This game is really hard..

[Eric Ravenwind]

I PvM mostly, and i seem to get my arse kicked on reletivily strong character builds w/ good equipment. My summons (from Earth Elementals to Rising Collosus') get dispelled so quickly by a lot of upper end monsters, it makes it hard to do well. I've asked if ppl wanna hunt w/ me but lots like to banksit instead.

The newer monsters slaughter Greater Dragons, and teleport u right up into attack range, making fighting w/ pets even more hard.

I'm not very good at PvM as it is; and would like things to get a bit easier - if at all possible.

Thanks for listening.

 

[Shelleybean]

The game is pretty hard. Some of the more recent monsters are outright atrocious. What shard do you play? Perhaps I can help.

 

[MalagAste]

I guess sometimes I prefer hard over easy... maybe because I would prefer to do things with a guild or group. I remember back when Dragons were actually VERY hard, when it took pretty much a guild effort to go into Destard and hunt them. I remember that fondly. Wandering the countryside was dangerous. Liches were a serious threat. I recall when their laugh would send chills through me... Knowing I was about to face the battle of my life.

Now I think we are returning to a time when maybe I'm not the ultimate slayer of beasts anymore... and I think I like that. I just wish there were more folk who enjoyed the role-playing enough to return to what I really enjoyed and remember. Sadly anymore there are so few folk left that forming a hunting party to go slay something or even to go tame a monster dragon is harder and harder to do.

The only thing that makes me sad now is that often I find myself playing solo. Most everyone I used to play with has left to go to WoW or some other game like Darkfall or whatever... Or many now have families and children that take up most of their time... so they almost never log in anymore. Or in some cases they got so frustrated with the state of the game and all the bugs they quit and won't come back... or they got hacked by some lowlife scum and now they are far too hurt to return. Not that I blame them I know if it happened to me I'd be done too. I just miss my old friends and I'm tired of playing solo. But sadly for so very long UO turned itself into a soloists game. Everything became too easy and loot became all the game was about... it drove many to selfishness. It still does in a way. Many people don't even want to come to an event if they don't think they are "getting" something. They feel they must get some prize worth mega millions in gold for gameplay to be "worthwhile"... To me that attitude has destroyed UO.

 

[Symma]

Nope, definitely don't want it easier.

More challenging, yes, that require you try different tactics. Although thats probably impossible with this game.

I play on one of the lowest population shards and we regularly go hunting daily in our Guild. I play this game for the social elements. I don't want to be able to do most of it solo. Might as well just stick playing Skyrim if that happened.

In fact the 'possible' re-design of Champion Spawns is one feature I'm keeping a keen eye on. Rarely die to champion spawns these days, so to spice them up would be great.

 

[Vyal]

Nope, definitely don't want it easier.

More challenging, yes, that require you try different tactics. Although thats probably impossible with this game.

I play on one of the lowest population shards and we regularly go hunting daily in our Guild. I play this game for the social elements. I don't want to be able to do most of it solo. Might as well just stick playing Skyrim if that happened.

In fact the 'possible' re-design of Champion Spawns is one feature I'm keeping a keen eye on. Rarely die to champion spawns these days, so to spice them up would be great.

I would love to see some redesign with the champ spawns also. Maybe not the Baracoon in despise. I think that the simplicity of that spawn attracts alot of pvp at times. Things like Semidar should be reworked, if you ask me Semidar and Oaks are the hardest spawns. I can go do a Semidar spend an hour doing it and the best thing I get is a 115 Stealth..

