Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

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Archnon
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Archnon » Mon Oct 21, 2019 5:16 pm

I don't think there are bad ones but there are ones that have problems with spawns. People have brought up the rats on skal, which can be a problem mostly because it is just hit over and over again by people to loot the chest. That is the easiest source of gear for a new player on Skal. I think Skal could use another low level writ, maybe the area under the lodge/tradepost. Or lower the dc of the door lock to get the chest so people have an alternative to the grainery.

I have also heard of people having problems with the xvart/ice caves under brog not spawning enemies for low levels.

I will put in my two cents for the Aurelite writ as well. While not a hard writ, the spawns make it impossible to complete in a timely manner. I have ground the whole thing down to the dragon three times before i had the giants/acolytes to proceed. It could also use an interim chest to make it worthwhile for those not looking to get fire blasted at the end.

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Skullcat
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Skullcat » Tue Oct 22, 2019 12:28 am

Now to cover over Skaljard- and entirety of Skal at large with whatever mess of a starter-zone this is. While it's most easiest to get into Arelith. It's also the worse area to start if you want to get stuff rolling easy. No reliable connection to Arelith isle may be appeal of Skal, but it's heavily slanted down if factoring other things. One of most noticeable downside is the excessive risk, and extremely low rewards. Especially since it's first option a player can choose as starting zone, and in extent, seem to be worded as if it's recommended starting points. Image

Players that read this, are given an impression that Skal means that they get into action quite quick, and is able to do the things they needed to do. However, upon arrival. It's completely opposite of their expectation.

In regards to this. Many of the things within Skal are overtooled. Overpowered. Overleveled. Just like how Xvart Scourge Queen summons a freaking undead right on top of you. Which if you know, undead are extremely difficult to kill at that point. And she hits like a truck with that whip.

Lot of the writs need improvement, or rather reward tweaking to be on par with Cordor's. Just so that players could benefit in gold. But unfortunately no amount of gold will help the new players in Skal- as Skal is isolated from Arelith during 10 to 3 months. Which lasts eighteen, IRL days. EIGHTEEN IRL DAYS. Most of the crafters, especially endgames, are not in Skal. So if a player wants to get anything that actually benefits them. They would have to leave Skal during month 4 to 9. They'll never be able to come back to Skal without being yoinked, dying, or sailing on rented ship.

So in all cases. I've played Skal on multiple characters in past. Most of the items I've came across, were virtually worthless in most cases. Lot of the loots I've gotten was procedurally generated equipments, and often really bad equipments. Perhaps rarest of them all, was mage equipments who almost very rarely drops. I've not gotten a stave until level 14. In which I have to pay a Carpenter to make me a stave in Skal.



So in this aspect. Skal needs a rework. Some actual way to just circumvent a lot of the issues that Skal deals with on daily basis. The writ is underrewarding, the risk is extreme, and the amount of people willing to help is just random.

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Morgy
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Morgy » Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:06 am

Thank you team for your rapid response to this feedback on the latest update.

Good work!!!

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Hunter548
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Hunter548 » Tue Oct 22, 2019 1:29 am

I think the biggest reward issue with writs I've noticed is the entirety of Skal; Every writ there, for some reason, seemed to be about half the reward of the equivalent writ on Surface.
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Anime Sword Fighter » Tue Oct 22, 2019 2:07 pm

I've played one character to level 16 on Skal then rolled, another to 12-13 and left, and another to 8. I echo what the above say in that Skal desperately needs more gold/experience for their writs to make them worth it. Every mob is painful. If this is to encourage group play- fine, whatever, but please make it less of a grind.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Mythic » Wed Oct 23, 2019 8:12 am

Kudos for the new Skal Granary (Help Wrynn) and Founders cave!

These areas look fantastic and are long enough to be an interesting first two dungeon introduction to Skal, I got roughly 1K XP for going through both (from spawns) as an ECL+2 character.

The Reward for these feels low though. It's of my opinion that the writ-reward for the first three writs should generally bump you to level 4. It makes it feel far more rewarding!

