Noone running L20 cove? No shards for my melee this year?

[My2Cents]

/minor rant on

Last year I had a blast with the Cove, ran my then lvl 10ish Pally with a couple others who really knew their stuff, brought my healer hireling and walked their torchline, protected the foreman, scouted for purples, and had a lot of fun.

This year, got my main to 20...very happy though no epic gear or anything. All the cove groups at my level seem to be running 25. On top of which they have no room for my healer hireling and I would take such a beating on 25...even with pots and wands and such you cant heal and fight effectively.

I doubt I can get an alt up to 8 or 10 in time to get greens this year.

Why does everyone -have- to run 25? Whats so bad about 20? And why must each group be filled to 6?

I tried to solo but as a melee up around 20 even though I can waste all the undead the ramp repopulates too fast and they seem to target/kill kobolds so much faster that I can't effectively solo. Is that 'cuz its 20 or they're more aggtoed or both?

I will get what I can that doesn't need shards, keep an eye out just in case a viable group forms, and then either try one of my level 4 alts or just do something else. Maybe over the week something will change.

I was SO looking forward to the cove, but this IS just a game after all. Still, its a shame to feel penalized for reaching level cap. I would have thought that would be MORE fun, not less.

Thanks for letting me vent. I'm open to any suggestions to have a good time with this event.

[Esserbe]

Most people at cap run CC25 due to the bonus shards awarded.

I've seen 20 groups, at least on argo. A competent group shouldn't have problems - 3 arcanes, 1 divine, 2 melees should be able to get the optiona on CC25 every time unless you get extremely unlucky on the placement.

My suggestion would be to group with friends or make your own group for 20.

[Raoull]

Oddly enough, I ran in a 20 today on Cannith, although I'd have rather it had been 25.... So they do exist, but I agree they are less common.

I hate to be the guy who does this, but there is a simple solution: post your own LFM. Take the first 4 guys who join, go in on 20 and fire up the hireling.

The only downside I can see is you may have to be the guy who runs torches if no one else volunteers. Other than that, you should be fine. I can easily see lvls 18-19 people joining for the exp too.

It seems that CC LFMs fill up quite quickly. I think there are many people who want to join them, but don't want to lead. I bet CC lvl 20s would fill up just fine if you posted when the cove just opens or so.

[Pfold]

I haven't had any problems running it solo at level. It may require a few more runs than a group but why wait on that?

[sirgog]

Even with the difficulty changes, 25 is still pretty easy - once you've practised.

It's hard for melees to go around solo on CC25, but you can certainly be effective in a duo or trio that sticks together. Fire Resist, Haste and Displacement are your friends - with those three buffs, you'll be fine against 2-3 mobs at a time.

Casters have more blasting power in CC25 than melees, but they do run out of SP in a way they don't usually in Epics.

[learst]

For some reason, folks that hit lvl 20 feel that their characters can handle the toughest challenge.

I was in a group of lvl 19-20, and on the way to the Cove was asking, "Who's doing torches?" No one responded, and yet the leader has opened the Cove on lvl 25. Once inside, I asked again and still no one responded. 3 minutes passed with everyone crowding at the centre and just hitting the mobs. The leader then said he/she has never done torches. The other folks said they're new.

So I said I'll do torches - which I've only done few times and isn't really that good with. I was already slightly irritated, but then the most annoying thing starts pouring in, "here!" - "Mobs attacking here!" "Come here!" "Got some purple here"

I told them to stop saying here and say exactly where they are on the map, but habits break hard. And with the mobs hitting harder this time, I wasn't doing too well on my bard. The casters ran out of mana, the barb died (there was also no divine in our group). Finally I managed to get ~70 extra crystals and bout 100 crystals with bonus.

tl;dr: Lvl25 is not a default. You can select the CR lvl at 20 on your lvl 20 toons. Yes, really, you can.

[Gkar]

tl;dr: Lvl25 is not a default. You can select the CR lvl at 20 on your lvl 20 toons. Yes, really, you can.

But then it takes 3x as much grinding.

[My2Cents]

I haven't had any problems running it solo at level. It may require a few more runs than a group but why wait on that?

You're able to solo at 20 with a melee? I tried a few times but I found I couldn't be in two places at once and the top of the ramp spawned fast and killed kobolds fast. If I port up to take them out I cant also run torches. Maybe it was just my bad luck - will try again when I get up enough energy.

And to the suggestion above about creating my own LFM, yes, that's a very good idea and I will do it. As soon as I posted I realized how obvious that answer was. Don't know why that didn't pop into my head, maybe because I'm not an experienced leader. I can learn. I tend not to like torch running but that can change too - I know the basics. So part of the solution is to stop waiting to join a group and start forming em. What the heck, change of pace.

