Do you enjoy the Relentless Difficulty for ASF?

[blue4333]

Is the relentless difficulty on Aeon Strike Force something that triggers the flow state for you? Is it tough enough for you to enjoy it as a challenge to overcome?

 

For me, it felt as more of a timesink when enemies have more +def so things take longer. AVs fights feel way more slow to the point I get bored mashing my power buttons. 
 

not to mention the cheesy autohit -res fields and mez protection. At the end it felt more like a “phew its finally over” rather than “ We did it!”
 

Any thoughts? Would love to hear if you guys run it for the fun or just to test your high end builds or do you guys find it a bit tedious?

Edited July 3, 2022 by blue4333

[Ghost]

I am curious about this.  I’ve yet to run it, but want to know if I’ll actually enjoy it when I do

[Doomguide2005]

      I haven't been able to run it owing to a dead computer.  But I'm fairly sure I'll like doing it when I finally get an opportunity.

[Bill Z Bubba]

It was fun to experience once or twice.

[Snarky]

no   

[Sovera]

Haven't done it yet, but if it's anything like fighting +5 it is going to be a bore. Nothing like hitting for double digits to have a dull time.

 

But since I haven't don't take my words for anything.

[Lazarillo]

I didn't enjoy it at a lower difficulty, so I've never bothered to re-run it.

Maybe if it gets an "SSA"-level version so I can actually learn what's going on...

[Snarky]

1 minute ago, Lazarillo said:

I didn't enjoy it at a lower difficulty, so I've never bothered to re-run it.

Maybe if it gets an "SSA"-level version so I can actually learn what's going on...

you can run it at really low difficulty as well.  Do this with a SG team to learn a bit more.  or run it a dozen times "speed" pug and slowly get the gist of it.  good rewards

[arcane]

I enjoy Relentless just fine, but have yet to successfully get the accolade badge 😞 

 

I only find the accolade and Ripplesurge to be the worst. Most of the TF is not too bad on hard mode. 

Edited July 3, 2022 by arcane

[Ruin Mage]

Relentless is fun, but its not for everyone. Which is entirely fine.

The difficulty is top of the line and a bit less "alright lets get in and get this shit done i only got an hour to play." - its a true Team thing rather than having it be yet another easy-breezy piece of content.

Edited July 3, 2022 by Shadeknight

[GM Crumpet]

Just because there is a top of the line difficulty for players who feel they need a challenge doesn't mean it's demanded of everyone no matter the build or the play experience.  As with all things, it should be a negotiation with the team leader and the team as to what people feel comfortable with doing. New to the TF should start on a low difficulty and enjoy the story and the work that went into it. Those who've done it a few times and know their way around can and do make it harder. There are a lot of easter eggs and fun things in there just because it was cool. Personally I wouldn't enjoy anything on Relentless, but I'm not who that difficulty level is aimed at. I can barely manage a Master Of at times 🙂 

[Lazarillo]

4 hours ago, Snarky said:

you can run it at really low difficulty as well.  Do this with a SG team to learn a bit more.  or run it a dozen times "speed" pug and slowly get the gist of it.  good rewards

Eh, I'm not looking to inflict myself on 7 people playing tour guide for me.  I'd rather just experience it on my own, and none of the rewards are particularly compelling.

[Glacier Peak]

There is a strategy involved and team work necessary to make the risk worth the reward. The auto hit attacks are only auto hit if you choose not to break line of sight, etc. Hamidon used to be the hardest challenge in the game, now it's a simple procedure with a league. I think the Relentless difficulty is a great optional addition for players who want more reward and more challenge. I'm excited to see it proliferated further. 

[Ukase]

Honestly, I don't notice a difference, aside from the battle with Apex taking a bit longer than otherwise. 
Truth is, a good group, and there really isn't a difference. Now, when you're pursuing the badges, that's when things get tedious. If not, it's just like doing an Apex or Tin Mage. 

[Glacier Peak]

3 hours ago, Ukase said:

Honestly, I don't notice a difference, aside from the battle with Apex taking a bit longer than otherwise. 
Truth is, a good group, and there really isn't a difference. Now, when you're pursuing the badges, that's when things get tedious. If not, it's just like doing an Apex or Tin Mage. 

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Dr. Aeon SF is the only thing with unique Relentless rewards right now? 

[America's Angel]

Yeah I like the new hardmode settings. Has made PvE fun for me again. 

