Feedbacks for new "Contested" Highkeep...

I was looking for feedback for new zones, but I don't see it, didn't mean to start new topic.

there few things and several questions.

new contested zone for 95 lvl??? wait a minute, hold it Devs!!!
there is serious flaw.
those contested zones were meant for "Leveling Ups" and we are stuck with 95 lvl cap, and most of AA's were done very recently. it was good idea while it was for lower level mains and alts to level up. useless for capped 95 lvl and maxed AA's.
also new shiny collections added. huh? we are still stuck as 95 lvl...

okay, mobs are on steroids, multiple wipes and revive take you back to starting spot, arrgo range are bit too wide not easy to avoid next set of mobs and patrol mobs make it harder for healers.

okay, what is max players in a single zone allowed in dungeons?

right now, it seem required 2-3 teams together playing as tag-team, or "aoe groups" tagging along with "main group" tanking. then those dungeons will be another new "ghost towns" zones in few weeks or less. when any newer latecomers had met "CC base" requirements and they lose out when they spend hours "LFG", and not many would like random pugs, right now I see mostly guilds running together, even when newer "members" of guilds will find no one else to help with new contested zones once they already chew up and got tired of it.

my opinion for late additional zones as contested zones when characters are maxed out is very bad idea.

so, I hope devs are aware of this situations and this is very important feedback.
mobs are tough, one bad pull and you end up with multiple set of mobs near, and they have huge healings and sometimes one hit and wipes if we encounter some "failed scripts", or we thought it could be bugged. it would need to tone down just a little bit. it seem it set up for "hardcore" players who want it extreme.

we killed like 8 bosses, all loot was mediocre.
bosses are easer than trash-mobs. if you get 2 group or more it's a wipe. very annoying really.
the boss that spawns the assassins on the ceiling seems bugged, he reset to 100% health 2 times without anybody leaving the room, or he just has an extremely stupid script.
respawn of trash mobs is too high as well.

I like the challenge but yeah the rewards don't seem worth it.

Assist range should be lowered. Walls/floors need to be made completely solid, too many aoes are going through them and agroing mobs above/below/out of the room and causing a wipe. Also, some spells/procs need to have their radius' seriously reduced. Had a few incidents tonight of the coercer's pet casting an aoe mez and pulling entire floors because the radius is stupidly big.

had a group run thrugh there today, we were able to handle 2 groups at a time...but not three without some serious bonecruching emergency spells omg usage. which I like.

new shinies and lots and lots of clicky and drop quests that award etyma or plat. nice.

boss mobs all have thier own scripts and things that must be done to beat them. again nice, and you have to pay attention to what your doing.

the mobs respawn fast. which means one group can't just dominate the place. good...and it also means that you can't sit and wait around. you have to keep on your toes.

as to loot though...we saw some really nice items, like a few charms, a nice tank ring, a REALLY nice healer shield...but some of it, particualrly the legendary armor drops...were bleh. mute fodder.

this contested zone is a very nice feeling for EQ1 vets. it's like doing an old EQ1 dungeon crawl where you have to be careful, and quick. can't lag too far behind or you'll get overwhelmed by respawns..and you can't mass pull or you get overwhelmed by the incurable debuffs.

I think they did a good job with this zone, and it'll keep folks entertained that are sick to death of doing ToV.

And what about the "Idon'tknowwhat Veins" that do 5x500k damage in 1 second? I want an attack like that!

I hope to enjoy it in a couple of weeks when the inevitable fixes and tweaks go in.

I was excited for this zone but after running through most of it and wiping many, many times and then seeing the loot I have very little interest or incentive to return. Most of the fabled items have 501 stamina which if I recall correctly is less than temple heroic instance fable items which are far easier and faster to complete.

I am not against the idea of not being able to mass pull but the fact that you can grab 1-2 groups and survive but then an aoe is cast or proc'd and more mobs come through the floor, stairs, walls or anywhere else and wipes your group is very frustrating. Not having an optimal setup was a factor but this isn't raid content. People shouldn't have to worry about not having a dirge for excessive amounts of rezzing and revive sick cures or a zerker to heal themselves or guardian etc...

I attempted two pick up groups in that zone and each were a complete failure.. we didn't stand a chance. My guild group was able to do better but is this zone not intended for casual players? And if not then it must be intended as a challenge for more serious players. The problem there is that the more serious players are generally raiders and have far better gear than what is obtainable there.

The ruptured vein ability is over the top. Our raid geared brawler with tsunami up was instantly floored.

I enjoy new content and the exploration of it but there needs to be some tweaking.

The most frustrating part of this is the fact that many of us beta tested this zone and gave solid feedback about the potential problems which are current the problems with the released zone.

To the OP: No the new zones are meant for raiders to get more loots. They are not for mere mortals or normal people, and certainly not for leveling.

The zone isn't designed for raiders, don't be an idiot. In fact the debuff is intentionally brutal to prevent said raiders from dominating the zone by negating their gear advantage.

The sociability of the trash is pretty harsh, that's about the only major issue I have with the zone. I actually enjoyed healing it on my Templar.

