Everything Made Harder So You Will Waste Real Money on Shards

[HeatherCeana]

For some reason, my post didn't post.

While playing my 15th level cleric today, I've been ambushed at the end of a dungeon twice, and slaughtered in a SIXTH level dungeon! She needed cash. HOW DO YOU SLAUGHTER A 15TH LEVEL CLERIC IN A 6TH LEVEL DUNGEON??? I have 17 characters on here and have been playing for 3-4 years. I never used to have these sort of insane issues. I will NEVER be reviving again. Yesterday and today, I had two separate 15th level characters, get ambushed at the end of a dungeon, both while trying to rest. The Scourge was drained down to 5th level in about 20 seconds, then killed, and her cleric companion was also killed. There was no escape. This was in a dungeon that was either 14th or 15th level. My 15th level cleric was in a 14th level dungeon with a fighter companion. They were making easy work of the monsters, at least the kind that ambushed them. They were both slaughtered within 30 seconds by 7-9 of these critters. She revived with the cake, but was immediately slaughtered again. Again, there was no path of escape. Typically, I'm cautious about getting too many monsters at once, but when they ambush you.... That same cleric had a fighter and a thief to do a quest, but even though the thief picked the locks, the hostage was killed before we could get anything done. That's a 5th or 6th level dungeon. I remember doing that years ago with just my Barbarian and a cleric. No problems.

Now, I pay my VIP membership every year (for 3-4 years), and every freaking thing costs real money! I only buy anything when it's on-sale, because I'm sick and tired of the greed. I won't be bothering to revive anymore, not for 35 shards. Shards cost real money at the end. I had another character in a dungeon a few months ago that was 2 levels below hers, plus she had a fighter and a mage. Just before the end, they were slaughtered. This happens just before the end, so that you'll revive. You think, "Fine, I'm almost through, I'll pay the price to just finish this." This only happens in certain dungeons, so I'll be making a note of those and NEVER playing them again!

No more. I play to relax and have fun. This isn't fun anymore. The DMs are still under-staffed, which isn't my problem. Standing Stone cannot be bothered to support the paths for classes like Druid. I've encountered one bug after the other, and it takes time to solve the problems. I cannot solve them with a DM, because I WILL NOT wait for 4+ hours sitting around wiggling a mouse to keep from being AFK. One case took over 2 weeks to solve through the bug report. They solved it offline, because it didn't require me to be online, in spite of what they constantly claim.

Get your act together and lower your prices. There are other games out there.

[Drecas]

Have you considered grouping with other people?

[HAL]

For some reason, my post didn't post.

While playing my 15th level cleric today, I've been ambushed at the end of a dungeon twice, and slaughtered in a SIXTH level dungeon! She needed cash. HOW DO YOU SLAUGHTER A 15TH LEVEL CLERIC IN A 6TH LEVEL DUNGEON??? I have 17 characters on here and have been playing for 3-4 years. I never used to have these sort of insane issues. I will NEVER be reviving again. Yesterday and today, I had two separate 15th level characters, get ambushed at the end of a dungeon, both while trying to rest. The Scourge was drained down to 5th level in about 20 seconds, then killed, and her cleric companion was also killed. There was no escape. This was in a dungeon that was either 14th or 15th level. My 15th level cleric was in a 14th level dungeon with a fighter companion. They were making easy work of the monsters, at least the kind that ambushed them. They were both slaughtered within 30 seconds by 7-9 of these critters. She revived with the cake, but was immediately slaughtered again. Again, there was no path of escape. Typically, I'm cautious about getting too many monsters at once, but when they ambush you.... That same cleric had a fighter and a thief to do a quest, but even though the thief picked the locks, the hostage was killed before we could get anything done. That's a 5th or 6th level dungeon. I remember doing that years ago with just my Barbarian and a cleric. No problems.

Now, I pay my VIP membership every year (for 3-4 years), and every freaking thing costs real money! I only buy anything when it's on-sale, because I'm sick and tired of the greed. I won't be bothering to revive anymore, not for 35 shards. Shards cost real money at the end. I had another character in a dungeon a few months ago that was 2 levels below hers, plus she had a fighter and a mage. Just before the end, they were slaughtered. This happens just before the end, so that you'll revive. You think, "Fine, I'm almost through, I'll pay the price to just finish this." This only happens in certain dungeons, so I'll be making a note of those and NEVER playing them again!

