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Arc Name: Hunting the Dark Dragon
Arc ID: 2922
Morality: Heroic
Faction: Circle of Thorns, Malta Operatives, Space Pirates, Spearhead Division
Creator: @Acid Zero
Difficulty Level: Hard (1 AV(EB) with no allies, end boss very tough)
Synopsis: I created this in response to the many dragon invasion themed arcs I found on test, and decided to give it my own (slightly chaotic) spin by employing dragon concepts from people I know. I like to think this arc takes several things in new directions, and not just with the dragons - it's also up to the player to choose which way this arc ends.
Estimated Time to Play: 1/2 - 1 1/2 hours
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Rating 4.5 / 5
Why a 4.5? Well I really want to give it a 5 (and I did on the in-game rating) but my intense hatred for all things Malta just wouldn't let me post a rating without mentioning it...
Mission 1: This is a pretty standard CoT mission in Oranbega (City of Spirits map I believe). It's straight forward with some rescues before your allies make short work of the madness mage at the end. Interesting characters, good use of clues.
Mission 2: This is where my pain began... again it's a CoT map, but this time you're actually up against Malta... oh how I hate Malta... anyway dialogue fits great, and the clues point you down the right path though they are much rarer in this mission than the first. Fortunately the only Malta you HAVE to kill is the commander at the end and his cronies, pretty standard fare.
Mission 3: Now this is where things start getting twisty... First you beat the crap outta some malta, then fight the leader (who is actually a Knives of Artemis, but meh)... but then you get the REAL surprise of going toe to toe with... space pirates! Yes, you heard me right. All in all the pirates are pretty nasty opponents (due in large part to the damage bonus Shadow Troopers get from /NIN) but it's managable and you don't have to fight a whole lot of them if you're careful.
Mission 4: Ah the mission where you get warned about bringing a team. Well being the ambitious scrapper (43 Kat/SR) that I am I went on alone to see what this boss was gonna be about. Now like mission two, it again seems like I'm defending a villain group from Malta... at least up until the end when it turns out the boss appears because it was a trap... and YOU where the trap. On a side not I was rather surprised with how easily I mopped up the EB, but that might have just been luck.
Mission 5: Yay for player chosen outcomes! Seriously, this mission makes for a perfect ending to the Arc and I wouldn't have expected things to turn out like this... oh say until mission 4's boss showed up. Without spoiling anything, I fought to the end to check out the custom designs and character info, et al. But once I reached the end I made my choice and actually chose to fail the mission, and not because I couldn't have beaten the bosses.
In the this is end a great arc with some laughs but mostly just a fun story... except the malta ;p. I recommend it, though I'd probably recommend a team as well. I wish I had some things to point to improving the missions but I honestly can't think of anything that might actually make it better than it already is.
-Greiven
