Hey man, nice story, seriously!
Just wondering. Did you play in Normal +? I am told all balancing in the mod is around Normal and Normal + is meant to be significantly harder, according to the website.
Thanks, I was just playing on plain old Normal. I briefly tried Normal+, but I just couldn’t bring myself to stick with it. Andariel in Normal has 250k HP, on Normal+ that’s more than doubled to 570k. And unless I missed something the fight remains unchanged. There are no new mechanics to it, it only takes more than twice as long.
By the way, did they change the world boss spawning? In both my Andariel runs the bone guy wasn’t in his little room. That would be a real shame, because on most chars I won’t be able to defeat them at level from now on. If I don’t have the option to engage them later, then it pretty much takes many of those out of the game for me during leveling. I didn’t do it that way before, so I’m not sure whether this has indeed changed.
Ah ok, cool.
The bone side boss was there in Hell. Just checked as I was finding all Act 1 bosses anyway. Went briefly to Normal + and he was absent but a nice chest for the taking, LOL.
Yes, same for me on Normal+, only the chest was there. I get it that it’s not much of a challenge to fight a level 20 boss with a level 50 char, but I could farm low level act bosses all day long if I wanted. Not sure why world bosses got excluded then, maybe it has to do something with the loot. I wouldn’t mind fighting them without getting any loot, I just want to study their patterns and I can’t do that when I constantly have to run away.
Just checked, he’s in nightmare. Man, got a level 80 set ring from him. He was level 80, LOL. So he’s not exclusive to Hell. Maybe it’s because Act 1 is a starting location and your character is new? Don’t know, since there’s a boss in an earlier area waiting to pick you apart in Normal. 
Update: I’m 56 in Nightmare now and managed to beat Andariel by a hair’s breadth. I was really lucky and found a poison shrine right before her room, which brought me to 81% resistance. I don’t think 76% would have been enough otherwise, I still had to disengage several times. The problem with Blessed Hammer for me is the windup. By just running around and throwing the occasional hammer I do way too little damage to her and the fight would probably last 30 minutes. So I have to stand in place for a good while, but at that point she is free to spam her AOEs. I also have no way to focus fire with that skill, so I kill her adds all the time who unleash poison novas themselves.
Maybe I could reskill only for that fight, but that feels like a cop out. I want to play as a Hammerdin without having to respec for certain bosses. I got to say, the playstyle starts to feel a little static because of the time it takes to kill certain mobs. Maybe my stats aren’t good enough, but that’s the best I was able to do without using items from my stash. I was very lucky and found a +2 dagger, otherwise I would have really struggled to get anywhere with Andariel. I’m not sure that players should already start to face roadblocks at the beginning of the second difficulty…I would leave that to Hell mode.
Here are my stats at level 56, I went with Amazon as my second class. My armor is rather low, because I can’t get rid of certain items. Like my freeze chest, which I normally would have upgraded by now. But without it, mobs would close in too fast and there is no way my 70% block chance would be enough to deal with 10 mobs hitting me at the same time.
I have died about 4-5 times by now, cause there is no way to anticipate some of the incoming damage. The minions of a random hero mob can hit just as hard as an act boss, I think that’s another thing that should be balanced out. It’s frustrating to not know why you died, because you get no feedback and just fall over.
Good day everyone, i am new to ROT, i am currently playing normal, in the lost city finding the claw viper temple, i enter a place called the emperor’s tomb, and there is no one inside but just a chest, now i can’t get out of that place because the portcullis gate won’t open.
usually a boss should spawn within places like this and beating the boss will open the gate, is it a bug that the boss doesn’t spawn?
teleport portal can’t be call up in the tomb so i guess exiting the game is the only way?
Level 2 of the Claw Viper Temple is just a square room with a chest (altar) in it, it’s part of the quest to assemble the Horadric staff. You need that one later in a different zone. Other than that the only dungeon I can recall in the Lost City are the Ancient Tunnels, I honestly can’t think of anything called “Emperor’s Tomb” off the top of my head. But maybe it’s a side area I never discovered and someone else can shed some light on it.
Thank you for a detailed feedback. Difficulty balancing has only just started with the last update so there is still a lot of work left to smooth out the edges. Another major factor are skills themselves which has been pointed out already. You can mitigate a lot of incoming damage with high armor values so that is also something to keep in mind.
