issue 27 Focused Feedback: Sister Valeria Story Arc

[The Curator]

Incarnate Mission Content: Sister Valeria

New Story Arc: Dark Tidings and Glory [Sister Valeria] (Cooperative, Level 50+)

 

Sister Valeria, a warrior of Bellona, has been assigned to Phoebas Point by Imperious' command, to protect Sister Solaris from kidnappings and subterfuge. While there, she has taken it upon herself to make it as a discrete place to discuss the continued plague of the Romulan Traitors, knowing full well that Marcus Valerius is soon to depart with the Idol of Mot to the Abyss. She will offer players the opportunity to make a grand gesture on behalf of the Cimeroran people, striking at the heart of the Dark Ones that still haunt the land and the people's dreams, despite Imperious' best efforts to eradicate them.

Players will unravel a tangled web of time-travel treachery and clean up loose ends as the omnipresent threat of the Nictus continues to fester even after Romulus and Requiem failed in their plot to take over the ancient land. Meet new foes, new signature enemies, and witness the grandiose nature of a true Shadow Cyst, which has never been seen before! Stop the Nictus from up-ending the timeline with purloined knowledge!

 

• Story Arc Contact: Sister Valeria, Phoebas Point, Cimerora
  • Located on the upper area of Phoebas Point by the door that leads to the lower area.
    •  /thumbtack 938.4 203.1 5125.6  will place a map waypoint on her while in Cimerora.
  • This is Incarnate content and players will have access to all their Incarnate Shifts while on these missions.
  • This content contains the Incarnate Cimeroran Traitors required for the 'Legate' badge.

Sister Valeria is in need of strong warriors,

those with the will to save this land!

[Bill Z Bubba]

As expected, since they're only +1 thanks to incarnate levels shifts, just like with DA repeatables, these missions end up being easier than their PI counterparts once you have all three level shifts. That said, damn glad to have some more repeatables in game. Thanks.

[KaizenSoze]

12 minutes ago, Bill Z Bubba said:

As expected, since they're only +1 thanks to incarnate levels shifts, just like with DA repeatables, these missions end up being easier than their PI counterparts once you have all three level shifts. That said, damn glad to have some more repeatables in game. Thanks.

They are a bit nasty at just +1. Depending on your AT.

 

Have fun with the improved surgeons. 🙂

[Bill Z Bubba]

4 minutes ago, KaizenSoze said:

They are a bit nasty at just +1. Depending on your AT.

 

Have fun with the improved surgeons. 🙂

 

Dude... it's pure muscle memory at this point that I kill them first.

[KaizenSoze]

Just now, Bill Z Bubba said:

 

Dude... it's pure muscle memory at this point that I kill them first.

They are like pokemon. You have to catch them first.

[Bill Z Bubba]

I faceplanted. New aggro rules for the win!

[insome1]

Unable to start this contact. 

lv 50+3 (all t4s) incarns.

 

Spoiler

 

Is there a contact introduction I need?

 

 

**UPDATE**  incase anyone needs it:

 

Okay, that was the issue. Have to speak with "Montague Castanella" in Steel Canyon University, first, have him send you to Cimerora. After that "arc" is complete, Sister Valeria is now a available contact.

 

 

**UPDATE 2** For troubleshooting

Fresh 50+ (t4 incarns slotted) toon created on beta. Gained entry to Cim thru House Hunter badge in Night Ward. No other Cim contact. 
 -Sister Valeria introduction correctly, mission offered.

Edited July 13, 2022 by insome1

[TalKaline]

I am *fairly* certain that he is not. Maybe that description should be changed?

Edit: More highly questionable friend/foe designations.

Further edit - the souvenir text is all bold. Looks like someone forgot a close tag. Sorry, should I be pointing these things out? I worry I'm being too picky by going over the text like this. 

Edited July 13, 2022 by TalKaline

[Cinnder]

Oooh, another Incarnate arc to add to my rotation -- thank you!

 

'she has taken it upon herself to make it as a discrete place to discuss the continued plague of the Romulan Traitors,'

 

Not sure if you mean simply a separate location, in which case this is correct, but if you mean a quiet, private place the spelling is discreet.

[The Caretaker]

4 hours ago, Cinnder said:

Oooh, another Incarnate arc to add to my rotation -- thank you!

 

'she has taken it upon herself to make it as a discrete place to discuss the continued plague of the Romulan Traitors,'

 

Not sure if you mean simply a separate location, in which case this is correct, but if you mean a quiet, private place the spelling is discreet.

 

With these two words, you can literally never win, because too often one version sounds better than the other and then back again until you can't make a decision. I remember mulling over the choice, and it may come down to contextual intent, but I suppose either works in this case. Although discreet works better now that I look at it. See what I mean about not being able to decide?

