What keeps YOU buried in the Catacomb?

[Drakz]

ok But when I say group at plat a group means 3 players all pulling there own weight and no margin for error as it currently stands that’s kinda a tall order too, a lot of the time the instigators of group content are the only ones you can count on to be totally prepared for the run. From the description you’ve given I’m guessing your toon is more of a specialist (you stated Thames is hard and solo plat is better than group plat) to me that’s says your not finding the right people to group with and what you need is a good tank (can be a hard find as a lot of tanks for a long time neglected there def for more threat/damage) but if you find one I bet things will go much smoother.

i find solo at all tiers to be easier than group content really for cata not sure if some classes find it easier but im a Holy with really good dps

 

[GoGoGadget]

Catacombs is out of proportions hard raid. I can do all the others with my fire wizard up to heroic one without too much hickups. Gold catacomb is allready a death trap.

 

[Antavious]

i find solo at all tiers to be easier than group content really for cata not sure if some classes find it easier but im a Holy with really good dps

Classic universalist

Catacombs is out of proportions hard raid. I can do all the others with my fire wizard up to heroic one without too much hickups. Gold catacomb is allready a death trap.

fire wiz is probably one of the hardest classes to build as a universalist, almost definitely a specialist there isn’t anything wrong with this but in good content specialists need others and when they get them they do so much better than any universalist ever could.

the bottom line for a fair shake at catacombs you need a balanced group and in a lot of cases a single player can’t provide that balance simply put a wizard lacks def compared to a healer or tank but def wile unnecessary in most areas of the game it is absolutely needed in catacombs.

my progression guide talks about this (the roles in raids part is the most important) here is the link:

Raid progression

So here’s the thing I want to help people with raids but I don’t want to carry them a lot of people don’t seam to be able to gauge where they are correctly when it comes to raids and I want to put this info out there to help people correctly identify how they need to progress and what they need...

villagersandheroes.com

 

[GoGoGadget]

Classic universalist

fire wiz is probably one of the hardest classes to build as a universalist, almost definitely a specialist there isn’t anything wrong with this but in good content specialists need others and when they get them they do so much better than any universalist ever could.

the bottom line for a fair shake at catacombs you need a balanced group and in a lot of cases a single player can’t provide that balance simply put a wizard lacks def compared to a healer or tank but def wile unnecessary in most areas of the game it is absolutely needed in catacombs.

my progression guide talks about this (the roles in raids part is the most important) here is the link:

Raid progression

So here’s the thing I want to help people with raids but I don’t want to carry them a lot of people don’t seam to be able to gauge where they are correctly when it comes to raids and I want to put this info out there to help people correctly identify how they need to progress and what they need...

villagersandheroes.com

There is nothing that would not allow wizard to do well in also catacombs. Main problem is how the groups work there and you cant really rely on group control skills as 90% of mobs are ranged and even they hit like trucks. In other raids groups consist ranged and mele more evenly or the groups are more close proximity. Where wizard loses is its avoidance. Where as my warrior can block and dodge like mad man my wizard cant. And there are no good ways of increasing it. Other problem is fire wizards healing wich is RNG based and sometimes it seems you cant get it to tricker no matter what where as every other class/sublclass has ways to heal actively. In any case I still retain that catacombs is way too hard compared to all the other raids. In catacombs everything hits like a truck, alot of ranged damage wich is hard to control and alot of aoes that are hard to avoid especially when the game lags. And I wont even wanna go to Isretta at the end wich is crazy combination of all of these problems in industrial scale

 

[Antavious]

Well the good news is you seam to have identified the problems with wiz def. The bad news is you failed to identify them as problems straight away (the first line says “there is no reason” then you went and listed the reasons).

Well np so if you wanna set up a wizard as a universalist (not recommend but not impossible) I would consider supplementing it with raid relics like the nice dodge chance from the flooded crown or the nice quick active heal from the red prince’s chalice then you might wanna play some other build choices like extra vitality (blighted isle necklace and ring enchantments) or maybe swap to healing trinket feats. The bottom line is there are options for a wizard who wants to do hard content solo but it’s probably against what a wizard traditionally is and to the most part idk about you but I would rather be what I am play into strengths rather than focus on fixing weaknesses but to each there own.

wile lots of people have lots of alts I think they are only truly in kin with the classes/roles that work for them best. When they are they can see all the problems all the solutions and identify all the best ways to play.

 

[Lalocat]

I finally managed to beat Catacombs gold on my fire wizard.

Lucent Cavity is impossible. It took ages because I had to reroll a bunch of times to get the other one. I'm fine with puzzles but didn't even get to it with how many mobs are in there and how they all aggro and spike you before you even load in. It's not even possible to deathrun it because they respawn so fast.