But the changes are greatly welcome. Excellent new areas, Love the chest in the founders cave!

The Were-Cat boss in the Granary is a bit mean for a level 3 area, 11 ab! :lol: but thankfully it was optional-ish and my character had no issue with it. I'd say give it less damage but keep the AB!
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Aurian
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Aurian » Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:57 am

A bit late to the party, but I got something!

The quaggoth nomad writ in Andunor (the one for the camp in the flood plains): The mandatory quaggoth elder boss is really, really freaking tough for the level of this writ - if I remember correctly, the writ is for levels 4-9. The elder regularly hits in the 30s (I think he has sneak attacks?) and has a **** ton of health. Plus he's of course surrounded by friends. The lizard monsters that can spawn in the camp (especially the mature ones) are also quite tough for the level you encounter them at, but the elder is insane.

A level 8, level 9 and animal companion, buffed up with barkskin etc, died horribly in that fight and just barely managed to take the elder (but not his friends) down before death. Other writs around that level range can be soloed, but that one is potentially impossible even for small teams of new players without great gear. This is the first writ I've vowed to never take again.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by malcolm_mountainslayer » Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:51 pm

Aurian wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 9:57 am
A bit late to the party, but I got something!

The quaggoth nomad writ in Andunor (the one for the camp in the flood plains): The mandatory quaggoth elder boss is really, really freaking tough for the level of this writ - if I remember correctly, the writ is for levels 4-9. The elder regularly hits in the 30s (I think he has sneak attacks?) and has a **** ton of health. Plus he's of course surrounded by friends. The lizard monsters that can spawn in the camp (especially the mature ones) are also quite tough for the level you encounter them at, but the elder is insane.

A level 8, level 9 and animal companion, buffed up with barkskin etc, died horribly in that fight and just barely managed to take the elder (but not his friends) down before death. Other writs around that level range can be soloed, but that one is potentially impossible even for small teams of new players without great gear. This is the first writ I've vowed to never take again.
I never had issues with this writ. But i played a really high ac character and wasnt doing thr writ till its latter level range (when i could no longer do bonefields). It was a nice freebie when i did patrols and something else in thay area.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Aurian » Sun Oct 27, 2019 3:51 pm

malcolm_mountainslayer wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:51 pm
I never had issues with this writ. But i played a really high ac character and wasnt doing thr writ till its latter level range (when i could no longer do bonefields). It was a nice freebie when i did patrols and something else in thay area.
Yes, I suppose some builds could solo it, but I'm talking about the average new player without optimized gear and with maybe 20 AC unbuffed. The above team (monk, ranger, animal companion) could tear through Derro and bonefields with ease, hell I could even solo those without too much trouble. But the quaggoth elder was impossible.

malcolm_mountainslayer
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by malcolm_mountainslayer » Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:38 pm

Aurian wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 3:51 pm
malcolm_mountainslayer wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 2:51 pm
I never had issues with this writ. But i played a really high ac character and wasnt doing thr writ till its latter level range (when i could no longer do bonefields). It was a nice freebie when i did patrols and something else in thay area.
Yes, I suppose some builds could solo it, but I'm talking about the average new player without optimized gear and with maybe 20 AC unbuffed. The above team (monk, ranger, animal companion) could tear through Derro and bonefields with ease, hell I could even solo those without too much trouble. But the quaggoth elder was impossible.
I could never beat derro even with a lvl 30 character lol. Not comparable. Me and many others spent 10 to 50 hours in there

Aurian
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Aurian » Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:38 pm

malcolm_mountainslayer wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:38 pm
I could never beat derro even with a lvl 30 character lol. Not comparable. Me and many others spent 10 to 50 hours in there
Uhhh... the Derro tunnels? Level 1-8? :D I soloed the writ at level 8 without any problems... the boss is a joke compared to the quaggoth elder.