 

Screw it, it should be discreet. Maybe. Yes.

[Cinnder]

2 hours ago, The Caretaker said:

 

With these two words, you can literally never win, because too often one version sounds better than the other and then back again until you can't make a decision. I remember mulling over the choice, and it may come down to contextual intent, but I suppose either works in this case. Although discreet works better now that I look at it. See what I mean about not being able to decide?

 

Screw it, it should be discreet. Maybe. Yes.

 

One helpful mnemonic I heard somewhere was that in the word discrete (meaning separate) the t separates the 2 e's.

[goldenstriker]

I'm soloing on my sonic/nature defender, and it's going very smoothly - feels like a very minor buff, I'm only doing slightly more damage than before with the same build, and I'm loving the toggle suppression quality of life changes as well. Maybe this belongs on the focused feedback for sonic changes, ha.

But regarding the story arc itself, and the text therein - the following notes are ordered in my stream of consciousness as I played through, and have been edited upon second playthrough.

 

Spoiler

[Possible] Fixes + Observations:

 

- Completion return text for Valeria's first mission contains this phrase, which feels redundant, perhaps use a word different than "moment" for one of these:

 "He was once a proud, noble man, and now it seems that he only remembered that in a moment of clarity during his final moments."

 

- Mission environmental additions are clever, pointing out as I spot the stalagmite placed below a drip water effect.

 

- Beautiful new map on the second map. However, clipping looks funny if you fly up towards the top of the open sky, and you can see some weird structures above the caves. I doubt it can be fixed without adjusting the carefully constructed map already, and it's the kind of clipping that any player familiar with the game would be used to, so this would be low on the priority list of adjustments.

 

- Helot of Darkness description contains "unbelieveable" correct sp: unbelievable

 

- Perioeci of Twilight description is a single sentence with many clauses, perhaps break into several separate sentences for more clarity.

 

- Might it be possible to enable a different text for Valeria's contact 'call' button (since she is certainly not using cell phones in Cimerora)? I know this has been changed elsewhere before, but don't know if it's easy to adjust.

 

- It's nice to see the return of disguised missions, as I don't recall seeing these in high level content, besides the Praetorian solo story missions.

 

- Unfortunately, it is annoying that when my disguise breaks in dialogue with the protector of flames (probably incorrect name), all my toggles were turned off despite entering the mission with them on. I went straight into the battle solo with no defenses. Might it be possible to implement the new toggle suppression as a part of the disguise power? This is the most annoying thing I encountered, which is to say, there are very few quality of life changes needed.

 

- The summary clue was incomplete right before entering the last mission, picture included below. Upon second run of the arc, the description is correct upon entering the third mission, and must be merely mistyped in the summary displayed from before entering the last mission until completion of the arc.

 

- Sister Valeria did not follow me through the door to the last 2 sections of the last mission. Is this intentional?

 

- LOVE the extra lore on the nova and dwarf forms in the descriptions!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Thoughts:

- Overall, an intriguing story arc, I very much appreciate the extra background and characterization of both the nictus [which desperately needed fleshed out since the Moonfire TF] and the history of politics in Cimerora.

 

- Sister Valeria is an affable zealot, and her revulsion to the nictus brought me a scare when in the last mission. She was attacked by a nictus form looking for a host, and temporarily appeared to have the nictus glowing effects on eyes and body... it would be terrible were she to be possessed on my watch! But I realized it must have been an effect from the hold power as was described in the patch notes about the new difficulty changes to the Imperious TF. I do not know if it is intentionally a change to all Cimeroran nictus and is supposed to appear outside of the ITF, but is a cool mechanic regardless, I think.

 

- Long story note: Upon second run-through, I am a little puzzled about the meaning of the dialogue between Lilia and the crystal in the second mission.

Functionally, it does not seem to be followed up with conclusion, besides that it introduced the sinister priestess to the story. She is clearly nictus, obsessed with knowledge ("Ah, the irresistible temptation of future knowledge. There's nothing else quite like it."). But does the identity of the crystal matter? Why did she ask if they knew each other ("You feel familiar, but changed. Did we know each other?")? Did it matter that the crystal sounded like it made a human laughing sound ("The faint sounds of laughter and anguish emanate from the crystal.")? That thread seems to be dropped, and I don't know if I'm missing something really obvious, or if it just didn't really matter.

