OP Boss

[Gazfrost]

I know its not a bug, but i think its BS for the Boss to cast what he does.

While in the Smugglers tunnels at Southern Peninsula, I came across a Mad Priest of Sekola.
He can summon a Huge Water Elemental and cast 9th level spell Storm of vengeance..

Problem with that is its meant to be a dungeon for players between lvl 8 and maybe lvl 12 if your a rogue type.

Any chance you can cut those spells out as its way over powered.

[Royal Blood]

He can be strong if you're unprepared. I died to him as level 12. But that was due to failing a paralyze save after already clearing the first one. Key to storm if vengeance.is to have a clarity potion or run like heck as soon as he casts it.

I came back the next night and was able to kill him solo with some better planning. So it's doable I think.

Maybe not for every class but without being too like this is how to do it if you're a rogue I would use UMD and look at scrolls.
I used some low tier spells that let me beat him easy peasy

Also have a haste potion

Also also I don't believe you need to kill him for the writ so provided he isn't in the hallway you can bypass him

[ReverentBlade]

This guy is definitely nuts, I did the writ on a rogue not too long ago, but I was prepared. I made sure the rest of the level was clear so I'd have the entire terrain available to me. I lured out the SoV and make sure I didn't get hit by the first tick. Then I had to separate the guy away from his elemental a little bit at a time breaking LoS and using stealth until I could fight him properly three rooms away from his summon. Then I burned about a hundred heal kits to chip him down over the course of probably twenty minutes.

Possible? Yes. Sane? Eh...

[Dr. B]

I haven't played in a while and haven't encountered this boss, so I don't know if he has any form of spell resistance, but if not, this seems like something that can easily be solved by a widely available level 2 spell.

[Hazard]

SoV is countered by moving out of the way before it hits you. Easily done.
Could also chug a clarity potion, they're pretty common in the loot matrix.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

Im a bit torn on this topic, mostly because why is a level 17 min cleric on a writ most people do around level ten is a valid question. That being said, the writ does not require you to kill him, and as others have pointed out he is rather weak for a level 17 once you know what he is going to do, since he has no AC to speak of. I'm not sure how good the design space of "you are likely going to die to this boss the first time you face it, but if you have any knowledge of the game you will win every time going forward" is, but the way loot is on arelith for the most part you can always kill things that are 7-10 levels higher then you if you are prepared for whatever their ai is set to cast, so I'm not sure what the actual fix would be.

[Tarkus the dog]

Run out of the SoV and make sure to clarity to counter his hold spell, other that than - just burst him down.

Without the SoV and the elemental he's just a generic dungeon boss.

[Royal Blood]

The thought I had when I noticed he wasn't on the writ is

Why is he even here then?

I don't even think there is a loot box in his chamber. I only went back to kill him because I was angry I died to him the first time hehe. Otherwise I've bypassed him Everytime


Thaaaat being said alot of MMOs are like that. You encounter something with unique mechanics then once you know how they work you can more easily defeat the thingy.

Maybe the reward for killing him ought to justify the detour? Idk

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

His room has sapphires and a bookshelf, so while not nothing I agree it could be boosted to a chest.

[chris a gogo]

Unread post by Babylon System is the Vampire » 06 Aug 2020 06:28

Im a bit torn on this topic, mostly because why is a level 17 min cleric on a writ most people do around level ten is a valid question. That being said, the writ does not require you to kill him,

Thats a common misconception.

You can put any spell ability you like onto an npc doesn't matter what the things HD is.

[Dr. B]

I haven't played in a while and haven't encountered this boss, so I don't know if he has any form of spell resistance, but if not, this seems like something that can easily be solved by a widely available level 2 spell.

Huff!

Use a wand or scroll of silence on yourself (scrolls are easily found) and charge the bloke. No SoV, no elemental, no crazy running around and luring shenanigans.

And I almost feel like these discussions should be FOIG--they're at any rate borderline spoilery--but whatever.

[AstralUniverse]

This boss encounter requires you to use NEP against the poison trap, and invisibility to surprise the boss before it insta-buffs the DR spells. It's not such a hard boss if you follow those two steps first. I didnt even know it casts SoV and I fought it so many times on different melee builds. Just drink a NEP potion and surprise it from invisibility. Haste potion is also important.

[Tarkus the dog]

You don't need NEP. You can get him to leave the room.

[-XXX-]

This is an older dungeon with an old boss.
Not all dungeons are designed for soloing. Some are balanced more towards party experience - my point being that the design philosophy of the team often changed when designing areas and balancing the spawns over the time.

Now it's only a matter of figuring out whether having one's expectations subverted is necessarily a bad thing.

[Nitro]

The dungeon is entirely soloable, the boss is just in a sideroom (that is neither required to progress through the dungeon, or for writs) and punches way above the weightclass of the rest of the dungeon. It's one of those "GOTCHA!" side-rooms that seem to exist just to kill people who haven't done the dungeon before and are unaware they're about to get a SoV dropped on their heads.

