Hard Core season over

[Aelonwy]

And it isn't right even in a hardcore league.

Its not right and by that I mean fair-play. But they can do whatever they want with the rules, the devs are the DMs, the behind the scenes gods of the game. This season it feels like the gods are being malicious, because red-named reaper-like mobs have no business being in non-reaper difficulties or why have the distinction at all? More so than that some are spawning as champions at level 1, a level that has never before had champions, in wilderness zones which never before had either. This feels like they want players to die before they have anything but Grotto gear just because, because maybe it amuses them to see the scrolls of the slain. Idk. But I know those players that welcome this level of challenge had more than enough difficulties to enjoy it without this being shoe-horned into normal and wilderness zones.

I hope to still achieve my goal... but I am NOT enjoying this, KUDOS to those that are but if each HC season is going to become progressively more reaper-like this will probably be my last. I loathe reaper and I am NOT a zerger so this HC in particular seems designed to be one I would hate with a cosmetic reward that could have been created with me specifically in mind. Not just fairy wings but fairy wings my favorite colors.

[spifflove]

1. Hear howl.
2. Party forms circle.
3. Hound appears.
4. Hound dies before you can get in melee range.
5. Rock on party on.

(I’m fine with korthos village and all non reaper possible quests being safe spaces)

[delsoboss]

... so this HC in particular seems designed to be one I would hate with a cosmetic reward that could have been created with me specifically in mind. Not just fairy wings but fairy wings my favorite colors.

****, this makes me sad.

You are one of the few "forum personalities" I really like and respect.

I don't think you need any survival tips so all I can do is cheer you on towards your goal (and try to help if we ever cross paths on the HC).

[thedip]

Now that the summer sails have finished, I was going to resub as playing on HC when non VIP can be a PITA.

I am a carer and so can be called away at any time at short notice, this also happens when playing on the normal server and I have died several times due to bad luck or unlucky respawn. The thought that I would need to recall when called away is not my idea of fun and to have a process that is designed to kill you if you step away from the keyboard is, for me, insane.

How many people would want to party with me if they know that I have to suddenly disappear and maybe not return for 5-10 minutes? That is why I only ever party with friends and guildies who know my limitations.

So no resub from me - sorry.

Maybe next HCL could do away with reaper trees (still get the reaper xp but the trees are inactive)? I keep hearing from people on these forums how easy it is to get reaper xp even on a first life character. Getting to 20 reaper points would be a worthy goal.

[Episkopos]

I didn't think my stint in Houndcore would be shorter than Lagcore.

My early death was A Preview of Coming Attractions. "Hmm....I'm gonna click on Decline."

Somewhere along the line, someone failed to grasp the difference between eustress and distress. Or perhaps they just don't give an owlbear's hoot in Khyber. Whatever the case may be, I only need to experience the rollercoaster derailing once before deciding I'm not getting back on that ride.

But look on the bright side! Dying early ultimately means less suffering! And it won't be long before someone can cut back on virtual server expenditures - so it's a win-win!

[Amorais]

After playing a few days I'm actually finding that being unable to AFK being the actual most hardcore part of this season. I have personal circumstances where I must take calls no matter what due to being a carer amongst other reasons. I'm sure other players are also having RL issues as well.

Now, if I get a call or interruption of any sort I have to recall out of the quest. It's really becoming hugely frustrating. The hounds at the moment are just about do-able (killed 6 or 7 so far without much trouble) but boy I have had to recall out and start over SO many times in just a few days that I've only managed lvl 3 on one toon so far and I'm still in Korthos

[archest]

my warlock has no problem killing hounds on normal.

[WallStreetDragon]

For me, hard core season lasted one day. I spent the entire day rolling toons and getting killed by hounds. I never was able to finish any quest in korthos wilderness. 7 toons. 7 hound related deaths. 2 party wipes. Hard core season is over. thank you.

yeah, I know. It is alll my fault, so save it.


Edit: The original post was at the end of day 1. A guildie persuaded me to re-evaluate the HC after the day 2 update. I did and have found the experience to be much nicer. I had spent a couple weeks reading and building test toons for HC survivability. I was very frustrated with the original release. Now I think my studies and practice will make be rewarded with a much better experience.

You and all the players playing hardcore deserve nothing but pain and death (in-game of course). The more people find out that this is just a polished turd, the more you will all come back to DDO and we can end this charade once and for all.

[Hirosue]

So... If I'm reading this correctly, you're blaming the hounds for being 2 levels under the quest level and for not being prepared for the normal monsters that spawn?

In the future, I would recommend doing Korthos village, then the island except Misery's Peak, followed by Borderlands, before finally going back to Misery's Peak. That will put you at level 3-4.

Getting incapacitated in Misery's Peak is a pretty big warning sign.

HAHAHAHAHAAHAHAHAHAHAHA

where did i say any of that. Try reading again without bias. It was a perfectly survivable encounter until the hound turned up.


To help your reading comprehension

@@@ yup , its sucks, is a dumb idea to bring reaper mechanics into heroic game arena.@@@

Yah same thing happened to me 3 times. so im done also.

2 hits and dead at lowbie levels and you know you will be targeted sooner or later.

@@@ So reaper type mechanic in non reaper quests , great idea not.@@@

so i say it again. putting a reaper game mechanic into heroic questing isn't my idea of fun. ( the game mechanic being a random spawn player killer mob in addition to usual content.)
There are many reasons why this isn't fun . I stated my reasons. Lots of others are doing the same.Maybe the Devs will take note, probably they won't until after HC is over and they look and the stats.

