Let's talk about the Hollows level ranges

[mechahamham]

I've been going through arcs on a lower-level character the last several days. I often (read: 'almost always') keep exp turned off, but this was extra important for this character because I didn't want to outlevel the Hollows contacts.

 

Is the Atta mission at level 13 with no exemped-in goodies as bad as I remember it? Well, it helps that I wasn't doing it with DOs and TOs. I defeat-all'd it, and didn't regret the experience.

 

I managed to get Karsis unlocked and actually did a CoT trial *at level 16*, which crossed all my ts and dotted all my is for the Hollows. I did a few other arcs and then started looking at what else I wanted to accomplish before level 20.

 

"It seems like I heard someone mention doing Shauna's arc at level 19. That must be interesting."

 

So I went through her and Eagle Eye's arcs at level 18, and they WERE interesting, but in the best possible way. I expected the Skulls to be kinda broken, either far too hard or far too weak. They had just the right difficulty. The extra attacks they had from being level 18 and 19 were just perfect to make fighting far more exciting than simply wailing on the level 5-10 Skulls you find in the open zones. 

 

Then you come to the Rave mission in Eagle Eye's arc, where Veles is entertaining Atta and promises him a tour of his Superadyne lab.

 

Atta that I beat into a mush at level 13. 

 

It's always been pretty ridiculously easy to out-level the Hollows arcs, even during the Live era. Everyone wants to do that +4x8 Frostfire mission, which generates a TON of exp, no matter how you slice it. Finishing Julius' and Talshak's arcs via Ouro is often the only way to do it unless you do what I did and keep exp carefully turned off. Both have an upper limit of level 14. Talshak is doubly odd in that his acceptable level range is 12-14 rather than 10-14. 

 

Given that all the enemies in the Hollows arcs, with the possible exception of the Igneous, scale to 20 or well past, I really feel like the level ranges for Talshak and Julius should cap out at 20. At this point, it's far more difficult to arrange to do them normally than it is to revisit them with time travel shenanigans. It would not only make it easier to do the arcs without resorting to Ouro, but it would give players another reliable '+4x8 Frostfire' opportunity with the Atta map.

 

I don't think there's any pressing need to adjust Karsis' level range since the trial implicitly has TF exemplaring built into it. It couldn't hurt to do so, though, even if it means giving the Igneous another couple attacks to make the Cavern trial more interesting.

 

Difficulty: Easy-Medium. If this were Mission Architect, it'd be a one line change for the missions involved. If the Igneous get new powers, they could be taken directly from the various stone and fire sets. Lots of players don't have much in the way of defense, even at 20, so it might be kinder to hold off in that regard.