Tell us what you think of the Singularity Caul!

[Ibn]

While we already have a feedback thread for the January event, please use this thread specifically for comments on the updates to the Singularity Caul. What parts of it do you like? What parts do you dislike?

[Balldrain]

I will note when I was hunting on caul, I hit the war key and ended up at my desktop.... course no 3rd party apps loaded at all.
I dunno if this is a common bug or not but my client.exe totally crashed.

[Shaolin]

Sing Caul is great for groups and solo players,

the diff i feel is just right for both, melees may have another opinion of course (archers may too) due to the weapopn debuffs,
however, as an archer myself i can do just fine as long as i select
my targets.

the only problem i can say is annoying is the terrain/environment hits, but that is minor (and i can always move),

not sure about the spawns yet as it's prolly too early,
but, i can say i have only seen 2 doomsharks at the mo (rare spawn?), the hellions and the baikas sp? seem to spawn in groups which can get a tad hairy, but again, leaving these to groups of people is preffered.

seems as though turbine has intended the new caul as an xp spot (due to lack of any quest portals or use of the castle structures), loot, again is prolly too early to tell, but it seems comparable with some dires critters.

my own view is that it is a nice xp spot, but shame something else was not done with it also (again may be jumping the gate before the horse has bolted).

i would prefer brain teasers over xp content, but thats another thread :P

[romside]

so far a nice island.

1.) Spawn is nice and fast

2.)Does the respawn get bigger in lvl, when you stay somewhere and also get faster spawning? Or is that an observer error?

3.) Marguls sometimes bugged? Some are sleeping and you can easily kill them?

Romside

[Mildly amused]

Looks very nice so far. Im on dialup and while I quite possibly havent seen the biggest spawns, I had no noticable lag with ~25 or 30 orange dots on radar. However Ive seen several monsters that obviously dropped off cliffs, tried to get back up and could not be hit by melee attacks. Character danced around them and swung but never connected.


On a different note the weapon debuffs are so much worse for melees and archers than the war debuffs are for mages.

[Eruditus]

I would be interested to hear your reasoning for adding creature cast item debuffs that appear serve no purpose other than to penalise the melee class.

The debuffs reduce our damage to a truly pathetic level then go the extra mile and remove our defence and attack bonuses, the latter of which will not effect archers so they will at least hit consistently.

Im sure there’s a prepared answer ready since the Devs must have known the effect this would have and what the feeling of many players would be.

To summarise I am not impressed with the Caul.

[deryk]

love the place may make it my new place to hunt.

[Trai]

The Caul itself seems pretty fun if you're level 100ish. (Haven't tried lower levels yet.)

The Bore, on the other hand, should have a level 130+ restriction on it. (Or maybe you could just make running ElTank 24/7 for a month the requirement to use the portal.) This is a quest which I'd enjoyed solo in the past on a level 65 lore-based meleer using a mixture of level 5 and 6 buffs.

Now, at level 103, as a mage with all level 7s and fully equipped with gear that has been tinked up to 8 times and in the company of a level 136 meleer friend.. we can't even get beyond the first group of pits.

Mostly though, I don't approve of you removing moderately levelled content to replace it with content geared for characters which are either 4 year old mains or characters which have been macroed and experience chained for months.

[Entropathic]

Originally posted by Eruditus
I would be interested to hear your reasoning for adding creature cast item debuffs that appear serve no purpose other than to penalise the melee class.

The debuffs reduce our damage to a truly pathetic level then go the extra mile and remove our defence and attack bonuses, the latter of which will not effect archers so they will at least hit consistently.

Spend on magicD, now that it has an effect on your resistance to item debuffs.

[MimsterofMT]

I think its great. Content for fellow's and still I can solo many places. I like that many critters drop elixhirs, you can lose mana/health/stamina fast.

Some things that could be improved...

-The narrow canyons cause the annoying creatures falling to the bottom and constantly strive to get back problem. They attack you then try to run back up all the while you cannot hit them to finish them off.

-Have creatures drop mana stones. For item only melee's who don't want to carry packs full of mana stones.

-Canyons also casue the trains of death. Other players/goups dragging critters on you when you are fighting. They have no choice the canyons are too narrow for them to avoid you.

