Then complete it without using a shield! If you can't do it, they are clearly overpowered!

Forget Sloppy... it's only used for viewing web sites.

And what UV's do you have on that gear?

What did you use to record the game?

I think the speed increases makes that difference. It kills them before they get to throw.
Most of us complaining would probably say your gear is something we'll never reach, anyway. But that's still the point. If the equips can't kill monsters in two hits, it's pointless.

Looks doable after watching your video, actually. My initial thoughts was that you had the benefit of server reaction time, but if I have no problems in a robo arena with pierce-resistant gear, this should be barely possible for me.

I'll be waiting for the australian/SEA server before coming to a conclusion for this and LD.

Umm... Didn't know soloing this mission was an issue. Yes it's more challenging than most arenas, but the fiend stage is not much more difficult than a Freeze or Shock Fiend arena if you control the waves that spawn and have the proper equipment. Leave one monster alive from one of the first 2 waves, and then roll through the new spawns until they stop. It takes a bit longer, but makes the fight much easier. I did the mission twice since I forgot to pick up the recon module at the end on my first run through. Did both without dying, although I did use pills. I don't consider myself much better than an average T3 player, I just find that using the proper gear and tactics even without much experience will help you survive much longer.

@Jcasdfqwer: Grats. I found the mission to be pretty challenging even with pills, you make it seem easy O.o

QQ I live in an area that isn't serviced by OOO. They should nerf all the monsters so my incredibly crappy connection won't cause a problem. I don't care if it ruins the game for everyone else, but no game on the existence of earth should be too hard for me to complete solo with lag and with the wrong gear.

I love the moving goalposts though.

Just did that solo run today, actually, though it was significantly sloppier than yours.

I'm not sure it's fair for those of us in full five-star gear with solid UVs and enhancing trinkets to cast judgement about the fairness of any particular enemy type for the masses, because that's basically saying that everybody should have to conform to that standard of gear. Yeah, fiends look pretty reasonable when you're all geared out specifically to slaughter them, but less so when you aren't. Further, while the nerfstorm business is rather annoying for those already fully equipped to deal with the nerfed enemy types, it might well have been a godsend to those still working their way up.

The problem with folks with endgame-level equipment clamouring for a harder game experience in Tier 3 is that it sort of leaves the poor sods in 4* gear out in the cold. What there ought to be is some kind of endgame-specific zone apart from T3 designed specifically to be a challenge to people with a wide variety of all the best gear. That way 4*s don't have to get slaughtered every time they go down to T3, and endgamers can have some place where they actually feel challenged on occasion.

Ideally some place that doesn't cost 1800 energy each time you want to access it wink wink nudge nudge.

I do realise that. What, so we suffered and thus everybody else should have to as well? In that case, why do we ever balance anything?

I'm not saying he's not good; of course he's good. He's certainly better than I am. But his gear allows that skill to manifest. I'm not saying anything needs to be nerfed. I'm just saying we should take into account the effect lower level players will feel before we ask for anything to be buffed.

That is blatantly incorrect, sir. I asked for no nerfs. I also did not say that gear is equivalent to skill or that skill should not be a factor determining success in a game. Both of those assertions would be ludicrous. But it's not much use attempting to have a discussion with someone who clearly cannot be bothered to read what I'm writing, so have it however you want.

When I started playing, the game was much harder. Even so, I kept at it, faced those challenges and eventually made it to the level I'm at now. The difficulty didn't scare me away, it motivated me to get better. Since then, most of the monster types have been nerfed. Kids these days need to suck it up and put in the hard work it takes to improve their skill.

Since pre-release, there have been complaints from players who hit the "end-game wall", so to speak, at which point they have faced all the challenges and are looking for something to keep them coming back to the game. Of course, since then, all sorts of features have been added, like more bosses, Shadow Lairs, revamped PvP options and, most recently, missions. By giving players a challenge, particularly early on, you're giving them an obstacle to overcome as a gauge of their skill. Take those obstacles away and you diminish the incentive to improve. You also make it easier for players to hit that final barrier, the "end-game wall", at which point they have trouble finding something new and/or challenging to enjoy. The ideal, of course, would be that new players and veteran players alike could enjoy the game at their respective skill levels - and that's what the tiers are intended to achieve.

I think I'm starting to ramble a bit, but my point is that difficulty is a good thing, players should be challenged, without challenge they would not develop skill. If you want to advance without a challenge, go play a grind-focused MMO, there's no shortage of those.

I'd love it if you re-recorded it using t4 gear, a non-shadow defense shield, and no trinkets (a normal entrance to t3 setup).

Personally, I'm not advocating for fiend nerfs. I think their difficulty level is a nice change from other stratums, especially since the retrode and wolver nerfs, and I also enjoyed the challenge of soloing the gauntlet. I used pills, although I also have a 1-bar connection.

But you undercut your points by playing with high quality gear. If you want to demonstrate your skill and how easy the stratum is to the newbies who are complaining, come down to the level of those who you're criticizing. Otherwise, its simply you using some of the best gear to beat some decently difficult content, and nothing remarkable. If you had been using a plate shield, or a cobalt-line shield, it would have broken many many times in your footage. Instead, you use a shield that requires you to already have beaten Vanaduke, on content thats designed to be a precursor? Not to mention that you have a massive arsenal, have obviously have put a lot of hours into SK, and are at a much higher skill level than the average player.

I agree that challenge is good. But it's not content thats designed for mismatched t4 gear. Some people are simply frustrated that they need to significantly improve or upgrade their gear to continue to progress. And that frustration has merits, considering that energy prices back in the pre-nerf days were much lower, and before the crafting change, t5 items were a fraction of the energy cost they are now.