Major Bug or worst designed mission ever.
(Why is God-damn with no - censored?)
Did not anybody ever teach you in Sunday School: Do Not Take the Lord's name in Vain?
(Why is God-damn with no - censored?)
Did not anybody ever teach you in Sunday School: Do Not Take the Lord's name in Vain? |
We Brits are more civilised (and less likely to get mauled by children

GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Balista's are supposed to be a pain. Like the Rikti Magus. And the Arch-Mage's from the Thorns, they represent the elite of the elite. They are many things, but un-soloable isnt one of them.
I will concede a full +3 spawn is a little heavy handed, but I dont recall getting +3 spawns from this mission. Granted I haven't done it since 4XP was put it, but still. Why not drop in a Shivan for some help? Or tap some of the other temp powers you get along the way (red side has some nice ones as well). There are many ways to cope with nasties, and you have to be ready for them.
Tanker Tuesday #72 Oct 5 @Champion
"I am not sure if my portrayal of being insane is accurate, but damn its fun all the same."
Balista's are supposed to be a pain. Like the Rikti Magus. And the Arch-Mage's from the Thorns, they represent the elite of the elite. They are many things, but un-soloable isnt one of them.
I will concede a full +3 spawn is a little heavy handed, but I dont recall getting +3 spawns from this mission. Granted I haven't done it since 4XP was put it, but still. Why not drop in a Shivan for some help? Or tap some of the other temp powers you get along the way (red side has some nice ones as well). There are many ways to cope with nasties, and you have to be ready for them. |
-There was any indication there would be a Ballista. There was none. Most missions at least hint heavily.
-That assumes everyone has Shivans. All the time. Not a way to balance a game.
-Same with the temp powers.
-The AV didn't die, resulting in mission fail. An AV, Ghost Widow herself, for pity sake, got beaten up by a Longbow mob and an EB? Tell me THAT isn't broken.
Normal EBs are solable, yes. Ballista's are no normal EBs. Rikti Magi only spawn on the ship raid, when there are massed teams, and the CoT Archmages are on specifi missions.
Ballista's are randomised 'Tank Mages' who are on the same level as the RV Heavies and Vanguard HVAS'. I wouldn't bet on one of them beating a Ballista, either.
For Solo play, they are horrible. But +3? Broken.
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Sister_A...in_St._Martial
Note the two bugs listed on the wiki page
1) Ghost Widow though flagged as an AV her HP and attacks are the same as a boss
2) the Ambush spawns at a minimum level of 40.
It has been that way more or less since the the contact came into the game.
Add the current whackiness with ambushes in general, and its easy to see how that mission can be nasty.

@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
http://paragonwiki.com/wiki/Sister_A...in_St._Martial
Note the two bugs listed on the wiki page 1) Ghost Widow though flagged as an AV her HP and attacks are the same as a boss 2) the Ambush spawns at a minimum level of 40. It has been that way more or less since the the contact came into the game. Add the current whackiness with ambushes in general, and its easy to see how that mission can be nasty. |
Why haven't that and the lvl 40 in a 35 TF PPs been fixed yet? Pretty major bugs, dontcha think?
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Mission: Deliver the Tabula Scuta from Sister Airlia
AT: Stalker, Claws/Ninjitsu Level: 37 Diff settings: +0/X1 No Bosses, No AV (Standard Diff) The end ambush was a ******* level 40 spawn. LVL 40! And, if that wasn't enough, guess what they brought with them? A Ballista. A ******* BALLISTA! With NO warning, NO decent help, seeing as Ghost Widow got obliterated despite being a level 40 AV herself, and NO chance of completion once I died, because the ambush attacked and killed her. What the hell, man, what the hell?! T'be honest, I think Ballista's themselves need looking at. They are unsoloable, unless you stock up just on purples and greens, and even then your in for a horrible fight. They don't downscale, and they do rediculous damage even with the likes of [Force Bolt] for pity sake. (Why is God-damn with no - censored?) |
Out of curiosity, I checked the Paragon Wiki page on the mission and it still has warnings up re: level 40 Ballista and friends (oop, I see it's been mentioned already.. Arbiter Kim Arbiter Kim Arbiter Kim)
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"Chew Electric Death, Snarling Cur!"

