The point of collecting badges is simply to collect badges, and for me at least, have fun when doing so.
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I've done it successfully 3 times, and all of those times we left the big guy where he spawned, had on person keep him busy and the rest killing zombies. The only time we failed it was because he died before 99 zombies were dead, and not because we ran out of time.
I would like the option to solo the Haunted House if only to be able to explore the environment at my leisure. Teams always power through and I feel like I am missing stuff.
ETA: I had no problems getting the Zombie badge on the two PUGs I did the trial with. You just avoid the Abomination and kill Zombies. As long as you have a few minutes to spare, that was enough to kill the Abomination.
The min/max 4 team limit isn't bad, though odd, and makes it a lil harder for just random singles to get into a game without forming up a team of 4 to begin with. And there seems to be an odd bug with Rogues/Vigilantes where selection "First Available Trial" tells them they can't join the event.
The trial itself is pretty fun, it's another mad dash like Death from Below. I ran it last night in a PUG and randomly wound up on a team of 4 illusions controllers XD 1 empathy, 2 Storm, and 1 Radiation (me). Everything went pretty smoothly, though we missed out on the 99/Abom badge, we nailed the 99 in about 9 minutes but just couldn't nail the boss fast enough in the time left, it took us about an extra 2-3 minutes after to drop him.
We also hit Experiment 9, which not everyone seems to hit. Anyone know what the trigger is for that event?
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4 controllers? Really? Weird.|
Originally Posted by Agent White
The min/max 4 team limit isn't bad, though odd, and makes it a lil harder for just random singles to get into a game without forming up a team of 4 to begin with. And there seems to be an odd bug with Rogues/Vigilantes where selection "First Available Trial" tells them they can't join the event.
The trial itself is pretty fun, it's another mad dash like Death from Below. I ran it last night in a PUG and randomly wound up on a team of 4 illusions controllers XD 1 empathy, 2 Storm, and 1 Radiation (me). Everything went pretty smoothly, though we missed out on the 99/Abom badge, we nailed the 99 in about 9 minutes but just couldn't nail the boss fast enough in the time left, it took us about an extra 2-3 minutes after to drop him. We also hit Experiment 9, which not everyone seems to hit. Anyone know what the trigger is for that event? |
See, thats where the LFG needs to be fine tuned. When you queue, you should be clicking the style of play you plan on doing (Tank, Support, Control, Melee, Range) so it adequately builds your team.
The reason I find 4 controllers weird is that I was under the assumption that it was already forming teams in a very basic manner this way, because every time I've done the trial, I've gotten a nice mix of players. (Tank, Dmg, Support/Control). Guess I was just lucky.
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oh no no, we formed the team before we hit the queue. We didn't all join in as singles. Unless it's peak hours, I've found you usually *can't* get into the trial by signing up by yourself. I've joined the queue and run around trick or treating and taken care of 'beat up X of Gang Y' style missions to pass the time. Usually I give up after 15 minutes (Though with the holiday trial, I've only tried about twice like that). When I actually ran it is when I advertised for a team and we coincidentally wound up all being Illusionists. We all joined up and as soon as we hit the queue we entered the trial.
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Originally Posted by Hy-Beams
I would like the option to solo the Haunted House if only to be able to explore the environment at my leisure. Teams always power through and I feel like I am missing stuff.
ETA: I had no problems getting the Zombie badge on the two PUGs I did the trial with. You just avoid the Abomination and kill Zombies. As long as you have a few minutes to spare, that was enough to kill the Abomination. |
I think that's probably doable One trial I did we lost a member to RL and the trial did not auto end like some of the Incarnate ones... Find three friends willing to join long enough to get you inside and then quit and you are off and running solo ..
don't hate me if this strategy doesn't work we were more than half way through when the guy had to quit and may have just completed before the thing had time to decide we did "Not have enough members to continue".
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First, if we're going to split hairs, War didn't say 'all' he said, 'everything.' |
Originally Posted by GavinRuneblade
War said "all". If even one thing can be run solo, then it is not "all". And while teams can run the solo stuff, that's not the point and never will be. If you want a solo game, go buy a console, this is a MMO. It assumes teaming just like all others in the genre. It also has lots of activity for people to do solo. Some soloists have managed to do team stuff (like the people with solo master of badges, including the Doms who get solo master of recluse and Statesman TFs).
I duo'd the haloween trial after two left. and my partner could have solo'd it. I dunno, I play 90% solo except for trials and stuff and when my buddies are online (I'm 9 hours off from their timezone so we don't see eachother online a lot) and I still have no problems witht eh mix of team vs solo content. |
Second, this type of turn of phrase is often hyperbole, and thus not meant to be taken literally. I can't know for sure how he meant it, of course, any more than you can, but I choose to give him the benefit of the doubt.
