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[Kor of Memory]

I think the Gjalla stuff last week really gave people a false sense of security in doing the boss. "Oh we took him down so easily, let's do it against with arc snipers". But alot of times that won't work unless you land fast consecutive headshots, so you end up having to disarm mines and pass around the disease whilst dodging the vandals/dregs/shanks(Captains don't use any arc weaponry.).

At that point you have to start realistically clearing out vandals/dregs whilst maneuvering around the arena(Skolas doesn't do alot of damage surprisingly enough.)

The fight is still in the honeymoon phase of people having to learn it and it's mechanics. People have become complacent sitting in one spot and trying to rush down the fight(Which surprisingly enough, people tried to do with the level 34 fight. Instead of playing around with the mechanic, they try to avoid it and end up just failing and giving up). So they end up blaming the fight itself and not themselves.

I dislike seeing that. It's doable. I did the level 34 fight the first day, formulated a strategy based around keeping track of the eye/sticking to the right side/rotating DPS It's doable.

Datto put up a strategy guide for Skolas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWBibsyqZsk

As long as Bungie makes bullet sponge bosses, players are going to use bullet sponge tactics.

Create bosses with proper forms/stages, or boss encounters with multiple enemies ala Dust Palace. Else, watch as your player-base just abuses the mechanics they are given.

 

[brianjones]

still have a 34 poe left to run on titan .. anyone interested

 

[Deku Tree]

So I guess this guy from Reddit got the Elder Cipher bounty on a character he doesn't play on often. He's been waiting for Variks for 9 days. I guess it's based on in-game time on that specific character.

https://www.reddit.com/r/DestinyTheGame/comments/37miyy/elder_cipher_wait_time_9_days_so_far/

Yeah the whole "wait for Variks" step really has to go. No point.

 

[Ruthless_Barbarian]

Yep - but he's full?

No, you should be able to join..

Join his party chat first.

 

[zewone]

When hardcore twitch streamers are crying about the extreme difficulty of an encounter then a game developer has to know in their heart that they made it too hard.

http://youtu.be/VRixkDiNenY

I actually though the arc burn/sniper method was much easier. Completed it in 3 tries.

Much faster than Gjallarhorn method.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

As long as Bungie makes bullet sponge bosses, players are going to use bullet sponge tactics.

Create bosses with proper forms/stages, or boss encounters with multiple enemies ala Dust Palace. Else, watch as your player-base just abuses the mechanics they are given.

Skolas is that, funny enough. If you count the adds spawning every 90 seconds a stage, then Skolas is a really mechanic heavy fight. What if you get a modifier like brawler on it? Or Exposure? You're going to have to learn the fight sooner or later.

 

[squidhands]

Maybe Toa TAK was drunk.

One would hope.

 

[funkypie]

Need one more for 32 Poe add pieboy1234

 

[ocean]

Skolas please die. This is so so frustrating aaassssh

 

[Kalamari]

I think Bungie was really aiming to bring more difficult encounters this expansion. I think it pains them to see players able to complete raids and stuff on the first day.

 

[Deku Tree]

I think the Gjalla stuff last week really gave people a false sense of security in doing the boss. "Oh we took him down so easily, let's do it against with arc snipers". But alot of times that won't work unless you land fast consecutive headshots, so you end up having to disarm mines and pass around the disease whilst dodging the vandals/dregs/shanks(Captains don't use any arc weaponry.).

At that point you have to start realistically clearing out vandals/dregs whilst maneuvering around the arena(Skolas doesn't do alot of damage surprisingly enough.)

The fight is still in the honeymoon phase of people having to learn it and it's mechanics. People have become complacent sitting in one spot and trying to rush down the fight(Which surprisingly enough, people tried to do with the level 34 fight. Instead of playing around with the mechanic, they try to avoid it and end up just failing and giving up). So they end up blaming the fight itself and not themselves.

I dislike seeing that. It's doable. I did the level 34 fight the first day, formulated a strategy based around keeping track of the eye/sticking to the right side/rotating DPS It's doable, yet people are completely complaining at how impossible the level 34 fight is.

