Ugt

I've decided that I've been enjoying the UGT. Because of this, for the time being, I'm going to lead one of these every Friday and Sunday after the MSR. So, approximately at 10:30pm Eastern.

Hooray, another leader!


I may just be able to make the Friday night one....depending on how things go at work but....it's a possibility!

Awesome! I really enjoy doing the UGT, just not many people form them that often...so Im there when im able to be

Excellent!

Well, we won tonight!

Thanks to everyone who helped,particularly, Xtreme Raze, who brought up some things I didn't know.

See y'all Friday after the MSR in First Ward (as Rwz will probably be full again)

No, thank you for running them. They are a blast win or lose.

One suggestion though, what about forming in Pocket D? Unless i missed it (which is completely possible), there's no quick way to the First Ward. I would think most peeople participating in these trials would have the Pocket D teleport power (i know i do ).

Pocket D isn't bad - there are two reasons why First Ward was chosen. Most badge enthusiasts have their toons parked there for the new day job badges - so it actually is more convenient for those people who are bringing their badge toons. (Namely, me!)

Second, RWZ was full, and it never occurred to me to use pocket D.

So, a change of venue is certainly likely in the near future.

Glad to see plans for a regular UGT, and at least one of them (Sunday) that I should be able to attend consistently.

First Ward isn't my favorite choice of zone (my day-job badger toon tends not to be the one with which I trial at this point), but that's a minor thing. I like RWZ for having convenient amenities (i.e., refilling my inspiration tray and selling off stuff at the quartermaster), but I'll make my way to whichever zone is the gathering point.

Of the UGT runs I've attended in the last few weeks, we're definitely getting better overall. The only thing that still bothers me are the two lichen EWWs. It feels like we either power through these by sheer overwhelming force/luck, or else Lethal Force wipes the league a couple of times and we never recover ... no middle ground to speak of. It's an awkward fight, the EWWs having been so specifically designed to discourage the classic AV dogpile tactic.

I wish we could get the taunters away from the main group so the Extinction effects (particularly Lethal) don't hit us so hard, but that goal runs counter to trying to get them in a controllable location and, in the case of the final Walker, within range of the fewest possible regeneration lichens. But they will not be immobilized, and I don't think there's any spot in that room they can't approach. I sometimes wonder, if the taunt tanks were flying, would it get them far enough away from the main group to minimize Lethal Force exposure, but that would probably tend to randomize the EWWs facing, which would have its own set of problems.

Am I right in thinking that the Extinction effects are massively broad cones, oriented in whatever direction the EWWs are facing?

I haven't tanked in the UGT yet, but in the next month or so, when I've gotten him adequately level shifted, I will.

Honestly, in the tanker forums, there is some small whispers of taunt not being as effective as it should be. I think it's because there are scrappers and brutes with taunt auras (invincibility, fire, etc) and not to mention pure damage from fireball and the like also distract npcs from taunt.

It's not a stretch to think that some people aren't really focused on the task at hand where we may have a brute or even a tank not in the right spot. Could also be Phantom Army or other pets that cause the goliaths to spin around so frequently.

And let's be honest - on some runs, there are people present who are watching kids, watching sports, eating, drinking and who knows what else. All these things can attribute to a more challenging run.

But overall, FlyingCodeMonkey, I think what you're identifying is the delicate challenge that the devs had in mind. They wanted it to be a challenge, and they've succeeded.

Understood. I never joined a UG when it was in beta, so didn't know if the devs had ever discussed/admitted exactly how the Extinction effects work.

The crosshair reticle is a weird and somewhat unreliable thing, incidentally. In one of the fairly recent runs, Bright was helping tank an EWW with her Peacebringer. More than once I, on a melee character, saw the crosshair appear beneath her feet, but it was never visible on her side. Her PB isn't a super-speed character to begin with, much less in Dwarf form, so it's not like it was obscured by other shiny effects ... it simply didn't appear on her screen. She's never seen the gigantic "Will of the Earth" swirly from the Avatar, either.

Might be a difference in our graphics settings, but anyway, my expectation was that a targeted person gets both the crosshair and the "Targeted" status message at the same time as a backup, in case the FX aren't visible. I'm not 100% sure of that, but it seemed reasonable.

I also know that on different occasions, I've had the Targeted status, then: (1) leaped quickly away from the EWW and nothing else happened (much like Will of the Earth); (2) leaped away but not quite so quickly, then LFA killed me and a couple of other unfortunates who were nearby. In the latter case it could have been worse because I did get the effect away from the great majority of the league, but it did catch those few others whom I felt were killed unfairly.

The other thing I don't quite know is the precise sequence. Does the Walker choose its targets, then select an effect? Or is it the other way around? On those (fairly rare) occasions when I get "Targeted", I've never yet been paying quite close enough attention to remember if I'd seen a red message for the effect. I assume it chooses/warns targets first, then effect, but it is only an assumption.

That's why it bugs me having everyone crowd around the EWW with the tanks nearby. Even if it only ever selects taunters as targets, if the effect simply radiates from them rather than affecting only them, it explains how we get league wipes from LFA even when the EWW is facing away and taunted.

I do go on. But it's a fascinating (and dangerous) mechanic that I want to understand.

I'll be doing a UGT tonight during the I-Trial Marathon I do on Wednesday nights. Hope you all can make it.

Form up starting 7:55p (est) in RWZ, LAM or BAF first depending on the numbers then off to Keyes and UGT.

Most likely I'll be on Moroso but just look for my global in LFA and LB

We win again!

Good run rex

Congrats!

UGT league will form in Pocket D immediately following the MSR raids on Friday and Sunday nights.

Finished up Sola's T4 Clarion finally, so now I don't have to feel like the league's slacker who only brought a T3.

See you tonight.