Creeping Death

[DANTEIL]

I tried to run the new quest Creeping Death tonight on Lamannia but I had to give up. This was on Epic Normal (so Level 31 quest), and I was on a Level 30 (boosted in the Dojo from Level 28 on Live) Bard THF Warchanter/Barbarian. This is a first life character so doesn't have all the bells and whistles, and my gear is a mix of named items (Cleaver is my main weapon) and other drops.

First of all, the Legendary Kobolds and Oozes were a royal pain. Annoying and not fun at all. The oozes, in particular, weren't doing much damage to me, but were certainly destroying my weapons one after another. What epic-level weapon does one use against oozes? I have Muckbane in my vault, but that doesn't seem appropriate.

Second, where I had to give up was against the Horned Devil Invader protecting the second rune. I was literally doing no damage to him at all. He has some kind of legendary ward buff that prevents damage and, well - it is certainly effective. So what kind of weapon does one use against him? After beating against him for a while to no avail, I gave up and recalled.


So, I guess my concern is this: Are first life characters going to be able to complete the new Legendary quests on their way to Level 30? My impression is that much of the Lamannia feedback has been from players running Epic Elite and finding everything too easy. But that wasn't my experience -- the quest wasn't exactly difficult (except for the one time I accidentally ran into the insta-death red gelatinous cube, I could survive most fights just fine), but it was certainly frustrating.

[gwonbush]

Against Oozes: any lootgen item with Everbright or Celestia. Ranged weapons and handwraps are also immune to breaking on oozes.

[DANTEIL]

Creeping Death, Try 2:

So I logged back into Lamannia on a different character -- this time my level 21 PDK Warlock, and I went back into Creeping Death on Heroic Elite -- so Level 17 quest.

Once again, I had to give up.

This time, I managed to get past the part with the Horned Devil Invader -- I guess because now he didn't have the Legendary take-no-damage-at-all buff. I had to deal with swarms of Kobolds and oozes all the way, though.

But now, who the HECK designed that part of the quest with the pillar jumping and the eternally spawning oozes at the bottom???!? OMG I think this is one of the worst quest experiences I have ever had -- almost as bad as being continuously knocked off the ramps while trying to climb in Coalescence Chamber. Holy moses, that was awful. I had continual Yellow Alert and no SP (because there don't seem to be any shrines in this quest that just happens to be filled with Arcane Oozes) and I had to make these Mario jumps onto pillars into darkness because the DDO quest designers seems to not understand that certain systems (e.g., any system using the Mac client) cannot adjust their brightness to see in dark areas.

After advancing to a certain spot and falling repeatedly, I gave up after many many tries. And this is exactly the kind of quest that I will never do in a group, because if I am unable to do those jumps, then why join a group when it will only lead to embarrassment and chagrin as I am forced to get left behind while everyone else jumps ahead?

[Lonnbeimnech]

Creeping Death, Try 2:

So I logged back into Lamannia on a different character -- this time my level 21 PDK Warlock, and I went back into Creeping Death on Heroic Elite -- so Level 17 quest.

Once again, I had to give up.

This time, I managed to get past the part with the Horned Devil Invader -- I guess because now he didn't have the Legendary take-no-damage-at-all buff. I had to deal with swarms of Kobolds and oozes all the way, though.

But now, who the HECK designed that part of the quest with the pillar jumping and the eternally spawning oozes at the bottom???!? OMG I think this is one of the worst quest experiences I have ever had -- almost as bad as being continuously knocked off the ramps while trying to climb in Coalescence Chamber. Holy moses, that was awful. I had continual Yellow Alert and no SP (because there don't seem to be any shrines in this quest that just happens to be filled with Arcane Oozes) and I had to make these Mario jumps onto pillars into darkness because the DDO quest designers seems to not understand that certain systems (e.g., any system using the Mac client) cannot adjust their brightness to see in dark areas.

