Partycrashes suggestion......

[MRMechMan]

1. Range the mark in the long hall from outside the doors, far enough so that the barriers are not up yet.
2. Duplicates spawn.
3. Destroy the closest one to the entrance of the room.
4. Done.

Works every time. Quest still sucks, but at least this makes it somewhat faster. I do agree that they shouldn't spawn up in the air though...it's just annoying.

This. Knowledge=winning. Lack of it results in whining.

I bet the OP loves that sharn one in the bank with the crystals.

[Impaqt]

This. Knowledge=winning. Lack of it results in whining.

I bet the OP loves that sharn one in the bank with the crystals.

yeah, silly me. I'm sure thats exactly how the devs intended we complete that part...

As for the bank crystals, At least theres a reason those are so strong.... and I can melee them. The ranged marks are the big problem.

[MRMechMan]

yeah, silly me. I'm sure thats exactly how the devs intended we complete that part...

As for the bank crystals, At least theres a reason those are so strong.... and I can melee them. The ranged marks are the big problem.

The...big problem? The challenge in the quest is a...big problem? I suppose the illusionary scorpion is a big problem as well because it does damage, which can potentially injure or even (gasp!) kill a player character.

Wow, different party members/builds are better at certain parts of a quest than others...fail to see why that is a bad thing in an MMO.

You probably think that the pillars in LOB are a travesty as well, I assume?

This quest is fine.

[ferrite]

This is by far the most soloable quest I've found, even at level on elite. Just gotta have the right build for it, I'm able to finish with all optionals on a bard/ranger/rogue. Definitely need true seeing, the spot requirement is unreachable for most at level, on elite. As for the hallway, this is the place where you'll either die or not, but if you can manage manyshot or something it makes things a bit easier.

Soloing epic becomes even easier but I also take a little extra time to go for the optional demon as well, since both chests are level 25 I think even on epic normal. I pull good loot out of the pair frequently.

Running this with a party I find to be extremely difficult as someone usually makes a mistake and does something stupid like activating security. Then you have to go babysit the person who just died trying to raise them and it just all falls apart at that point. Naturally I can't solo a lot of other stuff with a bard, but for this particular quest it works quite well for me.

[-Avalon-]

The reason that the 'soloing' part makes a big difference, and is what was picked to go over and over on, is that there are builds where ranged IS their focus... so if you are having issues with ranged, simply grouping with a person who IS ranged would almost certainly fix your dilemma.

Think about an earlier quest: Butcher's Path.

Need an 18 str, 18 Int, AND search/DD/OL to get that ONE chest.

Do you argue that this is ridiculous? No, you realize that it takes 1 person with a VERY specific build, or 2 people with fairly powerful builds that happen to work together pretty well, or 3-6 people (IE a group)... and even in some groups you won't have the magic combo of all of that at 2nd-4th lvl...

D&D is not like any other game, and is why it will always be a great idea for an MMO (a SOCIAL game)... because each class is inherently built to have major strengths AND major flaws (well, except monks, but that is another story)... It makes almost everything take 2-6 people to accomplish... Soloing in D&D is not intended, but CAN happen... you CAN make a toon with great str, int, at least 1 lvl rogue, and be able to do the Butcher's Path optional chest... But that would be a very specifically set up toon... most characters do NOT fit that bill...

Same in Partycrashers, you are not specced for ranged, and it needs ranged to quickly bypass that area... welcome to your weakness.. my toon is not built for ranged either, so stuff like that sucks for me... just move on, it is what it is... bring someone with you who IS ranged just for that part, or take the time it takes to do it yourself.

[Impaqt]

adding hit points to things does not increase challenge.

[Kmnh]

adding hit points to things does not increase challenge.

Yes it does. It requires more DPS , better defenses, more resources. More HP only stops adding challenge when the mobs are no longer a threat for other reasons - they do too little damage, or are too easy to crowd control.

Why do people keep repeating this lie? Is it a caster ploy to solo everything with fireballs more easily?

[Impaqt]

Yes it does. It requires more DPS , better defenses, more resources. More HP only stops adding challenge when the mobs are no longer a threat for other reasons - they do too little damage, or are too easy to crowd control.

Why do people keep repeating this lie? Is it a caster ploy to solo everything with fireballs more easily?

how is standing is one spot with Auto attack on for 5 minutes harder than standing in one place on auto attack for 30 seconds?

