Please, tell if your arc can be soloed or not!
By
Afterimage,
Posted on: 2009-04-28 07:49 in Mission Architect
The problem is that what is 'soloable' varies by about three orders of magnitude between different levels, ATs, and stages of IO'ness.
But yes, I generally think people should at least put in warnings if they really felt the need to include extreme/extreme fire blast/willpower AVs.
Having Vengeance and Fallout slotted for recharge means never having to say you're sorry.
People just shouldn't use settings higher then standard or hard in non-challenge or taskforces.
With the recent changes to what comes in a standard loadout, I think soloability will be a lot easier to achieve. You can pick Standard on all your enemies and they'll present a good challenge without being insurmountable, without key problem powers.
And failing that, the upcoming tagging system will let you tag as "Team Only" or "Soloable".
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The obvious answer is to change the AE interface that will show you which power sets have been chosen, at which difficulty level for all custom critters in the mission.
It doesn't have to show you pictures or names, but simply something along the lines of: Custom Enemy-Minioin-BroadSword/Standard-Willpower/Extreme.
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With the recent changes to what comes in a standard loadout, I think soloability will be a lot easier to achieve. You can pick Standard on all your enemies and they'll present a good challenge without being insurmountable, without key problem powers.
And failing that, the upcoming tagging system will let you tag as "Team Only" or "Soloable".
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Ahh, the tagging system is a must and I am glad to here that. I apologize for my rant 
I can solo every arc I have or plan to write with my level 50 Dual Blades/WP scrapper. But that's not for everyone. Most comments I get on my arcs doesn't talk about difficulty, but I get almost exactly the same numbers of "too tough, I can't solo this" as I get "too easy".
So my arc description always says if it has AVs/EBs. And I trust people to know if they can deal with that.
My arcs are constantly shifting, just search for GadgetDon for the latest.
The world beware! I've started a blog
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My arc The Echo can be soloed fairly easily by any AT. Although the final mission does include 15 chained boss fights, they are all set as low as possible in terms of difficulty.
Eco.
MArcs:
The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
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I can solo every arc I have or plan to write with my level 50 Dual Blades/WP scrapper. But that's not for everyone. Most comments I get on my arcs doesn't talk about difficulty, but I get almost exactly the same numbers of "too tough, I can't solo this" as I get "too easy".
So my arc description always says if it has AVs/EBs. And I trust people to know if they can deal with that.
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I actually played and beat Butterfly Effect on a couple toons. One I ran it twice cause the xp was great. The last boss was really tuff though but I was able to come back and finish him off. See, thats not bad at all. The last arc I tried on the second mission the Boss was so Elite I didn't even scratch him and I had spent 30 minutes killing trash just to get to him. I am only going to play arcs that I know or find out can be soloed from now on, unless in a group of course.
My Arc (in my Sig) can be soloed by Scrappers, Tanks, Brutes, Brutes, Masterminds within the level range 35-50.
Controller and Defenders (and other support types) should be able to solo through Misson 3; or duo the whole thing.
All testing with regard to the above was done on the Unyielding difficulty setting; if you go lower support classes might be able to solo it. From the end of mission 3; you also have one Ally to assist per mission.
Like it was stated above, it's hard to just issue a blanket 'yes' or 'no' without at least knowing the AT and Pri/Sec power setup of the character wanting to attempt a given MA arc.
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My arc The Echo can be soloed fairly easily by any AT. Although the final mission does include 15 chained boss fights, they are all set as low as possible in terms of difficulty.
Eco.
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Just played through your mission. It was really good. Last boss killed me once, but I came back loaded and finished the job. I would suggest you put a note on each of your clues on the last mish and show the player how many more bosses are left. Like 1/15, 2/15 ect. Cause I lost count and was like, "when is this going to end!!". Have a date on the way so that didn't help either 
Other than that, cool story and I really enjoyed your writing and style. That one librarian boss that said, "shhhhhhh" when he died actually made me chuckle..
I have one arc I been working on, its done for the most part but I am not satisfied with the wording just yet. Check it out if you like : arc ID 125357 A Captain's Tale
My rule of thumb: Can a defender or squishy toon do this arc from mission one to five, without any help?
If not, then I would state: some ATs might need help.
Blazara Aura LVL 50 Fire/Psi Dom (with 125% recharge)
Flameboxer Aura LVL 50 SS/Fire Brute
Ice 'Em Aura LVL 50 Ice Tank
Darq Widow Fortune LVL 50 Fortunata (200% rech/Night Widow 192.5% rech)--thanks issue 19!
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My arc The Echo can be soloed fairly easily by any AT. Although the final mission does include 15 chained boss fights, they are all set as low as possible in terms of difficulty.
