From juvenile aberrations to French driders, from demons to Drizzt Do'Urden... truly it has been one hell of a month long ride. Below are some of the things I noticed so far about the campaign.
Guess who's back?
Above vid is basically me having nothing better to do. Want to blame, go blame my govt for introducing NS. Beyond that, Respen Durothil is back. Not (necessarily) the crazy cousin of Cyrea Durothil, but definitely some crazy fella who happened to be either an elven or half-elven wizard. I still remembered how this guy did the DM job for the forest part of the campaign last time round. Turned out that nothing changed when it comes to dryads, elven princesses, and some Shadar-kai. In particular, the dryad still sounds funny. Like some kind of fembot.
Basically, the difficulty level is no different from your everyday CTA event. Enter the instance at lvl 60+ and nuke the opposition.
However, this guy is back. Which is a bummer in the sense that I should have realized earlier. By now, there's no chance in the Nine Hells that I'll get that pewter bugger.
French drider, anyone?
It's weird. Absolutely weird. How in the Nine Hells can a drider speak French? When we mention Danielle, most likely the first person coming to mind will be Daniela "she's got legs like Stacy Kiebler" Hantuchová. That is despite the fact that Hantuchová herself isn't French.
It's weird. Absolutely weird. Seeing a scene where a bunch of svirfneblin decided to become a subrace of drow isn't that bad. But a French speaking drider? Only thing crazier than this will be associating Park "not the president" Shin-hye with Ryan "sexiest dude alive" Reynolds despite the presence of HyunA.
Moral of the story?
I'm pretty sure the Koreans would rather see a drider speaking French. Or Korean for that matter.
Okay, let's talk (a bit more) serious here...
The dungeons are quite decent except for the final one. In Trial of Traps, the most difficult part comes in the form of the first half. Once you dodge past the swinging blades via the Deus ex Stamina feat (no, this isn't a joke. The blokes doing the content really introduced this term), you'll have to outrun every giant D20 die rolling after you (wonder if the Running Man show will be crazy enough to do its own D20 in the future).
Dodging the swinging blades isn't that hard. However, it must be stated that no more than 2 individuals are allowed to run the gauntlet at the same time. Which means this logic also includes whatever companion you have (augment ones are excluded for obvious reasons). The reason why being that having too many people running through the gauntlet in a go will create a very real risk of getting blade-kicked into the spike traps at either side. As a local S'porean, I know the need to be fast and efficient. However, Trial of Traps is not for the S'porean who believes in this S'porean way. Efficient, yes. Fast, you double confirm plus chop will die.
After running the two gauntlets, this is where the D20 problem comes. The reason why being that having a low movement stat can and will screw you straight. My suggestion here is to buff yourself with movement item buffs before trying this out. If not, at least have a Neverwintan Vine ready since it will regenerate your HP by 1300 per sec. If you're using any class that confers teleport or dash upon pressing Shift, it's easier. Only catch lies in whether you'll be fast enough to reach the nearest side alley (not a safe zone per se, but it's the closest thing to temporary safety so long you get rid of Lolth's pets).
One tip I find quite useful is the verbal cue given by one of the trolling gargoyles. Once he mentioned rock and roll (minus the late Prince ofc), it's the cue for you to start running. If you don't know when to start running, listen to the troll (I mean the gargoyle, not me).
Once you navigate past the D20 fleet, it's down to facing the drider (the generic one, not the French one). The tricky part lies in baiting her into one of the bomb tokens. This may take some time and practice because it takes only a few seconds for the bomb to go off. At the same time, it's easier said than done to draw the drider into the bomb trap at the first attempt. Quite likely you'll need to look out for any nearby bomb tokens and move accordingly. This is where the tank comes in. Once any part of the drider comes into contact with the AoE, it means the whole thing will get bombed. All you need to melt her is just one successful bombing. Period. Alternatively (w/o the help of bombs), you can trigger Immolation Spirits (if you're a soulbinder) or doing Steal Time via Spell Mastery (if you're a control wizard). I tried that, it actually works. Just make sure you have the relevant powers at least on a rank 3 basis.
Artificer's Workshop is arguably the most widely played dungeon. For a practical reason more than for a good reason. The overall difficulty is easier than ToT. Ventilating the gas chamber is a race against time (again, you'll most likely need a Neverwintan Vine). Kicking the crazy svirfneblin is definitely easier because you only need this much of a time to kick one of them successfully. The mob will be spawning just about anywhere, but nothing much to bother about. A couple of intellectual devourers and a few duergar. That's all. Even if you missed one of them (i.e. the intellectual devourers since the pounce move can also work as a dodge move), wiping the duergar off the map means the intellectual devourers will be wiped off the map very soon afterwards. The final boss is a bit more problematic, but only because you're dealing with mind flayers. So long you have one member doing the crystal fetching, this fight should be easier than making French toast.
The third dungeon is basically pure side-scroller. Playing A Rock Falls is definitely like playing another format of D&D.
Strange Things at Burrow Dawn Inn has to be my fave in terms of overall challenge. Firstly and foremost, the mob is anything but squishy. Even if we're talking about the drow, they're arguably harder to kill than those you get to kill in Lolth's temple. If you're asking why that blasted drow priestess has so much HP, it means you're asking the right question. 2 types of mob, the second one being the demons. The cultists are the easiest to deal with (for some funny reason, the archer aspect of any mob is the easiest to deal with). The demons are tougher with plenty of knockback attacks that will render you momentarily prone. So long your party is able to sustain its shape, however, it shouldn't be a problem (note: the ARF version is more challenging in the sense that the rocks will fall down like the London Bridge itself). However, be noted that the shadow imps will auto-spawn. To shut down the portals, you need a tank.