 

[Antavious]

I finally managed to beat Catacombs gold on my fire wizard.

Lucent Cavity is impossible. It took ages because I had to reroll a bunch of times to get the other one. I'm fine with puzzles but didn't even get to it with how many mobs are in there and how they all aggro and spike you before you even load in. It's not even possible to deathrun it because they respawn so fast.

Don’t both options have the same amount of mobs on entering? But yeah if your dps is light you don’t get long between killing them and them beginning to re spawn I assume your D.lvl was 35+ (you probably have no chance without it). no doubt about it catacombs requires a solid def and definitely more than just any toon can muster. specialists are practically forced to group up to win.

 

[Claudia06]

Just pointing out a few things I've seen in Cata

1. The biggest problem that everyone has (especially tanks)

In the Chameny Abyss, the Shadow-shifters teleporting at random times always drags players to that target location. Resulting in lots of people getting dragged into empty ditches and dying. As well as having to constantly switch between night/day to defeat the shadow-shifters, players also have to dodge circles of shadow damage. With so much happening in this room, Chamney sometimes takes a good 7 minutes to get through. These target locks are unnecessary and hopefully will be resolved.

2. 15 man and 6 man comparison

There is a big difference in the amount of souls required in the final stage before being able to defeat Isretta. In a full 15 person raid, 240 souls are required to deposit while in a 6 man only 96 are needed. With having the same amount of time for every raid, having to deposit 240 souls is almost impossible unless your group is well balanced. In higher tiers, the weight of certain groups is tested with the more souls required to deposit. Without enough damage in a 15 man group, a lot of Catacombs raids end up failing at this final fight. Obviously, not having a balanced group also applies to 6 man and 9 man groups as well, but I find those to be more successfully managed than 15 man groups.

 

[Squonk]

Have done Cata on every class now and had zero fun in it each time - also having now seen the added mechanics for groups doing cata, it's even less than zero fun and actively annoying.
Really hope this raid is cycled out in future seasons

 

[Antavious]

Just pointing out a few things I've seen in Cata

1. The biggest problem that everyone has (especially tanks)

In the Chameny Abyss, the Shadow-shifters teleporting at random times always drags players to that target location. Resulting in lots of people getting dragged into empty ditches and dying. As well as having to constantly switch between night/day to defeat the shadow-shifters, players also have to dodge circles of shadow damage. With so much happening in this room, Chamney sometimes takes a good 7 minutes to get through. These target locks are unnecessary and hopefully will be resolved.

2. 15 man and 6 man comparison

There is a big difference in the amount of souls required in the final stage before being able to defeat Isretta. In a full 15 person raid, 240 souls are required to deposit while in a 6 man only 96 are needed. With having the same amount of time for every raid, having to deposit 240 souls is almost impossible unless your group is well balanced. In higher tiers, the weight of certain groups is tested with the more souls required to deposit. Without enough damage in a 15 man group, a lot of Catacombs raids end up failing at this final fight. Obviously, not having a balanced group also applies to 6 man and 9 man groups as well, but I find those to be more successfully managed than 15 man groups.

so no.1 I pretty much never let go of my movement controls so almost never get dragged off it also helps to roughly gauge how long the shifters have been in there current position. Granted this is a learned skill but most that have problems don’t seam to react they are just so used to things like the toon auto moving they never even think to take manual control over it and of course in this instance auto=death and in my opinion a deserved easy to prevent death.

no.2 there can be an imbalance here but only if some of the team isn’t actually ready to be here. 96/6 =16 240/15=16 but every player needs to store and deposit souls if a few don’t suddenly you need a bunch more per players who are actually pulling there weight. It’s just one more thing/reason why no one who isn’t ready shouldn’t join a catacombs run. even if there are some really good players there everyone’s contributions matters and a few unprepared players can easily ruin a run.

 

[Antavious]

Have done Cata on every class now and had zero fun in it each time - also having now seen the added mechanics for groups doing cata, it's even less than zero fun and actively annoying.
Really hope this raid is cycled out in future seasons

Hard to imagine anyone who raids at high lvl to not find a raid that actually makes a person play and not just “auto” any fun at all. I guess you where doing it all for the loot makes me feel sad to know that.
me personally I love the raid but I do find it hard to find groups worthy of it.I’m constantly hoping to see one forming in LFG waiting to jump in (because that way I know at least the player asking has some idea what there expecting)

 

[Lalocat]

Don’t both options have the same amount of mobs on entering?