 

[Pinco]

they should just improve the AI of most creatures... For example, mage npcs are pretty stupid if you think about it. No fizzle, almost unlimited mana, FC 4 and all they do is just paralyze, poison, poison, paralyze... With such power they should cure more often, using invisibility, teleport to run away and hide, ambush you... but actually they are so predictable, when you learn how they act, you can always beat them without problems

Another fun thing that I would like to see is a sort of cooperative AI. For example if there are 2 rat mages and one is low life, the other should cross healing, or if there are 2 lich one does corpse skin and the other explo + flame.
With something like this you can surely add packs of weak npcs and they will be a challenge once again without the need of using insane resistances or unlimited hp that usually just makes the fight longer and boring than harder

 

[Sevin0oo0]

I certainly agree with all the OPs, theirs are very valid points. While not offering a solution, I'd like to ask: What's a mongbat's purpose? Why is it there? Do you remember being afraid of one, or having died by it's hand? Ever run from a lizard man, troll, or old school earth elemental? What about as of lately, whaa... not afraid anymore?

Altho there aren't levels in UO, I think players hit levels where they quit being afraid of the monster under the bed, and challenge the one in the closet. Just as a child says I'm a Big Boy, or I want to try it without the training wheels, it's a move to that next level. Those are the days we remember, the Kodak moments, it was fun! And the adrenalin flowed. But that doesn't last forever, so we move ever onward in search of the thrill, that next level. One by one our mobs fall silent, but what of the plight of those before us? Those whose mongbat's bones have long blown away scattered into dust? What 'level' are they on? What horrors do they face?

I think that's the challenge a Dev faces, delivering the challenges, that next level. Offering content events/arc, and having it playable and enjoyed by a wide majority of players. So is there going to be really hard stuff in UO, yes, hopefully forever.

Allow me to [OT] a moment to speak of my Lockpicker, who learned the ways of swords and dragon slaying, in Destard, first wyverns, then drakes, and finally dragons themselves. The introduction of Greaters, that next level, while completely necessary, ruined my playground, I don't go there anymore. The north room in Destard could have been used to spawn Greaters, preserving the 'levels' of younger players.
Many have never even been in there, but it's a quite large area. Good idea, good intentions, implemented incorrectly and without consideration of many players. The current story event is no exception as killing a special blood elemental is the minimum requirement for entry. What of those who are thrilled just to watch from the sidelines, helping modestly when they can? Those on the lower levels, the youngsters, are excluded, and even physically blocked off from content. I see it as a trend, and there are plenty more examples, that while not physically blocking off players with boulders, players are none the less being blocked from more and more areas. Eventually, their next thrill will be in Non-UO content.

 

[Lord Sir Scott]

A formula.....
Player A-Y Sitting at home making stuff,Bank sitting, doing other stuff,ect
Player Z Arrives at a champ Spawn that requiers more then 1.

If player Z Calls in chat for some people to come help, how many of players A to Y Will stop what there doing to go help the basicly
Unknown PLayer Z?

 

[MalagAste]

A formula.....
Player A-Y Sitting at home making stuff,Bank sitting, doing other stuff,ect
Player Z Arrives at a champ Spawn that requiers more then 1.

If player Z Calls in chat for some people to come help, how many of players A to Y Will stop what there doing to go help the basicly
Unknown PLayer Z?

I do from time to time. On GL it's not uncommon for someone to do a corgul run that way. Or some get keys to either the Styngian or Medusa and shout out for folk to "join" and often folk do.

 

[Percivalgoh]

The problem is you are still thinking like you are playing a game. Just stop and pretend it is real life. At least for me I get a thrill without having to kill the more difficult monsters.

 

[G.v.P]

Another fun thing that I would like to see is a sort of cooperative AI. For example if there are 2 rat mages and one is low life, the other should cross healing, or if there are 2 lich one does corpse skin and the other explo + flame.

There are a few examples of cooperative AI in the game but you don't get to see them too often. Some mages will cure those around them such as warriors. Savage mages will attempt to locate other savage mages for an ultimate spell. Gnaw searches for dire wolves and they bind to him (which was later used for goblins and bane). I'd rather see individual AI like Dark Wisp shields, Changeling AI, stuff like that, because it's too easy to avoid cooperative AI.

 

[G.v.P]

I PvM mostly, and i seem to get my arse kicked on reletivily strong character builds w/ good equipment. My summons (from Earth Elementals to Rising Collosus') get dispelled so quickly by a lot of upper end monsters, it makes it hard to do well. I've asked if ppl wanna hunt w/ me but lots like to banksit instead.