The first boss is very easy. Easier than making French toast. Just melt that monster. Period. The second boss is trickier depending on which one you'll be facing. If it's the same boss mob you get in ARF, then also easier than making French toast. In the event where you'll have to fight Danielle, then making a French toast out of some French drider will also be easier than making French toast. If you're facing the mind flayers, that's where the problem comes. Mind flayers will always perform better in open terrain rather than in some gas chamber filled with enemies waiting to be taken down and hostages waiting to be saved (no Holocaust jokes please. I'm sure there are Jews in my country in the same way there are Jews in Hamburg). This is already proven in the Throne of the Dwarven Gods, no reason for their mobility and teleporting game to be nerfed just for one month. As always, you'll need one fellow to collect the crystals. Preferably one member to collect the crystals with another member to load the WMD. Ultimately, I'm pretty sure 3 is enough in terms of holding aggro (that is provided the tank is one of the three).
Drizzt Do'Urden, now that one is a surprise last boss. Don't let the previous bosses in the other 3 dungeons fool you. If Drizzt is playing at lvl 60 instead of like 30-40+, your entire team will be wiped off the arena. Control immunity (not sure if Crushing Roots is an exception), high dps, and crazy mass AoE WMD. It's like imagining the real deal. It's quite easy to gank him. However, he'll always find the chance to move around and away from your party. The most challenging part lies in his WMD. He has one move which goes only in a straight line like every dragon's breathing cannon. Not a biggie. Then there's this spinning slash that gives him invulnerability, a wide damage range, and massive knockback. The most dangerous ones, however, are the remaning three WMD attacks which pretty much covers the entire arena. In particular, there's this move which can create an icy field in the same way Unlimited Blade Works is able to create a hill of swords. Those who have fought either Lostmauth, Syndryth, or both on epic will know how it feels to be locked on. This particular Unlimted Icewind Works will always have a chance to deal the kind of fatality capable of giving Kitana "that funny feeling below the belt." Not 100% chance of fatality mind you, but I suspect it actually confers a certain probability of outright fatality no matter how much HP you have left. Trust me, Sheallyn and Cyrea already have been at the receiving end (No Hot Jen jokes please. I may have courted enough trouble with Deadpool and Park).
Diablo II anyone?
D2 is a quirky case of how an otherwise good game can be ruined by technical issues deemed too (?) unimportant (?) by the powers-that-be. If the problem with Neverwinter prior to Mod 8 lies in content, then the problem right now lies in the technical issues. Granted the Maze Engine quests are actually better than what others may have made them out to be. Granted more efforts are being done in combating botting. But what about glitches?
The main gripe I'm having on Portobello's dungeons lies in the final stage. In STaBDI, there are 2 bugs of note. The first one is going Han Solo mode against the beholder. Once the first person pressed F, the rest will be locked out of the stage. Which means either Han Solo will take down Greedo successfully or Greedo will take down Han Sulu no matter what. It's ridiculous on every level.
The second bug is arguably worse. When you fight Drizzt, you have to ensure you don't land on the blue line. It's possible given that...
1. You jump like Kate "you jump=I jump" Winslet, you end up dead like Leonardo "I jump at any hot model" DiCaprio.
2. Either that or Drizzt's spinning slash will knock you back onto the edge. No prizes for guessing how Jack died.
I mentioned Sheallyn and Cyrea being at the receiving end of Drizzt's Unlimited Icewind Works. What I've yet to say is this: Cyrea's case was a case of glitch triggered via scenario 2.
Arylos also got the same treatment, only that his case was basically scenario 1 (ironically, a combination of Devoted Cleric and some Lillend named Styvia prevented him from dying).
Seriously, Cryptic needs to take a look at this issue. Not so much for the current Portobello/Respen content (since only got 2 days left), but rather in the future,
Famous last words
Just a few miscellaneous stuff before I go to sleep.
Firstly, I really hate it whenever my sis switched on both her tablet and smartphone. 2 mobile devices means 60% of the bandwidth will go to her. Most likely 90% if she's watching Running Man.
Secondly, I find it quite funny that the Staldorf-Waldorf duo resembles the boke-tsukkomi format so commonly seen in Japanese TV. However, it's more accurate for me to say that the two of them are playing the tsukkomi while the players are basically the boke.
Thirdly, the humor in STaBDI is strictly for geeks. Those who have read book 2 of the Dark Elf trilogy will recall how Zaknafein Do'Urden gave that most famous New Jersey salute in the history of the Realms. Committing seppuku may sound badass to any J-culture romantic, but plunging into an acid pool voluntarily just to secure a vital victory against Lolth is truly 100% GAR. I won't blame you if you're wondering "why I don't have such a badass dad?" Just don't ask me whether there's anything Korean about an acid facelift.
In addition, there's also this "the only drow" joke referencing to book 2 of the Hunter's Blades trilogy (The Lone Drow is basically the best Drizzt novel I've read for a long while). And yes, I know Sheallyn is also a drow. Her last name says it all really.