Thinking about it more, maybe something to do with the first line, "It is as he said. A combination of heat, minerals, and a well-timed death..." I might infer after completion of the arc that Dorjan is the "he," which would have give knowledge... but what was the well-timed death... is it because Romulus is in the crystal? It's said in Lilia's description later that she may have been courted by Romulus, so that is why they would know each other? If so, it feels like the defeat of the crystal in that mission being a representation of defeating the last of Romulus' nictus life essence was unclear.

 

Edited July 13, 2022 by goldenstriker

[arthurh35353]

Maybe I replied in the general thread earlier, but aren't 2 surgeons a bit of a break in Cimmoria mechanics? Especially now that they look like they throw a clear mind and healing out?

[The Caretaker]

21 hours ago, TalKaline said:

I am *fairly* certain that he is not. Maybe that description should be changed?

Edit: More highly questionable friend/foe designations.

Further edit - the souvenir text is all bold. Looks like someone forgot a close tag. Sorry, should I be pointing these things out? I worry I'm being too picky by going over the text like this. 

 

6 hours ago, goldenstriker said:

I'm soloing on my sonic/nature defender, and it's going very smoothly - feels like a very minor buff, I'm only doing slightly more damage than before with the same build, and I'm loving the toggle suppression quality of life changes as well. Maybe this belongs on the focused feedback for sonic changes, ha.

But regarding the story arc itself, and the text therein - the following notes are ordered in my stream of consciousness as I played through, and have been edited upon second playthrough.

 

  Reveal hidden contents

[Possible] Fixes + Observations:

 

- Completion return text for Valeria's first mission contains this phrase, which feels redundant, perhaps use a word different than "moment" for one of these:

 "He was once a proud, noble man, and now it seems that he only remembered that in a moment of clarity during his final moments."

 

- Mission environmental additions are clever, pointing out as I spot the stalagmite placed below a drip water effect.

 

- Beautiful new map on the second map. However, clipping looks funny if you fly up towards the top of the open sky, and you can see some weird structures above the caves. I doubt it can be fixed without adjusting the carefully constructed map already, and it's the kind of clipping that any player familiar with the game would be used to, so this would be low on the priority list of adjustments.

 

- Helot of Darkness description contains "unbelieveable" correct sp: unbelievable

 

- Perioeci of Twilight description is a single sentence with many clauses, perhaps break into several separate sentences for more clarity.

 

- Might it be possible to enable a different text for Valeria's contact 'call' button (since she is certainly not using cell phones in Cimerora)? I know this has been changed elsewhere before, but don't know if it's easy to adjust.

 

- It's nice to see the return of disguised missions, as I don't recall seeing these in high level content, besides the Praetorian solo story missions.

 

- Unfortunately, it is annoying that when my disguise breaks in dialogue with the protector of flames (probably incorrect name), all my toggles were turned off despite entering the mission with them on. I went straight into the battle solo with no defenses. Might it be possible to implement the new toggle suppression as a part of the disguise power? This is the most annoying thing I encountered, which is to say, there are very few quality of life changes needed.

 

- The summary clue was incomplete right before entering the last mission, picture included below. Upon second run of the arc, the description is correct upon entering the third mission, and must be merely mistyped in the summary displayed from before entering the last mission until completion of the arc.

 

- Sister Valeria did not follow me through the door to the last 2 sections of the last mission. Is this intentional?

 

- LOVE the extra lore on the nova and dwarf forms in the descriptions!

