Suggestions on defining Lowbie and/or Solo Arcs
By
anachrodragon,
Posted on: 2009-05-25 22:21 in Mission Architect
Why don't you roll a lowbie defender or controller for testing purposes? Then you can try to tune your arc accordingly to accommodate those guys.
You can try the following:
- Use more in-game canon faction and their NPC's.
- Design your custom critters with holes that would let people defeat them.
- Avoid using killer NPC power-combinations unless it's for special Bosses (avoid high-DPS/high-debuffs when designing Minions and Lieutenants).
- If you have to have an EB/AV, try to balance it out by adding side-goals Allies which players can then choose to use against the Boss.
- If the Story is lowbie-friendly, avoid using NPC groups that do not scale well from Lv1 to Lv50.
- Test the Arc with Controllers/Defenders that have late-blooming AT/power-sets and function better on teams (Bubblers/Shielders are a example).
I believe that a Kheldian Gold Standard should be based on SO's, and for anything above that... there's Platinum!
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Also avoid custom mobs with a lot of mez abilities. I ran an arc last weekend that was advertised as lowbie friendly, but you had to defeat three chain-mezzing bosses in it. I had to keep running back to buy breakfrees and lucks after dying repeatedly. Wasn't fun at all.
Most player characters don't really have all of their tools until level 22. (This is the point that Single Origins in the stores are usable, so the Invention Origin system can blur this line a bit.) There are some builds that can be competitive with the big boys, if sidekicked/lackeyed up. But not everyone is going to be like that.
Custom critters, however, don't scale like that. So rule #1 of lowbie friendly content is Custom critters should only be used for unique bosses. Minions and lieutenants should be filled in from stock critters.
Second, ambushes should be used sparingly and tied strictly easy objectives like release captives, object collections, or destroy objects. Simply put, Someone who might have 45% defense with SO (or level 25+ IOs) who would only suffer 1/10 points of damage at full power would have only 38% defense with dual origins and suffer 1/4th damage, or about 33% protection with training origins which allows 1/3 damage to get through. Without giving a chance to rest and heal up before meeting the next wave, ambushes after or during boss encounters just plain kill lowbies instead of providing a fun "challenge."
But that's really the only hard rules I can come up with. It has been suggested before, but probably the best thing to do is make a defender, controller, corruptor, or dominator for lowbie MA testing and see for yourself what happens with your content.
basically custom critters are not lowbie friendly.
Do not include anything tougher than Boss in a lowbie mission.
and arcs are either lowbie friendly or they are not. I've run a few that claimed to be lowbie friendly and then found an EB in the final mission (downgraded to Boss) that I couldn't beat.
If a lowbie cannot comfortably do the entire arc, it is not lowbie friendly
[ QUOTE ]
This topic is more towards the "Lowbie" part rather than the solo part, but I'll gladly take any advice on both.
I'm looking for advice on how to tell how Solo / Lowbie Friendly your arc is.
I did it a couple times, although there's always the build that just can't solo it as a lowbie. I got complaints from 2 people out of a good bunch. One controller and one defender.
I thought just putting it up like "85% lowbie friendly" would help define how well it works.
Especially when using some custom enemies.
Any advice?
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There will always be low-level defender and controller builds that have an extremely difficult time soloing any content, even Hellions. The main problem is that they don't do enough damage, so they wind up dead before the mobs do.
In addition, the skill and experience level of the player makes a big difference. Someone who knows when to use inspirations, how to pull, when to run, which mobs to take out in what order, etc., will be able to run much tougher missions than a newbie can. And someone with a vet attacks (Sands of Mu, Nemesis Staff) will be able to do a lot more damage than someone who doesn't. So if you're testing a mission's lowbie-friendliness, don't use any of your vet powers.
If your arc has any of the following things, it is not lowbie-friendly:
<ul type="square">Elite Bosses and AVs.
Mobs with holds and stuns (basically any controller power sets).
Mobs with high-damage single attacks (War Mace, Super Strength, etc.).
Mobs with mez resistance (melee defense sets on extreme).
Mobs with damage resistance debuffs (Dark Miasma, Radiation Emission, etc.).
Ambushes.
Destructible objects (these usually have an automatic ambush associated with them).[/list]Again, this does not mean that no lowbie can complete missions containing these. It just means that novice players with low-level characters will be extremely challenged by them.
<ul type="square">[*] Use standard mob types. Particularly those that are exclusive to a low level range.[*] If you use custom mobs, use them sparingly and don't make them necessary for mission completion. And don't give them mez/buff/debuff sets either.[*] Don't set a Detail spawn to hard if it's a mission objective.[*] Don't use AVs/EBs. Bosses are tough enough at low levels. If someone wants to fight a real tough boss, well that's what difficulty ratings are for. People who're running at CL1 are doing so for a reason. Don't undermine that.[*] Try not to make it a marathon (unless you're going for a Task Force type arc). Lowbies progress through missions more slowly, especially solo. If you do want to make a long arc, consider adding a buffer ally here and there to help move things along. But try to make the allies optional. Especially if you're writing for redside (Stalkers are particularly inclined to not like baggage).[/list]
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[ QUOTE ]
There will always be low-level defender and controller builds that have an extremely difficult time soloing any content, even Hellions. The main problem is that they don't do enough damage, so they wind up dead before the mobs do.
In addition, the skill and experience level of the player makes a big difference. Someone who knows when to use inspirations, how to pull, when to run, which mobs to take out in what order, etc., will be able to run much tougher missions than a newbie can. And someone with a vet attacks (Sands of Mu, Nemesis Staff) will be able to do a lot more damage than someone who doesn't.
[/ QUOTE ]
That's one thing that seems to get left out of these considerations. I'd rather arc players own up to the responsibility of making the "can I do this one or not?" call instead of having to make so ultra-sure my arc's sharp edges have been filed down and warning signs plastered across every surface. Well, actually the warning signs would be ok at the beginning of an arc - that's what the arc write-up space is for.
For example, I recently ran a lowbie arc for villains with a lowbie MM and did fine. I sent the author a nice comment and he mentioned back that some Corrs and Doms had complained it was too hard. Lots of things are hard for lowbie Corrs and Doms and you should know this by now.
This can lead to some bad calls on your part as a player of course. "My Dom's doing good at 8th, I think I can do this one... oh wait, I just died again, maybe not..." If that'd happened to me after making my judgment call (assuming the author's arc was well labeled with what to expect), then I have no prob owning up to my mistake and not one-starring the arc or something.
I dunno how common or uncommon a stance that is for a player to take though.
This topic is more towards the "Lowbie" part rather than the solo part, but I'll gladly take any advice on both.
I'm looking for advice on how to tell how Solo / Lowbie Friendly your arc is.
I did it a couple times, although there's always the build that just can't solo it as a lowbie. I got complaints from 2 people out of a good bunch. One controller and one defender.
I thought just putting it up like "85% lowbie friendly" would help define how well it works.
Especially when using some custom enemies.
Any advice?