Datto put up a strategy guide for Skolas.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jWBibsyqZsk

I just don't like the notion of difficulty that is caused by forced under-leveling combined with damage Burns that make enemies 1 or 2 shot you. And I don't like that the Skolas fight has a huge difficulty spike over the rest of the Arena. Skolas is a raid boss not an Arena boss. Skolas needs a CP.

 

[LTWood12]

Shhh, quiet....it's him.

*pretends to be engrossed in a game of snake on my Nokia 6110.

 

[Orthogonal]

Doesn't the armor core just drop when someone opens the chest or did you not make it to the chest at all?
I have been tagging along with a couple of PoE32s and 34s today but I didn't open 8the chest because I don't have the keys.
I feel so empty-handed when I beat Qodron and walk out with 2 Strange Coins and 5 Spirit Bloom haha.

Yeah, it drops as soon as any chest is open. Urrox was dead but hadnt gotten down to the chest room yet.

 

[Twilight Gap]

I just don't like the notion of difficulty that is caused by forced under-leveling combined with damage Burns that make enemies 1 or 2 shot you. And I don't like that the Skolas fight has a huge difficulty spike over the rest of the Arena. Skolas is a raid boss not an Arena boss. Skolas needs a CP.

the rest of 35 was easy and then you hit skolas and wipe for 2 hours lol

 

[Deku Tree]

I actually though the arc burn/sniper method was much easier. Completed it in 3 tries.

Much faster than Gjallarhorn method.

If you have three good class makeups, and a good strategy, and three good high impact arc snipers with three players who are good at sniping then sure you can do it that way easily I guess... when I tried it all the detailed strategies hadn't been posted yet and we ended up at Skolas and we didn't have three top tier Arc Snipers and we gave up after wiping for too long and it got really late... and even with the strategy you have a lot of stuff like this happening:

Skolas please die. This is so so frustrating aaassssh

EDIT:

the rest of 35 was easy and then you hit skolas and wipe for 2 hours lol

exactly... would be much better with some kind of gradual ramp up in difficulty without a huge spike.

 

[LTWood12]

True Guardian bros aren't afraid of close Queensbreakers.

I just spit out my Dr. Pepper lol

 

[BreezyLimbo]

I think Bungie was really aiming to bring more difficult encounters this expansion. I think it pains them to see players able to complete raids and stuff on the first day.

It's definitely difficult. I mean, the people complaining about Skolas while trying to cheese him show that. I'm watching the Datto video, and he's right-"Have 2 people on the boss, 1 clearing the adds".

That is WoW level of tactics, having 1 person work on adds. Then having to maneuver to clear mines as a group, and managing the devouring debuff. This fight is better made than Crota, hell the mechanics and teamplay alone are indicative of that.

But people don't want that, apparently. What the hell do they want? People wanted a horde mode, so they gave you that. But apparently it's not good enough. So people want a raid instead. So you get a skolas, a multi-stage fight with mechanics. But people don't want that, apparently. So the first week it's possible to cheese him and just shoot gjallahorns. But people don't want that, so this week it's harder than the last. But people don't want this either.

It's baffling at this point.

I just don't like the notion of difficulty that is caused by forced under-leveling combined with damage Burns that make enemies 1 or 2 shot you. And I don't like that the Skolas fight has a huge difficulty spike over the rest of the Arena. Skolas is a raid boss not an Arena boss. Skolas needs a CP.

I still disagree with the CP stuff. I mean, it's not that hard to sit in the arena until the reset clicks over and saving a CP each week. And this week, doing 2 skolas attempts with different groups, it took us a maximum of 30 minutes to actually beat him through multiple attempts. With a good group, it'd take a good 5 minutes to beat him each week.

And yeah, the enemies can 1/2 shot you, but they die just as fast. Having 1 person on adds, then it's an extremely manageable situation. And yeah, Skolas has a difficulty spike, that's a good thing. That's a welcome surprise to people who wanted raid mechanics. The level 34 fight is a pleasant surprise because of the mechanics.

Hell, I did the level 34 fight 3 times this week, and every time it was with different people who had never done it. I explained it to them, and they were like 'Oh that was actually fun.'. This is good.