Thanks,
Mimster

[Virindi Clown]

It is nice that there will now be a recallable place with suitable xp for high level characters, but it needs a few hunting dungeons.

VoD was good, but the fact that 50+ can get in ruined it. Other than that, there are only a few dungeons for high level characters with proper restrictions of 80+ or 100+.

Now that you have a good deal of 100+ items in with this patch, I think 2 or 3 100+ dungeons and maybe one 90+ dungeon would be a step in the right direction.

Having hunting outside, a recallable drop, and a bunch of no-tie dungeons exclusively for xp for all level ranges worked out great for bobo. It needs to be applied on caul, as well.

On DT we need things to fight over, and those things are typically dungeons. Without places that make a clear difference on your character without endless hunting, it has fallen to a state where everyone macros to keep advancing.

When it is not making a difference to hunt in a dungeon because of the amount of time it consumes, people stop playing actively so they can PvP. However, this becomes a vicious cycle, because then no one has anything to fight over but some macro spots.

Please, for DT's sake, give us some awesome high level dungeons. It's easier to get together at dungeons, so people will fight over it.

It would stop the people from endlessly macroing and get them out killing eachother if they could just have something that would show them it is worth their time to hunt it actively and defend it.

[Paraduck]

I like it and it was VERY fun. (I was actually up until 5 AM hunting last night. I haven't done that in many months. :) ) The Marguls provide a good challenge range and are enjoying to fight. If having fun wasn't enough, the rewards are excellent as well.

However, I'd like to see more content on the Caul (and the rim, perhaps?) It's a nice hunting spot, but one thing that has always bugged me about it is the lack of content. Of course, we could have just not found it yet, but I'd think that re-doing the island landscape and spawns, Bore, and Asylum would be enough to keep two to three designers occupied for an entire prop cycle. :p

[Rauth]

Anyone else just waiting for some enterprising NPC to slap on some leather wings, a dark hood, and thick-soled boots to gather the Margul together into a sort of personal army?

[ArtilexOfDarkti]

I like the island, though I believe some of the higher dolls might be gltiched... casting level 1 vulns but then level 6 or 7 wars? I'm not sure that is right, and I am pretty sure they were dolls. I can't remember from last night but I am pretty sure it was dolls, you may want to look into that.

-art

[Krazed]

I like the new version of the island, The only thing I don't like is the way they debuff my sword =/

[Aaryna]

Soiled Dolls are casting Lightning Vulnerability I, yes. I've seen it happen several times. Probably a relic of their days in the Amun Desert. ;)

[deryk]

I think its was awsome that you added item debuffs to the game about time imo. It was fun thinking wtf is this margul doing and then look at my xbow and see stats debuffed hehe. Think its another nice challenge.

[Aaryna]

Yes, that it is. I forgot to mention, this ROCKS! I haven't actually been eager to get into AC and play for months! I haven't lost track of time and realised it's almost sunrise for even longer. I spent an hour taking down my first Ebon Rift. Nearly killed me, because the game lagged every time, but I got it!

Creature-cast item debuffs are an excellent, long awaited change. So are the somewhat more intelligent debuffs cast all around. I have been fighting there on me (mage) and have noticed almost all of the creature debuffs I get are Bafflement or Slowness. I think I saw a Weakness in there too, but that was only once. They even Vuln for the proper damage type! This is amazingly fun!

Now the question is, why is this so fun to me? I could've been running around killing things pretty much the same way up to now and haven't been. The difference here is the same reason I had so much fun killing Olthoi on the landscape when they were attacking. However false it is, I feel that by fighting here, I'm making a difference. That feeling has brought a jaded, somewhat bitter mage out of her cottage study and onto the Caul to battle for the life of Dereth. Never underestimate the value of feeling like you're making a difference. :)

[Ibn]

Originally posted by Aaryna
Soiled Dolls are casting Lightning Vulnerability I, yes. I've seen it happen several times. Probably a relic of their days in the Amun Desert. ;)

Yeah, this should get fixed in February.