After advancing to a certain spot and falling repeatedly, I gave up after many many tries. And this is exactly the kind of quest that I will never do in a group, because if I am unable to do those jumps, then why join a group when it will only lead to embarrassment and chagrin as I am forced to get left behind while everyone else jumps ahead?

Because when a quest is new, even in pugs, people try to share info on the quest with each other. Like how to do the jumps, and what weapons work.

[davmuzl]

Went in there on my barb and got through without big problems(legendary hard).
I have to say the locked doors are really annoying, especially because there are so many of them. I don't really mind occasionally having to kill a group of mobs to open a door (also because it helps get the party back together), but i prefer it when the mobs themselves prevent me from doing it rather being forced to kill everything. And also don't use those doors througout a whole quest. In a few places where the party is supposed to group up ok, but not more than 2 times in an average quest.
The worst one is where you have to do this 3 times in a row. Kill mobs- open door- kill mobs-shrine?- open door- kill mobs- open door.
I like the mechanic with the cube. If I had to design the dungeon I would give the players 3 rooms (or however many there are) and they would be able to choose the order they want to do them in. And then have the cube patrol between.

And about the arcane ooze. This isn't usually a big problem in epic quests, because there weren't that many epic quests with oozes and rust monsters and if there were any in the quests they were few. I wouldn't mind that much if there were more weapons to use against them. An option would be to add an augment that prevents destruction by oozes and rust monsters. Usually I would be against giving out augments for everything, so players don't just slot an augment and forget about rustmonsters. I think however most of us would still get a dedicated anti ooze weapon, because wasting an augment slot isn't really worth the immunity.

Also the traps have to deal more damage. i had a bit more than 40 mrr and with 60ish resists I didn't even notice them. I only noticed them because I had enough spot and had to go back in to check if they dealt damage at all. Not sure what's going on with the spot either. The traps should deal significant damage on hard difficulty.

[Atremus]

My issues with the Creeping Death:

1) Kobold Spell Resistance on Epic Hard is somewhere between 39+9 and 39+19, which means that any DC caster is Required to have all of the spell penetration past life feats, spell pen gear and then, maybe you can use your spells. The spell pen on the Kobolds needs to be reduced by at least 5 points.

2) The XP for the quest is horrendous for the time.

Notes:

1) The Artificer Cloak dropped in the End Chest of Creeping Doom
2) I loved the puzzle, hated the Ooze

[Holymunchkin]

I tried to run the new quest Creeping Death tonight on Lamannia but I had to give up. This was on Epic Normal (so Level 31 quest), and I was on a Level 30 (boosted in the Dojo from Level 28 on Live) Bard THF Warchanter/Barbarian. This is a first life character so doesn't have all the bells and whistles, and my gear is a mix of named items (Cleaver is my main weapon) and other drops.

First of all, the Legendary Kobolds and Oozes were a royal pain. Annoying and not fun at all. The oozes, in particular, weren't doing much damage to me, but were certainly destroying my weapons one after another. What epic-level weapon does one use against oozes? I have Muckbane in my vault, but that doesn't seem appropriate.

Second, where I had to give up was against the Horned Devil Invader protecting the second rune. I was literally doing no damage to him at all. He has some kind of legendary ward buff that prevents damage and, well - it is certainly effective. So what kind of weapon does one use against him? After beating against him for a while to no avail, I gave up and recalled.


So, I guess my concern is this: Are first life characters going to be able to complete the new Legendary quests on their way to Level 30? My impression is that much of the Lamannia feedback has been from players running Epic Elite and finding everything too easy. But that wasn't my experience -- the quest wasn't exactly difficult (except for the one time I accidentally ran into the insta-death red gelatinous cube, I could survive most fights just fine), but it was certainly frustrating.