I'm talking about Inanimate objects that are wholly unimportant to the actual quest goals that have their hit points scaled to ridiculous levels on hard and Elite.

lol.. This is what keeps the hard core interested in DDO? This is the challenge you seek and crave? lol. Give me a break. You guys just swarm whenever anyone mentions something is out of whack. give it a rest.

[Missing_Minds]

People keep telling me that True Seeing works - Not for me it doesn't.

True seeing does work. I do so often.

I do not know if graphic settings make a difference. I play with settings cranked. Perhaps this is a difference? I don't know. Post processing effect maybe?

Fake are purple, real is yellow (I think that is correct at least). Given that they rotate, and the symbols are planar it can take a bit to find it.

As far as the gripe about the symbols HP... meh. whatever. The game has a party in mind. Choose solo if you want to solo, other wise you get to deal with what was determined for a party.
Does it make for a better game? I don't know, and I won't go there either. But I do feel that Disjunction should one shot it.

[MRMechMan]

adding hit points to things does not increase challenge.

heh? Actually, it does. Longer fights=more chances to do something stupid, be unlucky and role that 1, run out of resources, longer time to concentrate, etc.


If every mob had 1 hp, how challenging would those fights be? Likewise, if everything had 10x as many hp, how challenging would those fights be?

Maybe isn't the IDEAL way to add challenge, but it is certainly ONE way, which the devs have used quite a bit due to its simplicity and easily adjusted nature. I'd rather they added challenge with interesting mechanics, new monster attacks/abilities that required saves/twitch skills/keyboard checks/RL dexterity ability checks, increased DCs/AC needed etc than simple HP bloat...but to deny that increasing a monsters HP doesn't increase the difficulty of the encounter is a bit silly.

The particular situation (being stuck in a room of spikes with jets of air shooting you around) DEFINITELY is more challenging with the HP it has, rather than if it had just 30hp or something. It increases the likelihood that you need to have to make a save/self heal/avoid something just by being in the situation longer.

[Sonos]

how is standing is one spot with Auto attack on for 5 minutes harder than standing in one place on auto attack for 30 seconds?

I'm talking about Inanimate objects that are wholly unimportant to the actual quest goals that have their hit points scaled to ridiculous levels on hard and Elite.

lol.. This is what keeps the hard core interested in DDO? This is the challenge you seek and crave? lol. Give me a break. You guys just swarm whenever anyone mentions something is out of whack. give it a rest.

A well balanced party won't take as long. If you had a defense system for your Illusionarium would you want the first dolt to come in a plink your security systems down in one shot? Not me. Do you want your ADT system to go down with a 1234 code? Not I. :P

[FranOhmsford]

True seeing does work. I do so often.

I do not know if graphic settings make a difference. I play with settings cranked. Perhaps this is a difference? I don't know. Post processing effect maybe?

Fake are purple, real is yellow (I think that is correct at least). Given that they rotate, and the symbols are planar it can take a bit to find it.

As far as the gripe about the symbols HP... meh. whatever. The game has a party in mind. Choose solo if you want to solo, other wise you get to deal with what was determined for a party.
Does it make for a better game? I don't know, and I won't go there either. But I do feel that Disjunction should one shot it.

I've gone in there with a number of characters who either have the Voice and Mantle on or can cast True Seeing and I've NEVER seen a Yellow Rune.

As for Kmnh vs Impaqt - Sorry Imp but K is right on this one - The Spike Traps CANNOT be disabled and are completely random - If you're standing in that room attacking runes for 10 minutes you're gonna get hit and those spikes do serious dmg.
I agree however that with the sheer amount of runes in that room and the fact that this is a Lvl 5 quest {7 on Elite} where True Seeing isn't exactly common {even if it does work for most people who have it} that those runes simply have too many HP.

[Miow]

cummmmbaaayaaaa! Peace n love everybody

[Impaqt]

I believe "Post processing effects" have to be on in order to see the color difference.

[FranOhmsford]

I believe "Post processing effects" have to be on in order to see the color difference.