[lashmage]

100 Times better! Thx devs.

[elowan]

Really like the new sing caul. Great XP for us higher level characters and no macroers around make this even better.

Happy that we have a hunting area that isn't in a dungeon filled with macro people.


Thank you for the caul updates :)

[Sprawl]

no macroers around make this even better.

Decal isn't up yet ;)

Sprawl

[Nauscicaa]

I like the changes but the item debuffs are a mistake in my view

I can see the idea behind the item debuffs and it makes hunting different, which is not a bad thing in my opinion, but you should either add a way to seriously limit war and aranged damage or get rid of the item debuffs because the fragile balance that there has been for a while seems to be gone.

The damage even my 10 times tinkeres axes do is already pathetic in comparison to other classes, which is ok, I chose to be a tank and I know that some creatures will be virtually unkillable because of my lack of damage versus their regen rate, but together with the debuffable weeping weapons I think the melee class gets limited more in comparison with other classes

[Zalliun]

i miss the hollows there.

i always miss monster doing melee damage you have to be afraid of, seeing a monster that gives 500k xp and hits for 2 and 3 is just wrong

VoD is sweet because you have to focus on both war and melee damange.

[Paraduck]

Originally posted by Zalliun
i miss the hollows there.

i always miss monster doing melee damage you have to be afraid of, seeing a monster that gives 500k xp and hits for 2 and 3 is just wrong

VoD is sweet because you have to focus on both war and melee damange. You do have to be careful about melee damage, unless you're using an AL 350 base shield or something. :p I use my Aegis there, and let me tell you, I get hit for much more than 2-3. :)

[Capt Justice]

I like it, but it is still really laggy. Last night my fellowship was moving in slow motion.

Nice way to update some old monsters we haven't fought in awhile !

[kdthradio]

I'm not high enough level to be anything more than a blood stain there...... and with xp changes I probably never will ; P

[Havo]

Just to let you know there is not universal love for this change I have to say it was very disapointing. Its the same old same old. Just more high level monsters to appease the CMs.

[pacesetter]

For the most part I am pleased. good xp, fun baddies, a good mix of baddies, have to think before attacking, must use landscape to your favor ( this could be made a lil easier but still not bad), with coordination a mix of melee/archer/mage fellow can have alot of fun or a solo player choosing his fights and working a spawn can still have alot of fun there.

On a different note the weapon debuffs are so much worse for melees and archers than the war debuffs are for mages.

don't know where this comes from when my war skill is cut from 424 to 370's. yes I can still cast 7's but get resisted more (some baddies resist 40% with 424 so 370's hurts ) and damage is cut by 10-20%.

I went to the Bore last night for a recovery and was surprised to find it was even fun, 2 died then 4 died trying to recover... lmao ...we went back with 8 and had a blast!!


Thanks for NOT making the bore so tuff no one can get thru but still hard enough to make it challenging. So much better than the sentinels in that "other place", hehe.


Still have alot to explore but what little I have seen shows the devs put thought and effort into this welcome change.

GOOD WORK DEVS !!

[Spears'R'Us]

Bore is 55+. When it kills an entire fellow of level 120+ somthings wrong.

[LaD_HG]

Well....I don't know about ppl sucking cause they are not as UBER as you king.....but yea...the bore is harder now....and have witnessed 4 lv 120's die at the drop...in about 30 seconds...but is a welcome change. As for Caul.....that place rocks now....is a little easier to navigate since the change.....and the new critters are cool. The bad part is when ppl are at the drop and someone trains critters to it....lol...was standing there around 6 other ppl and a dark zefir followed someone...and assasinated 3 ppl in seconds...was hillarious. HAve only died once on the island...but is still deifficult enough to make you keep going to try to conquer the place.:D

[Paraduck]

I like the new Bore as it reminds me of what it was like when it was first introduced. There are few places like that for high/extreme levels these days...

[Fade-To-Black]

Sing Caul is awesome. It's a new place to run around, and actually die once in a while.

The Xp is insane. I think with the Xp from that place, atleast some people won't care as much about the allegiance Xp changes. The loot also makes it worth the while, as long as you know what to hunt.

