Late game dreariness

[Omega Blue]

Okay, my character has dispatched two of the orc prides and went through Scarred Char, but suddenly I got hit by a sort of dreariness. It's a kind of boredom, I am not really looking forward to grind through two more orc prides and then the rest.

Any solutions?

[HousePet]

Some side dungeons?

Rocking music?

[Omega Blue]

Well, I guess it's doing the same thing over and over again eventually takes its toll.

It would be nice if there are different ways to finish the dungeons... Say stealing the orbs from the orc prides, or making fake ones and switching for the real ones, etc.

[tylor]

I really like post-dreadfell part much less, comparatively. Too much of grind and gamble. That's why I have most of my chars lingering somewhere around "just after Master" and "did couple of East dungeons". Some of end-game drops are so unbalanced, that game is trivial with it, and near-impossible without. I wish more equipment, especially particularly powerful (like that ring of +0.3 to all melee skills, or anything - rush cooldown, or even decent runes and infusions) be guaranteed rewards for something.

[Ritz]

I can't agree more. The first continent is usually fun no matter how I play, but then I get to 4 absolutely identical orc prides and have to force myself through this part of the game. I'd really like to see those levels reduced in size or maybe have more differences between each other.

[tylor]

Okay, my character has dispatched two of the orc prides and went through Scarred Char, but suddenly I got hit by a sort of dreariness. It's a kind of boredom, I am not really looking forward to grind through two more orc prides and then the rest.

Any solutions?

And solution would be starting another char with another class.

[ohioastro]

The orc prides would be better if they had one level less each, and a guaranteed major vault in each for those characters who could use the extra exp / loot.

The optional east dungeons are fine, but I have the same reaction re:prides. Too long and too similar.

[jenx]

I can't agree more. The first continent is usually fun no matter how I play, but then I get to 4 absolutely identical orc prides and have to force myself through this part of the game. I'd really like to see those levels reduced in size or maybe have more differences between each other.

I agree. Three prides are very similar, and very lengthy to play. I'd like to see four different prides, with four different setups and maps.

I find the West though a bit tedious as well. It takes a good amount of time to get to the East.

[omero]

As a new player who just got to the Far East, my impressions mostly coincide with many of the previous comments.
I'd like to see how my build can progress further in the run but so far it's been a very slow crawl with many tedious situations.
Also, while in the West many zones are deadly, I never got the feeling of being overwhelmed by the hostiles.
In the Far East, you're almost encouraged to check the entrance of each of the Prides (locking them down to level) and then set about on other errands until you're in better conditions to face them. And since the XP sources aren't exactly unlimited,
you have to repeat each of the optional zones times and again.

[bricks]

Yeah, not a fan of the Prides. Repetitive, and extremely stressful. Bad combo.

[evouga]

I think the dreariness boils down to several different problems:

1. Boring dungeons

The orc breeding pits are the worst of a bad lot -- relatively deep (5 levels I think), has a layout that's very annoying to navigate, and consists of repetitively killing crowds of enemies that pose little threat to a well-built character.
The prides also get repetitive, as noted above.

Notable east dungeons that are *not* boring include the Vor Armory and the Crypt: both are short, and feature interesting maps and unique tough fights. I would recommend shortening the prides, or giving them unique maps like the Armory. And definitely shorten the breeding pits.

2. Leveling up is rarer and less exciting

Once you hit the prides, you are either at or very close to the level cap, depending on exp penalty and optional dungeons. The big bonus at 50 is nice to look forward to, but even then you've already maxed out most of your important stats and talents and are just rounding things out. The excitement of unlocking new, character-changing and powerful talents is over. And unless you're playing a race with severely stunted exp you will hit the level cap before entering the High Peak, giving you very little motivation to keep trudging through the boring dungeons, except for...

3. Useless loot

In the east you are looking for a few key Tier 5 artifacts to round out your character (Chromatic Harness etc) and 99% of everything else you collect is chest-fodder. Compare to the early game in the west, where a nice piece of ego equipment might usefully upgrade your character. Cue frustration as you ransack vault after vault looking for the only artifact that you actually still want.

I have several suggestions here: first, make the pride leaders drop guaranteed, powerful artifacts (like Slasul's pearl) besides just their orbs, to give people something to look forward to as they fight through the prides. Also, random and rare? (pink) artifacts need to be seriously buffed -- they are almost always complete crap compared to the true artifacts, and it would be nice if finding one were occasionally useful.

[evouga]

I forgot to mention: on the subject of prides, I'll echo what others have said about the layout problem. The ambushes at the entrance don't make sense -- experienced players teleport away or scum the stairs, newbies just die. Putting large crowds of powerful enemies at the down stairs, or the door controls, instead would work better.

The only exception is the Grushnak pride, where the cramped "entrance" areas combined with tough melee enemies plays quite well.

[Canderel]

l really enjoyed the prides a lot. But I only played it once. what made it for me though was the lore, which I found Amazing! the lore inthe breeding pits was also pretty cool.

[Judecca]

I forgot to mention: on the subject of prides, I'll echo what others have said about the layout problem. The ambushes at the entrance don't make sense -- experienced players teleport away or scum the stairs, newbies just die. Putting large crowds of powerful enemies at the down stairs, or the door controls, instead would work better.

The only exception is the Grushnak pride, where the cramped "entrance" areas combined with tough melee enemies plays quite well.

Experienced players don't need to do either one of those, though, except maybe in the necro pride if you're not bothering to gear for resists at all.

Or if you're playing nightmare/insane but those aren't the norm anyways.

[tylor]

I actually not that fond of "lore" and plot" that appear in late game too. Too grimdark for me. I liked it more without plot, like first part. Why more RLs can't be light hearted, like Elona? Why should it always be about genocide, apocalypse, body horrors and such?