Sometimes it's better to use terrain and an energy field to block a monster off, then use direct spells. However, the new content in Shame and Wrong was designed for groups to kill. There are still certain monsters you can kill easily by yourself, though, like Wind Elementals, for example, die fairly easy to EVs.

 

[MalagAste]

I like improvements to AI and things that don't involve just giving mobs insane HP and Resists. Fighting that sort of crap isn't any fun, reminds me of paint drying... and whacking on a golem.

 

[Meatbread]

Ratman archers and brigands with bows and stuff used to try to actually keep their distance while they shot you, which was nice and needed to be used more, but then it went away at some point.

 

[Uvtha]

A formula.....
Player A-Y Sitting at home making stuff,Bank sitting, doing other stuff,ect
Player Z Arrives at a champ Spawn that requiers more then 1.

If player Z Calls in chat for some people to come help, how many of players A to Y Will stop what there doing to go help the basicly
Unknown PLayer Z?

Its not that hard to find people to do stuff with. Make some friends, or join a guild and its even easier.

 

[Krinkle]

Mobiles in the game have been steadily getting more difficult because there is a mistaken impression that UO is a cooperative game. Some of the developers have pushed for years to make mobiles for groups. However, a number of the designers didn't know as much about the game as they thought and people have soloed the higher end Peerless anyway. Shame and Wrong have mobs that are not particularly strong once you get past their mana dump or special moves, although they do have a stupid amount of hit points for non-boss level mobiles.

The other thing to think about is they there has been a push to bring Bards back into the game in a meaningful way. If you fought with a Bard at your back today compared to two years ago, you will notice a big difference. Because of this they have to make the mobiles stronger ; another group design added back into the game. Personally I am okay with group mobiles. However, I don't think every high-end mobiles should need a group to defeat.

 

[Cogniac]

I think there's a big difference between making a monster challenging and just throwing up your hands and giving it 50,000hp, or 2000 strength, or choosing a particular skill-set or template and making it worthless by saying "Oh, you play a bard? Yeah, this is un-bard-able, so get the hell out." or "A tamer? This monster does 18x damage to pets and teleports tamers in and kills them in one hit. So, get the hell out." or "You're a meleer or a direct-damage mage? Yeah, this monster reflects 50% of your damage back at you, so by hitting it you commit suicide. Get the hell out."

 

[Raptor85]

I don't really think i'd define the new stuff as "hard" as much as i'd define it as time consuming, most of the new stuff has the AI of a mongbat with 50k+ hp and enough str to oneshot you through a 70's suit, which doesn't make it "harder" it just necessitates griding proper gear and finding the proper 3 buttons to hit for the 20 minutes of the fight so you can collect your 300 gold and chance at a magic item they drop.... For instance, a lot of the new SA stuff like the goblin mini-champ or the cavern of discarded rats, an a dexxer you could sit there afk without healing and survive just fine, half the stuff can barely hurt you, they all just have 50k hp and straight 90's to resists....a lot of the other stuff, if you're having trouble killing it, you're on the wrong character type, there's a trend with recent monsters for them to be tailored to be killed by certain types of character, for instance a lot of stuff "eats" pets now, making tamers useless against them, a lot of stuff is now "unbardable" making dico-mages useless vs them, and a lot of stuff has effective AI and high strength, making melee fighters useless as they'd die in 1 hit. You can't do everything in UO with a single character anymore, and not just you won't be as effective, there's things that you simply are not allowed to do on certain character types.