3 issues of not being fixed?
Thats...well....pathetic?
Seriously, I dunno. Theres very few things I could fault with CoX majorly, but that is one of them. That an any mission left broken and KNOWN ABOUT for more than an issue...
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Im not sure I would use that phrasing.
I would additionally see the appearance of Arbiter Kim in the redname ranks as a recognition of the issue and of a desire to do better

@Catwhoorg "Rule of Three - Finale" Arc# 1984
@Mr Falkland Islands"A Nation Goes Rogue" Arc# 2369 "Toasters and Pop Tarts" Arc#116617
Well, what else would you call it?
Theres incredibly few instances I know of that are downright broken. This is one of them, the lvl 40 PP mish, the Cavern TF killing everyone as they enter and the Eden Trial being broken in the level range.
It's great that the game is mostly free of such things, but surely they should be dealt with sooner rather than later? Not three issues later, certainly.
And yes, Arbiter Kim is already doing a good job, I'd say.
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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That an any mission left broken and KNOWN ABOUT for more than an issue...
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I nearly completed this mish with my Crab Spider. I might have to try it with my Bots/ Traps. Might be challenging, but I think I can probably crack it <cracks knuckles>
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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If I'm not mistaken, the actual bug is not the mission itself, but rather Sister Airlia. She's not supposed to offer you that arc until you are level 40, but goes ahead and does so anyway at 35. The rest of the mobs in the missions scale, but the ambushes don't. Seems like I remember reading that somewhere.
As for the Ballista's, yeah, they are a bit too much IMHO. Their defenses and damage are way out of line for them to ever spawn on solo missions.

Even knowing the mission ambush is coming isn't always even enough.
Fully knowing the 40 EB was coming and ready to solo 'em he popped in right on top of Ghost Widow, not even out of line of sight like most ambushes, the immediately detention field my toon... proceeding to then pwn the crap out of poor Ghost Widow in about 10 seconds. LMAO
I beat this solo though.... it was on my bots/FF so we were all soft capped and by we i mean GW me and my horde of pets
I've beaten this mission twice solo. The trick? Get yourself obliterated by the Ballista, then he'll (hopefully) wander off into the hall and stay there. Use a Revive to bring yourself back and sneak past him with Ghost Widow. It's worked for me and is interestingly the only strategy I know that calls for your death.

This would be feasible if:
-There was any indication there would be a Ballista. There was none. Most missions at least hint heavily. -That assumes everyone has Shivans. All the time. Not a way to balance a game. -Same with the temp powers. -The AV didn't die, resulting in mission fail. An AV, Ghost Widow herself, for pity sake, got beaten up by a Longbow mob and an EB? Tell me THAT isn't broken. Normal EBs are solable, yes. Ballista's are no normal EBs. Rikti Magi only spawn on the ship raid, when there are massed teams, and the CoT Archmages are on specifi missions. Ballista's are randomised 'Tank Mages' who are on the same level as the RV Heavies and Vanguard HVAS'. I wouldn't bet on one of them beating a Ballista, either. For Solo play, they are horrible. But +3? Broken. |
I remember the first time I did this and couldn't believe how easy it was running on top difficulty. GW just tore through the mobs but that was on my Dark/Dark corrupter so DN on the Ballista probably made a huge difference.
That bears up on later runs - my Widow which should have been able to handle it easily was two shotted by the Ballista - Hosp and reset before it failed. The repeat attempt downed the Ballista but on low health and GW down to about half then she got hit by the Wardens.
The heroside version otoh can be very nasty - I couldn't take her on my tank as it went - hit her once - HELD, click BF, DEAD. A trayload of purples allowed me to get her down to about 1/2 health before she got the lucky hits in - then quickly dead with her on full health.
Ballistas are very definitely soloable without having to rely on temp pets and there are plenty of arcs where you come across them. The hardest I had was with my Fire/Fire Brute before he had any KB protection where he couldn't get the self heals off so died very quickly but my Corrupter, various Doms and even my petless MM have taken them down solo with varying degrees of difficulty.
Indeed there are many other EBs that are much harder to solo - mostly the downgraded AVs/Heroes.
Rikti Magi also spawn in some RWZ mishes so not just on the ship and they are also soloable - bring BFs if you're playing a squishy.
Mind of Gaia lvl 50 Defiant's first Mind/Storm 'troller.
Deadly Doc 50 Dark/Dark Corr
and lots more on Pinnacle,Union and Defiant
Hint. - GW was caught! - you have fought her before I presume so have some idea how hard that can be so why would you not expect something tough to guard her - I expected an AV the first time I ran it and was presently surprised to find only a Ballista.
I remember the first time I did this and couldn't believe how easy it was running on top difficulty. GW just tore through the mobs but that was on my Dark/Dark corrupter so DN on the Ballista probably made a huge difference. That bears up on later runs - my Widow which should have been able to handle it easily was two shotted by the Ballista - Hosp and reset before it failed. The repeat attempt downed the Ballista but on low health and GW down to about half then she got hit by the Wardens. The heroside version otoh can be very nasty - I couldn't take her on my tank as it went - hit her once - HELD, click BF, DEAD. A trayload of purples allowed me to get her down to about 1/2 health before she got the lucky hits in - then quickly dead with her on full health. Ballistas are very definitely soloable without having to rely on temp pets and there are plenty of arcs where you come across them. The hardest I had was with my Fire/Fire Brute before he had any KB protection where he couldn't get the self heals off so died very quickly but my Corrupter, various Doms and even my petless MM have taken them down solo with varying degrees of difficulty. Indeed there are many other EBs that are much harder to solo - mostly the downgraded AVs/Heroes. Rikti Magi also spawn in some RWZ mishes so not just on the ship and they are also soloable - bring BFs if you're playing a squishy. |
GG, I would tell you that "I am killing you with my mind", but I couldn't find an emoticon to properly express my sentiment.
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Manm i wish I knew about this before, Just done that mish with my L35 Ninja stalker, rescued GW, noting she was an L40 AV, then ping, ambushed by L40 EB and LT (at default settings) and was like WTH as GW went down fast! Something needs to be done about this! Either the ambush needs changing or the level SA offers the arc!!
Then it's time for them to get off the cross, use the wood to build a bridge, and get over it.
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Biggest Troll on the forums? I'll give you a hint:

