Will there be a Dev Diary for the Lonelands revamp? - Page 4

NotYetMeasured · #46 Nov 04 2009, 05:44 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Smashkilleat

Is your 52 in light armor? How long did it take you to skip around and hit all the white/blue/green quests? Easier with hunter ports, isn't it?

This is the fourth character I've leveled solo to 44 or higher. The other three (LM, RK, Mini) were pre-curve, and only one of them had any trouble. Around level 40 is where it happens, to be sure, but the real reason was doing quests too early. Jumping around and returning to hubs does take a little care, but so does all solo work. You probably have to do the PITA hubs in Evendim: Salamander Island and Eavespires.

With SoM, skirmishes should help fill in any slow spots in the mid-to-high levels. They start at Level 30 and have daily repeatable quests to augment the mob XP you'll get.

.

atteSmythe · #47 Nov 04 2009, 06:56 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotYetMeasured

The XP curve change only makes it easier. My 52 is post-curve and there's been no trouble at all. As it is I am passing on half of Forochel and half of Angmar and since I am still in Eregion I'll probably skip the first hub or two in Moria.

All three of those areas are L44+. The fact that you can skip 2/3 of the content 44+, and 2/3 of the content 32-38, but have to take every solo quest available and still possibly run out of available XP from 38-42 is exactly the problem we're talking about.

TheScyphozoa · #48 Nov 04 2009, 11:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotYetMeasured

This is the fourth character I've leveled solo to 44 or higher. The other three (LM, RK, Mini) were pre-curve, and only one of them had any trouble. Around level 40 is where it happens, to be sure, but the real reason was doing quests too early. Jumping around and returning to hubs does take a little care, but so does all solo work. You probably have to do the PITA hubs in Evendim: Salamander Island and Eavespires.

With SoM, skirmishes should help fill in any slow spots in the mid-to-high levels. They start at Level 30 and have daily repeatable quests to augment the mob XP you'll get.

.

Well, I'm hoping skirmish dailies have character XP. I'm pretty sure they were intended to add to the IXP you get, but hopefully that will come with default char XP.

findorin-gilrain · #49 Nov 05 2009, 09:09 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by atteSmythe

All three of those areas are L44+. The fact that you can skip 2/3 of the content 44+, and 2/3 of the content 32-38, but have to take every solo quest available and still possibly run out of available XP from 38-42 is exactly the problem we're talking about.

But you don't , you really don't. I have just levelled 2 more alts through to low 50s and never had an issue with enough quests. But if you do miss out 2/3 of the content in the 30s, say by only ever doing white or yellow quests, you are creating your own issue. It is easy to get to 34 in North Downs, then easy to get to 38 or 39 in Evendim and western Trollshaws. Then you still have MM, Tal Bruinen and Western Angmar. I really really can't see how there can be a problem.

Smashkilleat · #50 Nov 05 2009, 11:54 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by findorin-gilrain

But you don't , you really don't. I have just levelled 2 more alts through to low 50s and never had an issue with enough quests. But if you do miss out 2/3 of the content in the 30s, say by only ever doing white or yellow quests, you are creating your own issue. It is easy to get to 34 in North Downs, then easy to get to 38 or 39 in Evendim and western Trollshaws. Then you still have MM, Tal Bruinen and Western Angmar. I really really can't see how there can be a problem.

You can get 38 or 39 in Evendim & western TS (39 if you do all quests and several deeds).

The trouble is, even at 39, the next set of solo quests in MM, Tal Bruinen, & SW Angmar pits you against orange & red mobs. Against those mobs you miss. A lot. Fights take a lot longer. If you're in heavy or medium armor, you're mostly ok, except that things take twice as long to get down. So not only do you have to skip among 3 zones to scrape together enough solo quests to hit 40, it takes everyone a lot longer to progress at this point in the game than *any other time* in your leveling experience.

And if you're in light armor, esp. light armor without a shield, that kind of fighting is slow and dangerous. Not only do you kill slower, you die more, or run away & reset more fights.

Is it doable? Yes, it's doable. My LM finally hit 40, got the Grove set & started the Fem set. Still very slow. But the climb up from 38 was excruciating. For no particular reason.

And I'm a skilled & experienced player. Having leveled a guard, hunter, minstrel & captain through this same content (captain after the XP revamp), I can tell you that the bottleneck that starts at 38 is quite a bit worse now than it was before.