Third, console games are not universally single player, especially with most of them having online features now, but even ignoring that, many had multiple controller availability for a while now, so you've created a very false dichotomy.
Lastly, yes, we all know it's an MMO, but that doesn't assume teaming, it assumes multiple people on the server at any one time, as opposed to people having to take turns being on. Teaming is universally an option, but, never is it assumed that you must team in an MMO. Cars mostly have 2 or more seats, but that doesn't mean that it should follow that the car won't start with just one occupant.
It is reasonable to assume that a fair amount of content be available to the solo player. Where the 'reasonable' amount level falls is open to debate, granted. And you are more than free to argue that a reasonable level of solo material is available, in your opinion. That is also fine. It's not as valid an argument to dismiss a desire for solo content as counter to the nature of MMOs with the simple statement, "this is an MMO," as if he's lost his mind to ever expect solo play out of such a game.
His complaint, at it's core, was that in past a higher percentage of the new content was available solo, without needing to find fillers, and he thinks the percentage has gone down. I don't know if that's even accurate, but it does *seem* to be the case, based on the 50/50 split someone else came up with. I share that perception. It may be wrong, and it might be right, I've not done a careful breakdown on it, and I don't intend to.
Now, as to if it's a problem if the amount of solo available content decreased in percentage, that's a different debate. I'm on the fence entirely on that issue, as I like teaming being encouraged. But I can also sympathize with the plight of the solo player on a low population.
I seem to recall Zwill stating that the 4-man max was due to the small nature of the maps, that during testing they adjusted the team sizes and found anything more than 4 was 'messy'.
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Hmm. They should prolly also make sure that teams don't end up with multiple masterminds, then, too. If this is indeed the entirety of the reason behind this limitation.
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Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
I seem to recall Zwill stating that the 4-man max was due to the small nature of the maps, that during testing they adjusted the team sizes and found anything more than 4 was 'messy'.
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You don't have to solo it to explore it at your leisure. I completed it with a team and got the badges but I didn't exit. I stuck around and listened to Kane complain for a while. Then I worked my way back through the mission exploring all the areas and admiring the little touches like the spooky paintings, the animal heads with glowing eyes and the glowing eyes behind the grates. I danced around on top of the cauldron full of candy then waved goodbye to the wolf and left. I probably spent half an hour inside after mission completion.
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Originally Posted by Hy-Beams
I would like the option to solo the Haunted House if only to be able to explore the environment at my leisure. Teams always power through and I feel like I am missing stuff.
ETA: I had no problems getting the Zombie badge on the two PUGs I did the trial with. You just avoid the Abomination and kill Zombies. As long as you have a few minutes to spare, that was enough to kill the Abomination. |
Don't count your weasels before they pop dink!
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So we can't have access to our first epic power.| ALL I wanna know is WHY LEVEL 29?!?!?!?!?!?!?!? |
*grumble* ...character balanced around CP, that I grabbed at level 35... *mumble*
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Thats what I figured.
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Originally Posted by MaestroMavius
I seem to recall Zwill stating that the 4-man max was due to the small nature of the maps, that during testing they adjusted the team sizes and found anything more than 4 was 'messy'.
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AKA: Ath BS/SD Brute (Hero)
"The Fall and Rise of Athanatos" Arc ID: 521712
Outcast Cooler - "Those who live by the sword get shot by those who don't."
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Originally Posted by Madadh
Hmm. They should prolly also make sure that teams don't end up with multiple masterminds, then, too. If this is indeed the entirety of the reason behind this limitation.
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Yeah that possibility sort of makes the whole "messy" map theory seem silly.
This does give me an idea for completing the final part and defeating 99 zombies.. At 29 level any MM will have all 6 available pets.. so 3 MMs and a tank/Brute to hold the Abomination's aggro. Three masterminds and 18 pets running through the graves should spawn zombies quick and have plenty of fire power to defeat them. The between secondary buffs, debuffs, ect the 4 man team should be able to easily defeat the AV and get badge number 3.
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It's not that hard to get the badge. Someone was forming a team earlier and I asked if I could bring an empathy defender since I wanted the crows costume change emote. We had a brute, a scrapper, a controller and my emp. We took down the 99 zombies and the Abomination in 9:something.
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Originally Posted by Wicked_Wendy
Three masterminds and 18 pets running through the graves should spawn zombies quick and have plenty of fire power to defeat them. The between secondary buffs, debuffs, ect the 4 man team should be able to easily defeat the AV and get badge number 3.
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Very much this. I've done the Trial 8 or 10 times, and have yet to fail getting the 99 zombies + the AV in much less than the allotted time, with completely random teams (usually people wanting the badges or, like Ironblade, wanting the Costume Change Emote).
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Originally Posted by Ironblade
It's not that hard to get the badge. Someone was forming a team earlier and I asked if I could bring an empathy defender since I wanted the crows costume change emote. We had a brute, a scrapper, a controller and my emp. We took down the 99 zombies and the Abomination in 9:something.
