When to hang up the epic hat?

[Bartholamew]

So, currently in a duo leveling through a sightseeing tour of the game (completing every quest we find). Team seems to be working great so far- a trapper artificer and a bear druid, currently level 8.

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite? At level 7 we did the first carnival quest on elite (both for the first time) and ended up getting killed at the very last part. Reentered and took it down easily with foreknowledge of the obstacles. This was only a level 5 quest though- is this a portent that in the near future it will be better to play the game on Hard?

My brother claims the game's too easy on Hard- that the monsters die too fast. Not sure if this is a problem that only exists early game or if it might persist later. I for one get tired of leading the way when a blade trap pops up dropping me from 200 hp to -200 :(

[Ilindith]

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite?

Never.

[Hambo]

So, currently in a duo leveling through a sightseeing tour of the game (completing every quest we find). Team seems to be working great so far- a trapper artificer and a bear druid, currently level 8.

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite? At level 7 we did the first carnival quest on elite (both for the first time) and ended up getting killed at the very last part. Reentered and took it down easily with foreknowledge of the obstacles. This was only a level 5 quest though- is this a portent that in the near future it will be better to play the game on Hard?

My brother claims the game's too easy on Hard- that the monsters die too fast. Not sure if this is a problem that only exists early game or if it might persist later. I for one get tired of leading the way when a blade trap pops up dropping me from 200 hp to -200 :(

You can keep doing quests on elite if you are worrie about your BB streak... even die a few times learning the new quest(s). The BB streak doesn't end until you open on a lower difficulty. You can run on Hard and keep that streak going if you want.

The only way to lose the Streak completely is to open a quest on Normal or lower. The 5 or 6 Solo quests in the harbor are an exception, since that's the only level you can run them on.

I don't know if you are into multiclassing, but the traps are a little easier to take if you have evasion. I have a 2Rog/14 Arti that can breeze through most traps because of evasion, and since all of the skills for Arti are a subset of Rogue, the extra skill points each level of Rogue gives won't go to waste.

As far as running Elite goes, I've soloed all content up to level 8 or 9. There are some quests I cannot do... One of the Necro's comes to mind, where you have to stand on 4 stones to open doors... Kinda hard with just me and the Iron Mutt. :D With a little practice (and your ID and the Druid's Wolf) you should be ok.

[CheeseMilk]

If you need to, you need to.

It only takes 5 quests to get your streak back to maximum bonus xp, so it's really not a big deal to do so until the higher levels when there just aren't enough quests to do for the first time.

A hard streak is still bonus xp, and I think elite completions count towards that streak, so dropping to hard isn't so bad, if necessary.

And don't worry, hard mobs in the higher levels have plenty of hp.

[Ausdoerrt]

So, currently in a duo leveling through a sightseeing tour of the game (completing every quest we find). Team seems to be working great so far- a trapper artificer and a bear druid, currently level 8.

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite? At level 7 we did the first carnival quest on elite (both for the first time) and ended up getting killed at the very last part. Reentered and took it down easily with foreknowledge of the obstacles. This was only a level 5 quest though- is this a portent that in the near future it will be better to play the game on Hard?



It really depends on the quests. I can't say that I've done all, but I certainly tried over 80% of the quests in the game. I think if the objective is to level to 20 while keeping the bravery streak, it's entirely possible with minimal pugging. I do usually break the streak by level 17, because of Vale flags and Acute Delirium.

If you're just in it for sightseeing, I'd recommend dropping the difficulty if it feels too hard. There's more XP in the game than you need to level up, so if the objective is just to look at the art, enjoy the story etc., might as well play on normal. That way you'll get to see more quests at level.

[morticianjohn]

So, currently in a duo leveling through a sightseeing tour of the game (completing every quest we find). Team seems to be working great so far- a trapper artificer and a bear druid, currently level 8.

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite? At level 7 we did the first carnival quest on elite (both for the first time) and ended up getting killed at the very last part. Reentered and took it down easily with foreknowledge of the obstacles. This was only a level 5 quest though- is this a portent that in the near future it will be better to play the game on Hard?

My brother claims the game's too easy on Hard- that the monsters die too fast. Not sure if this is a problem that only exists early game or if it might persist later. I for one get tired of leading the way when a blade trap pops up dropping me from 200 hp to -200 :(

At the point when you can no longer complete elite. If you're just doing a tour of the game and doing every quest I would suggest doing elite up to lvl 10 quests and then dropping to hard until level 17 quests and then dropping to normal until 25.

If a particular quest is giving you trouble you could drop to casual and then ramp it back up for the next quest. If you start to get bored increase the difficulty if you start to get frustrated decrease the difficulty.

[Zyerz]

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite?

Most people, never divert from doing elites... They get to lv 20, (now 25) all quests on elite, TR, and since streaks are maintained after TR, they don't ever stop.

Some people on the other hand, prefer to break the elite streak around when they hit amrath, IQ, Island of Forgotten Dreams, or some a bit earlier, in Reavers Refuge.
It depends on the players ability to do these quests on elite. Some break the streak sooner, because they have difficulties on hard or elite. Some later, and some... Never :p

I personally prefer doing elites because I find normal and hard way too easy now (after 6 years of DDO, hard doesnt cut it anymore, and even now, with a good group, elite is a piece of cake, but I have loads of fun) but if a group prefers to do normal or hard, I normally don't mind. I play this game for fun, I'm not into hardcore grinding like I used to.