I also enjoy the rare spawns. It's another thing that makes Sing Caul worth exploring for. Nothing's better than being in a hunting fellow and coming upon a rare spawn that drops a trophy item.

Bore is also quite a rush now. The Sickle is worth getting, for a housing item if nothing else. The place really brings a challenge back, instead of feeling like one more place you can solo if you know what you're doing.

Thanks Turbine ;)

--Fade

[HeXt]

The HP on the monsters is quite a bit high, I'm not sure I like that for solo hunting, it kind of forces grouping.

Caul is fun, Marguls are kind of annoying when it comes to fighting them, they all seem a bit too tough even when they're the lowest level ones.


When it comes to bore, I suggest you guys mix up the spawns alot better or it's gonna turn into macro central as it's now a tieable source of tuskers that have a fast spawn which is a macroers dream.

[Sho Nilrem]

hm have ot formed opion though i have died on my mage 44 times since patchday on the island :) I solo hunt almost exclusively unless memebers of my clan are there .......

hm took me 4 hrs to do the last solo recovery and died again doing it ...


i however will not take my melee there is stupid to go someplace you cannot solo......


also my ua guy has a tie to the bore hehehe took 3 people 3 of them mages to clear the spawn up the ramp long enough for one of the (all had been permited) to get his di's back.

i will look forward to seeing what changes are being made to the island as of now is mage heaven(hm 44 deaths and i call it...) i have lvl'd from 99 to 101 there and about 90% of that is Solo on my mage....

But have also helped to recover several 115+ mlee bods as they died doing crits of 11 and 12 while i was after debuffing the monsters hitting regularly for hm 300+ and haveing to heal myself like this cast war..... heal.....heal....heal...stam to man...heal..revit....heal...war.....war.....war... .heal.....heal.....heal....heal... and the get the fellow tell that the melee i have always been able to keep alive well Mowen did kill us but that was a lag issue... has died

that i think says it this place as far as i can c is ot designed for melee toons ... not even in the traditional meat wall cause the way the spawn is most areas that i have hunted a meat wall is impossible to maintain...


hm sorry to be going on solong but i really do have mixed feelings here..

[Zimarathon]

I am enjoying the heck out of the new Caul, however I think the AL of some of the creatures, especially the bigger Marguls, is a bit excessive. Even when they don't debuff your weapon it take a whole lot of hits to drop one. My max damage on Biakas is about as bad as on the Banderling Paragons, and we all know how popular they are as opponents.

So kudos to all, and if you were intentionally making it really hard on melees, you achieved your goals.

[Ophar Kabitaki]

I have a question...Why is the Mace of Dissonance the ONLY new trophy drop that is attuned??? The robe hasn't been found yet or the sword/dagger, but the mace would only be a hooked item for the majority of players..you can't even apply ivory to hook it. Was this intentional, or will it be changed?

Other than that I think the cauln is loads of fun.

[Spears'R'Us]

Paraduck not everyone is a 200+ melee. Though I have seen the drop destroy 5 level 150+ in under a minute.

[Sangria]

I like the new version of Caul. It's equal oppertunity debuffing.

I know the melee think mages are not effected much by debuffsbut then they are not seeing our screen telling us we are burning through tapes twice as fast or getting resisted twice as much.

But we have always had this as a part of our game - we are very much effected, we just have no choice but to get over it or hunt lower level creatures elsewhere.

This is the same choice Melee now have. Get over it or find someplace safer to hang out.

I have been having fun in fellows and solo out there. It is a challenge and I like that.

[MagicMoonlight]

Level 90 BM here, 404 War buffed. 70%+ resist is no fun. I like challenge but if you can't land on stuff it's no fun. I killed a few niffis last night, got 96k XP. For the time it took me to kill 1 i could have killed 2 packs of 3 Vapors for 300k XP.

Maybe at 126+ it will be worth it but not now.

[Paraduck]

Originally posted by Spears'R'Us
Paraduck not everyone is a 200+ melee. Though I have seen the drop destroy 5 level 150+ in under a minute. I agree, but when I talk about high/extreme, I'm talking about level 80+ (but mostly 100, especially 120+.) Like it or not, it still is a large portion of the players. And eventually there will have to be something for those that are 150+. I think an AC2 hero-like system would be good for end-game content. Of course, the time to develop it... Well, hopefully an expansion will cover some of this.