If you can remember back, monsters used to do different things, ranged attackers used to stay a distance back instead of running directly at you as if it's gauntlet, mages used to cast all spells, not just a few attack spells at impossible speeds well above their magery/mana pool possibility (ratman mages w/ 50 magery casting flamestrike on you 20 times in a row with 30 mana??!?!). Remember monsters with magery used to use teleport to avoid you, would actually heal mid-battle and not just spam it as fast as possible when they're near death. dragons/white wyrms used to trick you by casting polymorph into human form and when you approached they'd attack you (they could follow you out of areas, and through gates as well), they had every spell that you had access to. The monster AI in current uo is actually significantly worse than the old pre-AOS AI,at some point in the game they trashed everything and made all monsters do the exact same things, run at you wildly attacking even if they're a mage, and if they DO have magery they spam attack spells randomly while doing so. (all while not carrying reagents or using mana...i guess monsters have full lmc/lrc suits now too...). Rebuilding the monster AI for them to actually act in a semi-intelligent manner would be a way, without even introducing ANY new monsters, to "refresh" the difficulty of the game, making it once again a challenge instead of a boring grind.

 

[Eric Ravenwind]

Another thing that i find hard to deal with:

- Getting revealed while hidden or invis'ed by monsters, then auto targeted. So frustrating..

 

[Tina Small]

Another thing that i find hard to deal with:

- Getting revealed while hidden or invis'ed by monsters, then auto targeted. So frustrating..

It's about as much fun as gating into a crowd of 10-15 raiders that you weren't expecting to be hanging out by the bank and having them (and all the lag they created) kill both your character and your pack animals....

 

[Redxpanda]

I really enjoy this game but yes, i do remember when monsters were fair but soloable.
I remember how that lich laugh would haunt my dreams because it usually ended up with me in a fight to the death.
I remember looking for those silver vanq weapons like it would save my life
I remember when the monsters from the brit graveyard would invade britain leaving many bodies in their wake

I can't imagine taking on anything tougher than a Trog or Dragon without some help from my guildmates (This is with a dexer). When i first returned, i made the mistake of not running when i saw a greater dragon and it was pretty much an instant death in full 70s armor. I don't think someone who plays solo can really enjoy everything this games has to offer.

The only advice i can offer the OP is: Find an active guild and join it. That is your only chance of finding some fun and adventure. Having guildmates really adds some value to the game.

It's about as much fun as gating into a crowd of 10-15 raiders that you weren't expecting to be hanging out by the bank and having them (and all the lag they created) kill both your character and your pack animals....

Sherry the mouse!

I check with her before i go into any town now

 

[Tina Small]

Sherry the mouse!

I check with her before i go into any town now

Yeah....I'll be sure to tuck one in the backpack of every character I play on shards where I don't have a house....

 

[MalagAste]

Yeah....I'll be sure to tuck one in the backpack of every character I play on shards where I don't have a house....

Hence the reason all my characters on shards I don't usually play LIVE at the Inn in New Haven. Almost NEVER gets invaded and I can get news from the town crier there before I go anywhere.

 

[Tina Small]

Hence the reason all my characters on shards I don't usually play LIVE at the Inn in New Haven. Almost NEVER gets invaded and I can get news from the town crier there before I go anywhere.

Yep, as do mine. This character, however, had been out chopping wood and then carrying it into town. When her beasts of burden could carry no more boards, she had taken them to the town of Cove to unload them. As they were about to return to the woods, an arrogant, young nobleman had walked up to her and asked if she could help him get to Vesper. A few moments later, as she lay on the cobblestones scant feet away from the bank in Vesper, severely wounded and surrounded by her equally wounded pack animals and a seething, bloodthirsty mob of raiders, the noble flung gold at her feet and called over his shoulder as he ran for his life, "After the 8th try at casting the spell to bring us here, I should have known better than to think you knew what you were doing!"

Her material losses from the attack were not great--just a battered hatchet, a lute that had definitely seen better days, some unmarked runes, some food for her animals, a pile of crow feathers that had sifted to the bottom of her pack, and the gold the noble had flung at her. A more disturbing loss, however, was her desire to continue trying to be of assistance to those hapless individuals she saw with some frequency near the bank, asking for a kind soul to help them travel safely to some far away destination. She had thought that she could exercise some compassion and also gain some experience in casting magic spells helping these people. Now though, with communication about the dangers in many towns apparently being so poor and with no one apparently making any effort to stop the raiders, she would have to think first to protect herself and her trusted pets by going to safer towns and hope that those poor souls would eventually find someone else with more skill and experience to help them.

