Halloween Elite Bosses.

[Ultimo]

So... this Halloween event, which I usually enjoy, has been an impenetrable chore this year.  The main reason are these absurdly overpowered Elite Bosses.  I hate to sound like a broken record, but these guys are ridiculous.

 

The first one I met was the Ancient Vampire Lord, when playing my Bots/Electric Affinity Mastermind.  With judicious healing, I was able to keep the bots up  before he cast some area effect thing that started melting them.  They lasted about 10 seconds, and I had to run away.  I had been fighting him continuously for around 15 minutes by that point, and did NO DAMAGE AT ALL.

I suspect this was a bug, perhaps because my bots started attacking before he was even out the door?  Yes, he's supposed to be unaffected until he's out, but perhaps that state carried over because the bots attacked him and I didn't?

 

But, I have a shapeshifting character, he's an Illusions/Icy Assault Dominator (L35), and I wanted to get some costumes to simulate his shape changing (too bad we can't keep these more permanently).

 

I opened a door, got an EB Vampire.  He held me BEFORE he was even out the door, then oneshotted me.  Yes, I know there's code to prevent oneshots, but the hold included a small DOT so I had taken perhaps 2 points of damage, so when he hit me for over 1200 damage in one attack, it was far more than my 800 or so maximum health.  It's a oneshot, whatever you care to call it.  I had NO chance to fight back.

 

This happened on the next 10 doors I opened, occasionally with different EBs.  A couple were Mummies, a couple were Spectral Werewolves.  It didn't matter, they all cast a hold, and then oneshotted me, or were accompanied by something that cast a hold and then they oneshotted me.  There's just no way to even START to fight back against them.

 

I even tried running away (very heroic, what fun), but they inevitably cast a hold or something, and boom, I'm dead.

 

 

I think these foes need a serious balance pass.  Others in chat seemed to agree.

Also, I think EBs should NOT appear at all if you've got your Notoriety set up for no solo EBs or AVs.  If they're meant as group content, they should NOT be appearing for solo players, unless those players have specifically chosen to allow it.

Edited Thursday at 08:29 PM by Ultimo

[Ultimo]

Double post

 

Edited Thursday at 08:29 PM by Ultimo
Double post

[Glacier Peak]

No from me. 

[Ultimo]

2 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

No from me. 

It's fine, if you want to fight elite bosses, you should be able to.  Not everyone wants to or even CAN fight them.  If I've set my Notoriety so I don't get EBs in missions, I shouldn't get them from the event either.

 

Unless I'm on a team... but even then, they're absurdly overpowered.

[Rudra]

21 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Also, I think EBs should NOT appear at all if you've got your Notoriety set up for no solo EBs or AVs.  If they're meant as group content, they should NOT be appearing for solo players, unless those players have specifically chosen to allow it.

You are talking about a zone event. Notoriety settings do not apply to zone maps. (Edit: That's why even with bosses turned off, you can face plant into bosses in the zones normally.) How would they? Say Player A has bosses turned off and Player B is in the same zone but has bosses turned on because Player B is looking for bosses to fight, whose notoriety settings would apply to the zone? So you are asking for something that can't really happen.

 

Edited Thursday at 08:50 PM by Rudra

[Steampunkette]

I've clicked on a bunch of doors in Cap Au and gotten 0 monsters...

 

Is it limited to specific zones?

[Rudra]

1 minute ago, Steampunkette said:

I've clicked on a bunch of doors in Cap Au and gotten 0 monsters...

 

Is it limited to specific zones?

What is your character's level? You can only ToT in zones appropriate to your or your team's level.

[Steampunkette]

Just now, Rudra said:

What is your character's level? You can only ToT in zones appropriate to your or your team's level.

Ahhhhh... that explains it.

 

Thank you! ❤️

[Glacier Peak]

Just now, Steampunkette said:

I've clicked on a bunch of doors in Cap Au and gotten 0 monsters...

 

Is it limited to specific zones?

Level 25 or higher is the only requirement.

 

Cap au Diable doesn't go up that far, (Level 8-20) so I'd try other zones if you're a higher Level. 

[Rudra]

3 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

Level 25 or higher is the only requirement.

 

Cap au Diable doesn't go up that far, (Level 8-20) so I'd try other zones if you're a higher Level. 

This isn't true. You only need to be level 20+ to get the tips.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event/Trick_or_Treat

[Ultimo]

I don't think it works in Atlas, perhaps Mercy?

[Ultimo]

18 minutes ago, Rudra said:

You are talking about a zone event. Notoriety settings do not apply to zone maps. (Edit: That's why even with bosses turned off, you can face plant into bosses in the zones normally.) How would they? Say Player A has bosses turned off and Player B is in the same zone but has bosses turned on because Player B is looking for bosses to fight, whose notoriety settings would apply to the zone? So you are asking for something that can't really happen.