[The Spectre]

I think the new Caul is quite good. It provides difficult fighting for even the highest level players, and leaves room for additional changes in upcoming months. Most of that isle has very few dungeons, so I can see it (and Aerlinthe btw) getting some new dungeons and side-quests added in the future. Thanks for the upgrade!

[Ibn]

Originally posted by Ophar Kabitaki
I have a question...Why is the Mace of Dissonance the ONLY new trophy drop that is attuned???

I believe this is being changed for the February event.

[Fiction_LC]

love sing cul im always there now give me a challange at my level and theres a lot to kill there so your always doing something.

[Aesthetic]

I like it. I have not been there yet with my melee however. If the reports of it being very melee unfriendly, I will be very upset. Why are you always so hard on melee's for open land hunting? My level 150 melee gets beat down twice as easy in every high level hunting area than my 150+ mage. The only places my melee has an advantage is in dungeons like 80+ olthoi. Weeee i love hunting bugs 24/7... :|

Even with 360 life magic my melee has a hard time landing on anything, and even when he does, he only hits for 150 a swing?? Thats pretty unbalanced. Couple that with the fact that I have to leave combat to heal unlike a mage that can drain or heal self while in battle... that makes for a very lame melee experience.

[Sheralyn Jade]

I LOVE the updates to Caul! Solo hunting is feasible, as long as you know what you are doing and don't stray too far North. Group hunting is exciting and even dangerous in the North! I haven't felt this much exhiliration in awhile. :) Inside the Bore is hilariously dangerous, I love it! I won't say I like to die, but I've died more the past week than in the past 3 or 4 months combined and laughed every time!


The loot is decent and the trophy items are great! Being the fashion guru that I am, I love having a shield for every suit. My Major Quickness and Major Coord shields have both been muled, possibly permanantly. :)


Kudos to Scenario on the new Undead look and the Marguls! I don't know who does the sounds, but the Margul sounds are excellent!


The only thing I don't like are the rats. They are just annoying as always. Strangely, I'm not finding the Mites to be as much a nuisance as I thought, although the big red guys are hard on the eyes.

[Graybeard]

the bore has really been ratcheted upward with regard to the damage factor. Just before the patch, a group of friends and I did the SIng Recall quest. In a full fellow, we lost 4 people enroute to the bore on the first run.

Now, after the patch, recalling to the bore to help another set, I was unpleasantly surprised to leave a total of 13 corpses in a 28 hour period. However, at the same time, I can deeply appreciate the need to act more strategically especially if you are playing a mage, as I am.

OVERALL: I would rate the Caul upgrade (on a 1(poor) to 10 (superb) scale) a rank of 8.75

Good work Dev Team. My hat's off to you.

Gray

[AC-Vet]

I really like Caul now,with the diffrent class of critters to explore I find alot of fun in it...I don't really understand the point of placement of critters....from drop....level 130 class critters.....a lil further out the 145-155 class of critters, then at the outer edges the level 161 class.....So far I am confused on the layout of the island, Seems I run around in circles alot and venture further away from drop point by squeezing through small cracks between hills....there is alot of restriction on movement like being able to climb hills....The loot system is ok and the exp it is totally great, A junior VOD per say....I can only wait til u develope it further...I do have a couple issues....why put a level 90+ cap on recall? whats the logic there? Also entering Caul through Bore is level 55+, You upgraded Bore to assailers and Higher level Virindi and just using that portal in bore to gain access to caul is difficult now.....seems there is a idea here I'm not catching on too....why is access to caul being made so difficult for char's under level 90? It seems to reward those that are high level or done the recall quest prior to patch...I think and this is just me, If a level 55 can gain access to a area such as New Caul, It shouldn't be made so difficult that they die enroute to island and have to wait 35 more levels to be able to recall there....Also as far as a huntable area, it seems to be more balanced for experience than for loot content...

In Conclusion: Its a great addition to the game.

[Darken Lore]

I wasnt sure what to expect when I first went there. I had seen a list of creatures that the majority had very high health, and thought it would be just another VoD.

