Arryeo
09-08-2009, 10:11 AM
Powerleveling in Mod 9
Just some observations on the new changes to game and how they effect the ability to level quickly. I started my rolled up a Favored Soul on Tuesday when the doors where opened up and he currently sits at lvl 17 as of last night. Just got my wings! I also work a full time job, if I didn’t have a job I would easily be capped.
I did all quest in 4 man groups guild only (its actually just two of us, but we always run a second box each for double the fun)
The most important thing to take into consideration now when speed leveling is avoid doing quests that are over your level. This no longer has any increased payoff and is a dramatic shift from the old way. Grinding crucible at level 10 is now a bad idea as the %40 increase in xp is now gone. We have adjusted for this by staying away from Gianthold until level 13. The xp nerf to the major quests in Gianthold was very disappointing to say the least and from now on we will now longer grind anything out there. GH is now a N/H/E once and done area.
I was very pleased to find out that we did not have to temper our zerging ways in the least. Zerging as we knew it is definitely not dead. Dungeon Alert did not pose a single problem to us at all. The only time we ever observed yellow alert was at a point were we would have set up our “kill zone” anyways. I was very pleased to find out that we would not need to modify our playstyle in the least. Green alert is basically a warning and nothing to worry about at all.
The movement speed nerf to the Haste spell was a little unsettling at first, but after awhile you get used to it and its not a very big deal. I can always go play my monk when I feel the need for speed.
The screw up in Dungeon Scaling did not make anything seem more difficult to our 4 man group until we started farming Litany of the Dead for XP. We noticed the trash mobs seemed a bit more difficult and then when we got to the High Priest of Vol, who in the past has been a joke, he completely kicked our ass. Cinnis was also a beast and kept us knocked down on the floor the entire time. We then decided to start doing these quests on Hard and they seemed to be much easier. Knocked out all four sides with ease. It seemed that Normal setting is definitely broken in regards to scaling. Hard is the new normal.
We continued on into the Vale and did all the shroud flags on Hard. Everything seemed to be fine. We are looking forward to the new content as soon as we finish up with the Refuge.
A couple of other things to mention and I’m done.
Caster A.I. seems much improved. I have never seen the arcane skellies in Cursed Crypt spam so much firewall. Its like they have learned something from the players.
Acid blast is great fun on a lowbie sorc.
Cloud kill is still a great spell.
Learn to run Shadow Crypt in 10 min, it will make you feel better about the nerf to Gianthold.
I suspect there will be many threads about how annoying FvS Leap of Faith will be in public areas :)
-Arryeo
Just some observations on the new changes to game and how they effect the ability to level quickly. I started my rolled up a Favored Soul on Tuesday when the doors where opened up and he currently sits at lvl 17 as of last night. Just got my wings! I also work a full time job, if I didn’t have a job I would easily be capped.
I did all quest in 4 man groups guild only (its actually just two of us, but we always run a second box each for double the fun)
The most important thing to take into consideration now when speed leveling is avoid doing quests that are over your level. This no longer has any increased payoff and is a dramatic shift from the old way. Grinding crucible at level 10 is now a bad idea as the %40 increase in xp is now gone. We have adjusted for this by staying away from Gianthold until level 13. The xp nerf to the major quests in Gianthold was very disappointing to say the least and from now on we will now longer grind anything out there. GH is now a N/H/E once and done area.
I was very pleased to find out that we did not have to temper our zerging ways in the least. Zerging as we knew it is definitely not dead. Dungeon Alert did not pose a single problem to us at all. The only time we ever observed yellow alert was at a point were we would have set up our “kill zone” anyways. I was very pleased to find out that we would not need to modify our playstyle in the least. Green alert is basically a warning and nothing to worry about at all.
The movement speed nerf to the Haste spell was a little unsettling at first, but after awhile you get used to it and its not a very big deal. I can always go play my monk when I feel the need for speed.
The screw up in Dungeon Scaling did not make anything seem more difficult to our 4 man group until we started farming Litany of the Dead for XP. We noticed the trash mobs seemed a bit more difficult and then when we got to the High Priest of Vol, who in the past has been a joke, he completely kicked our ass. Cinnis was also a beast and kept us knocked down on the floor the entire time. We then decided to start doing these quests on Hard and they seemed to be much easier. Knocked out all four sides with ease. It seemed that Normal setting is definitely broken in regards to scaling. Hard is the new normal.
We continued on into the Vale and did all the shroud flags on Hard. Everything seemed to be fine. We are looking forward to the new content as soon as we finish up with the Refuge.
A couple of other things to mention and I’m done.
Caster A.I. seems much improved. I have never seen the arcane skellies in Cursed Crypt spam so much firewall. Its like they have learned something from the players.
Acid blast is great fun on a lowbie sorc.
Cloud kill is still a great spell.
Learn to run Shadow Crypt in 10 min, it will make you feel better about the nerf to Gianthold.
I suspect there will be many threads about how annoying FvS Leap of Faith will be in public areas :)
-Arryeo