These are “hidden uber” areas where the bosses spawn only on Hell difficulty. Emperor’s Tomb does indeed have the issue you have described and the gate will be removed on Normal / Nightmare diff in the upcoming 0.7 update.
I see, thanks for the explanation, i will restart the session and skip the tomb.
Have a nice day
I understand, but hero spawns seem to be too strong in general. I had some hunter type hero one-shot me, where act bosses need 2 heavy hits for that. At 77% elemental resists a lightning spirit hero would have electrocuted me, if I would have tried to facetank it.
The Sand Leapers in Act 2 are way too durable, considering they are just some small desert critters. Those have on average 2-3 times the hp of the other mobs in the zone (400-600k to 200-300k). All mobs of the “Hulk” variety (Yeti, Brawler, etc) regen too fast, they are almost like ice trolls in Skyrim. I tend to skip them because there is just no value in fighting those, when I can kill other mobs in a fraction of the time.
On nightmare I started again to fight world bosses whenever I come across one and with a few exceptions I was able to beat them. With capped resists their damage output seems to be in line with what you would expect at their particular level. Keep in mind that I also have a relatively high block chance, a character that gets hit every time might have much bigger problems with those.
I’ve done a hammerdin leveling through the new patch as well and had 0 issues overall, an easy and relaxing experience. (I did die a couple of times, but nothing crazy). I’ve gotten to act3 nm so far and havent had any of the big issues you’ve had so far, apart from hammers doing a bit low damage. I was able to facetank andariel for a while before I needed to move. This all on a SSF character. Not posting this to brag but just to indicate how different experiences can be with a relative similar setup (I simply maxed hammer, concentration, sanctuary and holy shield, with 4x P. Magic damage gem, also for a lot of bonus dmg vs demons).
Regardless, things will change. For upcoming patch:
- monster AR and defense (OA and DA) will go down,
- more items will be available to counter either regeneration or life leeching.
These I think are the biggest issues for most people, the hard to kill regenerators for AoE users
and simply having 70% chance to hit monsters and a good chance to get critical hit yourself. Makes it harder then it should.
There indeed is no reason to play normal+ as mentioned a lot by now, as the mod is balanced to provide a good challenge at normal.
Ram can correct me if I’m wrong, but normal+ simply increases the monsters’ stats by a percentage, it does not give them any new abilities. Maybe it’s possible to do that, but it time is better spend elsewhere.
The worldbosses not spawning however might be an issue specifically to normal+, they were there in normal. World bosses scale with your level, so you wont be able to farm a level 20 boss with a level 50 character (although they do max out at lvl48 on normal).
Then we are almost playing along with the exact same skills, I’m at Mephisto at the moment. To counter the rather low damage output I chose Amazon for the 40% chance to do double damage. With high cast speed it triggers often enough. We’ll see soon if this is enough to tackle Hell difficulty.
The problems I’m having might also stem from the fact that I still can’t figure out what abilities all the monsters have. I was doing fine against Mephisto until about 75%, none of his skills had the potential to one-shot me.
Then all of a sudden:
It wasn’t telegraphed as far as I can tell, my hp just went from full to 0 in an instant. That’s frustrating, cause I don’t know what to improve to prevent that. Should I stay away, should I be closer, do I need more resists or is it something else that’s causing that?
I’m currently level 62, is that too low to fight him? I tried to improve my stats as best I could without sacrificing essential pieces of gear, I really don’t know what to change at this point. My block chance is at 75% with +68% recovery and I’m even slowly upping dodge/deflect. I’m really going full defense and I still can’t prevent the random one-shots. And if you get warped back into a champion pack, you’re dead anyway. There is just too much incoming damage from those mobs if several hit you at once.
In every instance in Hell with the current patch, it was a matter of leveling and getting better gear and I could defeat Andariel or Mephisto (Duriel not a huge issue despite it killing all my minions as damage output was lower with him), and Diablo and Baal were defeated on first tries.
Health regen, don’t remember that being an issue in Hell. It’s timed how long it lasts and just takes patience. I may have encountered a few in act 5 who can potentially heal twice if you aren’t doing full DPS, but otherwise no issues with the regen on monsters, just takes longer.
I had no problem overall with any of the mechanics in Hell. My paladin/sorceress with Holy Shock and Fist of Heavens is in Act 1 Nightmare, no serious issues with him (her) either.