No more. I play to relax and have fun. This isn't fun anymore. The DMs are still under-staffed, which isn't my problem. Standing Stone cannot be bothered to support the paths for classes like Druid. I've encountered one bug after the other, and it takes time to solve the problems. I cannot solve them with a DM, because I WILL NOT wait for 4+ hours sitting around wiggling a mouse to keep from being AFK. One case took over 2 weeks to solve through the bug report. They solved it offline, because it didn't require me to be online, in spite of what they constantly claim.

Get your act together and lower your prices. There are other games out there.

I can't say much about the 6th level dungeon except that numbers can overwhelm you no matter what level you are.

As for the higher levels, you don't say what difficulty level you were playing at - Normal / Hard / Elite / Reaper? So when you talk about the dungeon that was either 14 or 15th level, the difficulty really matters.

And talking about Shards, there is no reason that you are forced to spend Shards. You can purchase Res Cakes from the store with DDO Points which you can earn by playing the game.

[OrodelaSol]

What level 6 quest were you doing? And if you are ambushed while resting you can just use the rez shrine instead of reviving? That being said it is very frustrating to die when close to finishing. I allow myself 1 cake per life that i get from korthos and then only if i am in a group and it is the last resort. I just redo quest otherwise.

[Andu_Indorin]

I play to relax and have fun. This isn't fun anymore. …

There are other games out there.

It appears to me that you a recreational gamer, and one who tends to primarily quest solo in heroic content. (And perhaps this guess of mine is wrong.)

The problem is that Standing Stone Games no longer considers you a valuable customer. These days, they tend to cater to those competitive players who fixate on DPS, and who often complain about the "lack of end-game content." Consequently, they have prioritized their system design toward higher levels of difficulty -- Legendary and Reaper -- and higher levels of DPS. This is part of the reason why they threw heroic-level monks under the bus when they nerfed THE core ability of the Monk class. And frankly, when they start nerfing an ability that has been largely unchanged for 40+ years of Dungeons & Dragons, it is perhaps time to question the competency of those Devs who have created these "balance" issues.

As for recreational gamers like you and me, this trend is likely to continue. It may be that SSG has determined that they can financially sustain this game solely on the basis of those competitive players who want more and more DPS, even if it means less grouping and more running on that "hamster wheel" that many complain about.

[Grace_ana]

What level 6 quest were you doing? And if you are ambushed while resting you can just use the rez shrine instead of reviving?

I was thinking the same.

I almost never use cakes or shards. I just restart if I screw up. I've gone through several heroic lives on reaper, so yeah, it can get hairy depending on your toon, but usually it's because I didn't plan well enough. Quest knowledge has everything to do with this. Some shrines are typically mobbed, and some are always clear. Knowing which are which makes things easier. Otherwise, you can group for extra help, though occasionally that makes things worse instead of better.

Why are you using shards instead of just restarting the quest?

[ShifterThePirate]

I never bought or needed to buy any shards for real money... I got some with daily dice and earned a couple thousand by putting stuff on the shard auction house.
Making the game harder is in no way making you buy astral shards... If your level 15 cleric dies in a level 6 quest you're doing something wrong.

[Alled78]

I never bought or needed to buy any shards for real money... I got some with daily dice and earned a couple thousand by putting stuff on the shard auction house.
Making the game harder is in no way making you buy astral shards... If your level 15 cleric dies in a level 6 quest you're doing something wrong.

The quest should be one from wpm they are more diff than all the rest

THEN. When i want relax i play NORMAL

[spyder7723]

It appears to me that you a recreational gamer, and one who tends to primarily quest solo in heroic content. (And perhaps this guess of mine is wrong.)

The problem is that Standing Stone Games no longer considers you a valuable customer. These days, they tend to cater to those competitive players who fixate on DPS, and who often complain about the "lack of end-game content." Consequently, they have prioritized their system design toward higher levels of difficulty -- Legendary and Reaper -- and higher levels of DPS. This is part of the reason why they threw heroic-level monks under the bus when they nerfed THE core ability of the Monk class. And frankly, when they start nerfing an ability that has been largely unchanged for 40+ years of Dungeons & Dragons, it is perhaps time to question the competency of those Devs who have created these "balance" issues.

