Stop the Blogger's Reign of Terror (level 40 - 50 Rogue to Hero Alignment Mission) is Breakable

[Worm_Kalpa]

I ran into a bug the other night when doing the 'Stop the Blogger's Reign of Terror' mission.  It is a level 40 - 50 Rogue to Hero alignment tip mission.  The objectives including rescuing three captives from the enemy mobs that spawn.  However, the captives are not invincible and are targetable by any enemy AoE attacks that occur.  The captives also spawn at a much lower level than the other NPCs on the map, which I believe is purposeful but they are defeated very easily.  This prevents the mission from being completed even after clearing the map.

 

Also, their might be a final enemy that is supposed to spawn once all three captives are rescued.  If any of the targets are defeated however, then that final enemy doesn't spawn even though a red map marker indicates their likely location.

 

Finally, something weird is going on with the objective counter in what it displays.  It is likely related to the captives being defeated when they shouldn't be.

 

Searching this forum, this bug has been around for some time:

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/32279-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-mission-breakable/#comment-411071

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/22424-blue-side-rogue-tip-bug-blogger/#comment-261786

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/4207-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-mission-bug/#comment-35167

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/13391-stop-the-bloggers-reign-of-terror-full-bug-report/#comment-137247

https://forums.homecomingservers.com/topic/7855-hero-tip-mission-with-hostages-bugs-if-any-hostages-are-killed-by-incidental-aoes/#comment-72334

[Rudra]

4 hours ago, Worm_Kalpa said:

Also, their might be a final enemy that is supposed to spawn once all three captives are rescued.  If any of the targets are defeated however, then that final enemy doesn't spawn even though a red map marker indicates their likely location.

That red marker appears on many maps after there are no further objectives (including enemy spawns) left on the map. It is itself a bug. Another marker, or group of markers will appear to show where the last spawn on the map is, but there is that extra marker that doesn't actually seem to mark anything.

 

The trick to this mission is to remember that the 3 heroes only have like 1 HP. So you need to draw the Freakshow away from them to fight. Including any other nearby Freakshow spawns. Because if any other Freakshow are in aggro range and you reach the freed hero, they immediately kill the freed hero causing the mission to fail.

[Worm_Kalpa]

That workaround brings up a neat, alternative fix to this mission.  Make it so that if any of the (much lower-level) captive heroes are defeated, you get the mission failed text, forced-exit, and probably no reward.  That idea likely requires more time and effort than making it like a typical rescue mission with captives who don't fight after being rescued.  Still adds a neat little twist that level 40+ characters can have ways to complete.