And i didn't ask for your or anyone else's advice .

[Kayze]

where did i say any of that. Try reading again without bias. It was a perfectly survivable encounter until the hound turned up.

Let's read your post pre-hound spawn again:

In Misery peak quest at lvl 2 Bard. about 1/3rd in we pull the lever to open the door. archers and Magic missile casters behind it.
,

Cleric 1 - lvl 2 - incapped immediately
FVS 1 -lvl2 - incapped immediatly
Me bard lvl 2- throw cure light wounds on cleric 1 , and circle to avoid arrows, getting ready to CLW on FVS 1

What part of that says "perfectly survivable"?

[Jaxtan]

I have been doing lvl 1 solo on hard as an arti and have killed about 20 hounds. The last one as my hire and pet hid around the corner

This is what I have been doing as well. Only doing hard, and doing it when I am one level over. Doing arty with as many hirelings as possible. Also using a timer to provide a reminder when the hounds may start appearing so I can try to be in a fightable location, buffed and surrounded by hirelings. Gotten to level five taking this safe approach. If (big if) I can get to level 20 and 1750 favor that would be enough for me. I hope the hounds don't get too difficult after level 10.

[Knightrose]

Cry, cry, cry.

For me the most interesting part is the hounds as I could not care less about another non-combat pet or fairy wings.

[Dark_Lord_Mary]

i feel for you - with any luck they will remove or change the hounds to reaper quests only; the season is 3 months; perhaps check back - you never know

sometimes bad form turns into good form and SSG listens to the community and things change for the better.

[Assassination]

This is what I have been doing as well. Only doing hard, and doing it when I am one level over. Doing arty with as many hirelings as possible. Also using a timer to provide a reminder when the hounds may start appearing so I can try to be in a fightable location, buffed and surrounded by hirelings. Gotten to level five taking this safe approach. If (big if) I can get to level 20 and 1750 favor that would be enough for me. I hope the hounds don't get too difficult after level 10.

This is how I've been playing as well. I just decided to do "Death House" on hard. There is a huge bump in power to the hounds at this level. I pulled a hound at the shrines before the end fight. I had frogo, lvl 10 rloft scarecrow,
lvl 9 hire and his summons. Hound killed frogo, summons, hire left with 10 hitpoints and it took me about 3 times as long for me to beat the hound down. I'm a lvl 10 pally with decent gear, rloft greatsword, and 307 hitpoints. I had to lay on hands twice to myself, and at end of fight was at about 150 hitpoints. I don't think I'll continue solo'ing. Probably park my Pally at 11 and see if they make any changes.

I think to make it through, you will probably have to play some sort of self healing caster build with uber nuking powers. Melee just really isn't going to cut it. Just like the normal servers, Hardcore hates on melee's.

[Goldenlogic123]

You and all the players playing hardcore deserve nothing but pain and death (in-game of course). The more people find out that this is just a polished turd, the more you will all come back to DDO and we can end this charade once and for all.

just because you didnt like it or couldnt handle it doesnt mean alot of us feel the same. the guild i am in we are loving the new season and having a blast so thanks devs to the BEST hardcore start ever!!!

[Goldenlogic123]

i feel for you - with any luck they will remove or change the hounds to reaper quests only; the season is 3 months; perhaps check back - you never know

sometimes bad form turns into good form and SSG listens to the community and things change for the better.

theres no need to change anything plenty of us are making our way through just fine. it may not be for everyone but the people still playing are enjoying it alot!

[Buddha5440]

yup , its sucks, is a dumb idea to bring reaper mechanics into heroic game arena.

Yah same thing happned to me 3 times. so im done also.

2 hits and dead at lowbie levels and you know you will be targetted sooner or later.
...


" lets make HC more fun this year by having players randomly targeted by mobs which will kill them in two hits, Oh the players are going to really enjoy random deaths."

Ummmmm, you're low level. You can die from one or two hits from anything. Kobold shaman lightning bolt comes to mind; also being tripped by dogs in Bringing the Light.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

I just wish they had added something meaningful as rewards for lower levels (both of favour & character), but as long as this isn't the case, I won't do any more HC. I just see no sense in doing that with no reachable reward (and i do know that everyone else is better than me).

[Dark_Lord_Mary]

Since I am GuildMaster of 1000-person guild and talk to lots and lots of people, I can tell you
that stories are popping up all over of trolls joining groups, running off on purpose, and when a hound pops, if it pops on them, they tele out of the dungeon
leaving the hound to wipe the group. Numerous people have told me this has happened to them. At higher levels the hounds dot you to
kill you, they apply an instance wide dot - meanwhile the troll already left.

This on a server with no GM support SSG does not support tickets from Hardcore so trolls are in candy land.
And its just the beginning of the event. Wait till people actually get high up on the leaderboards there will be
people stealth joining just to try to kill them with a hound and grief them off the leaderboard.

The hunt is a cool idea narratively, but in implementation in DDO for this event it is a tragic waste of time fail in every sense of the concept of failure.
Just utterly a waste of time for the community of players who like everyone alive only has limited amounts of the commodity.

[adamkatt]

When the group I'm running with saw the number of hound deaths as we were gathering and had communication from others we know, we made the decision to run Korthos Village N/H/E. The goal here was to get people to level 3 and earn some low level gear to be prepared for the elite run of the wilderness.

We also came up with a strategy of staying together avoiding any single member from needing to face the hound alone.

It is a nasty mechanic, it will be interesting to see how the hounds progress in higher levels.

youre not going to get better gear out of korthos.. borderlands gear will help a lot more.