As for recreational gamers like you and me, this trend is likely to continue. It may be that SSG has determined that they can financially sustain this game solely on the basis of those competitive players who want more and more DPS, even if it means less grouping and more running on that "hamster wheel" that many complain about.

I havent experienced or seen a single thing that supports these claims. Monks for example, can be built extremely strong at cap, the problem is the devs aren't write sure how players make them so strong and nerfed the wrong thing. It had almost no effect on the capped uber monks but made them weaker in heroic content. in all honesty they could use a small nerf at cap, but no one is going to volunteer the info needed(and who could blame them). This doesn't mean ssg only values the top power gamers.


Op, if you were to tell us what specific quest and difficulty you are having trouble with, many would be willing to offer help and suggestions.

[janave]

Well I did get 1 shot past shield spell and spell absorption by a Demon Soul champ, but thats what i get for trying to do r6 solo . That poison dot is still excessive 400-500pts on a few hits. The game is cheating pretty hard at times.

[AbyssalMage]

No clue. Ran the LoD chain last night and was getting popped for 200+ quite regularly which was jarring. Changed some tactics to help survive but 200+ hits are still deadly in Heroics. I did end up buying 2 cakes (OUCH!) because I didn't want to reset Spinner but the (chain) agro was insane.

Even on the far edge of the map the Hezou (sp?) in the center (who almost immediately respawn) were "alerted" to my presence thanks to Spinner, baby spiders, and "the lion models" (which I can't think of their names atm). I was able to reset them through a Death, Death, Dimension Door (those 2 cakes from earlier) but once my group mate lit one of the remaining torches the Hezou were immediately aware of my presence on the edge of the map and began walking/teleporting to me.

My guess is this is the same agro you were experiencing OP. I will admit it is better and they are trying to address it. But it is still broken which makes life "interesting" sometimes.

[Memnir]

[Tyrande]

OP, hirelings aren't very smart about what to attack and where to defend and about traps.

It would be better if you can find a group, i.e. not solo if you are running anything higher than hard.

[bls904c2]

i never caught what quest you are in but if is the WPM pack with another mans treasure, price of freedom, big deal and i dont remember the 4th one those are balanced around power levels of the game and is going to be harder than those made 10 years ago.

there is nothing wrong with releasing and trying again. nothing is making you use a cake or shards to raise it is a convinant way to continue your journey. I really recommend leaving and starting your journey as a reenter or reset it. and heads up to mines of tethyamar in eveningstar they are also very hard also.

[acemonkey]

The game is the easiest it's ever been, but it still requires a bunch of gear farming/crafting that's easiest at epic levels, or epic past lives, or reaper points, etc. Some classes just can't take a hit or dish out damage without past life and gear support, and cleric is one of those classes imo, so until they're all tricked out and on their second/third life they just stay squishy. My first character is a cleric still stuck at 20, I managed to go back to him long enough to level 16-20 but now he's probably stuck there forever.

If you want money, the smartest thing to do is get a character into epic levels, it absolutely rains money, especially on a rogue or charisma build that can spare points for the haggle skill. Base sell percentage is 10-15% depending on favor and vendor, and 100 haggle adds 25% to that, so can get 3x the money with some effort. https://ddowiki.com/page/Haggle.

If you're on Orien pm me and I'll help you get some money some time if you're still short.

[spyder7723]

No clue. Ran the LoD chain last night and was getting popped for 200+ quite regularly which was jarring. Changed some tactics to help survive but 200+ hits are still deadly in Heroics. I did end up buying 2 cakes (OUCH!) because I didn't want to reset Spinner but the (chain) agro was insane.

Even on the far edge of the map the Hezou (sp?) in the center (who almost immediately respawn) were "alerted" to my presence thanks to Spinner, baby spiders, and "the lion models" (which I can't think of their names atm). I was able to reset them through a Death, Death, Dimension Door (those 2 cakes from earlier) but once my group mate lit one of the remaining torches the Hezou were immediately aware of my presence on the edge of the map and began walking/teleporting to me.