 

[Kor of Memory]

Skolas is that, funny enough. If you count the adds spawning every 90 seconds a stage, then Skolas is a really mechanic heavy fight. What if you get a modifier like brawler on it? Or Exposure? You're going to have to learn the fight sooner or later.

The mines and the debuff don't change anything about the boss though. He's still a bullet sponge from 100% to 0% health. Nothing about his behavior changes between those two numbers.

I feel like adding in the debuff and mines are a step in the right direction, but they feel very cheap and uninspired to me. The story made it out that Skolas was incredibly smart and savvy with technology. What is this debuff that is poisoning me, and where is it coming from? Since when does Skolas have Light-Sucking powers? And these mines? They seem to be a staple of Prison of Elders, and have nothing to do with Skolas.

I admit it will be very interesting to see what happens with non elemental burn weeks.

 

[Kadey]

First time I literally got stuck in a rock and died.

 

[Orthogonal]

I think Bungie was really aiming to bring more difficult encounters this expansion. I think it pains them to see players able to complete raids and stuff on the first day.

I don't know that it pains them. They seem to be excited about all the pro teams trying for world first when the new raids came out and then posting a top 10 of completions.

 

[Mass Appeal]

Need one for POE 34. On Round 5 last boss need help taking him down. We had someone but he had to take off.

Psn: thenal84

 

[Twilight Gap]

It's definitely difficult. I mean, the people complaining about Skolas while trying to cheese him show that. I'm watching the Datto video, and he's right-"Have 2 people on the boss, 1 clearing the adds".

That is WoW level of tactics, having 1 person work on adds. Then having to maneuver to clear mines as a group, and managing the devouring debuff. This fight is better made than Crota, hell the mechanics and teamplay alone are indicative of that.

But people don't want that, apparently. What the hell do they want? People wanted a horde mode, so they gave you that. But apparently it's not good enough. So people want a raid instead. So you get a skolas, a multi-stage fight with mechanics. But people don't want that, apparently. So the first week it's possible to cheese him and just shoot gjallahorns. But people don't want that, so this week it's harder than the last. But people don't want this either.

It's baffling at this point.

its the reason Bungie treats their community like kids lol

This Skolas fight is definitely an improvemet mechanically. But if you arent using the right stuff youll just waste time.

 

[Ramirez]

not entirely unexpected from HaloGAF, tho.

squid, plz

 

[GhaleonEB]

The past few days I've been battling the forces of darkness across the solar system for one purpose: plasteel plating. It's all that's been holding my Titan back from vaulting to level 32 (currently at 30, but this haul began at level 28). I needed hundreds to level her gear.

My Warlock and Hunter funnel their armor engrams to the vault for her, while the Titan burns through glimmer grabbing green armor engrams from the Cryptarch to dismantle for the precious material. Just now, my Warlock finished up the House of Wolves story mission, then her inaugural trip through Prison of Elders (complete with chest key), coming out with over 10,000 glimmer. The Titan burns through it at the Cryptarch for plasteel, and I finally get 50, enough to get through the nodes that require it on my helm and armor and reach level 31.

Or I could, if I hadn't run out of glimmer. :lol

 

[Renta]

Need one for POE 34. On Round 5 last boss need help taking him down. We had someone but he had to take off.

Psn: thenal84

I'll help out. PSN: RentALine

wait nvm

 

[Marvel]

Skolasssssss, you bastard

 

[LTWood12]

The past few days I've been battling the forces of darkness across the solar system for one purpose: plasteel plating. It's all that's been holding my Titan back from vaulting to level 32 (currently at 30, but this haul began at level 28). I needed hundreds to level her gear.

My Warlock and Hunter funnel their armor engrams to the vault for her, while the Titan burns through glimmer grabbing green armor engrams from the Cryptarch to dismantle for the precious material. Just now, my Warlock finished up the House of Wolves story mission, then her inaugural trip through Prison of Elders (complete with chest key), coming out with over 10,000 glimmer. The Titan burns through it at the Cryptarch for plasteel, and I finally get 50, enough to get through the nodes that require it on my helm and armor and reach level 31.