 

Yes, but they're not regular zone spawns, standing around in the area.  They're being spawned specifically for the character opening the door.

 

My solution to them being overpowered is to make them NOT spawn unless the player has accepted that challenge by adjusting his Notoriety.  The alternative is to adjust the strength of the EBs so the average solo player of ANY AT can fight them successfully.  As they are now, it's just impossible for many or most characters to have any kind of a chance.

 

It has to be one or the other, because it's completely ruining the event for me, and I'm sure others.  That Dominator I mentioned opened 16 doors.  15 of them were EBs of one sort or another who instantly obliterated him.  There's no way he could even run away.  After that many, I just gave up.  Not a ringing endorsement for the event.

[Glacier Peak]

13 minutes ago, Rudra said:

This isn't true. You only need to be level 20+ to get the tips.

https://homecoming.wiki/wiki/Halloween_Event/Trick_or_Treat

This thread is about Halloween Elite Bosses though, isn't that what @Steampunkette was referring to?

[Ultimo]

I checked... you can definitely do door knocking in Steel Canyon, which is L19 and below.

[Rudra]

14 minutes ago, Glacier Peak said:

This thread is about Halloween Elite Bosses though, isn't that what @Steampunkette was referring to?

I was under the impression @Steampunkette wasn't getting any mobs at all.

[Rudra]

16 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Yes, but they're not regular zone spawns, standing around in the area.  They're being spawned specifically for the character opening the door.

That doesn't matter. Zones are not affected by notoriety settings. Only instance maps are affected by notoriety settings, and even then, only by the mission holder/team leader's notoriety settings. How are you supposed to apply notoriety settings to a zone map without either screwing over players that want low difficulty or players that want high difficulty? And even if somehow notoriety settings could be applied, you are still talking about random spawns, which even in instance missions ignore notoriety settings. (Again, most likely because of game engine/code limitations.) So your request simply isn't feasible as far as I can tell.

[Ultimo]

2 minutes ago, Rudra said:

That doesn't matter. Zones are not affected by notoriety settings. Only instance maps are affected by notoriety settings, and even then, only by the mission holder/team leader's notoriety settings. How are you supposed to apply notoriety settings to a zone map without either screwing over players that want low difficulty or players that want high difficulty? And even if somehow notoriety settings could be applied, you are still talking about random spawns, which even in instance missions ignore notoriety settings. (Again, most likely because of game engine/code limitations.) So your request simply isn't feasible as far as I can tell.

Well, I don't know how the mechanics of it are set up.  I thought that, when the game spawns enemies in a mission, it checks the Notoriety of the character, and spawns appropriately.  If that's the case, it should work the same way when spawning enemies from the door.  They're not specific to that zone, after all.  But again, I don't know how the game decides these things.

Either way, something should be looked at.

[Rudra]

4 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

Well, I don't know how the mechanics of it are set up.  I thought that, when the game spawns enemies in a mission, it checks the Notoriety of the character, and spawns appropriately.  If that's the case, it should work the same way when spawning enemies from the door.  They're not specific to that zone, after all.  But again, I don't know how the game decides these things.

Either way, something should be looked at.

I'm telling you. If a boss is randomly spawned in an instance for any reason, that boss will be a boss regardless of what your notoriety settings are. And that still leaves the problem of individual players' notoriety settings being applied to a world map/zone. Notoriety settings cannot be applied to zone maps. That is why there are always bosses on the zone maps even if you and everyone else currently in the zone has bosses turned off. Because zones cannot be adapted to individual player preferences. If you are finding yourself facing the EBs as random spawns and unable to deal with them, then ToT near a team and ask them to lend you a hand if an EB shows. Or ToT near drones so that when one shows, you can flee to the drone's protection. Or click the door and immediately flee to a ranged position so you can check the mobs and continue fleeing if it is an EB. Take precautions.

[Ultimo]

I don't think I've explained what I mean properly.

If I do a radio mission, it won't spawn bosses because of my notoriety.  The spawns that occur are based on ME, not the zone.

In the open city zone, the general population of NPCs are not spawned according to any player, so bosses will occur (but not Elite Bosses, that I've ever seen).  However, the trick or treat spawns are the result of a particular player.  They appear to conform to the level of the player, NOT the zone, so I don't see that they're spawning according to the zone's rules.  If so, they're spawning according to the player's rules, and that should include notoriety conditions.

I'll test this a bit, try modifying my character's notoriety, and by visiting higher and lower level zones.

[Luminara]

21 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

The first one I met was the Ancient Vampire Lord, when playing my Bots/Electric Affinity Mastermind.  With judicious healing, I was able to keep the bots up  before he cast some area effect thing that started melting them.  They lasted about 10 seconds, and I had to run away.  I had been fighting him continuously for around 15 minutes by that point, and did NO DAMAGE AT ALL.