 

[Harlequin]

Another thing that i find hard to deal with:

- Getting revealed while hidden or invis'ed by monsters, then auto targeted. So frustrating..

A couple of ways to deal with this:
1) Mobs cast reveal at the spot you hide/invis. If you have stealth, just immediately move a couple of tiles away, out of reveal's area of effect.
2) It takes the mob a second or 2 to re-target after revealing you. So use invis first, then if you are revealed, hide or use a smokebomb/eggbomb. If you do it before being re-targeted by any spellcasting mob, they will not cast reveal again.

 

[G.v.P]

A couple of ways to deal with this:
1) Mobs cast reveal at the spot you hide/invis. If you have stealth, just immediately move a couple of tiles away, out of reveal's area of effect.
2) It takes the mob a second or 2 to re-target after revealing you. So use invis first, then if you are revealed, hide or use a smokebomb/eggbomb. If you do it before being re-targeted by any spellcasting mob, they will not cast reveal again.

3) I cast invis again immediately after I successfully cast the first invis. then I hold the second invis cursor until I hear the reveal spell noise or until something else aggros me. after that I target myself with the second invis, and if any new mage npcs have me targeted, and I successfully cast the second invis, I cast a third invis, and keep the process going until I know none of the mage npcs will cast reveal. it's second nature for me by now.

 

[LordDrago]

A couple of ways to deal with this:
1) Mobs cast reveal at the spot you hide/invis. If you have stealth, just immediately move a couple of tiles away, out of reveal's area of effect.
2) It takes the mob a second or 2 to re-target after revealing you. So use invis first, then if you are revealed, hide or use a smokebomb/eggbomb. If you do it before being re-targeted by any spellcasting mob, they will not cast reveal again.

By now, this is SOP for me.

 

[Silverbird]

I havent been in the orc dungeon for some years now. But i remember those nasty orc scouts with their ability to hide when they start to loose.

 

[BajaElladan]

Developers have driven Players from Sosaria in many ways and waves. Things Players enjoyed and considered "FUN" were tweaked away or removed completely. Community, large and small, was and were shattered. Until finally more and more who remained began adopting a "solo" method until all they had left they called fun were their Houses. Players warned, provided feedback and preput [advance input], all to no avail. The march toward existence replacing fun was upon us all.

Ever an optimist, I defended Sosaria, promised it would "rise again." Until even I was left hacked, frustrated, demoralized and bereft of FUN. Still not wanting to quit, I now pray our 15th Anniversary shall be our last. I have reduced my number of accounts by half and will halve the number again this year.

EA has not cared about Sosaria since Lord British departed, if ever EA did care. Unless EA allows/funds it, and unless Dev's are found who know what real FUN is, our numbers shall not cease their decline, let alone grow once more.

Maybe EA understands one thing after all ... Sosaria is the only and last plEAce [EA place] where I will spend a penny. I will pay EA nowhere else EVER, so long as I draw breath and I will recommend everyone I know or speak with to do the same.

To the Original Poster I can offer only this: if your love of Sosaria has not yet been driven from you, do all possible to introduce yourself to others; become their Friend in times when you "play or visit," and do in groups all you may; then master solo FUN for times Friends are away. I LOVE Sosaria no less, but those in charge of it are on the verge of "defeating" my LOVE and driving me also ... AWAY!

 

[Claninwat]

Heya.

I don't play anymore but still occasionally browse the forums (i'm not addicted i swear!). Back when i did play however i did slay a fair few challenging monsters solo i.e. most peerless, all champions. How do these new monsters compare to something like a paragon Balron for example? I might be tempted to buy a gamecard or something to try them out if they are indeed a challenge.

Many thanks.

 

[Tina Small]

Hence the reason all my characters on shards I don't usually play LIVE at the Inn in New Haven. Almost NEVER gets invaded and I can get news from the town crier there before I go anywhere.

