Castle Vacrul: Suite of Screams, removal consideration

Discussion in 'Zones and Populations' started by Faev, Feb 19, 2022.

  1. Faev New Member

    Its been said a few times before, but since the franchise seems to be ignoring it, I will make a new thread to once again bring this up. Please remove Suite of Screams from the weekly quest lineups for Visions of Vetrovia.

    I get that time and effort has been sunk into this, but it was a bad idea. The screams are much louder than the rest of the noise, which is irksome and annoying. The battles themselves are poorly created, with scripts that don't work well and are confusing.

    If you won't remove it, please at least provide justification for why this should be left in the Weekly Quests.

    Thank you.
    Ayodi, Riverbear and Twyla like this.
  2. Heresford Active Member

    I keep the volume down when I'm playing content I've already gone through so I can listen to podcasts while playing, so I don't notice the screams. Perhaps if I didn't do that it would help me finally succeed with the last boss?

    I just replied to another thread about this encounter, and I'm not sure I will ever defeat the Seneschal. There is something about my encounters that doesn't line up with the description of the script.
    Breanna likes this.
  3. Taled Well-Known Member

    What part of the scripts, exactly, don't work?
  4. Melkior Well-Known Member

    That zone is one of the few I turn sound off for. The screaming was amusing the first time, got annoying by the end of the zone, and for repeated trips, I just had to turn it off.
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  5. Heresford Active Member

    The part of the script that specifically is not working, so far as I can verify from the chat history, is that the Seneschal is not calling out a zone every time she places a det. I thought at first that I was stepping in the wrong circle and automatically receiving all the other det types, but discovered that I was receiving them even when I stepped into the right circle and cured the corresponding det.

    There's more, but that one is undeniably happening. At first I assumed that I had to deal with her dialogue dets AND additional dets that she would fire off at random, with nothing but the dialogue to tell me which was which so I knew which one to clear from one of the circles.
    Riverbear likes this.
  6. Pixistik Don't like it? You're not alone!

    The whole thing is just dumb period, I don't consider it fun and wont run it again, those who like it, more power to ya.
    Ayodi and Riverbear like this.
  7. Bramdar Active Member

    Before I say anything else, I'll note that I haven't tried to run Suite of Screams with a merc curing. I've heard from guildmates that the Seneschal fight is a pain with mercs, because they cure too quickly, before you can get into the circles.

    But I said in one of the other threads that overall, Suite of Screams got a lot easier for me when I stopped focusing on burning the mobs down, and focused on the mechanic. The zone used to make me anxious, and the wipes and the screaming and everything added up to a lot of frustration. But once I slowed down and let the damage get dealt while I focused on the mechanic, the zone got a lot easier for me and now I run it with 10 characters.

    The ACT triggers mentioned in other threads are good if you use ACT. I do my own curing (with potions if I have to, like I had to do in some RoS instances.) For the Seneschal fight specifically, I pull her to the middle of the circles, and turn to face the portal her adds appear from. Even my healers geared from the crate in Svarni Expanse and upgraded during the sig line could kill the adds in 2 or 3 hits. A few of my characters needed to do the circle curing 3 times during the fight; most only needed 1 the second time through the instance.

    This one is definitely more challenging than the rest of the instances. And I'm not saying what I've found will work for everyone else. But for me at least, slowing down on the fights made a huge difference. The zone still makes me more anxious than it should, but it's much easier than it used to be.
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  8. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author

    Just because you can't figure out how to manage the scripts doesn't mean that everyone has problems. It's really not all that difficult.

    First, make sure you are adequately geared up.

    Second, print the map below and have it handy. I use a bunch of ACT triggers for this particular encounter, but not everybody likes that solution. Don't step foot in the room at first, pull out as many adds as you can without getting the name and kill them in the hall. then watch from the door until you see the name, and body pull adds from parts of the room away from her. Then you can pull the name and proceed.

    Third, on the final mob, you either need a few ACT triggers or else you have to pay attention to the text in your chat box.

    Make a macro with /target a shrieking horror and put that on a hotkey. These adds are what wake the dog, so you have to catch and kill every one of them. I personally root the add then nuke it.

    There are circles of Kyv (Svarni), Centaurs (Kamapor), Pygmies (Karuupa), and Witches (Mahngavi). when the text says they're screaming, step into the correct circle and cure. Self-cure with a potion or a cure spell, don't wait for your healer merc. If the detriment is not cured in the right spot, the detriment will reapply until you do get it cured in the right place.

