The new x2 Ward of Elements zone is certainly creating a lot of discussion!
Some say it’s too hard and requires full fabled/mythical. Some say it’s easy. Some say the 5 day lockout is too long, but I am with those who feel that if each named drops 2 patterns or 1 pattern and 1 exceptional fabled item, and the whole zone is on Smart Loot, then folks can get upgraded very quickly in this zone. So far I think it is a good zone to bridge the gap between grouping and raiding and helping to gear folks up who are struggling in the x4 zone.
We did a run through last night and did not have 2 of our dedicated folks that we would normally have, but we learned a lot and pieced together the strategies which have been posted online. We intend to go back and have every intention of getting at least 3 names down. It is clear that the last 3 names will probably require some combination of gear that drops from the first 3 named, which creates a very clear progression in zone difficulty.
What would an EQ2Wire Post be without a few Zone Strategies? 🙂
Apparently Najena (who is giving hints and help before and after each fight — after all it is she who is trying to flush all these corrupted minions out of her house) is not appearing after the Aiden fight for many people, which prevents the zonewide quest from being completed (and thus, those folks will be unable to progress to Munzok’s x4 raid zone expected to patch in on April 7th).
Some folks are reporting that Digg is not working properly even when a member of the raid force successfully picks up the snake, badger, or mushroom totem and drops it at Digg’s feet as requested. Here’s word directly from timetravelling on this:
The snake totem places a buff on everyone around it and allows your DPSers to proc a debuff that prevents his healing. Please check ACT to see if this is in fact triggering.
As for the difficulty discussions – we are keeping a careful eye on it and will make adjustments as we feel are needed. Remember though that the first night through a new zone is typically the hardest, and most all of the fights are constructed such that an excellent strategy helps lessen the gear requirements. Good luck and happy hunting!
I’ll look into the snake totem and make sure it is working as intended. And if it’s not…whoop it into shape.
Also currently you cannot be revived on the Digg fight, or you will be killed immediately. timetravelling again:
It’s a bug. He casts that spell to prevent players from trying to fight him from anywhere except his floating platforms. Cept…when you die, it’s forgetting that you’re in the right place.
I’ll get a fix in for it, sorry for the frustration!
I know we were getting nailed by Ice Fall from Gelidus Ventus the Tempest (the icy room) even though we were nowhere near the edges of the upper platform. This may be working as intended, as we have been informed that if there is any line-of-sight between the fans on the edge of the room and players during the fight, they will get hit during Ice Fall, and it seemed to hit the worst when a few folks got kicked around by the Knockback. We’ll certainly give it another shot.
We killed 3 nameds on the day of release and we are a casual raid guild. I do think that it would be a tad too hard for people without myths.
And avoid Ice Fall is very easy, it triggers on movement. Have all players stack on each other in a nook in the wall and no one move the entire fight and you won’t get hit with it.