 

~~~~~~~~~~~~

Final Thoughts:

- Overall, an intriguing story arc, I very much appreciate the extra background and characterization of both the nictus [which desperately needed fleshed out since the Moonfire TF] and the history of politics in Cimerora.

 

- Sister Valeria is an affable zealot, and her revulsion to the nictus brought me a scare when in the last mission. She was attacked by a nictus form looking for a host, and temporarily appeared to have the nictus glowing effects on eyes and body... it would be terrible were she to be possessed on my watch! But I realized it must have been an effect from the hold power as was described in the patch notes about the new difficulty changes to the Imperious TF. I do not know if it is intentionally a change to all Cimeroran nictus and is supposed to appear outside of the ITF, but is a cool mechanic regardless, I think.

 

- Long story note: Upon second run-through, I am a little puzzled about the meaning of the dialogue between Lilia and the crystal in the second mission.

Functionally, it does not seem to be followed up with conclusion, besides that it introduced the sinister priestess to the story. She is clearly nictus, obsessed with knowledge ("Ah, the irresistible temptation of future knowledge. There's nothing else quite like it."). But does the identity of the crystal matter? Why did she ask if they knew each other ("You feel familiar, but changed. Did we know each other?")? Did it matter that the crystal sounded like it made a human laughing sound ("The faint sounds of laughter and anguish emanate from the crystal.")? That thread seems to be dropped, and I don't know if I'm missing something really obvious, or if it just didn't really matter.

Thinking about it more, maybe something to do with the first line, "It is as he said. A combination of heat, minerals, and a well-timed death..." I might infer after completion of the arc that Dorjan is the "he," which would have give knowledge... but what was the well-timed death... is it because Romulus is in the crystal? It's said in Lilia's description later that she may have been courted by Romulus, so that is why they would know each other? If so, it feels like the defeat of the crystal in that mission being a representation of defeating the last of Romulus' nictus life essence was unclear.

 

 

Fixes in the pipe for this, thanks!

[The Caretaker]

"There are few things more terrifying than watching a parasitic alien tear itself from its host, in a desperate attempt to intimidate and overwhelm an opponent. A Nictus doing so in your presence is a terrible omen - they have calculated their chances of survival, and determined that their best course of action is to disembody themselves and fight you in a pure dark energy form that mimics their late host. Should one get you in a paralytic hold, scream for help, or it may take you for its next host!"

[Booper]

Bumping this from Page 2 so more eyes can see this and hopefully more test feedback can be provided. Folks, please take this opportunity to test all new game content so bugs can be squashed before it is released to the Homecoming servers. Take some of the new powersets out for a spin and knockout two birds with one stone.

[ShardWarrior]

I ran Sister Valeria at +1 x 1 on my main.  I did not encounter any bugs that I could find.  Just wanted to say BEAUTIFUL work on the cave environments!  Top notch work there.  Story was good and easy to follow.  I did not feel the length was too long or too short.  Felt just right in terms of length.

 

Personal subjective feedback - 

• Doubling up of Surgeons in every mob is a bit much.  They are very quick with the fortitude buff recharge.  The teleporting is annoying too, but easily dealt with if you take them out first.
• The amount of EBs and Bosses in the second and third missions especially made this a bit of chore if the goal is to clear every map.  I know you do not need to, just if one is inclined to do so, be prepared for a bit of a slog.
• The 2 AVs and First Cyst in the final mission are a real chore.  None were challenging at +1 x 1, just tedious.

I will try to do another run as time permits. 

 

Overall nice job! 😁  Thank you for making this.

[Burnt Umber]

I enjoyed going through the missions on my characters so far.  I love the new maps as I went on through; I appreciate that there is enough room to hover/fly.  I didn't notice any bugs, but I have a couple of minor criticisms:

• In the second mission, there are a bit too many elite bosses.  They didn't add challenge, and, as a poster above mentioned, they made that mission a bit of a slog.  The minotaurs and cyclopes could be their boss versions.
• In the third mission, it's a bit much to suddenly drop from the disguise and have to toggle on my defenses.  Might the disguise be a temp. power that causes toggle suspension (the new tech), operating like the Midnight Club raid mission redside?
• Throughout, my villain character didn't really get to be villainous and the dialogue felt neutral/heroic.  I wish that there was a tad of motivation for my villains to be help Sister Valeria.

Those minor criticisms aside, the arc is great addition and tells succinct and interesting story.

[Ukase]

So, ran through the actual new arc Valeria instead of Airlia like before. (Silly me) 
My only issue was when I was in disguise, and then I chose an answer they didn't like, my disguise didn't work, and I was untoggled. Call me crazy, but I just don't like that. I can't stand having to activate toggles. They should really never turn off. 

 

[arthurh35353]

12 hours ago, Ukase said:

So, ran through the actual new arc Valeria instead of Airlia like before. (Silly me) 
My only issue was when I was in disguise, and then I chose an answer they didn't like, my disguise didn't work, and I was untoggled. Call me crazy, but I just don't like that. I can't stand having to activate toggles. They should really never turn off. 

 

Maybe the disguise should suspend the toggles and dropping the disguise should let the toggle be un-suspended?

[The Caretaker]

Brilliant guys, I didn't even think about using this tech (it gestated well after this power was made) looking into it, no promises.

[The Caretaker]

Update: Won't be a page 4 feature but something is possible, just needs a big data sweep. No promises!

[ShardWarrior]

Side question for you - can melee classes get Sister Valeria/Valkyrie's powers?   Please say yes. 😁

[The Caretaker]

On 7/23/2022 at 12:22 PM, ShardWarrior said:

Side question for you - can melee classes get Sister Valeria/Valkyrie's powers?   Please say yes. 😁

 

That would require buffing regen, and regen is already top tier.

[Stoked]

On 7/24/2022 at 7:26 PM, The Caretaker said:

 

That would require buffing regen, and regen is already top tier.

Buffing regen or returning it to what it once was? Regen would be top tier if Instant Healing was once again made a toggle. Just one more example of a once awesome set that is now rarely seen used.