Focused Feedback: The Labyrinth of Fog

[The Curator]

---

New Raid Zone: The Labyrinth Of Fog (Level 45-50)

 What new adventures lie in store? 

 

Like The Hive and The Abyss, The Labryinth of Fog is a raid zone with a low player cap (50),

therefore any multi-boxing will not be allowed within. Homecoming's CoC will be updated

upon feature release to state clearly that any multi-boxing within this zone is not allowed.

 

An Artifact In The Midnighter Club?

• This new co-op raid zone is accessed via an artifact cube found in the Midnighter Club.
  • All players are automatically set to Level 50 while in the zone.
• An info NPC ghost found near the zone's entrance provides additional information on the specifics of the zone.

 Touch the artifact cube and enter The Labyrinth of Fog! 

• A trainer, merit vendor, nurse, and buff crafting station have been added to the Midnighter Club zone to help facilitate adventuring activities within the Labyrinth of Fog.
• The Midnighter Club has been added to Long Range Teleport unlocked by owning the  'Midnight Squad' badge.
• The Labyrinth of Fog added to the LFG queue where it's found under the 'Trials & Raids' tab if you can access the Midnighter Club and are over Level 45.
• The zone has a 50-player population cap. Additional instances will generate if one fills.

 

Many Floors & Corridors!

• The raid zone begins with the labyrinth's entrance lobby.
  • Reviving at the hospital while in this zone will return you to the entrance lobby.
  • Idle players are returned to the Midnighter Club after 15 minutes of inactivity.
  • Logging out while in the zone will return you to the entrance lobby upon login.
• There is no mini map in the labyrinth except for the entrance lobby.
• The entrance lobby contains four color-coded portals that each are used to enter into the labyrinth.
• Each goes to a color-coded floor. There are six floor colors total: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Violet, Orange
• The color of the floor determines what set of grouped enemies populate that floor.
  • Violet Floors contain the most dangerous groups and Giant Monster event channel spawns.
  • Orange floors contain completely randomized enemies.
• Here is a complete list of the various enemy groups that populate the labyrinth and their floor color:
  • Arachnos
  • Council
  • Freakshow
  • Gold Brickers
  • Hydra
     
  • Devouring Earth
  • Drudges
  • Imperial Defense Force
  • Nemesis
  • Rikti
     
  • Carnival of Shadows
  • Circle Of Thorns
  • Cimeroran Traitors
  • Malta Operatives
  • Tsoo
     
  • Crey
  • The Family
  • Praetorian Resistance
  • Psychic Clockwork
  • Sky Raiders
  • Snakes
     
  • The Awakened
  • Arachnoids
  • Nictus + Void Hunters
  • Soldiers Of Rularuu
  • Talons Of Vengeance
  • Vanguard Sword

Fight For Rewards & Gain Level Shifts!

• All experience and influence gains inside the labyrinth are increased by 25%.
  • This stacks with other power such as Experience Boosters or Windfall.
• Labyrinth of Fog is an extremely vast (40+ floors) mission-style zone filled with Level 54+1 enemies to battle for increased rewards.
  • It is intended this zone be tackled with a Team or League.
• All enemies in the zone are Rank Shifted (Minion -> Lieutenant, etc.) up to a maximum rank of Elite Boss.
• Enemies behave identically to standard content and drop all the same rewards they would normally.
• As Elite Bosses are defeated, a meter on your navigation will fill up, eventually granting a zone-wide Level Shift buff!
  • Elite Bosses have a foggy aura to make them easier to identify as the targets in the zone.
  • Elite Bosses increase in Level Shifts alongside the players.
  • Pets (including Mastermind and Lore) also receive the zone-wide Level Shift buffs.

 

Fear The Minotaur!

 Avoid the Minotaur until you've got a team or league that can coordinate gathering Level Shifts to take him down! 

• While in The Labyrinth of Fog, players are hunted continuously by The Minotaur In The Fog, a Monster that's Level 54+(5 to 10) and periodically (every 2-3 minutes) moves to the location of a player on the map (higher odds for the zone's oldest occupants, excludes those in the entrance lobby which is always safe), navigating the labyrinth's maze at inhuman speeds to find prey.
• For every 8 players in the zone after the first, the Minotaur will gain another +1 Level Shift (min +5, max +10).
• The navigation window will display the Minotaur's current level, or, if they're currently dead, will show a timer to their next respawn time:

1-8 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+5)

9-16 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+6)

17-24 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+7)

25-32 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+8)

33-40 players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+9)

41+ players on the map: Minotaur = 54(+10)

