Dark Astoria and Cimerora

[Zhym]

I love the Dark Astoria arc...for the most part.  It's atmospheric, it's epic, and it's well-written.  But it has one big problem IMO: the side trip to Cimerora.

 

It's just such a slog.  There's the mission where you have to find monsters and hostages in a smoke-obscured Cimerora.  Then you have to beat up a bunch of tentacles that aren't really a threat but have enough HP to take some time to kill.  And to cap it all off, there's that mission where you have to fight off something like 9 groups of Talons, 4 groups of monsters, and then 3 different groups of Talons all before you can face Romulus Augustus. 

 

It's not interesting, it's not really necessary to the story line, and it's not even that challenging.  It's quantity of battles over quality.

 

Plus, I could never figure out why the Cimerora part of the story starts with "You must take the Idol of Mot to Astoria!" and somehow turns to  "Marcus Valerius will sail with the Idol to the Abyss the end of the world!"  And I'm thinking, "That....wasn't the plan, was it?"

 

Fortunately, when you get back to the present, things pick up again.  And the trip to Cimerora does set up something important to the story later on.  But it seems like the whole Cimerora part of the story could be less...tedious.

 

Is this just me?  Or do other people get to this part of the Dark Astoria arc and think, "Ugh.  Not this part, again?"

 

Edited June 29 by Zhym

[Greycat]

Depending on the character, I like it.

And it's more interesting than just an infodump of "In Ancient Rome, this guy took the idol to what would be America to hide it." It makes the Sentinel *much* more interesting of a character.

 

Could it use some tweaks? Sure. The tentacles *are* tedious. But that's about the only part that gets me sighing in a "let's get it over with" way... much like having to deal with mole machines in one of the patron arcs. (think it's in a patron arc. I've managed to re-avoid it for a long time.)

[Zhym]

3 minutes ago, Greycat said:

Depending on the character, I like it.

And it's more interesting than just an infodump of "In Ancient Rome, this guy took the idol to what would be America to hide it." It makes the Sentinel *much* more interesting of a character.

 

Could it use some tweaks? Sure. The tentacles *are* tedious. But that's about the only part that gets me sighing in a "let's get it over with" way... much like having to deal with mole machines in one of the patron arcs. (think it's in a patron arc. I've managed to re-avoid it for a long time.)

Of the three missions I mentioned, the tentacles bother me the least.  I'm not sure whether the smoky Cimerora mission or the "war" mission bothers me more; the first makes it hard to find everyone you need to defeat, but the second has more sheer numbers than are probably necessary.  (Then again, maybe it's my own fault for always doing it without help, to get the badge.  But on the other other hand, it's not like my "help" ever lives long when I try to do the mission with them.)

[Biff Pow]

I most recently did the Cimerora arc with an Energy Melee Scrapper with Psionic Lance, and boy does it speed things up when you can just zap the Unstoppable-ed Cyclops with Psi damage.

[Uun]

I don't really have a problem with Sister Solaris arc. There are two issues with the finale mission. First, it ignores your team size settings and always spawns at x8. I think it was designed this way because you get 5 NPC allies to help you. I generally decline the help to get the Knows No Fear badge, but even if you accept it the allies rarely survive past the first few Talon groups. This mission was much easier to solo before the devs upgraded the Cyclops and Minotaurs to the incarnate (nictus) versions. If you're squishy, these guys need to be pulled so you're not facing the entire group at once. Psi damage and confuse help a lot. 

[Ukase]

I just did this arc yesterday on three characters. (and yeah, the population was below 1200, so I did collaboratively complete all BUT the finale) 
So, the OP is correct in the sense the tentacles seem to be a bit of a waste of time. 

The final mission...well, if you're not a fan of KB, just run forward to the front of the map and work back. I've heard it said "The same thing that will make you laugh can make you cry." This is quite true when it comes to Imperious and, I think Daedalus, too. They think I'm doing so well, they clap their hands and the npcs all go flying. Well, something like that. 

I do kind of like the smoked over Cim map, because it demonstrates the carnage that has taken place, compared to how it looks normally. I tend to use a target macro to find the Cims, the minotaurs and Cyclops. I pretty much trip over Marcus the first couple of steps. 

It's kind of nice to get a break from Dark Astoria. I know they got rid of the fog, but there's still some crazy noises in that zone. 