You use a DR breaker. Good / Silver or go home. It is this way vs Abashi and many other mobs. It has nothing to do with first lifer so much as gear requirements. Yarrrr. Everbright maul or something else helps too. Goodluck

[Holymunchkin]

Went in there on my barb and got through without big problems(legendary hard).
I have to say the locked doors are really annoying, especially because there are so many of them. I don't really mind occasionally having to kill a group of mobs to open a door (also because it helps get the party back together), but i prefer it when the mobs themselves prevent me from doing it rather being forced to kill everything. And also don't use those doors througout a whole quest. In a few places where the party is supposed to group up ok, but not more than 2 times in an average quest.
The worst one is where you have to do this 3 times in a row. Kill mobs- open door- kill mobs-shrine?- open door- kill mobs- open door.
I like the mechanic with the cube. If I had to design the dungeon I would give the players 3 rooms (or however many there are) and they would be able to choose the order they want to do them in. And then have the cube patrol between.

And about the arcane ooze. This isn't usually a big problem in epic quests, because there weren't that many epic quests with oozes and rust monsters and if there were any in the quests they were few. I wouldn't mind that much if there were more weapons to use against them. An option would be to add an augment that prevents destruction by oozes and rust monsters. Usually I would be against giving out augments for everything, so players don't just slot an augment and forget about rustmonsters. I think however most of us would still get a dedicated anti ooze weapon, because wasting an augment slot isn't really worth the immunity.

Also the traps have to deal more damage. i had a bit more than 40 mrr and with 60ish resists I didn't even notice them. I only noticed them because I had enough spot and had to go back in to check if they dealt damage at all. Not sure what's going on with the spot either. The traps should deal significant damage on hard difficulty.

ATM doors can be cheesed by "right-click use" via the examine window. Maybe will get fixed.
+1 to idea of a THF ooze beater. OP also notes this.
+1 to traps dealing more damage.

[DANTEIL]

Yea I was obviously frustrated last night after my repeated failures with this quest. A lot of that had to do with being excited to see the new quests and then not being able to complete them. For the Legendary-level version, I think my characters simply aren't ready for that. I've fought abshai before but that was something beyond. But even so, I still stand by my reaction to the jumping-onto-narrow-pillars-in-the-darkness business. The problem wasn't so much the ever-spawning oozes at the bottom (although yes that was annoying when I realized they were coming back and multiplying) but not being able to land those jumps.

[davmuzl]

Yea I was obviously frustrated last night after my repeated failures with this quest. A lot of that had to do with being excited to see the new quests and then not being able to complete them. For the Legendary-level version, I think my characters simply aren't ready for that. I've fought abshai before but that was something beyond. But even so, I still stand by my reaction to the jumping-onto-narrow-pillars-in-the-darkness business. The problem wasn't so much the ever-spawning oozes at the bottom (although yes that was annoying when I realized they were coming back and multiplying) but not being able to land those jumps.

I personally can remember having a lot more trouble with jumping parts in other quests, but I can understand why those would be frustrating to deal with, especially when you can't finish a quest because of it.

[dunklezhan]

Against Oozes: any lootgen item with Everbright or Celestia.

I concur. Even with today's cannith crafting, a screaming maul of everbright tends to ruin the day of oozes and rusties whatever level you are.

[Saekee]

I guess the oozes will make stealthy approaches impossible

For oozes and rusties, Celestia and even heroic Phosphor (both tough to get). But lootgen will soon be insanely powerful with the right combo so worth waiting for.

[Seljuck]

Hire Wolf company Wolves like oozes, they are like jelly beans !

[evilgardengnome]

Interesting, another vale quest named after a heavy metal tune.

[die]

I tried to run the new quest Creeping Death tonight on Lamannia but I had to give up. This was on Epic Normal (so Level 31 quest), and I was on a Level 30 (boosted in the Dojo from Level 28 on Live) Bard THF Warchanter/Barbarian. This is a first life character so doesn't have all the bells and whistles, and my gear is a mix of named items (Cleaver is my main weapon) and other drops.