[Bartholamew]

Thanks for everyone's replies. I wasn't sure if there was some prevailing wisdom of leaving elite behind at 10, or some such. I'm a little leery of pugging just because of the nature of random strangers, though I know it can be a positive experience. I guess the idea of going until we have to stop seems good enough to me :)

[Lithic]

Doing quests on elite, especially the first time, is meant to be a challenge at any level. At lower levels, quests tend to be more forgiving on elite, especially with access to 30pt resists from ship buffs, but they get more and more difficult as you go up in levels (generally speaking).

If you are shortmanning, and don't have a good supply of consumables (healing pots/scrolls, haste pots, etc), and you have little familiarity with the quests, you can expect to end up in party wipes. Being super carefull on your way can help this, but there are several places that being carefull won't save you.

My groups stick to elite until we cap for the bravery bonus, but we have ultra twinked characters, extreme knowledge of the quests, and so many other bonuses from past lives and a maxed guild ship that our characters could walk through hard by themselves while the players are AFK.

From the sound of it your group might be better off with hard after about lvl 8. Its difficult enough to have challenges and surprises, but not so much that a carefull newbie party can't usually triumph. If repeated deaths and reentries won't kill your fun or ego, then you could always keep going on elite. Its not like deaths do any permanent harm to your character :D

[Gremmlynn]

The only way to lose the Streak completely is to open a quest on Normal or lower. The 5 or 6 Solo quests in the harbor are an exception, since that's the only level you can run them on.

Actually, opening the quests wont break streak or even running some opts. (I run relic casual as much as necessary with every character upon reaching level 9 for the heavy fort). It's completing quests at lower difficulties that will break one's streak.

[xveganrox]

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite?

If/when you get frustrated and aren't having as much fun as you would on Normal/Hard =)

Keep in mind that right now, spells and traps on elite are screwy and are hitting a lot harder than they should be. Personally I don't run any of my non-epic characters on elite because of that. On the other hand, if you enjoy the challenge and don't mind dying some, stick it out on elite as long as you can! If you end up having too much trouble with something and want to complete it, run it on Hard - there's no reason you can't build your Elite streak back up.

[Dagolar]

So, currently in a duo leveling through a sightseeing tour of the game (completing every quest we find). Team seems to be working great so far- a trapper artificer and a bear druid, currently level 8.

At what point do you stop doing quests on elite? At level 7 we did the first carnival quest on elite (both for the first time) and ended up getting killed at the very last part. Reentered and took it down easily with foreknowledge of the obstacles. This was only a level 5 quest though- is this a portent that in the near future it will be better to play the game on Hard?

My brother claims the game's too easy on Hard- that the monsters die too fast. Not sure if this is a problem that only exists early game or if it might persist later. I for one get tired of leading the way when a blade trap pops up dropping me from 200 hp to -200 :(

You're looking at the spell/trap bugs, there. They're currently doing a 5x or more damage than they ought, and their DCs are upped.
Moreover, the new physics engine has traps misfiring out of the area where they ought be.
The bugs came with the Expansion's release- the traps, at the least, are expected to be fixed with the next patch.
Expect the mob spell bugs to take a bit longer, and the physics problems longer than that.

In any case:
Difficulty rises exponentially between the difficulties- and understandably so:
As the in-game text notes when you hover over the difficulty icons, Normal is for solo play, Hard is for small groups, Elite is for large groups looking for a challenge.
The in-game text is a bit more specific than that, but the end result is, Hard slightly ups hit points and very slightly ups damage on mobs. Elite significantly ups hit points and notably ups damage, as well as significantly making spells and traps more potent [though, of course, this is still far less potent still than they are now].

Now, bugs aside, obviously the descriptions are a bit dated, as the game now offers more potent items, easy access to the potent buffing of guild buffs, and more, so quests are a lot easier than they used to be.
Nevertheless, the scaling between Hard and Elite is rather sharp, as your brother suggested.

I only ever play on elite- and this well before there were bonuses for doing so, or before the game made it easy to do so- because I enjoy the challenge [and find anything lower rather dull, honestly].

However, if you're duoing, and unfamiliar with the quests, don't expect to get very far very fast in a few levels, at least not without very careful planning and some spare hirelings to toss in for extra heals- and, of course, some quests just aren't structured for smaller parties, and will be exceptionally difficult or impossible to complete, for logistical reasons if not for anything else.

Thing is.. if you're not already familiar with the quests?
You're probably best off running them on Elite, if you enjoy the challenge, and then dropping down any time it gets too hard [note, you can always wait till you're 3 levels higher than the quest so as to run it without any xp penalty, but no longer breaking streak].
Of course, if you AREN'T looking for a challenge, keep in mind that the bravery bonus benefits between Hard and Elite aren't large enough to be significant for first life toons: You're looking at +35% base xp, over roughly +120% [not including tomes, xp pots, ship buffs, xp item, event bonuses].
Now, while losing approximately 13% of your total xp sucks, the fact is you can complete Hard quests MUCH faster, and much easier, so outside of parties equipped and experienced in speed running quests, you'll usually end up with better xp/time maintaining a Hard streak.
Think of it this way: If you're completing the quest 33-75% faster, and taking 13% less xp..

So, it's all based off your gameplay style. If you want an easy, scenic exploration, don't worry about Elite too much. If you're in it for the challenge, go all in until you can't.