[Ruin Mage]

8 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Dr. Aeon SF is the only thing with unique Relentless rewards right now? 

Yes, you need Relentless setting + someone with the Master of badge for a unique reward if you beat the special fight.

[Ukase]

11 hours ago, Glacier Peak said:

Correct me if I'm wrong, but I believe the Dr. Aeon SF is the only thing with unique Relentless rewards right now? 

You're correct, but I wasn't speaking of rewards. Rewards in game are so irrelevant, I barely pay attention to them. A d-sync? Useless for the most part, except to sell. And even then, unless it's one of a specific few, still useless. Merits? Merits are trash, useless. Only good for converters. And converters are free. (when you use a farmer's emp merits to exchange for them)
Aside from badges, there really are no real rewards in game. And most of those are useless, too, unless you're pursuing all of them, and/or want the 4 passive accolades. 

But when I say "rewards in game are so irrelevant", I say that they are irrelevant to me, not everyone. I don't need merits, got hundreds, if not thousands in the winter packs I've yet to open. D-Syncs, some have good utility, but not enough utility to farm the SF/TF.  At least, not enough utility for me. Now, if we could pick which one we wanted, that would be preferred. I honestly have no idea why we can't, as that would certainly lead to a more stable supply and pricing for each of them. But, there's a reason. Just don't know what it is. 

[Gulbasaur]

I did enjoy the extra challenges and badges available. I thought that was really neat and I'd like to see more like that. 

 

Extra numerical challenge, +5 enemy mode etc? Nah. 

[akumamishima]

I enjoy it for the bonus AV-team fight but I've barely seen anyone run it since January.

[Seed22]

I want to run this, but every group I’ve been in who tried fell apart unfortunately. If I could run it on some of my alts who are in SG’s with folks who would definitely make it run faster as to prevent things falling apart, I probably would run it more.

 

EDIT: Screw it. I’ll be putting together a Relentless run sometime Soon™️

Edited July 4, 2022 by Seed22

[Tarrquinn]

The hardest difficulty I tried was Vicious (on my first run at that) back in December, and it was a grueling 3 hour experience that turned me off from the ASF for months. After that run, I didn't have any faith in the idea of new TFs for a good while. A few months later I tried a Malicious speed run and also hated every second of it. And then, just a few weeks ago, I (cautiously) tagged along on a casual run on the standard difficulty, and it totally changed my mind. I was actually having fun with it! Playing a few more times with family and friends (only 4 or 5 of us on a run) at +0x6 with the standard difficulty helped me gain a real appreciation for the ASF and the work that went into it. There's good comedy, beautiful set pieces, and fun fighting. That said, I'm with @Lazarillo on hoping for an SSA version. There's so much wonderful dialogue that only the leader gets; its really hard to follow the plot if you're not running it. Not to mention the pressure of wanting to keep the team moving means there's not a lot of time to read the lengthy (but fun) clues or prompts.

 

In short, I'd say that I definitely didn't enjoy the higher difficulties, so I hope any future TFs keep an easier standard difficulty. And you gotta give the masochists difficulty, so I hope that future tough modes are out there for those who want them.

[Ruin Mage]

Hard Mode/Challenge Mode will always be an optional addition rather than a baseline.
 

[Seed22]

7 hours ago, FriezaReturns00001 said:

Prayers have been answered! 😄 I need this as well.

It'll be a minute, so some lucky soul may answer it before me 😛

 

But I will be running one. I really wanna do that secret fight successfully, at least on ONE 50.

[Mezmera]

Relentless calls for people to be adaptable and have options to bring in various characters available to use from support, high dps, hard control or a beefy tank.  It's highly recommended to have the Destiny Core Barrier to bring, you will want at least a few and at minimum 4 people on Barrier duty if you want to do the special Vanguard fight.  

 

Leadership powers are also well recommended.  Moving as a team with Maneuvers and Tactics powering everyone should keep the team chugging along.  I'll not go off on my own unless I'm on a high invisibility character and will rarely engage on my own because I miss so much more frequently on my own. 

 

But I will say this has pushed me to be better on all of my characters.  On my dom I know Domination gets me a huge burst of +tohitt for 15s after I reclick so now I will wait to drop all my best control right after.  

 

It really comes down to the lead assessing the team makeup and have options available of their own.  I have no problem PUGing one of these so anyone that feels up for some fun I'm sure I'll be running this often enough on Excel after the next update drops.