Being a mainly solo player, who enjoys guild hunts and not as much fellowships, I was expecting a let down.

I was pleasantly surprised to find Caul is GREAT!

Good job guys!

[shidenkai]

I think Caul is great, with the drop surrounded by easily soloable monsters, and then a ring of more difficult monsters geared towards a blended fellow around those monsters.

All this melee griefing about weapon debuffs is getting a little tiring, what part of 16 skill credits to spec sword, getting to carry a shield, and having melee defense trained if not spec'ed versus 28 to spec war, no shield, no melee (generally) do you not understand? If melees want the offensive capabilities of a mage (and they're getting more and more with each patch), then mages should get the defensive capabilities of a meleer.

I have been two-hit when Imp and Slash Vuln VII'ed by Mottled Carenzis out on Caul (well over 140+ HPs per hit, and that's with a base AL399 suit, and me fully prot'ed/baned). I doubt that happens to L115ish meleers toting a shield running around with their 400+ melee defense skill. But that's the price I pay for playing a mage.

Personally I think Turbine has actually done a good job of balancing monster types/locations for the classes. There are plenty of places for any class to solo, and plenty of places for them to get together and fellow.

SK of FF

[D X Mage]

I must say that I like it. Though it still didn't stop me from turning off a few accounts in protest of some of the coming nerfs.

[Chromium Golem]

I think it's alright to solo around the drop area. If you go any further out the inhabitants aren't very friendly. :)
It seems to be meant for mages more than melees.
Really too much magic to deal with for a melee.

I took a trip to caul asylum and liked it, especially the new level 145 gate keeper. Wish we had a dungeon full of high level minions for melees to fight.

[Ophar Kabitaki]

Thanks for the response, Ibn. I was quite put off after soloing two Colossal Mites to get the bone, only to find I could do nothing with it but sell it. Word to the rest of you, the BONE is givable, so give it to a macer before turning it in, or mule it til they make it hookable.

I have found it very easy to solo anywhere as a mage, of course, I have melee d. Six Parfals at a time isn't too overwhelming. Two Biakas and a Hellion or two is manageable. Just takes a little readjustment to stay alive. Relearning to use drain spells helps a LOT! I cannot stress the usefulness of drain spells out there enough. Level 1 drains will net you 60 points, and you can drain 3 times versus casting one heal self 7..even if you get resisted once, you still gain more health than one level 7 heal. The only thing you can't play the drain game with are the Marionettes..and they aren't all that tough.

Melees...well...rendered weapons should work..if you don't have the life skill to vuln or imperil. Would still take a while. There are nonmagic casting creatures out there, it's the trip to reach them that gets you nerfed. :(

[Eledemar_SC]

Caul changes are awsome.

I can hunt solo, or in a group.

Biakas are like sing troves giving 700k xp - and they drop nice majors on a regular basis, lots of silver, gold, and ivory to salvage up to keep burden down and sell later - and they actually drop very nice level 7 scrolls, not the **** pulled fomr SIK chests.

Recall dungeon upgrades are great, we actually had to fight out way into get the recall scroll. Bore was a blast, almost died bout 30 times, thanks to the fellow for healing me.

As far as the item debuffs and critter debuffs:

MELEES: GET ITEM DISPELL SPELLS - Chorizite - and Diamond Scarabs!!!! Or have we all forgot bout those? And dont give me the crud about it being a pain in the but to take out your wand and cast it and then put your wand away and pull out your gear again.

MAGES: DEBUFF, not just yeild, i can kill 1 biaka in 2 minutes tops solo. No excuses, use your dispell spells. Im 127, spec war/life., critter at 375 buffed - Get the yield of first, if your inepted - use the dispell spell. MIght wanna take a few days and stock up potions and scarabs tho for it.

Navigating Caul is super easy, just use your overhead map to find the areas you cant get thru.

As far is macroes, i dont foresee UCM's taking on 4-5 ~ 4,000 - 7000 HP monsters at once while they are getting hit with level 7 vulns and wars, Tank doesnt move while your cast, and healing for 115 a shot max for a mage, just wont cut it.