I suspect this was a bug,

 

He summons a Dark Servant, which activates Chill of the Night as soon as it's summoned.  He also uses Chill of the Night himself.  That's 60% -ToHit.  Both of those are PBAoEs... and you had your ranged henches parked right on top of him.  Of course they couldn't hit.

 

And he uses Chill of the Night within a minute of spawning, if not sooner, so you spent 15 minutes completely ignoring both the Dark Servant and the EB's actions.

 

As usual, you did it to yourself.

 

15 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

I think these foes need a serious balance pass.

 

Shocker.

[lemming]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

But, I have a shapeshifting character, he's an Illusions/Icy Assault Dominator (L35), and I wanted to get some costumes to simulate his shape changing (too bad we can't keep these more permanently).

All of the costumes are available from the Holographic vendor, so they are available permanently

[Ultimo]

7 minutes ago, Luminara said:

 

He summons a Dark Servant, which activates Chill of the Night as soon as it's summoned.  He also uses Chill of the Night himself.  That's 60% -ToHit.  Both of those are PBAoEs... and you had your ranged henches parked right on top of him.  Of course they couldn't hit.

 

And he uses Chill of the Night within a minute of spawning, if not sooner, so you spent 15 minutes completely ignoring both the Dark Servant and the EB's actions.

 

As usual, you did it to yourself.

 

 

Shocker.

The bots were above him.  I don't know just how far, they were above ME as well.  My usual tactic with this character is to use Air Superiority to knock him down, while the bots blast from a distance away.  However, that's ONE character.  What if it was a Tanker?  He HAS to be in melee range. I guess he's just not expected to ever hit him or damage him?  What about the Crone Matriarch, with her oneshot ranged attacks, or the flying Spectral Werewolf?  There's more than the Vampire needing looked at.

 

Someone once mentioned that custom AE enemies don't use the same powers as the rank and file enemies in the regular game.  I wonder if that's the problem with THESE enemies?

 

29 minutes ago, Rudra said:

I'm telling you. If a boss is randomly spawned in an instance for any reason, that boss will be a boss regardless of what your notoriety settings are. And that still leaves the problem of individual players' notoriety settings being applied to a world map/zone. Notoriety settings cannot be applied to zone maps. That is why there are always bosses on the zone maps even if you and everyone else currently in the zone has bosses turned off. Because zones cannot be adapted to individual player preferences. If you are finding yourself facing the EBs as random spawns and unable to deal with them, then ToT near a team and ask them to lend you a hand if an EB shows. Or ToT near drones so that when one shows, you can flee to the drone's protection. Or click the door and immediately flee to a ranged position so you can check the mobs and continue fleeing if it is an EB. Take precautions.

I checked out other zones and increased my character's notoriety, to see if the spawns were appearing relative to HIM in any way.  Turns out he can't knock on ANY doors in lower level zones at all, and in level appropriate zones, the enemies appear at his level, but only in small groups (as opposed to the x8 I had set him to).

 

The problem is that if I have to run away from every door I knock on, there's not much fun being had.  Granted, 15 of 16 doors spawning EBs is something of an aberration... when I switched characters I didn't have the same issue.

 

In any case, I'm not the only one thinking this. SEVERAL people in chat in the game felt the same way.

[Vanden]

1 hour ago, Ultimo said:

But, I have a shapeshifting character, he's an Illusions/Icy Assault Dominator (L35), and I wanted to get some costumes to simulate his shape changing (too bad we can't keep these more permanently).

 

You can, every Halloween costume is available from vendors in Vault Reserves for Prismatic Aether.

[Rudra]

7 minutes ago, Ultimo said:

The problem is that if I have to run away from every door I knock on, there's not much fun being had.  Granted, 15 of 16 doors spawning EBs is something of an aberration... when I switched characters I didn't have the same issue.

 

40 minutes ago, Rudra said:

If you are finding yourself facing the EBs as random spawns and unable to deal with them, then ToT near a team and ask them to lend you a hand if an EB shows. Or ToT near drones so that when one shows, you can flee to the drone's protection. Or click the door and immediately flee to a ranged position so you can check the mobs and continue fleeing if it is an EB. Take precautions.

I provided more than 1 option. And I'm sure you can think of more based on your playstyle. So my comment stands: Take precautions.

 

(Edit: Or join a team. And this is from a solo player. I've faced the exact same enemies you have. There is a way to deal with them. I can only offer general advice. It is up to those of us that choose to solo to figure out how to deal with the challenges we face plant into.)

 

Edited Thursday at 10:21 PM by Rudra

[lemming]

Well, notoriety isn't taken into account for the door spawns, but your level is.  Might be able to code that, but not knowing the code myself, not sure.

 

They're not a total "zone event" mob, but generated based on the character and if teamed, more are spawned.

 

As mentioned in another thread about the EBs, I don't know why the leagues are going on about setting your notoriety to +4/x8