I wasn't talking about the fungal maze or anything else.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by malcolm_mountainslayer » Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:19 am

Aurian wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 7:38 pm
malcolm_mountainslayer wrote:
Sun Oct 27, 2019 5:38 pm
I could never beat derro even with a lvl 30 character lol. Not comparable. Me and many others spent 10 to 50 hours in there
Uhhh... the Derro tunnels? Level 1-8? :D I soloed the writ at level 8 without any problems... the boss is a joke compared to the quaggoth elder.

I wasn't talking about the fungal maze or anything else.
Boss wouldn't spawn for lower levels and or was too rng. I spent hoirs im fungal maze lookimg for him

Aurian
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Aurian » Mon Oct 28, 2019 10:09 am

malcolm_mountainslayer wrote:
Mon Oct 28, 2019 2:19 am
Boss wouldn't spawn for lower levels and or was too rng. I spent hoirs im fungal maze lookimg for him
Ah, he was recently fixed. They mentioned it earlier in the thread :) He now spawns on level 2 of the tunnels and is easy to solo.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Dragonovith » Thu Oct 31, 2019 3:33 pm

One of the first writs offered to low level characters in Brogendenstein is one called "Littoral Dangers". One of its objectives is "Defeat ten enemies around the underground lake Beneath the Mountain" which usually means killing the Xvarts that spawn there, but strangely enough no Xvarts or anything at all spawns there for level 3 characters, so people either abandon the writ and return when they have leveled up, try dragging monsters from other areas to the lake area, or ask for a character of higher level to enter the area in order to trigger the spawning of Xvarts.

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Bunny
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Bunny » Thu Oct 31, 2019 4:52 pm

I would recommend the writ giver send you to another agent with more appropriate work so the player has an awareness of when its time to move on and where to go. Ive spent hours wandering around or being led just to orient point a to b and learn there is a civilized spot near by.

It would also be nice if the writ language scaled with the threat. Ive entered a cave an defeated a horde but a few levels later walked in and been owned by magic in seconds. No desire to go back really since now i have to completely reorient my experience. A simple warning could have allowed me more caution or prep or insight to avoid another frustrating respawn.

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Skarain
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Skarain » Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:02 am

I would like to propose looking into The Spider Nydus writ. (Undedark/Andunor)

Except for some FOIG cool ways to complete the place, the spiders are brutally difficult. STR poison drain makes it hard for melee to fight back, and many of the spiders have 50% concealment.

On the second level, monstrocities spawn from nearby early-epic area, which hit quite hard. The 2nd boss have both DR(stoneskin), hits hard, casts Dispell Magic and have relatively high AC.

Most groups in the Underdark avoid the place since it is difficult and annoying to deal with. While it does have a return portal, it throws you into the wilderness, and you have to fend yourself for almost as long distance to get back to Andunor than simply walking out of the dungeon the way you came.

For solo? Most people won't be able to handle it at the level when you are able to take it. The rewards are also not stellar comparing to the difficulty. I 'think' it was 2500-3000G but I can not say for sure, as I can't check while currently on the writ.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by RedGiant » Thu Nov 07, 2019 4:29 am

It's been said here already, but Frigid Problems, which requires you to kill (8) ice spider hatchlings in an area in which they are 1 of 5 five possible spawns. Put next to this any other writ that requires set numbers of RNG spawns.

I just went through and found (1) ice spider hatchling in the entire dungeon complex. I did it again and found (2). I am now sorta making use of the danger of the UD by resting in the area multiple times on my third trip to hopefully get the rest.

Edit: With borderline exploit tactic of resting in dungeon, now up to (6) of (8) ice spider hatchlings on my third complete trip.

(8) of (8) reached on fourth trip. Averaging (2) ice spider hatchlings per trip.

Summary:
1st - 1 ice spider hatchling
2nd - 2 ice spider hatchling
3rd - 1 ice spider hatchling (+2 ice spider hatchlings on ambush)
4th - 2 ice spider hatchlings
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Dr. B » Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:49 pm

Skarain wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:02 am

Except for some FOIG cool ways to complete the place, the spiders are brutally difficult. STR poison drain makes it hard for melee to fight back, and many of the spiders have 50% concealment.
Blind Fight and negative energy protection aren't FOIG information, as far as I know.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Blood on my Lips » Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:20 am

The Norogh Norr writ, is just awful on so many levels. I've never seen a writ make so many otherwise pleasant people, hate everything. Rumor has it it's broken. I don't know if that's true or not, or I just can't seem to find anyone IC or OOC that's successfully done this writ.

