I’d like to hear one of the dev’s opinions on this matter - especially the part about unlocking both Elite and Ultimate upon killing Log/Theodin in Normal along with the appropriate warning boxes if you are currently under the “recommended” level.
I love a good challenge (as do most people) which is why the moment I have enough scrap to repair the bridge to Act 2, I leave Act 1 and trudge through until I kill Cronely (though I will farm Staunton Mine for dynamite so I can kill Rolderathis before continuing to Burrwitch, then out Direni so I can kill him later). I’d love to go from Veteran straight to Ultimate just to see if I could make it through the beginning areas. Also, according to one of my other topics, it seems a lot of other players end up killing Log around level 50-60, so it’s not too far fetched to think a level 55(ish) character couldn’t live through the beginning areas of Ultimate.
With a decent build, I’m sure it’s more than doable while the new players can rely on Elite to help bolster their levels, gear, devotions, etc. More seasoned players can skip Elite and go back at a higher level to rush through and grab all the skill/attribute quests and shrines without spending a whole lot of effort for very small rewards.
Ok, so I’ve finished 2 characters now, with another closing on Ultimate. I got to admit, the way things are has made the game more enjoyable for me.
At first, it felt overwhelming. Like I had clear everything, and had a lot more to finish, but then I changed up my style of play after my 1st character. I no longer have to open my map a lot to see what needs to be uncovered, as I just rush to key quests and bosses. I no longer have much time between fights, as I never have to back track.
It feels a lot more relaxing, and I may finish my characters faster now, than before, as running around doing every side quest is time consuming.
I must be doing something wrong I aim to hit Log at level 32 then go into elite.
I figured three difficulty levels max cap 100 should be 33 levels per difficulty.
As to whether the expansion renders it pointless; I don’t think so because you can run through it on elite as well.
Just makes a smoother transition if anything.
I mean isn’t the idea of having separate difficulty levels a bit redundant anyways if your already going to have level scaled entities per area.
I’d rather have steeper scaling and only have to run through the unique setting once rather than over and over again with less and less resistances for the same no good reason.
That would be very hard to do, hitting Log with that low of a level. And even then, leveling slows down as you go up, so the break down would more likely be 45, then maybe 70 at that pace to hit Ultimate, and may be 85 once you finish Log. Then you can take your time through AoM.
I’ve done a speedrun long before the expansion and I reached Log around level 30 but that was skipping as much as humanly possible and doing only the bare minimums. Now, when I do a normal run through Veteran, I end up killing log in the mid to low 60s and finishing up the expansion content in the mid 70s. Judging from my other topic, a lot of people were hitting Log around level 55-60, so adding in the expansion areas only stands to reason that people will be entering Elite around level 70 which is far too high to keep with the general flow of three difficulties.
Granted, new players probably won’t be jumping through SoT, Port Valbury, or BoC the first time they reach them, but most of us are now capable of running the rogue dungeons without any risk in Normal/Veteran. Doing the rogue dungeons and all of the side quests plus a few bounties for extra rep and the faction’s rep quests will land you in the low 50s upon reaching the Necropolis just from quest experience alone. If you’re even halfway decent at killing enemies when you explore an area, you should easily be in the low to mid 60s when you get around to killing Log.
Next time you play, skip all that. Stay focused on the main quests, and don’t worry about clearing the map. Just run through fast, but not skipping past mobs either. Don’t even worry about the map. Don’t worry about skipping things, and don’t pick up every little side quest either, unless they are on the main path of the primary quests.
Just do this through one play through. It’s freeing, really. You no longer have to think much to play, and just enjoy it more. It also takes care of the over leveling issue. Skip AoM on Elite as well. You should already be gaining plenty of faction just through monster killing, once you unlock the factions on Veteran/Normal.
I, too, really like the idea of beating Normal/Veteran unlocking both Elite and Ultimate difficulty for that char or reaching Elite/Ultimate once unlocking it for all chars.
If that is, for whatever reason, not possible or just won’t be done, maybe scaling in Elite could be like Ultimate is now (i.e. all areas scale to 100) with maybe the upper limit being 95 instead of 100 and Ultimate could be level 95+?
I, for one, don’t feel it’s unnecessary, more like a “middle child” nobody likes and even the devs neglected.