Or I could, if I hadn't run out of glimmer. :lol

I spent 40,000 glimmer the other day buying green hunter helmets to dismantle for Sapphire wire. Needed it to max my Radiant Dance Machines and hit level 34 lol.

 

[Kor of Memory]

The past few days I've been battling the forces of darkness across the solar system for one purpose: plasteel plating. It's all that's been holding my Titan back from vaulting to level 32 (currently at 30, but this haul began at level 28). I needed hundreds to level her gear.

My Warlock and Hunter funnel their armor engrams to the vault for her, while the Titan burns through glimmer grabbing green armor engrams from the Cryptarch to dismantle for the precious material. Just now, my Warlock finished up the House of Wolves story mission, then her inaugural trip through Prison of Elders (complete with chest key), coming out with over 10,000 glimmer. The Titan burns through it at the Cryptarch for plasteel, and I finally get 50, enough to get through the nodes that require it on my helm and armor and reach level 31.

Or I could, if I hadn't run out of glimmer. :lol

Do Key farming for any class material (plasteel plating, sapphire wire, hadronic essence). An hour will probably net you 90+.

 

[Darth Ghandi]

Mothefking 34 PoE is way too hard imo. Half the time none sees the damn eye to get the jailbreak. Stood on the right side but with all the adds and the detainment this is just out of control.

 

[Mass Appeal]

I'll help out. PSN: RentALine

wait nvm

No worries. Still need one for Poe 34. At last boss.

 

[Orthogonal]

The past few days I've been battling the forces of darkness across the solar system for one purpose: plasteel plating. It's all that's been holding my Titan back from vaulting to level 32 (currently at 30, but this haul began at level 28). I needed hundreds to level her gear.

My Warlock and Hunter funnel their armor engrams to the vault for her, while the Titan burns through glimmer grabbing green armor engrams from the Cryptarch to dismantle for the precious material. Just now, my Warlock finished up the House of Wolves story mission, then her inaugural trip through Prison of Elders (complete with chest key), coming out with over 10,000 glimmer. The Titan burns through it at the Cryptarch for plasteel, and I finally get 50, enough to get through the nodes that require it on my helm and armor and reach level 31.

Or I could, if I hadn't run out of glimmer. :lol

No shards to trade in? Im sure tou could get a Gatekeeper farm team going if you really want it.

 

[Ken]

The mines and the debuff don't change anything about the boss though. He's still a bullet sponge from 100% to 0% health. Nothing about his behavior changes between those two numbers.

I feel like adding in the debuff and mines are a step in the right direction, but they feel very cheap and uninspired to me. The story made it out that Skolas was incredibly smart and savvy with technology. What is this debuff that is poisoning me, and where is it coming from? Since when does Skolas have Light-Sucking powers? And these mines? They seem to be a staple of Prison of Elders, and have nothing to do with Skolas.

I admit it will be very interesting to see what happens with non elemental burn weeks.

The blight and Servitor bonds are ok (though in FFXIV, failing to pass it would just wipe the raid). Mines feel like they couldn't come up with a third mechanic so they re-used old ones...like how they re-used the Fallen map...and the re-used Archon Priest and Archon Priest AI and stagger values...

 

[rasengan1337]

I look forward to facing Gkdron in a few weeks.

lol

Whatever you say Hwkdron.

LOL

 

[Deku Tree]

And yeah, the enemies can 1/2 shot you, but they die just as fast.

No they don't. They're level 35 bullet sponges. They don't die nearly as fast even with the Burn and Arc weapons.

 

[GuitarAtomik]

The past few days I've been battling the forces of darkness across the solar system for one purpose: plasteel plating. It's all that's been holding my Titan back from vaulting to level 32 (currently at 30, but this haul began at level 28). I needed hundreds to level her gear.

My Warlock and Hunter funnel their armor engrams to the vault for her, while the Titan burns through glimmer grabbing green armor engrams from the Cryptarch to dismantle for the precious material. Just now, my Warlock finished up the House of Wolves story mission, then her inaugural trip through Prison of Elders (complete with chest key), coming out with over 10,000 glimmer. The Titan burns through it at the Cryptarch for plasteel, and I finally get 50, enough to get through the nodes that require it on my helm and armor and reach level 31.