• Defeating the Minotaur will award the new  'Slayer of the Minotaur' badge and the Minotaur will vanish from the zone for one hour, allowing people to adventure and battle enemies within without danger.
  • The Minotaur rewards a choice table with 5 Prismatic Aether + 10 Monstrous Aether to all who participated in the defeat on an 18 hour cool-down. Additional defeats within that time will only reward half the payout.
  • Alternatively, can select 3 Draught of Fog inspirations with no cool-down.
• The Minotaur will spawn with one of five different weapon power sets; All weapon powers deal 100% Negative Energy damage exclusively.
  • All variants of the Minotaur come with the Unholy Plague Howl, Netted Pilums, Hoof Stomp, Trial By Combat, and Fog Given Form powers.

 

Search for Malevolent Fog!

• Special 'Malevolent Fog' pinata enemies (no attacks, no regeneration) can be found in the labyrinth that, when defeated, increases the zone's Level Shift count + grants 3 Reward Merits to any who participated in downing the critter.
• A single player who participated in the defeat will receive a 'Draught of Fog' inspiration.
  • These special inspirations provide the user with 15 minutes of a single Level Shift stack exclusive to them and their pets, as well as immunity to the Diseased debuff.
  • These Inspirations are not bound and can be freely traded or stored in Super Group bases.
• Malevolent Fog are most commonly found in rooms that are dead ends, and their FX makes them stands out in the foggy environment.
  • Once defeated, another Malevolent Fog will spawn somewhere else in the labyrinth to take its place. This should naturally filter them down to lesser visited places over time while ensuring there is always some to be found.

 Find & defeat Malevolent Fog to earn Reward Merits + Level Shifts! 

• The zone-wide buff grants +1 Level Shift, +DMG/ToHit/Recharge/Recovery for each stack. It can be stacked up to ten times from either Malevolent Fog defeats or cumulative Elite Boss defeats. The current Level Shift total can be seen on your buff bar as a black icon with a white number:

 The Labyrinth's Level Shifts stack up to a max of 10! 

• The Level Shift buffs decay at a rate of once per 5 minutes, each decay will reduce the total stack of Level Shifts by 1.

But Not Without Assistance!

• Players are given two pop-tray powers while in the labyrinth to assist them:
  • Escape From Fog: Teleports yourself back to the entrance lobby of the labyrinth. 1 second cool-down.
  • Follow Through Fog: Teleport yourself to a target Team or League mate. May fail if the target does not have space nearby or is going through a door. Intended to help teams stick together. 1 second cool-down.

 

Gladiators In The Fog?

• Throughout the colored floors, players can encounter Gladiators In The Fog.
• Standing next to one will prompt the Gladiator to respond.
• Depending on how many badges from the Labyrinth you currently have, the Gladiator will do one of the following:
  • Respond with hints/tips/lore dialog about the Labyrinth.
  • Gift a Draught of Fog inspiration.
  • Become hostile and attack the player. (More Labyrinth badges = higher chance of attack)
• Each Gladiator will only interact with the same player once ever.
• Defeated Gladiators drop a single Draught of Fog inspiration to one participating player.

 

 Blood and strength unseen, Gladiator! 

 

Explore the Labyrinth!

• There are many secrets and prizes to be discovered within the Labyrinth of Fog.
  • Including many not detailed at all in the patch notes!
• Finding a secret area will reward the  'Hidden In Fog' exploration badge.
  • Secret area doors have a confirmation box when clicked to enter them.
• Some secret areas are easy to find, others more difficult. All secret areas reward the same exploration badge.
• The secret areas show up as '???' locations and immediately grant the badge upon discovery.

[lemming]

Looks like the Mino can still be mucked up with a fast DPS.   Was messing around and used the beta power attack which caused the Mino to not spawn the guardians at a certain health level.   Then my client crashed.  (Uploaded mem dump, hope that helps)

 

Add: Sounds like the Hoof Stomp did it?   Several people in chat just mentioned that's when they crashed

 

And just confirmed a crash right at foot stomp

Edited July 6 by lemming
more info

[lemming]

21 hours ago, The Curator said:

• Each goes to a color-coded floor. There are six floor colors total: Red, Yellow, Blue, Green, Violet, Orange
• The color of the floor determines what set of grouped enemies populate that floor.
  • Violet Floors contain the most dangerous groups and Giant Monster event channel spawns.
  • Orange floors contain completely randomized enemies.
• Here is a complete list of the various enemy groups that populate the labyrinth and their floor color:
  • Arachnos
  • Council
  • Freakshow
  • Gold Brickers
  • Hydra
     
