Petition: Fix Duels in the Bozjan Southern Front

[HyperiusUltima]

Right. So, this content is about a couple weeks old right now and we already are having issues. For one: Duels. We know it's supposed to be a 1v1. We know it's supposed to be qualified by not taking avoidable damage. What we didn't know was the boss was gonna run off after the 1v1 is resolved until we saw the first Duel.

So to start, let's go over what we've found during our time in Bozja:

To spawn a Duel, the following requirements must be met:

- 50 4th Legion Enemies must be killed in that area(areas are divided by Rank. Area 2 is Rank 5, and Area 3 is Rank 8)
- Minimum activity needs to happen in that area(i.e. doing Skirmishes)

Once the Duel requirements are met, the Skirmish will be able to spawn. Once it finishes, those that get Gold get Priority to enter the Critical Engagement.

These Critical Engagements with Dabog, Red Comet, and Dainsleif spawn their respective CEs once completed. Do note however that these CEs are special as their duels will spawn if somebody does not take avoidable damage. This is typically shown by Vulnerability Stacks, and must be done without dying.

The problem afterward is what caused toxicity and frustration among the community: Getting into the Duel. In an active instance, there are at least 10-18 people now qualifying for the duel and it makes it even worse when that person is new to the fight itself.

When a Duel is finished, regardless of outcome, it will go on cooldown for an hour in the instance before becoming available again(50 4th Legion mobs can be killed during this time to pop it again after that time has passed, and can be buffered similar to Eureka).

To fix this and prevent further frustration for both new and veteran players going for Duels, I petition the following:

- Duels will last for 20m, as set by the in-game timer. Should the player fighting in the duel be KO'd, they will be Returned automatically to the base camp before the Duel resets and lose Mettle as per the system. This adds a risk/reward mechanic, making it enticing to players who are looking to gain high amounts of Mettle going towards Rank 15, the current cap.

- Should the player be defeated in combat, the boss will reset the field. The lottery will then begin again in the Resistance Recruitment panel. To make it apparent, grant those who have qualified for the Duel a "Special Orders" Buff that lasts for the entirety of the Duel's timer. Once you enter the Duel, you will lose the Buff. If there are no participants at the end of the Duel Recruitment Timer(27s) then the Duel will end and go on cooldown.

- The CE's timers for Dabog, Lyon, and Sartauvoir must be reduced to a cooldown of 15 minutes since resolution of the last Duel. This is to ensure that people will have multiple chances to access a Duel in a single lockout of 3h.

Doing this should be enough to appease everyone on the aspect of duels, and it would help a lot in the next Hotfix for 5.35 for everybody. It'd be more enjoyable, and less annoying when trying to find Duels you want to fight and have to wait an hour in instance multiple times.

[Vyrerus]

I'd love that, but I guess it would make the titles a lot more common.

[Leareaux]

Reasonable and well articulated. Seconded!~

[HyperiusUltima]

I'd love that, but I guess it would make the titles a lot more common.

It could make the titles a lot more common, but even then the fights in themselves are difficult for a good amount of people. At the least, it should be accessible and not as strained as it is right now. Besides, think about it: Savage is accessible and is high-end content. These Duels are high-end content for solo players. Make it more accessible and less stressful and you'll fix most of the problems we have right now. Besides, people love challenge, and if they want to challenge themselves make it easier to do so.

[Vyrerus]

It could make the titles a lot more common, but even then the fights in themselves are difficult for a good amount of people. At the least, it should be accessible and not as strained as it is right now. Besides, think about it: Savage is accessible and is high-end content. These Duels are high-end content for solo players. Make it more accessible and less stressful and you'll fix most of the problems we have right now. Besides, people love challenge, and if they want to challenge themselves make it easier to do so.

Well, unlike Savage, the duels' difficulty mainly stems from their inaccessibility. Part of the challenge is not knowing the mechanics, and it was deliberate that they be hard to access for this reason. Until people got far enough to die to the mechs that require Lost Actions, we didn't even know they required them. Since there's videos now out for them, detailing strategy and lost actions, not everyone would be beating them, but I'd be willing to wager the titles would become insanely common, to the point of no longer having their intended rarity.

I mean, I'm pretty much as frustrated as everybody else when I qualify and don't get into a duel, especially when the duelist is unprepared/new. I just think we don't need to essentially make duels a spammable affair.

I love the idea of buffing everyone who qualifies and queuing through them as the newbies die, but lowering the time on the duel spawns seems antithetical to why duels were designed in the way they were. They'd also probably want to lower the mettle bonus buff from duel audience members, since they'd be more commonly cleared.

[KageTokage]

I don't find artificial scarcity to be a good thing, personally.

I'd be fine with keeping duel cooldowns long, but allowing more people to participate during each period where they're active so they still feel special, but not frustratingly so.

[Malakii]

What's crazy about these discussions around duels is everyone seems to be in agreement. That doesn't happen on the forums very often. I just don't understand why they haven't said something, a dev commented on the castrum timer, but have been dark about this. Just tell us, Yoshi-P doesn't want to do it or Yoshi-P is thinking about it.

[Nekaru_Infitima]

Should also add that once you've defeated a duel you can't qualify again. I saw someone walking around with the Sword of the South title, then took the duel again from others for no reason.

[Seraphor]

Should also add that once you've defeated a duel you can't qualify again. I saw someone walking around with the Sword of the South title, then took the duel again from others for no reason.

I'd say a weekly lockout tops maybe.

[HyperiusUltima]

Well, unlike Savage, the duels' difficulty mainly stems from their inaccessibility. Part of the challenge is not knowing the mechanics, and it was deliberate that they be hard to access for this reason. Until people got far enough to die to the mechs that require Lost Actions, we didn't even know they required them. Since there's videos now out for them, detailing strategy and lost actions, not everyone would be beating them, but I'd be willing to wager the titles would become insanely common, to the point of no longer having their intended rarity.

I mean, I'm pretty much as frustrated as everybody else when I qualify and don't get into a duel, especially when the duelist is unprepared/new. I just think we don't need to essentially make duels a spammable affair.

I love the idea of buffing everyone who qualifies and queuing through them as the newbies die, but lowering the time on the duel spawns seems antithetical to why duels were designed in the way they were. They'd also probably want to lower the mettle bonus buff from duel audience members, since they'd be more commonly cleared.

You also have to factor in the time it takes to down the Skirmish, then the CE, then resolve the Duel before it goes on Cooldown. That can range from 20m to a whole 40m depending on how many qualify for the duel. If you consider the time for all of that together, then tie in current Cooldown, it becomes circa 90 Minutes just to go through an entire rotation. With 15m Cooldown on Duels, it’ll cut it in half.