If I were Excellent programmer for a day who could change ONLY one thing, I am not sure what it would be. But if I could change 5 things, I don't think this would be on that list. Heck, I don't even think I have a list, but I should probably make one. I mean, all that influence should lead to influencing someone, right? Can I do away with the zone hunts in Croatoa? Please? Those Fir Bolg are never in the proper zone when you need to clear them from the zone. I literally have to pull them or teleport them in to advance the arc. 

 

[Ukase]

16 hours ago, Biff Pow said:

I most recently did the Cimerora arc with an Energy Melee Scrapper with Psionic Lance, and boy does it speed things up when you can just zap the Unstoppable-ed Cyclops with Psi damage.

One thing I learned recently from @Projector other than using a zero to confuse people when they type your name in game, and that's a strategic use of psi-damage procs. Nemesis, Paragon Protectors and Cyclops and Minotaurs are no longer an issue. 

[lemming]

14 hours ago, Uun said:

This mission was much easier to solo before the devs upgraded the Cyclops and Minotaurs to the incarnate (nictus) versions. If you're squishy, these guys need to be pulled so you're not facing the entire group at once. Psi damage and confuse help a lot.

Oh, you should have seen it when they all were buffed nictus versions in testing.   Most of my chars had to be very careful with pulling.

 

I don't mind the side trip.   BTW, if you haven't gotten the Midnight Badge by then, it gets awarded when Sister Solaris is made a contact.

 

My thoughts:

1) First mission:  Cut Scene, and then a question and answer session.   And no way to say, just do let me go and get the blinky, i don't need to read it again

2) Smoke is annoying, but the tabbing or targetnext works fine and the hostages and monsters are always in the same spots.

3) Tentacles annoy me.   They take a bit of time, and not worth XP is just insulting. 😄

4) Big mission: I like this one. I never bring the help, but it does make me do a little thought about strategy with some of my squishier characters.  (Honestly, I try never to bring help on these types of missions, because they are rarely helpful)

5) Solo run to the end of the cave.  Blah.  Wish it was a straight line so you can just set Marcus on auto run.

[Projector]

4 hours ago, Ukase said:

One thing I learned recently from @Projector other than using a zero to confuse people when they type your name in game

Gotta throw my enemies off my trail.

[Frozen Burn]

I like it... I like it all.  I like the cim missions.  I like the tentacle mission as it's challenging to fight them and the ambushes at the same time - plus, it's just unique and not another cave mish.  

[ZorkNemesis]

Honestly, the only real issue I have with the Kraken mission is that the tentacles are outright worthless.  They have no rewards for some reason despite being boss-strength.  I get that they don't move and can be cheesed with enough range but even so why don't they give anything?

[FupDup]

On 6/29/2024 at 12:05 AM, Greycat said:

Could it use some tweaks? Sure. The tentacles *are* tedious. But that's about the only part that gets me sighing in a "let's get it over with" way... much like having to deal with mole machines in one of the patron arcs. (think it's in a patron arc. I've managed to re-avoid it for a long time.)

 Yup, it's in Black Scorpion's arc. 

[High_Beam]

I have a number of characters in Nukem High; you've seen our uniforms.

 

School girls and tentacles DO NOT MIX!

[SuperPlyx]

I like the arc for change of pace aspect but the mechanics of getting the whole team to Cim is a problem.

 

My problem is the change of zone. I have run through the DA arcs a few times as team lead and I always had trouble getting everyone to Cim. Some are new 50s working on there incarnates in DA and don't have the badge yet to get in. Sometime the team is mixed alignments and I have had to break teams up and to reassemble in Cim. But ofcourse some won't show for whatever reason and your left trying to decide to wait longer or fill the spot.

 

I doubt it's feasible but would love to see Sister Solaris moved to DA, the actual mission instance doesn't matter where you are I don't think.

 

/rant,

[lemming]

1 hour ago, SuperPlyx said:

I like the arc for change of pace aspect but the mechanics of getting the whole team to Cim is a problem.

 

My problem is the change of zone. I have run through the DA arcs a few times as team lead and I always had trouble getting everyone to Cim. Some are new 50s working on there incarnates in DA and don't have the badge yet to get in. Sometime the team is mixed alignments and I have had to break teams up and to reassemble in Cim. But ofcourse some won't show for whatever reason and your left trying to decide to wait longer or fill the spot.

 

I doubt it's feasible but would love to see Sister Solaris moved to DA, the actual mission instance doesn't matter where you are I don't think.

 

/rant,

If you setup the mission for them, they can Team Teleport or Mission TP.   If they then get the exploration badges in Cim, they can enter directly from Ouro.   (Or they can do the usual Nightward pickup)