  • Devouring Earth
  • Drudges
  • Imperial Defense Force
  • Nemesis
  • Rikti
     
  • Carnival of Shadows
  • Circle Of Thorns
  • Cimeroran Traitors
  • Malta Operatives
  • Tsoo
     
  • Crey
  • The Family
  • Praetorian Resistance
  • Psychic Clockwork
  • Sky Raiders
  • Snakes
     
  • The Awakened
  • Arachnoids
  • Nictus + Void Hunters
  • Soldiers Of Rularuu
  • Talons Of Vengeance
  • Vanguard Sword

And, that you change the order gives my CDO fits. 😄

 

Are there requirements for getting to the Orange floor, other than random chance when you go thru a randomizer?

[lemming]

And you can still get behind the wall via the haystack at  [-71.1 -962.1 -429.7]

[Burnt Umber]

As I've been trying out this feature, it seems decidedly not solo friendly:  the large spawn size, incarnate scaling of the mobs, frequency of mobs with boosted perception (e.g., upper level Family and Resistance with targeting drones), and the Minotaur's seek & destroy behavior all make wandering the labyrinth deadly without doubling up on stealth and hide or the like.

 

At the same time, once a certain amount of buffs/cheats were enabled, wandering around the labyrinth was actually quite fun.  The only real exception was when I got sent to the Endless Columnade, which was a surprisingly beautiful map but utterly frustrating to navigate with no method to backtrack (I'd kill for Theseus' string there).

[lemming]

12 minutes ago, Burnt Umber said:

Theseus' string

Yes, we need a ball of yarn to hand off to a cat who will then lead us.

[JAMMan0000]

Wow! Took  my Bot/Storm MM that can usually solo +4/8 for a spin in the fog. Didnt last 2 sec. There seemed to be +10s in about every mob, and boy do they hit hard! Love the idea, almost need reverse difficulty options for this baby 🙂

[Cobalt Arachne]

We're aware of some sort of crashing issue with the Minotaur's Hoof Stomp attack; I am looking into it.
Source of the crash was an FX flag error in Hoof Stomp, should be fixed next build.

[Glacier Peak]

On 7/5/2024 at 5:10 PM, The Curator said:

 The Labyrinth's Level Shifts stack up to a max of 10! 

For anyone who loves making macros and wants numbered images, looks like we've got them on beta now. For reference, these are currently listed image filenames as:

 

Labyrinth_Shift_01

Labyrinth_Shift_02

Labyrinth_Shift_03

Labyrinth_Shift_04

Labyrinth_Shift_05

Labyrinth_Shift_06

Labyrinth_Shift_07

Labyrinth_Shift_08

Labyrinth_Shift_09

Labyrinth_Shift_10

Edited July 7 by Glacier Peak

[Ukase]

So, when I heard this voice, flashbacks of Advanced Mode LGTF came to mind. 



So, that was fun/interesting. I never did see the Minotaur. Probably for the best. 

I was trying to orient myself. I noticed the elevators have labels - gamma, epsilon, etc. 
So that could potentially be a way to orient one's self. 

I did talk to three gladiators. One said something that didn't make any sense to me. 
The 2nd one attacked me, and I summarily dispatched him. 
The 3rd one gave me some kind of a warning. 

I got this badge by sheer accident - and if I didn't get it by accident the first time, I'd have gotten it a second time. 
I found one of those ??? spots, but couldn't get out without ending up in the fog again. 

I am guessing there is a way out of there - you just have to wait for those white or black lines to show you the path. But, I haven't figured that out yet, if that's even correct. 

As for just looking around, I kept expecting the mobs to see past my token 65 feet of stealth. I was able to zip around with no issues - except once. An Ancestral Spirit saw me, I guess. 

Now, I've read what's in the patch notes, and I recognize this is best experienced with a team. But what I haven't determined yet is what exactly am I supposed to experience? 
I'm looking for this minotaur, and he's looking for me, presumably - odd that after an hour, never even saw him. Seems like he should be hanging out in the fog. Bound to run into him there. 
But I guess if I ran into him, there wouldn't be much point in going back. 

Got a couple of these from clobbering....a pinata? Can't recall the name of it. Just seemed like a punching bug - and I guess the whole purpose of it is to get these inspirations. Seems like it should hit back or something? It didn't do anything. Maybe it was stuck in the storage racks. 

I'll take a look again tomorrow, see if I can't find something else to "test". 

I don't think I tested anything though; I just experienced a fraction of it. 

[Mezmera]

On 7/5/2024 at 4:10 PM, The Curator said:

Explore the Labyrinth!