In addition to the difficulty of getting into the temple, there's a huge amount of walking with nearly no spawn to kill. And once you get to the temple, and fail to enter, it's a long boring walk back out again.

The reward for this writ compared to the time investment and frustration is just not even worth the effort.

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Skarain
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Skarain » Fri Nov 08, 2019 5:31 am

Dr. B wrote:
Thu Nov 07, 2019 8:49 pm
Skarain wrote:
Fri Nov 01, 2019 6:02 am

Except for some FOIG cool ways to complete the place, the spiders are brutally difficult. STR poison drain makes it hard for melee to fight back, and many of the spiders have 50% concealment.
Blind Fight and negative energy protection aren't FOIG information, as far as I know.
Wasn't what I meant, but that certainly makes it easier.

If you head there with a Drow, the Spiders turn friendly and will aid you in completion of the writ. At least what I heard. Never played a Drow on Arelith.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Aren » Fri Nov 08, 2019 9:34 am

Blood on my Lips wrote:
Fri Nov 08, 2019 3:20 am
The Norogh Norr writ, is just awful on so many levels. I've never seen a writ make so many otherwise pleasant people, hate everything. Rumor has it it's broken. I don't know if that's true or not, or I just can't seem to find anyone IC or OOC that's successfully done this writ.

In addition to the difficulty of getting into the temple, there's a huge amount of walking with nearly no spawn to kill. And once you get to the temple, and fail to enter, it's a long boring walk back out again.

The reward for this writ compared to the time investment and frustration is just not even worth the effort.
It's not broken. I've done it several times. The writ is gated behind a skill check, that's only a class skill for three base classes.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Reallylongunneededplayername » Fri Nov 08, 2019 7:58 pm

I haven't been active on the forum a while so, I just came into this but.. Wow.

Why wow, The negative super traps in the Cordor crypt had been there for ..ever.

They never bothered me, You eighter bring a rogue, Find a potion to ward, Buy a potion, Don't care about them cause you are a bad arse Barbarian.

The writ jobs were fine Irongorn, Reward is plenty, xp reward was fine too.

-Skall suffers only from not having a peddler that buys most your "junk" as Cordor has,

-Writ jobs one of two issues is that I often find myself facing difficult spawn combinations that I get 1 xp a kill for.

-the other is that you don't always get a party. "Hire an NPC" could fix that though (And I thought that was in the planning)

Further, I'm really suprised to see this threat.
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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Ork » Fri Nov 08, 2019 10:34 pm

Skal

First, what a great setting and truly a breath of fresh air. Skal has saved Arelith for me. I grew frustrated with the dialogs happening here, frustrated with the changes to mechanics, and generally dissatisfied with roleplay on this server in general. Instead of quitting like I said I would, I played on Skal.

Skal is home to the outcast, the odd, the broken, the new, and the single most interesting setting on our module. With that said, a lot of the writs aren't rewarding players in the manner you would think.

While other people have said it better, the thing I desperately wanted to mention is that writs for levels 8-12 are generally lacking. By this time you easily clear dungeons like the bullywugs, kurgan and Braccanhagan. You're left with fighting the gathering tribe, minotaurs & harpies during this level spread. You will often find players do these writs ad nauseam because there simply aren't other alernatives.

I would love if there could be writs for the littoral caves, the grimalkin lair & the Skaldark in general. It's such a cool & interesting place that more players should be encouraged to explore it.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by matheusgraef » Tue Nov 12, 2019 2:29 pm

I agree that certain lowbie bosses are very difficult, I think those should be looked at - the Xvart Queen, for example, is a perfect example on a spike on difficulty. Nothing in the dungeon foretells the player they're about to meet a powerful shaman capable of summoning undead, so it's a bit unfair to cross the door and not have a clue as to what to expect, too. This is also weird when you think that people taking this quest are level 3.