I’m not sure how I feel about that to be honest. That’s like putting a band-aid on a problem that doesn’t have to exist in the first place. We already have to juggle around 8 primary and 9 secondary resistances, why add even more specialized gear which then becomes mandatory for aoe builds? In that regard Grim Dawn already went overboard compared to other arpgs, Diablo II didn’t have half of that.
I dont see it as a problem. Sure some builds have issues with it, others don’t. That’s more an issue of imbalance between skills than a monster having the ability to regenerate.
Maybe at some point it’ll be removed, I’ll have to see how it plays out, but for now I like the mechanical that monsters can heal or regenerate, to make it a bit more difficult. But I do want the players to also be able to counter it, if they cannot simply out-damage it.
What was/is in diablo2 is of little concern to me. (Prevent monster heal was a D2 thing though)
I like the extra depth the tools allow for more mechanics on enemies. And many skills do fine without those mechanics, blessed hammer is one that requires quite some input before it shines. Ideally nobody should really need any if these items, but they will make noticeable. If you cannot kill without it, it means either your setup is really bad or the skill needs a boost.
It’s exactly the high amount of stats etc why I think grim dawn is better than d2, and why going back to a core d2 experience will be boring. Also, not every attack/debuff/skill monsters have works against every build type. What annoys ranged might be different than what annoys summoners etc. So this is another reason to use more different things.
Instead of just deleting everything that might [edit:] cause a problem, I prefer to give solutions, as I personally feel that is a more rewarding and fun way to play it. I want the mod the be a challenge to be conquered and not a lootpiñata.
Oh, don’t get me wrong. I absolutely don’t want to go back to the D2 days, I love (for the most part) modern arpgs. But community mods are a prime target for feature creep, even if it was done with good intentions. Every new stat needs to be accounted for in the loottable which in turn makes gathering gear even more of a grind (unless you can readily craft it).
And do regen mobs really add to the fun, when all I need to do is equip the right item to cancel them out? Isn’t that just the same what we have with all the other resists and debuffs already? I skip those now and I’ll probably also skip them after the next patch, because why would I gear up for a select few encounters when I can equip stuff that works for 95% of the mobs? I know that some players like to run around with an inventory full of backup gear and constantly switch it around. I never bother with that, I’ll gladly sacrifice some efficiency for a more laid back playstyle.
It seems clear speed is a big issue with alot of players. I am more patient than most it seems. I really like Normal +.
Having more mechanics in how monsters and healthpools interact creates a more dynamic gameplay that feels unique.
Lets say the monster had high HP instead of heal. No matter what every player needs to clear the same amount of HP per kill.
Now take a healing monster with lower HP. If you go above a particular damage threshold you may defeat the heal or at least reduce it’s ability to affect clear speed.
Now consider game balance. With set HP it’s more likely a player with high DPS will tank roll, lets say a Diablo run. With heal it ensures some tougher types hang around longer, so high DPS is more able to provide the player with the feeling of power without being totally overpowered (OP). The game becomes easier to balance overall and ensures most players will have a similar experience.
Prevent monster heal is another stat to look for if that is added in the future. But what are you giving up to equip an item with such a stat? Is it worth it?
vs.
Need more DPS to clear faster.
I’d prefer the more interesting monster mechanics and interaction.
Is preventing monster heal required? No, it’s optional. If it’s required, the heal duration or strength of the heal should be reduced. Perhaps needing faster clear speed doesn’t qualify as a requirement and instead is something a player wants. Because the player wants something they lack, it creates more dynamic strategies to defeat it, without making the game unplayable if the solution isn’t found.
I am Easy to please.Give me 2 cents and a bag of marbles and i am happy😁.
Now on a more serious note.I do agree some bosses are tough.I ran into a champion that 1 shot me early game.That was harsh but i got over it.When i went back i killed him no problem so maybe was a bug as he did little damage.
I don’t mind difficulty but only if it’s scaled with the players leveling.Even at raven down in the tomb i got 1 shot lvl 5 or 6.That’s a little harsh😒.Again when i went back i had no problem killing him so i don’t know why first try they can hit like that.
Ram said in previous post that him and his team are working on balancing but he made this mode to be the same experience than diablo 2 on players x8.Give them some time to figure it out.They did a terrific job so far but rome wasn’t build in 1 day. , They can’t squash all the bugs or make everyone happy.But it requires play testing