• There are many secrets and prizes to be discovered within the Labyrinth of Fog.
  • Including many not detailed at all in the patch notes!
• Finding a secret area will reward the  'Hidden In Fog' exploration badge.
  • Secret area doors have a confirmation box when clicked to enter them.
• Some secret areas are easy to find, others more difficult. All secret areas reward the same exploration badge.
• The secret areas show up as '???' locations and immediately grant the badge upon discovery.

 

This seems much more layered and complex than anything thrown at us, even Hamidon is old hat by now.  Most of the other raid stuff rewards the multipurpose enhancements but there's already a glut of those kinds of rewards already.  I'd like to see a new event enhancement set along the lines of SBB but a set that is really good.  That would seem like a good reward for something that sounds awful tough. 

 

I'm all for fun but it'd be even more fun if there's neat stuff dropping from this.  Hopefully those are the things not detailed yet. 

Edited July 7 by Mezmera

[Cobalt Arachne]

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

So, when I heard this voice, flashbacks of Advanced Mode LGTF came to mind.

I've always been of the opinion that using voice-overs was not inherently / objectively bad, only their original usage in the Galaxy tutorial that people didn't like.
So, I've been experimenting with them in ways that don't detract much from the content if you decide to turn them off (flavor dialog in the Labyrinth, encounter cues in LGTF).

 

 

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

So, that was fun/interesting. I never did see the Minotaur. Probably for the best. 

As long as you are constantly moving, the Minotaur will likely never catch up to you as he moves to a players position when he hunts, but doesn't dynamically follow them; He's most dangerous when his target is currently in the middle of something else and he shows up uninvited to complicate things. This will be most noticeable when a raid is clearing mobs to build Level Shifts and he appears while clearing a floor.

 

 

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

I am guessing there is a way out of there - you just have to wait for those white or black lines to show you the path. But, I haven't figured that out yet, if that's even correct. 

Hint: From the starting point of the Endless Colonnade, use a Draught of Fog inspiration (or have somebody else in the zone use one, anybody using one anywhere will trigger it) and the path will become clear, but only briefly.
Alternatively: Have somebody else run / clear the maze for you and recall to them.

 

 

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

I found one of those ??? spots, but couldn't get out without ending up in the fog again. 

If it's the fog maze inside the Endless Colonnade, the only escape is using your recall power... That being said, I can include an escape door at the beginning, so people who aren't interested can re-randomize their location.
I've received some feedback that it's a bit too common to end up there as well, so may reduce that chance slightly.

 

 

11 hours ago, Ukase said:

and I guess the whole purpose of it is to get these inspirations. Seems like it should hit back or something? It didn't do anything. Maybe it was stuck in the storage racks. 

The purpose of the Malevolent Fog pinatas are to increase the zone-wide level shift counter, as well as be a source of Reward Merits for a league that has people searching for them and using Incandescent Destiny to move the league to them for clears.

Think akin to Giant Monster clearing during Halloween Leagues, where some people are searching the zone for Eochai / Jack-In-Irons.
The Malevolent Fogs are a side-prize to strive for that adds Reward Merit income to the League's earning totals if hunted.

[Cobalt Arachne]

8 hours ago, Mezmera said:

Hopefully those are the things not detailed yet. 

There are seven motes in the Labyrinth that can be found and provide small buffs when approached that last until you leave the zone, these are also key to another puzzle that ends in another reward.
These puzzles are most reasonably tackled solo, but could become a group activity if everyone is working on the same goal.

 

 What purpose do the mote anchors serve? They pulsate with most malevolent energy... 

There's also unique Labyrinth-themed prizes, one prestige costume (that has six customizations) and two vanity pets to figure out their unlock methods and earn.

Finally; I added special lore text to almost every single thing's description in the Labyrinth, if you're a lore nerd, there's a LOT here to begin piecing together, there's a story here, it's just not fed cleanly to you in a story arc directly.

If you want the full picture of the lore, read those item descriptions! 😄

[Cobalt Arachne]

13 hours ago, Burnt Umber said:

without doubling up on stealth and hide or the like.

For Stealth, the mobs in the Labyrinth have the standard-amount of perception and Super Speed + Stealth IO will work on almost everything, with a few exceptions:

• The Minotaur In The Fog; Any floor (they ignore stealth)
• Soldier of Rularuu eyeballs; Violet / Orange floors (these ignore stealth)
• Rikti Drones; Green / Orange floors (these ignore stealth)
• Praetorian Resistance; Red / Orange floors (increased perception per Targeting Drone)
• The Family; Red / Orange floors (increased perception per Targeting Drone)

 

For everything else, the bare minimum in Stealth will get you around the Labyrinth.