NotYetMeasured · #51 Nov 05 2009, 12:53 PM

All of the same quests are there, and they give more relative leveling than they did, so the problem has to be that during the content boom times players aren't doing all of the quests they can.

From MyLOTRO, here is what I was doing at...

Level 38:
Earth-Kin camp right next to Esteldin
Salamander Island in Evendim
Treasure Hunt line in Evendim

Level 39:
Earth-Kin in Ram Duath
Thorenhad and the Scout Camp near the Wight Ruins
Blade that was Broken arc in Evendim
Eavespires
Breakfast in the Ruins line in Evendim

And of course there are other things than solo quests to help you level:
Rep Item Intro quests
Kill Deeds for Virtues and Racial Traits
Small fellowship quests (EDIT: most can be soloed when they are blue)

At 40, I was getting started in Aughaire, MM, and Tal Bruinen, but I also finished up the Worm/Drake quests (except for the boss fight) in Ram Duath (from Esteldin).

I'm not denying a relative bottleneck, but I think with the new curve it's not much of an issue. I would expect revamping will focus on putting quest-givers close to their quests like before. It would be very hard to gather hard data on how much content there is per level, given all of the factors that could affect it. I expect the much easier solution (taken so far once the *really* big gaps were filled) is to just turn the easy dial up a little more.

.

atteSmythe · #52 Nov 05 2009, 01:02 PM

I guess we're not going to agree, but my experience has been different. Two characters before the curve changed had no problem, two since (arguably one, since I admittedly messed up the quest progression on the other) did not.

I suppose part of it may be happening earlier than I'd suggested...I'd already done Tyl Ruinen and the eastern Esteldin earth-kin camp before L38. The day I hit L38, I headed to the Ram Duath. In fact, I was running 1-2 levels early on each of those areas that you'd mentioned, and not by choice. I'll run blue and light blue quests, but I don't waste my time running around on green and grey ones.

And again, I'm not saying it can't be done...but I am saying that it's possible to end up relatively stuck, and I don't think you can say it's even possible in any other four-level span.

I'm also saying that there are a whole bunch of quests with mis-marked levels, notably almost everything in Tal Bruinen.

Smashkilleat · #53 Nov 05 2009, 01:50 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by NotYetMeasured

Level 39:
Earth-Kin in Ram Duath
Thorenhad and the Scout Camp near the Wight Ruins
Blade that was Broken arc in Evendim
Eavespires
Breakfast in the Ruins line in Evendim

That list of quests is the definition of few & far between. Not to mention, at 39 in Ram Duath, you're killing lvl 42 & 43 beasties & orcs (and signature Morroval). If you agree that's the hardest stretch of leveling in the game right now, then you agree with all of us who are saying there's a pretty serious bottleneck 38-42.

Is it doable? Yes. Is it hard? Yes. Is it hard in a challenging, rewarding type of way? No, not really. Does it encourage fellowshipping? Maybe a little.

klyth · #54 Nov 10 2009, 03:56 PM

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Level_35_to_40

I think people are skipping "The Blade That Was Broken," personally. That would account for a rather large chunk of missing XP.

gildhur · #55 Nov 10 2009, 03:57 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klyth

http://lorebook.lotro.com/wiki/Level_35_to_40

I think people are skipping "The Blade That Was Broken," personally. That would account for a rather large chunk of missing XP.

Nope. Did everything except Tomb of Elendil. Still had a gap.

klyth · #56 Nov 10 2009, 04:37 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gildhur

Nope. Did everything except Tomb of Elendil. Still had a gap.

You has a broken, then. This list was compiled from 3 characters who did 35-40 without ever slowing down or running out. So there is actually EXCESS listed there.

gildhur · #57 Nov 10 2009, 04:42 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by klyth

You has a broken, then. This list was compiled from 3 characters who did 35-40 without ever slowing down or running out. So there is actually EXCESS listed there.

Well, you never actually "run out" of quests to do, but the ratio of orange to blue gets significantly higher as you approach 40.

klyth · #58 Nov 10 2009, 04:45 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by gildhur

Well, you never actually "run out" of quests to do, but the ratio of orange to blue gets significantly higher as you approach 40.

Tal Bruinen quests don't seem to be balanced properly. They're quite easy at 39, but are "recommended" for the low 40's. So yeah, the color of your quests will tend to the yellow and orange in that area.