Eco.
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Just played through your mission. It was really good. Last boss killed me once, but I came back loaded and finished the job. I would suggest you put a note on each of your clues on the last mish and show the player how many more bosses are left. Like 1/15, 2/15 ect. Cause I lost count and was like, "when is this going to end!!". Have a date on the way so that didn't help either Other than that, cool story and I really enjoyed your writing and style. That one librarian boss that said, "shhhhhhh" when he died actually made me chuckle..
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Thanks for playing my arc! I'm glad you enjoyed it.
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I have one arc I been working on, its done for the most part but I am not satisfied with the wording just yet. Check it out if you like : arc ID 125357 A Captain's Tale
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I shall certainly play it. Whwnever I get feedback from someone on my arc, I play their arcs in return.
Eco.
MArcs:
The Echo, Arc ID 1688 (5mish, easy, drama)
The Audition, Arc ID 221240 (6 mish, complex mech, comedy)
Storming Citadel, Arc ID 379488 (lowbie, 1mish, 10-min timed)
Quote:
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Originally Posted by Samuel_Tow
[The Incarnate System is] Jack Emmert all over again, only this time it's not "1 hero = 3 white minions" it's "1 hero = 3 white rocks."
|
I have no intention of using EBs or AVs in my arcs, unless I suddenly have a "really good idea", in which case I'd put some sort of comment in regards to that in the Description box.
Bosses with Hard/Extreme powers are pretty rough as it is, adding custom EBs/AVs with those powers would be nasty. <_<
Dungeoncleaners! (ID#125715): Slay the Adventurers! Rescue the Monsters! Return the Treasure!
Peppermint Cat-- Lv50 Mewtant Ice/Eng Bls
Here's a hint to help you: If the mission states it has a boss, get help. It is the same way in the game. Its an MMO. And since there is no XP bonus, you can simple quit the arc and start a new one. You still get your noraml XP. Sheesh.
I include in my description that my arc has two AVs, and squishies may not be able to solo it, especially at the levels the arc is set to. The AVs aren't overly difficult, no SS/WP set to extreme or anything, so a brute or scrapper going in thinking "Meh, I can solo this" shouldn't have a problem.
I am currently working on a high level hero and high level villain arc that are intended to be completely soloable, no AVs or EBs at all. Once you hit the 40+ level range, the regular game throws some nasty stuff at you, so the definition of "soloable" allows for more flexibility, IMHO.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
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Here's a hint to help you: If the mission states it has a boss, get help. It is the same way in the game. Its an MMO. And since there is no XP bonus, you can simple quit the arc and start a new one. You still get your noraml XP. Sheesh.
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Being the only person I know in RL that plays this game its not that easy to get help just to kill one boss and some bosses take a whole group at that. Whats this about "XP Bonus"? I noticed that when I completed one of the Dev Choice arcs I got a huge bonus of XP at the end, but when I complete a normal arc or one of my own there was no bonus? Is that what you are refering to? But it was a Dev Choice arc I was playing when on the second mish after killing everything there the boss was too difficult to solo, and I was hoping for that XP bonus when I completed it 
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I include in my description that my arc has two AVs, and squishies may not be able to solo it, especially at the levels the arc is set to. The AVs aren't overly difficult, no SS/WP set to extreme or anything, so a brute or scrapper going in thinking "Meh, I can solo this" shouldn't have a problem.
I am currently working on a high level hero and high level villain arc that are intended to be completely soloable, no AVs or EBs at all. Once you hit the 40+ level range, the regular game throws some nasty stuff at you, so the definition of "soloable" allows for more flexibility, IMHO.
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My thoughts are that I would want as many players to want to play my arc as possible. And sense the MA auto levels you then haveing a 1-54 or say 45-54 works out nice that way sense basiclly any level that plays will still recieve xp.
I would advice authors to play through their missions on a alternate low level charater. I found that around level 10 you can handle most enemies after being auto leveled. I also found out that not all bosses are created equal. Some my level 10 could not touch while some went down as fast as a lieutenant.
Also, you could make mention if having or not having travel powers would make the arc to easy or difficult cause some maps are so huge that finding a clue without travel power may be next to impossible.
Yeah, that's why we have level ranges. If the arc says 40-50 lower levels can still play it, but the implication is that it isn't balanced for them, it's balanced to provide an appropriate challenge for an epic level character. So no, I'm not going to run through an arc that contains Malta and Nemesis on a low-level character. It's not designed for them.