    If you are getting multiple circles screaming too close together, you are killing the name too fast. Slow DPS and follow the script.

    [IMG]
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  9. vlada Active Member

    i dont own a printer. i simply never do this zone. the end
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  10. Taled Well-Known Member

    If you pulled the ACT triggers I posted in our discord it would give you the name and direction of the bookcase to click.

    Not that it really matters whether you do the zone or not, but the printed map doesn't matter much.
  11. Ichoris Well-Known Member

    Thanks for the ACT triggers and help with this zone. I think I'm going try this. See if it helps with the frustration. How do you add the triggers to ACT? Thanks!
  12. DENSER Well-Known Member


    For the screams, I found the solution, I scream even louder, which covers those of the game and at the same time allows me to let off steam ;)
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  13. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author

    Yeah, I offered the map because some people don't want to use the ACT triggers for some reasons.
  14. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author


    Start ACT >> Options >> Configuration Import/Export >> XML Share Snippets

    You grab one trigger at a time, pop it in the box on the bottom right that says (Paste XML Here), then click the Import Above Data button.

    Or you can grab my whole set of ACT triggers, then ACT >> Options >> Configuration Import/Export, then at the top left where it says Import/Export ACT Settings click the Import button and point it to wherever you saved the trigger file.
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  15. Ichoris Well-Known Member

    Thank you! Appreciate the help and all you do for the community!
  16. Heresford Active Member


    Thank you, Bramdar! That was the missing element. I've finally completed this instance.

    Here is what is happening, as near as I can figure out:
    1. In the chat dialogue, you can see the Seneschal call out the zone in lavender text.
    2. The corresponding race starts screaming. This dialogue is in blue text.
    3. If you have a healer merc, and that merc cures the detriment BEFORE you step into the circle, you are done. The next event is triggered by one of the following things (the timing was too quick for me to say which):
      • The merc curing the detriment before you step into the circle
      • Your stepping into the circle after the merc has cured the detriment
      • A timer running out on your chance to cure (Which you can't because you were cured before you stepped into the circle.)
    4. Now all 4 races start screaming. You'll see each in turn in blue text. You'll see 4 warnings in red text after each race being reported.
    5. Horacio awakens.
    6. If you wipe and go back in, you will get exactly the same effects EXCEPT you only get the Seneschal's lavender dialogue and the blue "race (x) starts screaming" dialogue once. After that first miss, all you get are red warning messages. You must leave and re-enter the zone to clear this up.
    Once that initial cure is messed up, you are done. You cannot recover from all 4 races screaming as there is no known order to follow and Horacio is ALREADY AWAKE.

    BOTTOM LINE: Don't use a healer merc on the last boss. Dismiss it or leave it far behind. Whether or not you have it called off, it will eventually throw a cure at the wrong time. This only makes it harder to figure out where things went wrong. Bring potions instead. The write-up on the wiki gives you the right cures to use.
    Bramdar likes this.
  17. Bramdar Active Member


    That's great to hear, Heresford! I'm glad I could help.

    Hopefully that detailed writeup might help the devs to find a way to clear that issue up, too. You can cure inside the wrong circle 1 or 2 times during the fight (as I know well from experience when I'm not paying enough attention to the text,) but I don't think I'd tried to cure outside of the circles since I wasn't using any mercenaries.
  18. Ichoris Well-Known Member

    Thanks Heresford and Bramdar and other that offered advice. I'm not sure I have the DPS without the merc helping but I'm going to try doing it without the merc. I have died 25+ time trying to do this. After looking at the logs it seems that the merc is curing me before I get the the circle or sometimes healing the wrong thing.

    Like Heresford this seems to be the issue I'm having. Overall still really hate this boss. For me this is the worse and most frustrating boss or encounter I have played in EQ2. If it wasn't part of the weekly I would have done it once and never return. Since it is I need to get better at completing it. I'm hoping doing the curing myself will help. Guess we will see.
  19. Sigrdrifa EQ2 Wiki Author

    Ask in chat for someone to duo it with you?
  20. Riverbear Active Member

    FACT - Topic - Castl Vacrul :Suit of Screams, removal consideration.

    Remove it.

    For every apologist on forums that defends this atrocity there are a thousand players that are angry about it.
    The monkey in the wrench is the loud actuaries. Savvy? All the chat about getting comfortable with, and just accepting abuse is not what this thread is about.

    Remove it.
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