First of all, the Legendary Kobolds and Oozes were a royal pain. Annoying and not fun at all. The oozes, in particular, weren't doing much damage to me, but were certainly destroying my weapons one after another. What epic-level weapon does one use against oozes? I have Muckbane in my vault, but that doesn't seem appropriate.

Second, where I had to give up was against the Horned Devil Invader protecting the second rune. I was literally doing no damage to him at all. He has some kind of legendary ward buff that prevents damage and, well - it is certainly effective. So what kind of weapon does one use against him? After beating against him for a while to no avail, I gave up and recalled.


So, I guess my concern is this: Are first life characters going to be able to complete the new Legendary quests on their way to Level 30? My impression is that much of the Lamannia feedback has been from players running Epic Elite and finding everything too easy. But that wasn't my experience -- the quest wasn't exactly difficult (except for the one time I accidentally ran into the insta-death red gelatinous cube, I could survive most fights just fine), but it was certainly frustrating.

CREEPING DEATH https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9VMh0-grQQY

[Silverleafeon]

Boxes are not breakable in here atm.

[Nohbob]

Thank you kindly for the feedback. Sorry to hear that you had some frustrations playing through the dungeon, and as the guy that made the dungeon, I can understand a few bits may be prone to a bit of frustration.

Below you will find a partial list of things I am evaluating for changes:

• Will look at the number of oozes spawning across the dungeon, and limit the ones at the bottom of the pit.
• Doors will no longer be cheesable
• Will look at stating, specifically the SR on the Kobolds
• Will look at the lighting in the pillar room.
• Will look at the XP rewards for the dungeon.
• Will look at the Trap Damage
• Breakables will be breakable

I will continue to evaluate the feedback in this thread, but thanks again for posting.
Noh

[SirValentine]

The oozes, in particular, weren't doing much damage to me, but were certainly destroying my weapons one after another. What epic-level weapon does one use against oozes? I have Muckbane in my vault, but that doesn't seem appropriate.

I use Dreampiercer if I need an Epic ooze-beater.

[EllisDee37]

I use Dreampiercer if I need an Epic ooze-beater.

Nice. There's also Shining Devastation.

For a cannith crafted alternative, the best you can do right now is +5 Icy Burst of Everbright (Cold Damage). The icy burst and red augment just reach +11 enchantment level to get the 2[W] epic weapon bonus. I typically slot an ML16 cold augment and apply masterful so I can switch to it at 18 for vale.

Shining Devastation is better if you can get it and use it, but the cannith crafted is much easier and works for any fighting style.

[Wizza]

Thank you kindly for the feedback. Sorry to hear that you had some frustrations playing through the dungeon, and as the guy that made the dungeon, I can understand a few bits may be prone to a bit of frustration.

Below you will find a partial list of things I am evaluating for changes:

• Will look at the number of oozes spawning across the dungeon, and limit the ones at the bottom of the pit.
• Doors will no longer be cheesable
• Will look at stating, specifically the SR on the Kobolds
• Will look at the lighting in the pillar room.
• Will look at the XP rewards for the dungeon.
• Will look at the Trap Damage
• Breakables will be breakable

I will continue to evaluate the feedback in this thread, but thanks again for posting.
Noh

Glad to see you around. Ill leave my feedback as well.

This quest has "too much of the same" imho. The fights are just repetitive, kobolds ane oozes, oozes and kobolds. It gets dull very quickly, especially since you MUST fight them in order to unlock the door. I would like some mob variety more than anything.

Agreed on oozes as well. They are not fun to fight against. A few here and there are okay, 10+ in every fight gets tedious quickly.

I loved the pillars room. More lightning would be good throughout the whole dungeon but Id love if the pit beneath the pillars had more than just oozes. This part can also be cheesed with wings.

A few addition of traps in some rooms instead of having to fight all the time would be amazing. Loved the Red Cube.

Give end boss something spicy and a few trash mobs.

Overall, I hated this quest very quickly. It was just a fight kobolds and oozes all the time. Very boring for me.