However.

The Minotaur Warlord being that powerful just felt extremely satisfying to defeat when I finally did it. Same for vampires in Guldorand, I don't think that deserves a nerf. I don't like the idea of nerfing a bunch of these dungeons and paving a path for more solo grinders.

In the Cordor Crypts, for example. I really like the last stretch before you fight the Master. It's ominous, it's painstaking, it's punishing. And it should be!

Instead of nerfing that area, why not make it so the writ only requires you to finish off the brain beast? And going further to fight the Master becomes another writ or something? Kind of like certain UD writs ask you to clear up the upper levels of the dungeon, and as you become more of a seasoned adventurer, you're asked to clear the deeper levels.

So instead of the Minotaur Warlord being nerfed, why not make it so the lower level quest requires you to free the prisoners as the final goal, and then a higher level quest asks you to kill the warlord? That way, the challenge is kept, and is optional to be taken at later levels (14-20).

Finally, if something is too powerful, you can always increase the reward rather than the challenge.

As a final note, one thing I agree with the Minotaur Warlord is that the crystal there is a bit out of place. The minotaur is already extremely strong - combine that with the fact that the player does not know yet what the crystal does is a bit cheap. So either get rid of the crystal altogether, or familiarize the player with the concept beforehand. Maybe place one or two crystals along the path that will deal a low amount of damage just so you know not to get close to them when you fight the boss?

I think some dungeons could use a bit more of foretelling as to what challenge you're about to face. Again, this maintains the challenge but you're making it a little easier for the characters because they will know how to prepare beforehand, and know what to avoid.

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Re: Writ Rewards - Need to find the bad ones!

Post by Reallylongunneededplayername » Fri Nov 15, 2019 5:18 am

matheusgraef wrote:
Tue Nov 12, 2019 2:29 pm
I agree that certain lowbie bosses are very difficult, I think those should be looked at - the Xvart Queen, for example, is a perfect example on a spike on difficulty. Nothing in the dungeon foretells the player they're about to meet a powerful shaman capable of summoning undead, so it's a bit unfair to cross the door and not have a clue as to what to expect, too. This is also weird when you think that people taking this quest are level 3.

However.

The Minotaur Warlord being that powerful just felt extremely satisfying to defeat when I finally did it. Same for vampires in Guldorand, I don't think that deserves a nerf. I don't like the idea of nerfing a bunch of these dungeons and paving a path for more solo grinders.

In the Cordor Crypts, for example. I really like the last stretch before you fight the Master. It's ominous, it's painstaking, it's punishing. And it should be!

Instead of nerfing that area, why not make it so the writ only requires you to finish off the brain beast? And going further to fight the Master becomes another writ or something? Kind of like certain UD writs ask you to clear up the upper levels of the dungeon, and as you become more of a seasoned adventurer, you're asked to clear the deeper levels.

So instead of the Minotaur Warlord being nerfed, why not make it so the lower level quest requires you to free the prisoners as the final goal, and then a higher level quest asks you to kill the warlord? That way, the challenge is kept, and is optional to be taken at later levels (14-20).

Finally, if something is too powerful, you can always increase the reward rather than the challenge.

As a final note, one thing I agree with the Minotaur Warlord is that the crystal there is a bit out of place. The minotaur is already extremely strong - combine that with the fact that the player does not know yet what the crystal does is a bit cheap. So either get rid of the crystal altogether, or familiarize the player with the concept beforehand. Maybe place one or two crystals along the path that will deal a low amount of damage just so you know not to get close to them when you fight the boss?

I think some dungeons could use a bit more of foretelling as to what challenge you're about to face. Again, this maintains the challenge but you're making it a little easier for the characters because they will know how to prepare beforehand, and know what to avoid.
I agree with a lot of what is said,

Look, Difficulty is like a puzzle you have to figure out how to handle some things, If you can't do the puzzle then that dungeon might not be the dungeon for you.

Defeat is learning.
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