Let's take a look at the major changes/additions to the game since Swede published the thread regarding the discontinuation of elite maps, and how they are impacting the motivation to farm elite Shuyal maps:
1. Rare spawns with good loot have been added to normal maps in order to appease the crowd of players who do not enjoy elite runs.
This, I recall, was an idea set forth by us forumers. The idea in theory is great - it allows for non-hardcore players to run normal maps and have a chance at some good loot, and it is also an added incentive to the hard-core players who get bored from time to time and want something to do. STS listened to us and implemented Bael and Krunch. Let's consider their pros and cons in terms of their overall impact on gameplay:
Pros:
1) Their spawn rates are rare but fair.
2) The maps are not timed runs, so you can invite friends/guild mates granted you didn't lock the map via /partyinvite 000.
3) The maps they can be found on scale up for a L35/36 players which helps PvE kill count/XP for player/pets.
4) They are not absurdly hard for the average player, even though they are elite bosses.
5) They have 100% drop rate of elite loot, so the payoff of searching is fair - also tied in to a con.
Cons:
1) Because their drop rate is 100%, they have become the preferred boss to farm even for some end-gamers. More reasons tied into this below.
2) Their loot table is
far too extensive. It was a clever idea to throw in some 'old school' gear, but this ultimately hurts the game's item inventory/economy more so than it improves it. The primary reason I say this is because having items like L35 Nordr weapons/armor on Bael/Krunch's loot table almost completely negates any reason/desire to run elite Nordr maps. Additionally, having elite Shuyal loot on their loot table is a
huge detriment to the existence of elite players. I personally do not find it fair that the average player doesn't have to put forth the
same effort in order to obtain the
same gear that end-gamers are running elite maps to find. What do I mean by effort? Learning the pulls of elite maps (spending hours/gold/potions), learning team dynamics within a party, and formulating strategy to run the maps effectively and efficiently. It takes no effort to grind for hours, find Bael/Krunch, invite your friends, and loot a L36 Architect Plate of Will - something I should have to kill elite Inan'hesh for!
3) They only have a few unique items in their loot table which should be the primary reason for hunting them in the first place, but it's not.
My proposed solution to fix Bael/Krunch in order to appease to both the elite end-gamers and casual gamers, while keeping the economy safe from crashing:
1. Remove all L35/36 Shuyal and Nordr loot from them. The Nordr campaign is scaled up for a reason, is it not? Isn't it to give us extended
elite content to adventure for
elite loot? Bael/Krunch should not allow the opportunity for those particular campaign's elite items to drop on normal maps. The rest of the loot table: Brackenridge, Rook's Nest, Dead City and Kraken can stay. This loot scaling up only makes sense because it adds variety to the game's end-game inventory. Also, no one is really farming that content because this game severely lacks the opportunity to farm twink gear like in PL and SL (another topic worthy of a thread...).
2. Slightly improve the stats of Bael/Krunch's unique items (e.g. Wrath of Bael, Troll Necromatic Ring) and make them ultra rare. The point is to make these items highly desired by end-gamers because they will be on par with the newer gear - just be different in terms of stats and adding variation to someone's wish list. It gives players a special reason to hunt for Bael/Krunch rather than going in with the expectation that they will find some expensive Nordr/Shuyal drop to sell. Give us a reason to
actually farm them for a useful items, but requires time, dedication and possibly multiple killings to acquire. Their drop rate of chests is fine, because it is their rare item. Legendary items, if possible, need to be tiered so that the 'common' legendary drops are the scaled up Brackenridge-Kraken gear while the 'rare' legendary drops (possibly requiring a re-roll to obtain) would be the unique items such as mentioned above.
2. Rare legendary drops have been added to "trash mobs" of elite maps.
Yet another idea presented by this forum community within Swede's thread. I think this is fantastic, and a huge step forward to fixing elite runs. I think more great ideas/additions can stem from this and ultimately make elite maps very enjoyable. One idea that compliments the Bael/Krunch implementation is having special rare spawns within elite maps as well, with a decreased rarity and smaller loot table (maybe just Archon Ring and/or Golden Puzzlebox). Maybe Captain Rutger got lost and ended up in Shuyal...
From my perspective, the largest problem with elite trash mobs is that only a small percent of them has to be cleared in order to spawn the boss. This, in my mind, completely takes away from the challenges of the game and unbalances the risk vs reward factor greatly. One solution to this is to scale the trash mobs down a bit in terms of HPs (so that they will be cleared quicker, but not as easily as normal maps) and increase the number of mobs required to be killed in order to spawn the boss (overall, the time it takes to run a map should be about the same). To balance this change in order to maintain the shear challenge of elite maps,
slightly increase the boss' HPs - they won't necessarily be "harder", because they won't hit harder, but they will require a longer duration of survive-ability tactics to defeat. This prospective change to the trash mobs/bosses may also help the players who don't enjoy running elite maps 'because they take took long', while keeping the risk vs reward factor in tact.
3. Increased gold and potion drops to barrels/chests.
This is a very satisfying modification that will help players with the burden of paying for pets and potions. However, I would still like to see more potion drops from actual mobs and especially without any correlation with how many potions a player has on hand. I could be wrong, but from my experience, I only see potions drop with I have <25 of either type. Potions should drop no matter how many you have stocked.
4. Improved stats of L32+ epic items.
I am really enjoying this, because again it creates a larger inventory of gears that are usable and marketable. I've ran out of time, I may come back to edit this later and expound upon it.
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Additional areas of the game that need to be re-looked at because they're greatly effecting the motivation to farm elite Shuyal maps:
1. Shuyal Arena - please nerf the drop rates or give this place it's own, unique armor/weapons. Or, if that suggestion requires too much time and resources, simply remove the Architect gear and just leave the Puzzleboxes; but, also add a daily quest to maintain any incentive of running the Arena for loot. I mentioned a pretty decent idea for a quest in a previous reply to this thread.
2. Drop rate of mythic items out of crates. Players have very little reason to spend their hard-earned gold on Shuyal's legendary items when they can just purchase a mythic item with a bit more time and saving. Honestly (and this is coming from a player who has two toons dressed in upgraded mythic), I'd rather see a bunch of end-gamers running around in a diverse variety of legendary and epic items than have us all in the exact same gear. Unfortunately this would also impact end-game dynamics in PvP, so it's a complicated issue. Also, I am probably not seeing the big picture and statistics that go along with this complaint. I have no idea how many crates are actually being opened per day/week/month - maybe the drop rate is reasonably low.
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