Not that it really makes any difference, but just thought I'd post the following screen shot. I decided to have my tamer on LS escort an NPC before heading out to get a taming gain. Checked the cryer in Haven: "Protests and riots spread across Britannian towns!" "Cove has seceded from Britannia and joined with the Confederacy!" Okay....sounds like no towns are being raided, right?

Off the tamer goes to Cove. She finds Neal the town cryer there and also asks him for news. His news is the same as the fella in Haven.

Within seconds after talking to the town cryer, she is approached by a desparate soul wanting to be escorted to Moonglow. Her magical rune marked for a convenient location in Moonglow is inexplicably "blocked," so she decides to take her new acquaintance to Skara Brae, walk to the moongate outside of town, hop over to the Moonglow moongate, and then walk into town.

However, as soon as the two travelers step out of the gate in Skara Brae, who do they see but Gregory the red raider causing havoc in the ranger's hall. Out he comes, waving a pitchfork and shouting, and soon all three are on a merry chase through Skara Brae looking for the town cryer to see what news he might share about this abominable situation. Along the way, Gregory proceeds to slaughter innocents in two shops and glower at the pair from Cove as they lead him through town. It seems no one is around to defend the shop keepers of Skara Brae! Gregory kills and then rifles through corpses with no one to stop him. As soon as he has finished killing shop keepers, he quickly runs out of a building and starts chasing the pair from Cove.

Alas! When the trio finally reaches the town cryer near the Skara Brae stable, he's apparently reading the same news as the poor fellas in Cove and New Haven. He doesn't even look up from his script to see Gregory dancing around in front of him looking for the tamer as she hides under a spell of invisibility.

Oh well. There's really no time to spare and the tamer isn't sure she loves Skara Brae enough to get involved in a political situation she doesn't understand. She fears that even if she tried to help Gregory, it would not go well. He seems to be at the point where all he wants to do is slaughter and rob innocents. She also senses that the poor fella from Cove is getting extremely nervous standing there in Skara Brae, watching Gregory waving around his bloodied pitchfork. So off they go to Moonglow. The moongate reliably deposits them outside of town. As they approach the town, though, they see flames. Will there be trouble ahead? Ah, it is only a rioter attempting to burn up the cobblestones and succeeding only in roasting mongbats. The fella from Cove sighs a hugh sigh of relief as he pushes gold into the tamer's hands, thanks her briefly, and then scurries off to take care of his errand.

Conclusion: Don't trust the town cryers! If you're going to escort NPCs, do it with a character that has a chance of surviving, but plan nonetheless to be exterminated by lag and mobs of red NPCs as you step out of the gate if you're doing the escorts on a thinly populated shard. Or use runes marked for outside the town limits and plan to do some extra walking!

 

[Martyna Zmuir]

The perfect example of poor mob design is the Night Terror from the third part of the Echoes of the Past quest line in Ter Mur (which, curiously is still active, even though the antagonist is DEAD...) Ridiculously high HP, an absurd assortment of special attacks and 1 hit kill ability. Its loot was pathetic and the quest item it dropped could be easily "stolen" by a spawn jumper (griefer).

While I enjoy many of the boss-level encounters that require a group, and I believe they should require a group, event mobs like the Nigh Terrors are bad for the game. The current Grave Robbers are OK, if you have the right template (though their loot is NOT worth it, nor are the end rewards). The Raiders are just plain annoying and have way too many HP for a non-slayer mob.

Events should be fun, not a grind or an exercise in 1-hit frustration. "Challenging" doesn't mean 50k HP and a kitchen sink-style list of special attacks. EM event mobs can get away with this (sometimes) because there tend to be an abundance of players who can collectively whittle the mob down, but static event mobs can't be styled this way.

Mobs need to be designed with a player's enjoyment in mind first and foremost. Cheerleaders aside, if your player base is complaining about your mobs you need to listen to them. If they say they aren't fun, they probably aren't.