Yes, Another SoF topic (but constructive!)

[Stanrule1]

I love SoF, I've completed it several times, even in a DF group. I'm excited to see more content like this in Heavensward.

That being said, there are big problems with it.

• When you roullete into it, half the group leaves immediately.
• It can't be restarted, so attempts take forever.
• The risk/reward is not suffecient for players to return to it.
• As story content, it is blocking players from progression.
• The mechanics are poorly explained and easily miss-able in-game

Instead of asking for it to be removed or blaming players for not being skilled enough, lets discuss ways this trial can remove some of these obstacles. The biggest killer is that players who've already completed it, don't want to touch it again.

[Stanrule1]

So as a response to my own thread, I have some thoughts.

First, a progression check at each gate. If the boss HP% is not below a threshold, than the fight resets.
Next, reduce the number of adds. Make the remain adds stronger. This reduces clutter and makes the battle more visually easy to understand.
I've never manned the Dragonkiller, but it seems weirdly far from the rest of the fight. Consider putting it in line with the cannons/snares.

These are just some small thoughts that I think could help this trial from being the abandon ship immediately duty.

[Frost_Trunks]

A reset would be nice but I don't like the idea of an auto reset. I would like the option to do it manually.

The adds are kind of crazy. I haven' tanked it, but I can't imagine trying to hold everything.

I don't really have any suggestions. I haven't cleared it, and I honestly hate the damn thing.

[ShaneDawn]

These are some changes that may help.


-Add a reset button; if more than 5 people vote for a reset, the party will be returned to start.
-Add an explanatory cut-scene before the battle that can be re-watched if necessary
-Increase the item level required to 100 (90 is barely cutting it I guess)
-Reduce the amount of Health Vishap has by 10-15%
-Make the tortoise interruptable by a normal Stun as well


With those changes, it would make the fight itself more clear and pug-frandly, but retain it's overall mechanics.

The adds should be dying pretty fast with the cannons. If there's always a ton of adds, the cannon guys are doing something wrong.

[Wournsfeik_Untawhasyn]

-Make the tortoise interruptable by a normal Stun as well

Not that I'm saying your suggestions are not valid, I'm just jumping in to note that you can and I routinely stun that tortoise with Shield Bash. So it may have built up Stun Immunity by the time you go to stop it.

[SpookyGhost]

Yeah, in the two times I've done the trial, either I would stun the Tortoise or if I used mine at an inopportune time then the WHM would Swiftcast Holy. Sometimes this causes massive issues when the WHM Holy spams and causes the Tortoise to go stun immune... but not much you can do once that's happened.

[T2teddy]

I've tried this darned trial 30+ times without success so far, and every one was a mess because tanks could not grab all the adds. It would be helpful if the clock did not start as soon as the party barricade disappears so instructions/strategizing does not eat into the time alloted.

[ShaneDawn]

Not that I'm saying your suggestions are not valid, I'm just jumping in to note that you can and I routinely stun that tortoise with Shield Bash. So it may have built up Stun Immunity by the time you go to stop it.

Ah, alright. I've only done it once so far and I guess the party was building an abundance of resistance on to it. Kinda figured it could've only been interrupted with the cannons like SV HM.

[MXMoondoggie]

I've tried this darned trial 30+ times without success so far, and every one was a mess because tanks could not grab all the adds. It would be helpful if the clock did not start as soon as the party barricade disappears so instructions/strategizing does not eat into the time alloted.

Some adds are not so easy to grab because they seem pre programmed to do things like attack the cannons so they aggro on them instantly and one add has no aggro table it just does what it wants. For most adds you just need some good Healers to help the Tank keep adds in cannon range. A WHM can even group stun the adds so they don't run around.

It's sort of surprising how much trouble PuG groups are having with this it seems like with the last couple of patches people have been raging that things are too hard but i think it's a good thing to teach people team work especially to get people ready for harder optional content that has a lot more mechanics that require working as a team. SoF is really the bare minimal of team work you just need everyone to understand what their role is. The downside is if one person does something wrong it can destroy the whole run. The other day was helping some FC members get their kill to finish the story and we had a couple of PuG's there too. Took a little while but we finished after 2 wipes just need to make sure everyone knows what they are doing. The people on Cannons clear adds and snare the boss the person on tower then uses the harpoon thing on the boss, Tank and Healers work together to collect and position adds, One melee DPS is responsible for using the LB3 and the rest of the DPS just have to hang out under his butt and hit him.

The main thing i see going wrong is the snare part over anything.

[Dererk]

The problem with stunning the armored dragon I e the tortoise is people use stun in their rotation and when people tell them not to stun something most of the time they do it anyway.

The fight in its self isn't even hard but they should up the rewards the problem is when some one dose give directions people don't listen.