My guess is this is the same agro you were experiencing OP. I will admit it is better and they are trying to address it. But it is still broken which makes life "interesting" sometimes.

Spinner is, in my opinion, the hardest quest in the game when done at level on elite or reaper. I don't know if it is true, but many people claim that you get less hezrou spawning of you wait to light the torches. Drag one onto your hotbar do you know how many you have then light all the torches at once.

[LazarusPossum]

Spinner is, in my opinion, the hardest quest in the game when done at level on elite or reaper. I don't know if it is true, but many people claim that you get less hezrou spawning of you wait to light the torches. Drag one onto your hotbar do you know how many you have then light all the torches at once.

It is true. The only way I play it. Just hold all your crystals until you have 36, then light the wards. Though the hezrou are definitely a pain in epic, and it does suck to be killed at the edge of the map and you have to go find them again. Shadowdancer's Shadow Manipulation works on hezrou, so I figure two rogues could keep them occupied by taking turns dominating one hezrou.

[voxson5]

The DMs are still under-staffed, which isn't my problem. Standing Stone cannot be bothered to support the paths for classes like Druid. I've encountered one bug after the other, and it takes time to solve the problems. I cannot solve them with a DM, because I WILL NOT wait for 4+ hours sitting around wiggling a mouse to keep from being AFK. One case took over 2 weeks to solve through the bug report. They solved it offline, because it didn't require me to be online, in spite of what they constantly claim.

Get your act together and lower your prices. There are other games out there.

The GM response time is really terrible for a product sold as world wide accessible.

[Dalris_Thane]

The problem is that Standing Stone Games no longer considers you a valuable customer.

This is one of the reasons why I'm one of the few that DON'T want the devs to revamp old quests. I'm ok with the worse drops, because I can still make headway. But, new quests vs old quest... at same level... I get trashed in the new quests.

Ex: On Normal, L25... The Price of Freedom, fight in lava, when I have time to do 2 swings before hitting the lava and taking 50-100 damage with 50 fire resist and absorption etc... I can usually bob to another phasing island... one or twice... then I'm dead. Then I retry the fight till all my armour and weapons were melted... (hirelings don't attack or heal during that fight by the way)

OR

I go back to Normal, L25, A Legend Revisited, make somewhat less exp... but I'm on cruise control with no problem.

No. Please. Devs. Don't touch A Legend Revisited, or any of the classic quests. Make new ones for the MOAR DPS crowd and leave my "easy mode" quests alone. Thanks.

[Kebtid]

Spinner is, in my opinion, the hardest quest in the game when done at level on elite or reaper. I don't know if it is true, but many people claim that you get less hezrou spawning of you wait to light the torches. Drag one onto your hotbar do you know how many you have then light all the torches at once.

Running with devils solo reaper 5 or above endfight is harder, on most builds you dont have the numbers to outheal his damage even with ligh ins light crafted gear.
Etk on some builds on reaper above 5 skuills can be a hassle, esp if a met swarm spawns as a crual champ, ugh its just Gg.
Monastery, whatever difficulty solo beside above r2, its hard to do puzzle, so you need to dps him, gets really hard on most builds due to treash constantly spawning as champs.
Most new quest when played solo on reaper can be hard, harder then spinner.

Imho spinner is extremely easy with the given stats and saves hezrou have.
As They dont have multi hit attacks even as champs its easy to control them, rather the reavers are nowadays harder then hezrou with a bad champ spawn (any dot you dont have resistance gear vs).
If its below mid or high skulls i dont see any issue at all, given the gear we have acess to nowadays (ravenloft crafted or slavers + whatver challenge or named item).

Tho game is fun, never has it been so fun with the unpredictability of champs and reapers, i love it as it is now.
Elitist scumbag have mid-high tier skulls for heroics and max skulls for legendary, while normal casuals have 1 skulls and elite.
Imho its the perfect ballance, rather we might actually need more reapers for even more unpredictability and possibly unique champs (something to remove temp hp, something to spam pit fiends chains on kiters, etc etc)