Making an arc appropriate to low-level characters involves more than just throwing in some Hellions and slapping an LBMA tag on it. You have to consider the limitations of a lowbie, especially when designing custom enemies. I'm incredibly leery of trying level 1-54 arcs on a lowbie, since I find most designers do not keep lowbies in mind when designing an arc that "everybody can play."
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
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Yeah, that's why we have level ranges. If the arc says 40-50 lower levels can still play it, but the implication is that it isn't balanced for them, it's balanced to provide an appropriate challenge for an epic level character. So no, I'm not going to run through an arc that contains Malta and Nemesis on a low-level character. It's not designed for them.
Making an arc appropriate to low-level characters involves more than just throwing in some Hellions and slapping an LBMA tag on it. You have to consider the limitations of a lowbie, especially when designing custom enemies. I'm incredibly leery of trying level 1-54 arcs on a lowbie, since I find most designers do not keep lowbies in mind when designing an arc that "everybody can play."
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Well sense all I have to play with at the moment is said lowbies I can attest somewhat to what lowbies can and can not do. I have been leveling a scapper from level one just using the MA. As long as the enemies don't have a lot of resists or can stun or use hold lowbies seem to do fairly well.
My scrapper was almost level 13 when I started MrCaptainMan's "The Echo". Thats an arc designed for levels 40-54. I only died once on the last boss and was level 14 when I finished. Freakshow group was not easy as they come back to life lots of times but I managed just fine.
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As long as the enemies don't have a lot of resists or can stun or use hold lowbies seem to do fairly well.
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Both of which high-level characters are expected to deal with all the time in dev-created content. Thank you for proving my point.
Eva Destruction AR/Fire/Munitions Blaster
Darkfire Avenger DM/SD/Body Scrapper
Arc ID#161629 Freaks, Geeks, and Men in Black
Arc ID#431270 Until the End of the World
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Here's a hint to help you: If the mission states it has a boss, get help. It is the same way in the game. Its an MMO. And since there is no XP bonus, you can simple quit the arc and start a new one. You still get your noraml XP. Sheesh.
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Being the only person I know in RL that plays this game its not that easy to get help just to kill one boss and some bosses take a whole group at that. Whats this about "XP Bonus"? I noticed that when I completed one of the Dev Choice arcs I got a huge bonus of XP at the end, but when I complete a normal arc or one of my own there was no bonus? Is that what you are refering to? But it was a Dev Choice arc I was playing when on the second mish after killing everything there the boss was too difficult to solo, and I was hoping for that XP bonus when I completed it
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That is exactly what's referred to. Dev's Choice arcs are set up more like regular in-game arcs, not MA arcs. MA arcs give no end-of-mission bonuses.
Dec out.
The arc in my sig is written to be solable by any AT. I tested it with my empathy defender.
As for bosses: A "boss" doesn't have to be an EB/AV. Why should a soloing player be locked out of 99% of the MA, virtually every arc has mission(s) with "defeat a boss". It is far easier for a writer to put [EB/AV] in his description they have gone to the effort of making them as such.
I knock a star off the rating if I run into unnannounced EB/AVs. It could be the best arc I've ever run into, it won't get higher than 4 stars if it doesn't state in the description that EB/AVs are used or a team is suggested.
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Almost all of my arcs (published and unpublished, with one exception) have an EB/AV. My mind goes towards epic fights, and you need an epic opponent for them. But I fully agree that the arc description should mention if there are EBs/AVs. And there are various levels of AVs, so if things are very tough, that's also worth mentioning. One of my unpublished arcs includes a Longbow Ballista, Hopkins, Kalinda, Hro'Dtohz, Black Scorpion, and a custom AV, so that got an extra warning.
My arcs are constantly shifting, just search for GadgetDon for the latest.
The world beware! I've started a blog
GadgetMania Under Attack: The Digg Lockout
I think that arc designers who fail to warn their audience about elite bosses, arch villains, or custom minions that are much harder than normal minions are only hurting themselves.
A couple of nights ago, I played an arc that was clever, funny and well designed. Then I reached the final room in the final mission. That one contained an Elite Boss who kicked my stone/dark brute to death twice. Even using a full tray of inspirations I couldn't get that EB below 2/3 full health after two minutes of fighting. Once I ran out of defense buff inspirations, it took only 3 martial arts kicks from the EB to defeat me.
That arc dropped from a potential 4 or 5 stars to 2 stars when I rated it. If the designer had warned me that it had an EB in one of the missions, it would have gotten 3 or 4 stars.
I am getting tired of starting someones arc getting to the end of the first or second mish only to encounter a boss that can not be soloed. If you want to make your arcs impossible to solo thats fine... just let people KNOW it can't be soloed so I want waist my time!