

[Tebos]

<P>Doing the trial at regular mode yielded me orange conned armor and silver coin drops off chests.</P> <P>Doin ghe trial at difficult yielded me red conned armor and gold coin drops off chests.</P> <DIV>It seems to scale well for me, but I just started utilizing the instance dungeon recently. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /></DIV> <DIV> </DIV>

[Suta]

<P>It seems that your design team thinks that "Solo" and "Duo" are the same thing when they are clearly not.</P> <P>I love to group, but I just can never get into them, despite /lfg, /oocing and what not. (I am certain notes next to /lfg would remove this problem in a big way) </P> <P>So I love to Solo when I can't group.</P> <P>Splitpaw was advertised as something solo'ers could play as well, but your definition of "Solo" is a solo'rs definition of "Duo"</P> <P>I'll cut this short.  All of the Splitpaw zones should have a true "Solo" version to choose from. Yes, actual zones with NO heroic mobs in it and no - serious undercon- "solo" linked mobs either.</P> <P>Compensate the loss of heroic mobs and those arrow down undercon linked mobs with the challenge of soloing in there with range/social aggro... yeah I have to use my own gameplay skills to "split" so I don't get four mobs on me when I arrow one.  And if I die soloing, quest is over.</P> <P> Lower the xp, lower the loot, whatever I don't care, just give me the option to do the currently Heroic quests by myself when I can't get a group.</P> <P> </P> <P> </P> <P> </P> <P> </P>