[Baron Saturday]

The dungeon is entirely soloable, the boss is just in a sideroom (that is neither required to progress through the dungeon, or for writs) and punches way above the weightclass of the rest of the dungeon. It's one of those "GOTCHA!" side-rooms that seem to exist just to kill people who haven't done the dungeon before and are unaware they're about to get a SoV dropped on their heads.

Which is precisely why I hate it.

[Archnon]

This is like umberhulk 2.0 and I believe he was removed.

[garrbear758]

There are level 9 and 10 writs in UD with bosses or normal mobs that cast SoV and are required to be killed to progress. There are plenty of ways to block it or prevent them from casting as listed by others above. This boss in particular isn't a part of the writ. Anything can be hard if you don't come properly prepared.

I see zero reason to change this.

[Babylon System is the Vampire]

This is an older dungeon with an old boss.
Not all dungeons are designed for soloing. Some are balanced more towards party experience - my point being that the design philosophy of the team often changed when designing areas and balancing the spawns over the time.

Now it's only a matter of figuring out whether having one's expectations subverted is necessarily a bad thing.

The thing is, this guy doesn't get any easier in a group, so its hard to say "It was designed for group play" when really anyone that's a melee character can kill him just fine alone. If anything, a group has the potential to make the process messy.

There are level 9 and 10 writs in UD with bosses or normal mobs that cast SoV and are required to be killed to progress. There are plenty of ways to block it or prevent them from casting as listed by others above. This boss in particular isn't a part of the writ. Anything can be hard if you don't come properly prepared.

I see zero reason to change this.

I agree with this for the most part, but 1) I think there should be more of a reward for actually killing him, and 2) there is a huge difference between seeing this all the time in that level range even on mob spawns and just having one pop on you randomly. Ultimately, as has been laid out by the better players posting in this thread, he is not hard to kill. Where it gets a bit sticky is the surprise factor for someone who has never been in that dungeon before. While I firmly believe that the entire surface needs an overhaul to be harder in general, I also feel like it could do with more of a ramp up to the power level of the bosses as opposed to just coasting through until you run into the mack truck. It's not that big of a deal in the grand scheme of things, since once you do the dungeon once you at least know what you are signing up for, and perhaps I put too much weight on that "first time through" experience. But that's where my opinion on that is.

[AstralUniverse]

For a powerful boss that is not required to complete the writ, that people seem to struggle with, I'd suggest that at the very least it would have some loot chest because currently it doesnt have anything really notable.

[Hazard]

Give the man a door, at least, so that he's more easily skipped over.

[AstralUniverse]

Give the man a door, at least, so that he's more easily skipped over.

Last I checked he does have a locked door that require you to LP it or bash it. Thing is, after someone bashes it, it wont respawn until reset because it's a door I think so it's understandable why the confusion. I wish I could say the same about the loot chest that isnt there.

[Hazard]

Give the man a door, at least, so that he's more easily skipped over.

Last I checked he does have a locked door that require you to LP it or bash it. Thing is, after someone bashes it, it wont respawn until reset because it's a door I think so it's understandable why the confusion. I wish I could say the same about the loot chest that isnt there.

Ohh!

Damn, I must have done that dungeons hundreds of times over and years and never gotten to see the door, lol.

A chest is a great idea.

[Anomandaris]

Personally I wish there were more x factors like this in dungeons. I also kind of wish spawns were be more random so we couldn’t predict with such confidence where we can safely grind or what the disposition of the enemy forces would be. Going into a dungeon by yourself is commonplace and granted, necessary because playtimes don’t match up etc, but it should be scary and dangerous. The yellow Bosses mechanic is a great example.

I’d love to see some nastier content that brutalized adventurers and was unsoloable. Obviously not in places where a sub epic party will stumble into it but still. The orcs of sibayad always kind of resonated me as a nice approach to layer. You can clear the outside but then look at the fortress but depending on party and lvl just say nooooo thank you!

We naturally as players think along the lines of dungeon design because we’re used to it. There are mobs and bosses. If we can kill the mobs we expect the boss to be within reasonable range of the boss, but a challenge, it’s just game design. But the world doesn’t work that way and it can add a real edge of suspense and terror when you don’t know if you might need to high tail out of a place because their resident champion showed up to defend their cave etc. Maybe I’m just more of a masochist though haha!

[Gouge Away]

The dungeon is entirely soloable, the boss is just in a sideroom (that is neither required to progress through the dungeon, or for writs) and punches way above the weightclass of the rest of the dungeon. It's one of those "GOTCHA!" side-rooms that seem to exist just to kill people who haven't done the dungeon before and are unaware they're about to get a SoV dropped on their heads.

I'm all for "GOTCHA" monsters who're tougher than anything around them if they are off the beaten path and if there are sufficient clues that "hey dummy, you shouldn't be doing this." The thing is I'd bet 9 out of ten players will still try their luck the first time in the dungeon, but if there's plenty of environmental warning IG then getting slaughtered is their own damn fault.