Edit: Enchanters are nice to have in that zone because CC is actually useful. Stuns, stifles, dazes, etc., make a lot of stuff considerably easier. If your group is getting rocked and you don't have a chanter in group, you might want to consider getting one.

Another thing to add is the graphics of the weapons dropped in the zone. I have seen upwards of 15-20 scout weapons and while they each have really cool names they all share 1 of only 2 different graphics. I would rather have seen 3-5 scout weapons with varying graphics and stats. The same so far applies for shields, tank weapons and mage healer weapons. It's all way, way too cookie cutter for my taste.

i have a Raider Pali that keeps getting one shoted. Something is def wrong

How long are you going to bang this drum for?

https://forums.station.sony.com/eq2/index.php?threads/high-keep-bloodless-possible-bug.547866/

As I posted, Ruptured Vein appears broken. I never had the chance to get a group on test...but apparently it was also an issue on test? I have no specific opinion on the zone yet...and will give it time. If we can get RV fixed and not have to deal with a crazy 400k DPS ability...then we can progress through the zone a bit easier.

We had a namer on the 2nd floor, that calls the assassin archers, fully heal and reset on us. Not sure if that's scripted to a timer? We also had adds coming in from apparently other rooms....again, not sure if the adds on the ground was scripted, but they were coming out of nowhere.

Only loot we got was a +501 sta shield. It was a first level namer, so it wasn't a surprise. I don't want raid or DOM upgrades on the 1st floor. I'll reserve opinion on loot, when we get to run a full zone; without the issues like RV.

I find the 'anti mob mechanic' interesting. Unfortunately, it doesn't force adaptive play

1. Pull a lot of things

2. Cast temps

3. Collect loot

Is still the name of the game. It does make a few temps less viable (e.g. divine aura, crusader's faith, battle frenzy, etc.) but it is completely binary in doing so (tsunami = amazing, divine aura = useless). Unfortunately, with strikethrough immunity, nothing 'contests' temps right now so nothing changes other than which temp is preferable.

I'm not suggesting that strikethrough immunity be removed. I am suggesting that temps and mob AA damage scaling/mitigation, in general, should be considered in design. "Damage immunity" is a very powerful ability, and the duration and frequency at which these skills can be used severely limits design space.

Increased raid encounter duration

Must be long enough to 'run out' of temps

Increased damage thresholds

Must deal enough damage that it can 'kill' a fighter before temps refresh

Increased mitigation/hp dependence for fighter gear

Instantly one shots non fighters

Indirectly causes increased threat importance

tl;dr, damage must be really high because temps are really strong. Weakening temps would allow for more encounter creativity (shorter raid encounters, less importance on aggro control (mem wipes are okay again), increased dependence on healing, increased itemization options, etc.).

Jolemai, I can't imagine how you can argue that it is for leveling as even raid geared people are struggling in there right now. How would people in non raid gear with 1/3 the hit points etc have even a chance?

The 2 weeks early for subs is a joke as well since it will be buggy until everyone can get in. You can already tell it was only 'tested' for raiders by raiders, otherwise how can you explain this release?

They are for normal people, you know why they made it so you can't pull half the zone at once while getting coffee and come out alive? you know why mobs respawn fast? you know why the ability to access the zone has been staggered?

Its all so the zone doesn't end up as an another clusterf**k like Seb / SS / Fabled Clefts / ST Cont where one group of decent players could easily monopolize all relevant content leaving you to stare at an empty zone with nothing to do as everything is on perma lock down.

I am a raider who tested this zone on beta and I provided feedback about ruptured vein being too strong, the stacking detriment first as a heal reduction to be over the top and simply not fun and later added that the change from a heal reduction to damage increment was too much as well. I also specified how easy it is to get more than 2 groups of encounters on your group by aoe aggroing through walls, floors etc. I am sure a dev took the feedback under advisement and decided against changes.

This zone is meant to be a challenge for anyone willing and able (able being the important part). The problem with that is that it usually means well geared. The additional problem is that well geared means raid geared, then factor in the loot rewards (501 stamina fabled) and you have a recipe for a zone where people who could actually benefit from the gear can't access it and people who can access it don't need it.

I put in 3-4 hours in there when the server went up and I saw numerous groups wiping and reviving at entrance over and over and over .... These are pick up groups some even pre made guild groups who are potent gear some with gems and a mix of heroic or lower teir raid jewlery.

our group got all the way to Pickclaw area yesterday, and killed every named on the way. 4 of us on't raid, and don't even have the BP/Legs from VD. we had 2 healers...a channeler and a fury. they were is some raid gear, but not super over the top. mostly a few peices. our group was paladin (me) chanter, necro, fury, channeler and we had a second necro for some of it, when they left we got a wiz, and when they left we grabbed a warlock. we wiped a bit, we had our times trying to figure out how to do pulls or fight named, but it was most definately 'doable' by us 'mere mortals'.

Coldmetals "mere mortals" tag is getting old.

You're still wearing quested gear on the character you advertise yourself as. You're not a "mere mortal", you're a soloer who doesn't even do advanced solos. You can't complain something is designed for "raiders" when you don't even have heroic loot or bother adorning.