Post Processing in advanced graphics doesn't have a check box itself - It has 4 sub effects with check boxes:
Video Post Effects - Checked
Volumetric Sun Light - Not Checked
Glow Mapping - Checked
Overbright Bloom Filter - Not Checked

Even so; The fact is that when people insist on these forums that True Seeing works they don't mention the fact that certain effects have to be switched on in Options in the first place.
If these effects aren't switched on as default then this is bad advice without adding that the option needs to be enabled.
If these effects are default then I'm not sure what's going on - I have no computer literacy whatsoever so don't change graphics options myself unless specifically told by someone with knowledge to change that option.

[Impaqt]

Post Processing in advanced graphics doesn't have a check box itself - It has 4 sub effects with check boxes:
Video Post Effects - Checked
Volumetric Sun Light - Not Checked
Glow Mapping - Checked
Overbright Bloom Filter - Not Checked

Even so; The fact is that when people insist on these forums that True Seeing works they don't mention the fact that certain effects have to be switched on in Options in the first place.
If these effects aren't switched on as default then this is bad advice without adding that the option needs to be enabled.
If these effects are default then I'm not sure what's going on - I have no computer literacy whatsoever so don't change graphics options myself unless specifically told by someone with knowledge to change that option.

"Default" is 100% based on your computer so rather impossible to insure.

[FranOhmsford]

"Default" is 100% based on your computer so rather impossible to insure.

I did specify that I have no computer literacy whatsoever.

But the fact you didn't say anything about the options I had enabled or not enabled tells me that maybe it's not Post Processing that is the problem - I have never seen a yellow mark.

[Missing_Minds]

It isn't post processing I just tried.

When you have true seeing on, you will see the Real mark as Yellow, and all of the fake marks turn Purple.
Remember, the marks spin, and they are planar (aka flat like a sheet of paper) so there are 2 points in its rotation that you probably just won't see it. So you have to stand still and just watch things for a time.

My barb is using Voice of the Master + Mantle of World Shapper to get the True Seeing effect in this shot.

One random idea is maybe you have a corrupted graphics file? I don't know.
Something else I forgot to check. With TS on, do the "fake symbols" turn purple in the viewing orb?

[Loromir]

Hmmm, I see, it takes 15-20 minutes to get to the actual quest when soloing because it requires you to do all sorts of things, that are very difficult to fit into one single character because you are soloing?

Maybe there is the problem... that quest is designed more for a group than most quests at low level... Not sure I ever saw a decently balanced group have ANY problems in there, just buzz right past each room/obstacle, quest done in under 10 minutes... you are soloing, and taking a long time, BECAUSE you are soloing.

Not saying don't solo, but some quests are more group-oriented than others, and you can only fit so much capability into one single character... I love soloing, every 3 nights, I solo chronoscope on elite... I buzz through every single fight in the entire quest... except for 3 fights: Blood Plate, Razor Arm, CAD... each of those fights takes like 10 minutes... TEN minutes, where I am in absolutely no danger whatsoever... but because I am only one person (albeit an 18 lvl person), I just cannot pump out the amount of DPS that a full raid could... so, takes me about 35-40 minutes to complete the raid solo. 10x3 + 5 to 10 for EVERYTHING else (including getting all survivors, killing the air support and all that)


Just gotta deal with the downfalls of soloing if you choose to solo.

Just out of curiosity...why do you run Chrono so often? I can understand why one would run it on epic, but why heroic?

[FranOhmsford]

It isn't post processing I just tried.

When you have true seeing on, you will see the Real mark as Yellow, and all of the fake marks turn Purple.
Remember, the marks spin, and they are planar (aka flat like a sheet of paper) so there are 2 points in its rotation that you probably just won't see it. So you have to stand still and just watch things for a time.

My barb is using Voice of the Master + Mantle of World Shapper to get the True Seeing effect in this shot.

One random idea is maybe you have a corrupted graphics file? I don't know.
Something else I forgot to check. With TS on, do the "fake symbols" turn purple in the viewing orb?

Ah sorry - I got my colours mixed up didn't I?

Yellow is the base colour of the marks - You know I'm still not sure?

Even so - I've never seen one mark of a different colour to the rest.

I've never seen any marks change colour whatsoever.

I've changed laptops recently - The new one is much better {obviously} than the old yet when it comes to Partycrashers - No Change.

And yes I've run Epic Partycrashers a number of times - My Cleric has True Seeing on her bar and it is a guaranted cast at the beginning of every quest - I have never seen a mark of a different colour to the others in this quest.