Though this is perhaps not helpful to all, I thought I'd pop in with a quick tip, to those it applies to: Ballista are susceptable to control effects. They have mag 6 protection, but once that is taken down, they're helpless.
Note that because of their long duration,confuse effects work wonders against them. (And give you defense to protect you as you kill them.)
As to that mission in particular, I would also like to note there is something very odd with Ghost Widow's endurance use. When she runs shadow fall, her endurance simply dies. Even without this, she simply cannot continue through many fights without bottoming out, making her a tad useless.
Mission: Deliver the Tabula Scuta from Sister Airlia
AT: Stalker, Claws/Ninjitsu Level: 37 Diff settings: +0/X1 No Bosses, No AV (Standard Diff) The end ambush was a ******* level 40 spawn. LVL 40! And, if that wasn't enough, guess what they brought with them? A Ballista. A ******* BALLISTA! With NO warning, NO decent help, seeing as Ghost Widow got obliterated despite being a level 40 AV herself, and NO chance of completion once I died, because the ambush attacked and killed her. What the hell, man, what the hell?! T'be honest, I think Ballista's themselves need looking at. They are unsoloable, unless you stock up just on purples and greens, and even then your in for a horrible fight. They don't downscale, and they do rediculous damage even with the likes of [Force Bolt] for pity sake. (Why is God-damn with no - censored?) |
2 Because that combination of words is offensive. Being a christian myself that is one of the few swear words that actually does offend and annoy me when I read or hear it.
Friends don't let friends buy an ncsoft controlled project.

The power of the Tabula Scutum is mine, Von Schaden, but not yet truly mine. To accomplish that, I need for you to travel back to whence you came and deliver the Tabula into the hands of the one you know as Ghost Widow. She waits for you in an office building in St. Martial.
Give to her the Tabula and she will transport it to her home in the Rogue Isles. There, she can claim the legacy that should have been hers so long ago.
Perform this deed with the utmost of speed, as there are forces that would seek to thwart Ghost Widow from claiming her prize. I foresee that she will run into some difficulty that she will need your help to overcome. Do this and your reward will be ample.
Mission Failed: You failed to deliver the Tabula and Ghost Widow was recaptured by Longbow. Not your finest hour.
Mission: Deliver the Tabula Scuta from Sister Airlia
AT: Stalker, Claws/Ninjitsu
Level: 37
Diff settings: +0/X1 No Bosses, No AV (Standard Diff)
The end ambush was a ******* level 40 spawn. LVL 40! And, if that wasn't enough, guess what they brought with them? A Ballista. A ******* BALLISTA! With NO warning, NO decent help, seeing as Ghost Widow got obliterated despite being a level 40 AV herself, and NO chance of completion once I died, because the ambush attacked and killed her.
What the hell, man, what the hell?!
T'be honest, I think Ballista's themselves need looking at. They are unsoloable, unless you stock up just on purples and greens, and even then your in for a horrible fight. They don't downscale, and they do rediculous damage even with the likes of [Force Bolt] for pity sake.
(Why is God-damn with no - censored?)