Probably. But in Lucent Cavity they are all close to the entrance so they all aggro as soon as you enter. In the other one only some of them aggro immediately. I can fight 2-3, but 5-6 at a time is too much.

My dungeoneering is 32 (76% bonus, just about the max in previous seasons) but I wouldn't call my dps "light". I got not-Twins later and I still only know he has healers from reading the forum.

Hard to imagine anyone who raids at high lvl to not find a raid that actually makes a person play and not just “auto” any fun at all. I guess you where doing it all for the loot makes me feel sad to know that.

This really isn't fair to the other raids, especially Orla.

 

[Antavious]

Probably. But in Lucent Cavity they are all close to the entrance so they all aggro as soon as you enter. In the other one only some of them aggro immediately. I can fight 2-3, but 5-6 at a time is too much.

My dungeoneering is 32 (76% bonus, just about the max in previous seasons) but I wouldn't call my dps "light". I got not-Twins later and I still only know he has healers from reading the forum.



This really isn't fair to the other raids, especially Orla.

I do enjoy orla too but it’s puzzles kinda ruin it for me a bit (if I wanted a puzzle game I would play a puzzle game) I find cats puzzles a bit less “grab paper and pen”. As for the other raids they are just a combat slog wile they are ok they aren’t as good as cat for waking up a toon.

you will notice a big difference in those extra 3 D.lvls the threshold lvls give a massive boost to your power/def put simply most would fail at D.lvl 30 at a gold cat but at 35 most will win.

 

[Drakz]

Hard to imagine anyone who raids at high lvl to not find a raid that actually makes a person play and not just “auto” any fun at all. I guess you where doing it all for the loot makes me feel sad to know that.
me personally I love the raid but I do find it hard to find groups worthy of it.I’m constantly hoping to see one forming in LFG waiting to jump in (because that way I know at least the player asking has some idea what there expecting)

lmao what loot i went all last season not finding anything better than my current gear and this season is the same... just sad

 

[Antavious]

I don’t expect to get better gear at this point (it’s basically perfect) so the loot would be relics, ducats, some sellable stuff for the ah (heroic raids are still the best place in the game for half decent dropped gear)
must admit this could be better like more than 1 relic at cat or maybe extra ducats at heroic and better/new stuff in the ducats shop (I got all the mounts/pets and since my gears perfect the boxes aren’t good anymore)

 

[Ellusive]

I’ll start by pointing out that there is only one, maybe two people who seem to enjoy cata on this thread. This should say something
Catacombs is too busy, I and almost everyone I have talked to have major lag issues that cause death, the red circles from rocks falling do not show and Boom you’re dead. (When one hit from a rock kills you then this is a major issue if the graphics lag and the red isn’t there to warn you)
I enjoy a challenge but when there is tech issues that cause failures then I find this to be a problem

 

[Cosmickitty]

The only part of cata I don’t like is the soul container things at the final boss, it’s so slow, it should be like half the souls it currently is. Also wish run speed was boosted on the run back.

 

[Antavious]

I’ll start by pointing out that there is only one, maybe two people who seem to enjoy cata on this thread. This should say something

I had a quick review of the older posts. its seams the ones that mention weather they enjoy cat or not is about 50/50. most however don’t mention it, just what changes they think are good or what bits they don’t like. not if they enjoy it overall.

 

[Ellusive]

Catacombs is a terrible raid filled with known problems like targeting issues, lag issues, and effects that matter not showing on the screen (rocks falling with no red circles to warn you) cause you to take major damage or get killed. Another example from a different raid, the effects that are suppose to warn you to get off the lava pads in Orla’s veldt that sometimes don’t show up, this is the same problem I mentioned in my previous post.
There are times in catacombs that I have 0 debuffs and the screen is so slow that I look like I’m casting underwater. Solo it is better because there is less lag
With the group of players I run with we normally win but that doesn’t make these problems any easier to swallow.

 

[justbequiet]

I do not enjoy Cata raids either. The ones I hate the most are teleporting minibosses. On my melee alts, you can easily be dragged off the ledge coz of a combination of lag + weaknesses of how tab targeting works. The map has way too many stalling tactics that only kill time w/o contributing to the enjoyment of the raid. For instance, the run back after killing the boss is the single most boring chore in the whole map. Another is the 1st phase of the final boss where you have to turn in souls on the 4 bonfires. The fact that you cant avoid the damage taken from the boss and the wait time between spawns doesn't engage you in reducing the time spent in the map.

If it wasn't for the reward, I would avoid the cata raid like the plague. Orla's Veldt is as close to what I expect a raid to be that adds a mix of puzzles and action w/o any boring lost time. I hope they will redo the cata raids or scrap it all together for a better one in the next season.