Don't put a 'suggestion' to bring a team when a mission requires a team.

The 'Defend the Midnight Club' mission in the Night Ward.....

Yeah, it is a big pile of steaming, developer over kill, zerging nonsense.

After getting through everything solo (including the whole stupid escort Clarity bit, where a zerg mob is dropped right on top of you), and than having to deal with the Ravenwing Sorceress elite boss...

Three words when you guys go to test play and develop a mission and feel like making things all epic, 'LESS IS MORE!' If the mission is designed to force me to team, than mark it as team only, and don't make it part of a larger story arc but put it off by itself like a task force, or fighting a giant monster. The suggestion to bring a team mate at the beginning of the mission really didn't cut it here. The Ravenwing Sorceress clearly was not meant to be possible solo (Well maybe for a specific build) at an equal level to a C after getting through all the other waves in one go. This end mission has pretty much soured the whole Night Ward experience and story line for me. I'm not gonna go back and retry this mission either.

Also, the whole go to hospital just dropping me off to die, try again, and get more debt was poorly thought it. So was the utter weakness of ward, and other NPCs meant to aid you in comparing to the sorceress.

/unsigned

The warning was there, you simply chose to ignore it.

I don't care for that mission for a number of reasons:

1.) It's soooo long. Apparently you have to go up to the mansion to spawn the ambushes because if you fight the mobs where they spawn they don't spawn....

I was solo'ing and people were waiting for me to finish the mission so I could join them for a Penny Yin TF. So I finished off one ambush group and was standing at the ambush spawn point for a good 5 minutes waiting....waiting...and then as soon as I flew towards the mansion and got half-way there, "AMBUSH!" geez...about time you guys...


2.) Animus Arcana (sp?) is a tough group at that level. I was in a full team (or a team of 7) and when we got to the "escort Clarity" part of it we all died at one time or another. Possible team leader had diff. up too much but, never had an issue getting to that mission so...


3.) The 4 (5?) Elite Bosses. Okay I can understand having the EBs be tough and all that but...an auto-hit PBAoE power (that does 50% HP damage if you stay in the 'burn' patch?) that ALL EBs get? Really?

Yes you can move away but it makes it harder on melee toons...especially when there are 4 or so 'burn' patches...


4.) The AI NPC help is pathetic. In this mission along with other missions in NW where there is help from AI NPCs....they are just sooo stupid it seems.


As to the suggestion; I wouldn't sign it but possibly just tone that particular mission down a bit.

Yeah, I hated that mission. It didn't help that I got halfway through it once and had a power outage so I had to restart it, but then I claw my way through the entire thing solo ((With pauses where I had to figure out WHERE the mobs who had just run away got to)) and get to the final trio of bosses...yes, trio. 0/+2 ((Or 3, I can't remember for sure)) and I got three elite bosses. I took a deep breath. I had beaten two elite bosses before. I might eat floor a few times, but I had an NPC ally, right? Surely I could do this. Course you then find out that Ward isn't exactly tough. It also really didn't help that these bosses REALLY HATE MASTERMIND MINIONS. I think their entire existence is based around wiping out as many minions in as short a time as possible.

BUT! That's what auto-complete is there for. You do get the group warning, and you should know that any time you get that, there may be a good chance you can't complete whatever mission it is solo. So while the mission should PROBABLY be changed to not just be the auto-complete fodder, the warning itself is fine.

I just don't see why it throws multiple EBs at you while solo. That's pretty much the only part I disagree with with the mission design. On basic settings you should never have to face more than 1 at a time in a given mission :P That's what that warning usually implies anyway.

The mission, while annoying, does not require a team.

Regarding your debt complaint, please refer to my sig.

While it can be a difficult mission, even this can be overcome via judicious use of inspirations. 4 Purple inspirations at a time will soft cap you, so fill 2 or so bars with those and the rest with green/blue/red as needed.

I gave up on it, after going back and looking at it again. My view, the thing is a wart on the face of playing through the Night Ward segment. Just totally took me out of all feeling of immersion and having to focus on every little stat, power use, inspiration rationing, etc, etc. Doesn't add a single thing to the experience of Night Ward at all. It is just a long grind fest, unable to auto-complete, dealing with that hedge maze's numerous impacts on moving, the zerging mob spawns, and ends in a overpowered encounter with EBs. It isn't a challenge in a recreational game at that point, it is pointless and aggravating over done filler content of an overly ambitious mission design. Maybe if I one day find a group with an hour and a half to kill, I'll try it again just to get the Ward story arc done.

I did it last night at +0x2 with no temps and no insp options set.

There were 3EBs afaik, unless you mean that short part with Ward as an enemy, but I got so badly out numbered that I retreated behind the mansion to pick off the ones that kept chasing. Still died after fleeing but used the veteran self rez. The NPCs did all the work regarding actually fighting ward it seems, they all died still. Definitely not 4EBs at once.

For the EBs, I just tanked them using my near 90% res, sucked out their endurance using Power Sink, making them even less a threat(awesome strategy if your recharge is high enough to be able to use it even when you don't need end). Then I whacked them all at the same time with my TW, until died almost in sync with each other after a long series of KDs.

Autocomplete is evil, as it makes you miss out on the content that happens inside missions. If I were someone else, who needed help with it and wasn't in an Ouro version of it, I'd send @Surging Starfall a pst for help

The mission gives you help. There's a team-full of Midnighters around the mansion. And when the multiple EBs show up, Ward tells you to pull them up to it so that it can help you.

So, sorry, no sympathy for those who refuse the help given them and just want to plant themselves and dominate the fight. This battle is a war for the zone and if you ignore your troops, then it's your own fault.

While doable, this mission IS terribly designed.

And since it can be flashbacked the entire ARC needs to state upfront that you might need a team.

If it weren't flashbackable I could see them get away with just putting that a message in when you get to the mission. But since it IS flashbackable more notice needs to be given.

I've soloed that mission on multiple characters and ATs, with varying builds. It most certainly did not require a team to finish. It was a bit challenging, sure, but you are given tools to use if you can't handle the spawns yourself.

The 'troops' helped me. Maybe you should have said 'please.'

I just did this for the first time on my Dual Pistols/Trick Arrow Corruptor, died a few times but all the NPC helpers helped a lot and manged to pull the final EBs seperately, so it certainly is soloable.

I do like the suggestion that arcs with 'teaming suggested' missions should have the warning at the very start, though.

Did this mission on my Ill/Rad a month or two ago.

The only part I really objected to was the EBs spawning right atop you at the end of the escort phase.

Sorry, but that's just dirty pool, I don't give a damn if it's a team-oriented mission or not.

I was able to rez and beat the spawn down, but the fact that I was killed by something spawning in immediately BEHIND me almost before I even register its presence is just bovine feces.

Plain and simple.

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