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Beetles in the zone just east of Dyrwood


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Are they supposed to be godlike in difficulty?  I know this is only a beta zone that will not match the release content, but considering these are the first mobs you have to fight in the beta, is there a reason why they are so difficult even in normal mode?  I assume in the release the difficulty will ramp up like it does in Icewind Dale and other CRPG's :p

 

PS: There is a video from Gamecon where even the guy who works  at Obsidian could not kill them bugs and wiped twice trying! lol

Edited by StubbinMyToe
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lol my first encounter with them...they wrecked me too.  In another thread Sensuki mentioned that it was likely because DoTs are bugged right now and this affects their poison.

 

I was able to get through them by pausing immediately on sighting them and unloading on them, resting as needed.

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They aren't harder than in previous BB version (except the one where everything was super easy). Actually, they are easier than in the earlier BB release which is why their are more of then now (you used to be wrecked by 3 of them, now they are like 6 per packs on normal).

Azarhal, Chanter and Keeper of Truth of the Obsidian Order of Eternity.


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The reason they're hard is because you've yet to learn the rules very well. Once you do, they're not difficult at all (depending on party composition and equipment, of course).

 

Even if we ignore additional balancing (which we really shouldn't) you will have learned most of the ropes of the game by the point you encounter these, most likely, and they won't really pose a problem.

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How do the rules vary from lets say Icewind Dale or BG2?   I assume the beta content is somewhere beyond the starting content that will be in the release game.  I just thought it was funny because I can easily own the humans outside of town for one quest,  but the beetles that come as soon as you enter the second zoen destroy me no matter what I do :)

 

Plus, like I said, the Obisian employee (I assume he knows the rules) wiped twice and gave up on them at Gamecon! hehe

Edited by StubbinMyToe
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I tried the beta briefly in Path of the Damned difficulty and the best I could manage was snipe them one by one until I met a group of 4 that couldn't be pulled separately and after dying 3 or 4 times I decided to give up. The problem wasn't so much the damage they do, which I could more or less manage with two tanks and good positiining for area buffs/debuffs/heals. The problem is everything I was throwing at them, including the max level available spells, was doing 1-3 point of damage tops. The critters were basically immortal, especially the one named "Adria Beetle" or something similar.

 

It's possible that they are bugged, or that the default party you are given isn't ready for that kind of encounter gear-wise (you just get mediocre nonmagical items and no consumables at all), but probably what some people here say is true as well. I had no clue of how the DT's work, neither I knew much about the game systems, feats, weapons, spells, etc. That'll be all easily learned following the natural learning curve that you'll pick up by starting the game from the beginning.

 

I do enjoy and appreciate that difficulty is high. I get easily bored of RPGs where you just auto-attack enemies to death and blitz through everything without really caring about strategies or micromanaging your heroes.

Edited by Emerwyn
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@Emerwyn-

Is the difficulty high, or are high damage weapons and DT mitigation talents merely mandatory?

 

A high might rogue stacking sneak attack, reckless assault and blinding strike on an estoc or arquebus is going to sneer at 10 DT, but an average sword and board (or rather, hatchet and board) fighter is going to be frustrated beyond measure.

 

Spells in old IE games and PoE I believe are best used for buffs, debuffs and crowd control, try to understand what they do. The beetles are really not that difficult once you get familiar with the system and know-hows.

 

 

I'm not sure I agree with this.  The exceedingly temporary nature of buffs in PoE makes me very leery of them, at least for the spell/ability per rest model.  Ciphers, naturally, can just go to town with whatever fits best for the fight at hand, and will be quickly ready for the next.

 

I just watched a video where the commentator mentioned that the druid spell firebrand was 'OP' as he used it to kill a single spider, at which point it faded away because combat was over.  I also facepalmed because it did roughly +5 damage over basic attacks from the rest of the party.  That is.... really bad for burning resources to do it.

Edited by Voss
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It's possible that they are bugged, or that the default party you are given isn't ready for that kind of encounter gear-wise (you just get mediocre nonmagical items and no consumables at all),

 

 

That is what I think too.  I am no expert at PoE, nobody really is since all they have played is the beta.  But with that said, I would assume an Obsidian employee that works on the game is an expert, and yet he failed (and gave up after multiple tries) to get past them.

 

I like a hard game too, but these are the first things you fight in the game.  Difficulty when done properly should ramp up and expect the player to gradually learn the system and gear up to fight properly if they want to keep moving ahead.

 

I am going to assume that they made them hard just to mess with the beta testers, and that the release game will do as expected and ramp up the difficulty.

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@Emerwyn-

Is the difficulty high, or are high damage weapons and DT mitigation talents merely mandatory?

 

A high might rogue stacking sneak attack, reckless assault and blinding strike on an estoc or arquebus is going to sneer at 10 DT, but an average sword and board (or rather, hatchet and board) fighter is going to be frustrated beyond measure.

 

I wouldn't know, really. I tried the beta a couple of months ago and haven't touched it since, to not spoil myself while I wait for the release. That said, I imagine that DT feats will be mandatory on melee classes such as rogues, monks, fighters and barbarians of the damage dealing kind, not so much on utility or tank-oriented ones.

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@stubbin -

That assumption isn't correct- many devs are absolutely terrible at playing their games. Also, people playing while showing off content, commentating for an audience or streaming often get flustered when they screw up, which makes things worse. The goal is also to show off parts of the game, not get bogged down or manage a perfect play through.

 

And again, these aren't the first things you fight in game. It starts off elsewhere (and has also been shown off by josh) with entirely different circumstances and obviously not BBcompanions.

Edited by Voss
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