Or I could, if I hadn't run out of glimmer. :lol

I know that feel. The Ether chests have been a godsend for this stuff though. Pretty much guaranteed one or two blues from each one, then hopefully have time to 2x/3x dip. Then tack the bounties on and use them to level your blues before dismantling. Goes so much faster than it did trying to farm class mats pre-HoW.

 

[PewPewPewBow]

Skolasssssss, you bastard

Beetle errors aren't making this fight any easier!

 

[Orthogonal]

I spent 40,000 glimmer the other day buying green hunter helmets to dismantle for Sapphire wire. Needed it to max my Radiant Dance Machines and hit level 34 lol.

yeah, had to do that on some of my alts too. My issue now is weapon parts. Never since the start of the game had I ever even paid attention to it since they were always there on whatever character I was using to upgrade at the time. This week I ran out essentially. Down to about 50. Gonna have to buy/dismantle a shit ton to upgrade some stuff

Fortunately, now HoW weapons require far less mats to upgrade.

 

[LTWood12]

I still haven't even attempted level 35. From the videos I've watched of people doing it w/ Sniper rifles it doesn't look that bad, but those videos also don't show the numerous wipes that occurred up to that point I guess.

 

[BreezyLimbo]

The mines and the debuff don't change anything about the boss though. He's still a bullet sponge from 100% to 0% health. Nothing about his behavior changes between those two numbers.

I feel like adding in the debuff and mines are a step in the right direction, but they feel very cheap and uninspired to me. The story made it out that Skolas was incredibly smart and savvy with technology. What is this debuff that is poisoning me, and where is it coming from? Since when does Skolas have Light-Sucking powers? And these mines? They seem to be a staple of Prison of Elders, and have nothing to do with Skolas.

I admit it will be very interesting to see what happens with non elemental burn weeks.

They add steps to the fight. And the bosses behavior actually does change. After his chains are broken, he stops charging at you and keeps his distance. It's why sticking in one place during the mine phase works because Skolas isn't teleporting towards you and getting in your space like in the beginning. This is the point where you have to deal for adds and the mines. It's basic, but that's how World of Warcraft started out. Tank a boss, clear add phases, go back on boss. For a shooter, this is a step forward.

its the reason Bungie treats their community like kids lol

This Skolas fight is definitely an improvemet mechanically. But if you arent using the right stuff youll just waste time.

All the burn does is funnel you to a subset of weapons. . Like Kor mentioned, it'll be interesting to what the non-burn weeks will look like.

No they don't. They're level 35 bullet sponges. They don't die nearly as fast even with the Burn and Arc weapons.

Erm....I've done the fight. Fatebringer takes them down in 1-2 hits. They're red bar enemies, and they die pretty fast. I don't want to sound like a dick, but I have had experience running around with Nami and Silver killing enemies. You can watch the video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszdcwHJdtg

 

[zewone]

Reminiscing about my favorite emblem from the beta.

Lost but not forgotten the original Cyclops Mind II.

Pour one out.

 

[ocean]

the rest of 35 was easy and then you hit skolas and wipe for 2 hours lol

This. We breezed our way here and now I've been at Skolas for 2 hours. I have a sinking feeling it may not even be possible unless I come back with a higher impact sniper...P&T isn't cutting it :/

I never ever *needed* Gjallarhorn or Black Hammer or whatever for anything before. For the first time since launch I'm stuck at an encounter which I don't know how to beat for lack of a specific archetype special weapon in a specific element.

Doesn't feel good. Not blaming the encounter since there's lots of interesting mechanics going on here. I like the idea of a boss + mines + pass around the debuff. I just don't like how success is so dependent on a type of sniper which isn't even being sold right now (all the vendor stuff is low impact) or RNG shotguns (no way to reliably get 4th Horseman or Found Verdict).

 

[Deku Tree]

I still disagree with the CP stuff. I mean, it's not that hard to sit in the arena until the reset clicks over and saving a CP each week. And this week, doing 2 skolas attempts with different groups, it took us a maximum of 30 minutes to actually beat him through multiple attempts. With a good group, it'd take a good 5 minutes to beat him each week.