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Oh, it's pretty easy to fail the It's Alive badge. Just have some combination of low DPS or low mitigation. You can come by these by having a lack of support ATs, a bunch of characters with Psi or Negative damage, which I'm pretty certain the Abomination resists pretty well, or a good number of characters at the low end of the level range with few slots and DO strength enhancement or thereabouts.
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Originally Posted by Eric Nelson
Very much this. I've done the Trial 8 or 10 times, and have yet to fail getting the 99 zombies + the AV in much less than the allotted time, with completely random teams (usually people wanting the badges or, like Ironblade, wanting the Costume Change Emote).
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I've done the trial several times with a Dark/Dark defender and Dark/Dark blaster, and never had any problems.|
Originally Posted by Ms. Mesmer
Oh, it's pretty easy to fail the It's Alive badge. Just have some combination of low DPS or low mitigation. You can come by these by having a lack of support ATs, a bunch of characters with Psi or Negative damage, which I'm pretty certain the Abomination resists pretty well, or a good number of characters at the low end of the level range with few slots and DO strength enhancement or thereabouts.
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The Dark defender makes it particularly easy to get It's Alive: put Darkest Night on the Abomination, spawn Dark Servant at its feet, and the pet will tank the Abomination for you, healing itself as needed while your team spends all its time on zombies.
I haven't noticed that it takes significantly longer for Dark Energy attacks to take down the Abomination, but since Dark Miasma includes -res and -regen attacks, the AV's defenses are seriously compromised.
The two times (so far) I haven't been able to get the badge, it was due to the low number of spawning zombies. On one team we only had 80-something zombies when the timer ran out. And on another, with high DPS basically 2-shotting all the zombies, we finally got #99 to spawn with only 27 seconds left, not enough time to kill the AV.
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Wander around the graveyard, don't stand in one spot. Don't run too fast, but move around a bit. I found that standing still seriously reduced spawns, and the superspeeders didn't trigger many either. me walking in circles around a patch got lots and lots.
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Originally Posted by Fennec
The two times (so far) I haven't been able to get the badge, it was due to the low number of spawning zombies. On one team we only had 80-something zombies when the timer ran out. And on another, with high DPS basically 2-shotting all the zombies, we finally got #99 to spawn with only 27 seconds left, not enough time to kill the AV.
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A Shivan will also happily tank the Abomination for you while you work on zombies. |
Originally Posted by Rodion
The Dark defender makes it particularly easy to get It's Alive: put Darkest Night on the Abomination, spawn Dark Servant at its feet, and the pet will tank the Abomination for you, healing itself as needed while your team spends all its time on zombies.
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God, imagine that. Creating team-oriented content in a multiplayer game........ There's still plenty you can do solo, and hardly "everything" released lately has required teaming. Put the hyperbole away, it only weakens your argument severely.
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Originally Posted by Warbaby
Something else that is biased against the solo player, not that I'm against teaming you understand but of late everything 'new' they bring out requires a team to do it. On the quieter servers a team is sometimes quite hard to find and if one plays out of hours as well, soloing is the only option.
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So, to truly be solo content in your books, it has to bar teams from doing it completely?
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Originally Posted by Madadh
Gotta disagree with your conclusion, and side with War on this one.. I don't dispute your examples (however I slightly disagree with first ward, as it seems to favor teams, but I'll give it to you anyhow), however, just look at it different than you. Your lists show 3 and 3. But, of the 3 that don't require a team that you mention, all 3 can be run as a team, and at least 2 of the 3 work just fine as a team. Of the 3 that require, well, none can be run solo... So, at least 1/2 the new content is totally inaccessible to a solo player, while 100% is available as an option for a team..
I'd say that's not the fairest way to do it. I know, it's a MMO, and thus a 'team' game, and accept that. And I want teaming to be encouraged. But maybe 2/3 - 1/3 split, or 75% - 25% even, would be more optimal. |
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Titles, and to show off. Kind of like achievements in other games.
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Originally Posted by Wing_Leader
Is there any in-game benefit to having all three Haunted House trial badges?
I guess this is also a question about badges in general. Aside from the Accolades that provide concrete benefits (+5% HP, +5 End, etc.) which require you to collect certain other badges, what is the benefit of having any particular set (or number of) badges? I'm trying to understand the point of collecting badges other than to obtain the Accolade benefits/powers. |
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Avatar art by Daggerpoint
Is there any in-game benefit to having all three Haunted House trial badges?
I guess this is also a question about badges in general. Aside from the Accolades that provide concrete benefits (+5% HP, +5 End, etc.) which require you to collect certain other badges, what is the benefit of having any particular set (or number of) badges? I'm trying to understand the point of collecting badges other than to obtain the Accolade benefits/powers.
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