As long as the content was expanded, at the moment there’s no place for three difficulties.
players already skip parts of the game or just follow the road without exploration, otherwise they overlevel the zones and get exp gain penalty
with the amount of content we already have, leveling a new char feels mostly like a chore, it takes like forever to meet the high level content and the end game; it’s even worse on HC - once you die it ain’t funny
IMO it will be easier for Crate to rework and rebalance the game for two difficulties at this very moment, rather than later. And there will come, inevitably, a moment when they’ll have to do it, that’s for sure.
And when (if) another expansion comes, to make the whole game a single playthrough with no separate difficulties.
Remove the skill points and attribute points from Elites quests and re-arrange them in Normal/Ultimate.
Make so after beating wave 100/150 on crucible it unlocks campaign difficulties and crucible difficulties.
Right now the game is to long, it takes over 20 hours to finish the entire game on Veteran while full clear the maps, rogue dungeons and quests. And that being from someone with 500 hours that knows exactly where to go and how to do quests in a efficient way.
20 hours to complete veteran? It takes me 5-6 hours depending on where I full clear or only do quests and rogue dungeons and only 10-15 hours in total to beat both elite and ultimate for 15-21 hours per character in total not taking into account end game farming…
It’s very easy do by using lightning now from cracked loadstone or the acid bomb from mutagenic iccour/venom tipped ammo combined with any of the gap closer skills
Another option would be making running all the way through elite actually meaningful. From what I’ve read the problem seems to be that Elite is perceived both as not challenging enough and not rewarding enough.
I wouldn’t actually make it harder, as it would negatively impact new players. However I do think it can be made way more rewarding. Given how hard it is for non-hardcore gamers to actually complete end-game sets without resorting to trade (it seems a lot of people is reluctant to do so) and how frustrating this can get (I’ve close to 1.000 hours, farming extensively both challenger and gladiator crucible, and only managed to complete ONE pre-aom endgame set), a mechanic involving a guaranteed reward for completing each dificulty would be very positive imo.
For example, you could get tokens after beating each dificulty level, tradeable in-game for an item of your choice. Getting a char through all three difficulties would only net you three end game items, given that no tier system is implemented.
A mechanic of the sort has -imho- many positive effects:
Increases satisfaction with a reasonable compromise and helps solving am issue that shows up permanently on the forums. Three items of your choice after investing 20+ hours doesn’t seem too much and helps newcomers getting their first top tier farmer.
Provides an alternative (possibly way less effective than crucible) to normal grinding and encourages players to explore different classess through many playthroughs.
Encourages theorycrafting at different stages, not only end-game, to optimize playthroughs.
Can an approach like this be exploited? Certainly yes, but there’s plenty of easier options to cheat (gdstash anyone?) and possibly farming gladiator crucible would remain as a more efficient approach. However, I’ve got the gut feeling that the majority of the player base (that I assume can’t invest hundreds of hours just to finish their builds and taste their end-game potential) would greatly benefit, while hardcore gamers wouldn’t be hurt that bad.
The problem is not with elite. But the overall “distribution of experience gain”, defined by personal preferences of an individual, through leveling.
Some skip elite, others skip normal. Depends on the player.
I prefer to skip normal, but to focus on full elite clear.
Others may have it differently.
I have +4.5K hours in this game. New players should have hard times in progression “maintenance”.
The keyword is “skip”, no game developer should be happy if players refuse to play parts of his game.
It’s not about small fixes and band aids, but a bit of a drastic approach to fix the consequences of a big patch.
Some guts, balls, and other attributes.
Heck if all the fuss was about being overlevelled, rendering Elite to be a non-threat factor. That’s always a good problem to have…
Would you all rather it reverted back to the formula of TQ or other generic ARPGs when scaling of leveling steps up exponentially increasing the amount of grind needed to reach higher levels?
Nitpickers…
complain when a game highlights grinding, and complain regardless when the game gives you free levels. Humans are never satisfied. :undecided:
Meh, frankly Elite should remain because it provides space for those less capable of making great builds or having issues with the gear they need dropping not dropping. And with the fact Malmouth has a level cap of 90 in Elite means it also now serves as a great place to farm the new Aetherial rare materials and level 94 legendaries.