[EmperorSteele]

So... is this supposed to be a raid activity? Because I don't see this as something that ~50 people would do together in under an hour (which is what a raid is supposed to be). I spent FIVE HOURS running around clicking doors, and all I managed to find was the "mote" at the end of the overly tedious fog maze. Which then provided no way out or back. Yeah, we have the temp powers for that, but it still felt underwhelming. Woo, +10 recharge for 5 hours of running around. Which I lose when I leave =(

 

Also, how many rooms is this thing? How is anyone supposed to be able to find anything, especially with the randomizer element? Like, if it was around a dozen or so rooms, fine, but it seems to be well over 100, and that's frankly obnoxious, IMO. This needs to be dialed WAY back if you want it to actually be fun. Ditch all the areas that don't have a "Mote", let the players find and utilize them before entering the Core and taking down the Minotuar, and boom, that's a raid, not whatever is currently going on here.

 

I mean, is the idea that the 50 odd players all split up? That's a tall ask when everything in the maze starts at +14 to them. Do they stay together? Good luck with that when most of the hallways aren't built to accommodate more than 8 folks at a time.

 

I don't want to be too harsh, because this IS neat, but the novelty is the only thing going for it, so I don't forsee it being run a whole lot after the initial "shiny rush" wears off.

 

[KaizenSoze]

On test run the Mino is usually dead in 30 mins. All players don't need to stick together, just small groups killing the mobs to get the level shifts up. Once +5 or so hits its' game over for the mobs and they start getting destroyed.

 

I actually think this will be a nice area to PL 40+ builds as all players are shifted to 50 in the zone. 

 

Just make sure a few folks have Ican slotted to gather on the Mino. And bring 2-3 control type toons for the tornados.

[lemming]

4 minutes ago, KaizenSoze said:

On test run the Mino is usually dead in 30 mins. All players don't need to stick together, just small groups killing the mobs to get the level shifts up. Once +5 or so hits its' game over for the mobs and they start getting destroyed.

 

I actually think this will be a nice area to PL 40+ builds as all players are shifted to 50 in the zone. 

 

Just make sure a few folks have Ican slotted to gather on the Mino. And bring 2-3 control type toons for the tornados.

It's now lvl 45+

 

I see it that way too with people coming in and leaving, much like halloween

[KaizenSoze]

1 minute ago, lemming said:

It's now lvl 45+

 

I see it that way too with people coming in and leaving, much like halloween

I guess missed that in the patch notes. It changed a few times. Thanks.

[lemming]

I feel this will be a worthy screen capture for awhile

[Troo]

+415.. seriously?!

[Ukase]

No idea if it needed confirming, but I did confirm 

 

Just to add my perception of this peculiar zone: 
I've been here 4 times on 3 characters. 
Each time the experience has been different. 
Some times it's easier to find the gladiators..at least, anecdotally, my blasters seemed to have a radar for them. My brute and tank...not so much. 
No matter what door my brute or tank took, I could NOT find myself in the foggy maze. I found this odd, when the first time I was in there, it seemed like every other door led to the foggy maze. 

I did recognize that the click area is not the portal itself, but the platform it's on - at least, that's how it looks on my screen. So no further worries there, thanks for the tip. 

I also found this! Thank you! 

 

No idea if it was there the whole time and this is the first time I noticed it, but it's so useful to just port there instead of going there through the zones to get the club. 

[Troo]

eek

[LastHumanSoldier]

EDIT: Removed comments.

 

Edited July 8 by LastHumanSoldier

[Thraxen]

What’s the actual rewards for doing this?  A few badges?  Seems like Diablo 3 stuff but without the random gear drops. It sound really cool. I’m just wondering the point of doing it twice?  Some stuff seems like a toon can only do it once. 

[ZorkNemesis]

On 7/8/2024 at 12:46 AM, Thraxen said:

What’s the actual rewards for doing this?  A few badges?  Seems like Diablo 3 stuff but without the random gear drops. It sound really cool. I’m just wondering the point of doing it twice?  Some stuff seems like a toon can only do it once. 

 

Just going off the notes, the mobs have a larger exp/inf drop than normal so more money and faster earning Vet Levels.  The Minotaur drops Prismatic Aether and Monstrous Aether and there's a new level shift inspiration that drops from several sources inside the Labyrinth that I assume can be used outside (can they stack with Ultimate?).  The Malevolent Fogs also drop Reward Merits, 3 per.

 

Edited July 9 by ZorkNemesis
Had the wrong idea about the inspirations.