I took a break from the game for a few months recently. I was getting burned out, and just needed some time away.
I came back a couple weeks ago, and was pleased to see that there were a bunch of new incarnate trials to run.
I was slightly less pleased when I realized that people don't run them much, but it was better than nothing.
I've finally gotten a chance to check them out, and I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of them.
Keyes Island Reactor: Overall not too bad. Seems to be fairly similar to BAF and Lambda in terms of rewards, time required, and difficulty. I was pretty confused the whole time, but mostly because the leader wasn't explaining anything. I eventually figured it out though. I could see myself running this as often as BAF and Lambda.
TPN campus: Also quite confusing, and also because the leader wasn't explaining. Goes at a very breakneck pace. Very little time to take a few seconds and think about what's going on, which I don't really like that much. I don't see myself running this one all that often probably.
Minds of Mayhem: I really liked that this one had the lobby area where you could take a few seconds to plan strategies and explain what was going on in the next phase. That was a great addition. The pink patches of insta-death though were infuriating on a melee character. During the first fight with the nightmares I basically did nothing the entire fight because I couldn't get close enough to hit anything without dying. It's a terrible game mechanic, especially since there is no similar 'ranged characters get screwed over' mechanic to balance it out and let melee shine. The rest of it other than those parts was fun, but I doubt I'll run another one on any melee characters because of that.
Underground Trial: I loved this one at first. The hamidon tunnels look breathtaking, and it was enjoyable to have a trial that was more of a stand-up fight, without so much of the crazy AVs with specific ways you have to go about fighting them. A few things spoiled my enjoyment of it though. First off was the fact that you can't hand Desdemona off to someone else if she's following you. I have a fast computer and a fast internet connection, so it's not uncommon for me to be one of the very first to zone in when the trial starts. I've run 3 of these, and had Desdemona following me twice. The first one I ran, I actually got kicked off, because I was playing my scrapper, and refused to stay out of combat to keep Desdemona safe. I understand the leader not wanting her in combat where she can get killed and end the trial for everyone, but I shouldn't be forced to sit everything out because I happened to load faster than a ranged character. Second was the Olympian Guard with their ridiculous stuns. A large part of the reason I play melee so often is because I get mez protection. I hate being mezzed, there is absolutely nothing fun about it. Enemies who can stun me through my mez protection shouldn't exist in the numbers that the Olympian Guard do. The final problem came with the gimmick mechanic of many of the AVs in the trial. The whole 'don't stand in front of them or they'll insta-kill you'. The biggest problem with it is that the AV can change the direction he's facing MUCH faster than I can move in a circle to get behind him when there's 15 people and a dozen pets clustering around him beating him to a pulp. If that mechanic is going to be used, his orientation should be fixed from the time the warning goes off until he actually uses the power.
I took a break from the game for a few months recently. I was getting burned out, and just needed some time away.
I came back a couple weeks ago, and was pleased to see that there were a bunch of new incarnate trials to run.
I was slightly less pleased when I realized that people don't run them much, but it was better than nothing.
I've finally gotten a chance to check them out, and I thought I'd share my thoughts on each of them.
Keyes Island Reactor: Overall not too bad. Seems to be fairly similar to BAF and Lambda in terms of rewards, time required, and difficulty. I was pretty confused the whole time, but mostly because the leader wasn't explaining anything. I eventually figured it out though. I could see myself running this as often as BAF and Lambda.
TPN campus: Also quite confusing, and also because the leader wasn't explaining. Goes at a very breakneck pace. Very little time to take a few seconds and think about what's going on, which I don't really like that much. I don't see myself running this one all that often probably.
Minds of Mayhem: I really liked that this one had the lobby area where you could take a few seconds to plan strategies and explain what was going on in the next phase. That was a great addition. The pink patches of insta-death though were infuriating on a melee character. During the first fight with the nightmares I basically did nothing the entire fight because I couldn't get close enough to hit anything without dying. It's a terrible game mechanic, especially since there is no similar 'ranged characters get screwed over' mechanic to balance it out and let melee shine. The rest of it other than those parts was fun, but I doubt I'll run another one on any melee characters because of that.
Underground Trial: I loved this one at first. The hamidon tunnels look breathtaking, and it was enjoyable to have a trial that was more of a stand-up fight, without so much of the crazy AVs with specific ways you have to go about fighting them. A few things spoiled my enjoyment of it though. First off was the fact that you can't hand Desdemona off to someone else if she's following you. I have a fast computer and a fast internet connection, so it's not uncommon for me to be one of the very first to zone in when the trial starts. I've run 3 of these, and had Desdemona following me twice. The first one I ran, I actually got kicked off, because I was playing my scrapper, and refused to stay out of combat to keep Desdemona safe. I understand the leader not wanting her in combat where she can get killed and end the trial for everyone, but I shouldn't be forced to sit everything out because I happened to load faster than a ranged character. Second was the Olympian Guard with their ridiculous stuns. A large part of the reason I play melee so often is because I get mez protection. I hate being mezzed, there is absolutely nothing fun about it. Enemies who can stun me through my mez protection shouldn't exist in the numbers that the Olympian Guard do. The final problem came with the gimmick mechanic of many of the AVs in the trial. The whole 'don't stand in front of them or they'll insta-kill you'. The biggest problem with it is that the AV can change the direction he's facing MUCH faster than I can move in a circle to get behind him when there's 15 people and a dozen pets clustering around him beating him to a pulp. If that mechanic is going to be used, his orientation should be fixed from the time the warning goes off until he actually uses the power.