But I agree with the previous poster, you really CAN select L20. I'd rather only get 150 shards and have a great time than try for 300 and be miserable. So whats a little "grinding" in the cove? Compared to the real grind outside, its nothing.

[smeggy1384]

Not yet run it as a 20, but from trying to solo it at 15(CR 15 too) vs trying with a group, then with just a single person in there to help i found the most efficient was my arti and a caster, plus one hireling. I ran torches, the caster patroled the ramp, part of the lines, and even cleared the opposite side from where i was doing torches(was great since i later went to that side for the bonus). With the full group it seemed a LOT harder.

[learst]

But then it takes 3x as much grinding.

That is only if assuming that everyone in the groups knows what is going on, semi self-sufficient and can work together - leading to a perfect >200 crystals in the end. My observation is that the mobs are tougher this time around, and melees will have a tougher time. The number of purple crystals also appear to be less.

This is not like last CC when by 15 minutes you already get more than 200 crystals and just then farm gems or just twiddle around. When you can't even be sure of making a successful run, then yes I do think you should set the challenge rating lower. Unless you/your party is up for a challenge and don't really mind if the run fails. Well not fail, but you probably get like 10 extra crystals only.

[rosedarkthorn]

I've been running groups on Sarlona with my healer on CR20 all day. I find that people are pretty quick to join any LFM's they can find. It'd probably be in your best interest to start hosting some, or, if you're in Sarlona, join mine. :) My toon is Araydia.

[Yetzederixx]

I hate to be the guy who does this, but there is a simple solution: post your own LFM. Take the first 4 guys who join, go in on 20 and fire up the hireling.

The only downside I can see is you may have to be the guy who runs torches if no one else volunteers. Other than that, you should be fine.


I filled two spots in a LFM and we ran nothing but 20's on Thelanis today, but the trick is you have to post the LFM.

Luckily I had someone join that knew how to run torches as three of us were total n00bs, but you may just have to learn the hard way and practice. Even though we didn't hit the optional every time I was still able to upgrade my Cavalry Plate and Stalwart Trinket to tier-2. Not a super big step in the bigger scheme of things, but I'm happy with it.

[Rawel_San]

Edit: nothing to see here. (at least till I get my math right).

[jaegarnel]

But then it takes 3x as much grinding.

3 times? You get 300 shards at 25, 200 at 20. That's 50% more, not 200%. And that's if you manage to max.

My first run on my cleric was on a 25 instance in a well-equipped group, most of whom knew the quest, and were quick to get the crystals. But about halfway in, when we had 80 extra, we had lots of mob spawn and 2 bosses coming at once, and we wiped. End result, 120 shards.

Since then, I've mostly done lvl 20 groups, and gotten 200 shards almost every time, exceptions being when we were unlucky with kobold pathfinding or map layout.

On my wizard I've done mostly lvl 22 runs, since it seems to be what most of the PUGs I find on Sarlona do.


I don't know what server you're on, OP, but you should be able to find PUGs doing Cove at 20 or so. If you really can't, then start your own. I posted quite a few LFMs for Cove 20 on my cleric, mostly to fill holes in guild runs, and they fill VERY fast once the Cove is open. Like, 1 or 2 second fast lol.

[Matuse]

Why does everyone -have- to run 25? Whats so bad about 20? And why must each group be filled to 6?

You only get 2 (maybe 3) cove runs per opening. The openings only come every 45-60 minutes.

Level 20, maxxed out: 200 shards.

Level 25, maxxed out: 300 shards.

Getting a level 20 item to tier3 requires 2200 dragonshards.

2200/200 = 11 runs.
2200/300 = 7.3 runs.

Assume 2 20 minute runs per opening, and 45 minutes between openings, thats 85 minutes. So essentially 43 minutes per run.

11 runs = 473 minutes, or 7.8 hours.
8 runs = 344 minutes, or 5.7 hours, and you've gotten 2/3rds of another run in (shard-wise) for a second item.

11 runs for 2200 shards or 8 runs for 2400 shards.

That's why people don't run L20.

[Grace_ana]

I don't have any epic gear, and I've run it at 25 several times now. I'd just try it and see how it goes, tbh. Don't be afraid of the challenge, and if it's a disaster, you can always change servers :P

[JamnJD]

I like to put up my own LFM and run at level first (in my case 20.) This allows me to see how well the group "chimes" together.

If it works out well, I bump it up to a higher level for some bonus shards.

Having a good group is nice, and with successes, I find the group stays together for more runs.

If the group doesn't chime well, I thank everyone, disband, and try again a bit later.

...J