Passes are too hard :(

Hello and gratulation to these great release and your fabulous work on SotA!

There are so many fantastic things you add in R28 and generally to the game in the last years, but there is a thing, i don't like

The Passes are often to hard! For example, the "Vauban Pass", to get to or from the region of Drach Vlad, is so extremely hard, it's always a lucky game to survive the journey through these pass (and I wear heavy armor *g*)

I would say the passes are often to hard (not only for "new" players) to travel around the world without get frustrated from dying ongoing. Place easier enemies or less count of them

 

they are just fine, sorry you die but you can walk to an ahnk so at this time not an issue.

And I ran thru 3 of them yesterday with a brand new char and didn't die????

 

To die = lost durability on armor and weapons = cost a lot of money!
Why are you use ???? after your statement? Are you ask me a question?!? *gg*
I can't belive that you'are able to run through tree passes (definitely not the Vauban Pass!) with a new character without dying!

 

You are experiencing the game as intended. In fact, Id say, given the point of the passes, and that it costs a moderate amount of item durability (you can always choose not to wear it...), and that you can basically die and zone through a pass, the passes are actually too easy .

 

Every pass should have at least one alternate means besides fighting. Perhaps a secret tunnel (or tunnels) with (random) hidden traps you have to avoid or hidden passageways you have to reveal. Or an alternate path where you need to use stealth, either through skill and knowing MOB patterns (which change based on schedule, be it daily, nightly, weekly, monthly -- and per MOB type). Or, just pay the wizard 1500 gp

Whatever they do, I hope they expand it to more than just fighting or running for your life.

 

They DO have an alternate means of passing, pay the dude at the start of the scene. The passes have to be DIFFICULT in order to reaffirm the importance of regional economies. You have to think twice before travelling through a pass just as you would in real life. I realize that isn't really "new player friendly" but I think the passes are working as intended.

 

Please don't always talk about "in real life .... blablabla ..."
There are no skeletons in real life defending a pass!!!

This is a game and shoud make fun, not be frustrated! A little hard sometimes, yes! Some kind of challenge, sure! I don't like a Kiddie-Game! But I pay a lot of money to support these game, so there is nothing wrong when I think, the passes are often a little bit to hard (for me and I'm sure also for a lot of other players) and it's legit to write my opinion in this Feedback-Forum!

And to pay 1.500 Gold to "travel secure" from one point to another is not a "realistic" solution in this game ...
I (and I'm sure also a lot of other players) don't have enough money to pay the rent always when crossing a pass!´

Yes! Please bring alternatives!

 

Some passes are easy. I can run through Nightshade Pass with a new character. I can easily run through Eastreach Gap with a new character, taking the roundabout route. With a little luck Brightbone Pass is manageable with a brand new avatar. I visited the tour guide as a new character in Sanctus Spine and found it impossible to traverse without dying. I seem to remember Vertas being difficult as well.

But even as a level 63 mage (earth and fire) I was unable to get through Vauban Pass alone. I could have defeated the Ebon Cultists one by one had I been able to take my time, but they (and the wolves and polar bears) kept re-spawning too quickly and ganged up on me from behind. I also tried just running for it, but didn't make it wearing cloth. Together with another player (a tank) to engage the mobs up close it was manageable. But certainly not for a new character.

I don't think that Drachvald will be a popular place during the land rush, mainly because of the pass and lack of good levelling areas for newbies. People who live in regions with easier access to other regions have a definite advantage.

I disagree that they have to be impassable to work as intended. I think twice before even going through easy passes like Eastreach Gap, simply because I have to endure two loading times - first the scene has to load, then Novia has to load when I leave the scene. Sometimes I use a scroll to fast travel from Grunvald to Ardoris just because I can't be bothered.

 

Honestly I know what you're saying but the dev's have stated they want to make regional economies. With their goal in mind that means that passes need to be very difficult to pass and if you want to pass you either need to fight through it, get taxed, or get lucky perhaps. I also do not like going through passes due to loading times, but loading times differ and are not a "controlled" barrier. If we rely on the inconvenience of loading times to keep people from openly going back and fourth the system will fail since the passes would be easy and high end computers would make the loading negligible.

The one thing I feel that really stands in the way of this is the current iteration of training which means we neeed to cross into other regions of the game. In my opinion each region should have advanced trainers for each magic if thats the route we're going with training skills. This would allow players to actually feel like they are part of that region and stay in their region more instead of the game constantly pulling you across passes that are meant to be discouraging to go through.

Just my two cents.

~Wodin

 

I love this idea. Avoiding traps in dungeons is very ultima-ish. It (trap tunnel?) has to also make it infeasible to carry a ton of weight through.

 

If they make them super easy to bypass that kind of cancels the entire point of them being there in the first place...

 

So question is should new people be contained in one region until they is mid level?

 

thats not really in question as plenty of people find them easy to "get through" (as in, at the least, get to the other side of said pass), with fresh "lvl 0" avatars. Its a strong deterrent for new people to cross, but with enough determination they can.

You might learn quickly that a troll is much easier to run past if it engages a nearby elder wolf and starts killing it first. You might realize you can skip through most of the zone in Nightshade pass by swimming across the lake. You might remember the path through sanctus spine is quite short, and its just a matter of clicking on the gate fast enough. You might also learn that swilling a health potion is usually enough to get you through a bunch of direct nukes and arrows, and once you have the (relatively small) zones memorized, you learn to run through without dying or needing much healing at all. Id say thats all a decent experience for a new player.

 

What I do I run through it with no armour and keep spamming heal

 

Vauban, for me, is by far the most difficult. It has more mobs and of a higher density than any other outdoor zone or Pass I've seen in the entire game, to date.
It's quite exceptional, regarding difficulty. Which is ironic, considering all the zones beyond it are easier than it.

 

I am wondering if it is the fear of death (and perceived loss) that keeps one on a certain side of the pass.

If you started the game dead, accidentally killed by The Lord of Chaos mistakenly in a fight against the Dark Cabal as the cutscene before The Isle of Storm to learn first how to look for and use an Ankh...

 

I guess I can get used to the fact that the map is pretty maze like, but does each and every freakin pass have to be so choked with bad guys that they are stacked on top of each other. What about a protected pass? What about a pass that no one happens to be around.

I agree with OP the passes are a bit much.

 

But the point of the passes are to control them, and this takes online mode and players to be actively controlling the zone.. it should be hard.. but maybe care should be taken to where we are starting in the world and where the most difficult ones are.. in time these control points won't be hindering us all so much. I worry about the difficulty while in single player online and offline...

 

Ahh...what happens to the pass when it is controlled? Do enemies disappear?

 

The doors stay open, and the enemies tend to focus on the ones holding the pass. Once a CP was being held, I was running thru and was not harassed at all, ran straight through, right by the large battle happening ... of course this was only in the area with the large glowing blue/red flag...

If you manage to hold a point, they will send waves of enemies after you to try to get control back.. the waves get harder as you get further...