I already posted a video of a top tier Destiny twitch streamer talking (basically crying) about their experiences with the Skolas Arc Burn level 35 fight this week. What you describe sure wasn't their experience... not even in the same ball park.

EDIT: here it is again: http://youtu.be/VRixkDiNenY

 

[WizzNARD]

Posted this before, wanted to give people a heads up again, will probably post this again just so everyone knows what's up.

In regards to ToO lighthouse runs:

So for the few Xbox folks who signed up: I should be on Saturday in the afternoon (around 11 EST, or earlier) for some time, and again in the evening thinking closer to 8 or 9 EST.

Sunday should be the same.

And like I said before, I'm no pro. I can't guarantee a trip to the Lighthouse. But I can guarantee a good time for all! No pressure fun, with rewards, what more can we hope for?

Also, if there are any XBO pros, please join and help out!

I'll add everyone who signed up sometime soon here, or add me if you want. Hoping to play some practice tonight and tomorrow so invite/join if you see me on. By practice I mean just playing crucible, nothing too fancy.

 

[Marvel]

Beetle errors aren't making this fight any easier!

Literally just had that

 

[forrest]

No worries. Still need one for Poe 34. At last boss.

Still got room? Need to gear swap

Forrest_Crump

 

[Kor of Memory]

They add steps to the fight. And the bosses behavior actually does change. After his chains are broken, he stops charging at you and keeps his distance. It's why sticking in one place during the mine phase works because Skolas isn't teleporting towards you and getting in your space like in the beginning. This is the point where you have to deal for adds and the mines. It's basic, but that's how World of Warcraft started out. Tank a boss, clear add phases, go back on boss. For a shooter, this is a step forward.

I feel a bit silly as I had no idea about the bolded.

Though, I will say I don't feel like there is a "clear out adds" phase, because the adds seem to just keep coming.

 

[tearsintherain]

The bad thing about skolas is that there is a min/max strat that is very detrimental to playing the game. Its based on a couple of assumptions, but so far the assumptions seem to hold up true.

The first assumption is that the exotic bounty and elemental weapons drop when the boss dies, not when you clear the round. This is true so far for everyone who has gotten those drops.

The second assumption is that you can only get both once per week on a boss kill, ie running skolas again on the same character won't give you weps or bounty chance.

So the min/max strat is to clear up to skolas, kill him however, then wipe to mines. Switch your fireteam to alts (one guy stays in, other two switch, first guy switches) and repeat. Do again a third time. Now you can do it 3 more times again and clear the mines for the etheric light/cores and if you want the big chest, but basically 3-6 kills of just the boss on the same raid will maximize your shot at bounty and elemental weapons.

That is a terrible, terrible design and I'm not sure why they didn't think about it before release.

 

[Deku Tree]

Erm....I've done the fight. Fatebringer takes them down in 1-2 hits. They're red bar enemies, and they die pretty fast. I don't want to sound like a dick, but I have had experience running around with Nami and Silver killing enemies. You can watch the video-
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pszdcwHJdtg

Oh so you were only talking about the weakest enemies in the Skolas arena? Gotcha.

 

[Kalamari]

You know, I wonder if we'll ever see PoE gear with abilities that increase damage to bosses or something. There may be some gear that could make a big difference for the ore difficult encounters.

 

[Twilight Gap]

This. We breezed our way here and now I've been at Skolas for 2 hours. I have a sinking feeling it may not even be possible unless I come back with a higher impact sniper...P&T isn't cutting it :/

I never ever *needed* Gjallarhorn or Black Hammer or whatever for anything before. For the first time since launch I'm stuck at an encounter which I don't know how to beat for lack of a specific archetype special weapon in a specific element.

Doesn't feel good. Not blaming the encounter since there's lots of interesting mechanics going on here. I like the idea of a boss + mines + pass around the debuff. I just don't like how success is so dependent on a type of sniper which isn't even being sold right now (all the vendor stuff is low impact) or RNG shotguns (no way to reliably get 4th Horseman or Found Verdict).

yup i felt useless with an arc violater but as long as two people have good snipers and weapons of light, you can do it