VERY impressive upgrade to caul. GJ TURBINE

[Paraduck]

Wish we had a dungeon full of high level minions for melees to fight.

Check out Chakron Flux. It's not pure minions... but it's close.

MELEES: GET ITEM DISPELL SPELLS - Chorizite - and Diamond Scarabs!!!! Or have we all forgot bout those? And dont give me the crud about it being a pain in the but to take out your wand and cast it and then put your wand away and pull out your gear again.

They don't exist in game yet. =\ I agree they would be helpful, though, especially with the debuffable Weepings in PvP.

I'm still having fun on the Caul almost two weeks into the patch. :D I have yet to see a boss monster other than the Colossal Mite, though.

[Chromium Golem]

The minions in Chakron Flux are only level 120 and I am way past 126. So, I don't want to lose xp fighting things lower level than me. I would like a dungeon full of level 145 minions like the Gate Keeper. That way I could get the full xp for every kill.

[Paraduck]

The XP lost for 6 levels difference isn't much at all.

[DrCykosis]

Not been there, dont have the recall, and cant find a fellow to do it as most of my Guild Left with XP Nerf?

Time to find a new one Eh?

[Flame Balroq]

VoD used to be my home more than anylpace else.

Now with Caul I've made the jump and with Caul Island Recall Scroll its a great place to hunt for sure.

Solo its like 15 mill an hour if ur a gimpy mage like me and in a fellow its about the same as a good VoD fellow 25-30 mill an hour.

So basically I really enjoy the changes made to Caul - once flaw does it have tho...... damn its laggy there at times. And this is not due to my internet connection cos I am on an ADSL line 2048/512 atm and my PC is more than powerful enough to handle the game. So it must be the game somehow, but it is not always - mostly when u overlook certain parts of Caul.

I hope this is corrected asap cos that is a major drawback on Caul atm.

But all in all I am real pleased with Caul.
In fact I've died more since last patch than I've ever done in VoD alone - lol

Have a nice day yall.

[Lycentia]

I love the new monsters on the Sing Caul! And I am exscpecially glad that they can be soloed if you put the time and effort into it. I really needed the challenge that these creatures provide.

The one thing I dislike about the new Caul is that you have to run past all the weaker monsters to get to the really big ones. I get lost very easily in the mountains and dead ends, and the overhead map view has never been really good and always caused a lot of lag. I would also lead more hunting groups out on Caul if we didn't have to run past the easy creatures to get to the tough ones. Some of the peopel that liek to go hunt with us and are very capable of killing those monsters can't however make the run due to lag because they don't have broadband internet connection. They can kill the monsters, but running through lots of mobs gets them.

I'd love to see some kind of portals that drop you off in the differn't sections. Maybe you would have to do a level restrcited quest in order to have access to them, this way lower levels wouldn't be able to use them to go where they don't belong.

But, even if not. A new map in game of the entire Caul with all it's dead ends and cliffs clearly visable would be helpful to take away some of thie stress of getting lost.

Anyways, I really love the new Caul, and I hunt there all the time now.

[Eagle four]

Magic damage isn't stopped by melee defence Im afraid, but I agree with your post in the main. My sword man ( level 107 ) cant deal out the damage of my level 96 Mage, but he can survive places that the mage couldnt. So checks and balances apply.

Horses for courses as we say in Australia.

kind regards Eagles Mage Soclaim

[RedSeptember_WE]

When I did the quest for the Recall Scroll the chest was bugged & did not contain a scroll :mad:

[Nauscicaa]

Originally posted by Eagle four
Magic damage isn't stopped by melee defence Im afraid, but I agree with your post in the main. My sword man ( level 107 ) cant deal out the damage of my level 96 Mage, but he can survive places that the mage couldnt. So checks and balances apply.



I have to disagree with you on that, my melee character with 415 base does not have much more of a chance to survive there than my mage with 283 base magic d.

My melee char actually dies there easier than my mage, why? because he cannot do the damage required to get rid of the creatures, mind you he has 429 base axe, all majors, full 7 buffs and maxed tinkered axes but melee damage is so insanely nerfed out there that he gets warred to death before he even has sliced of 25% of a creature's health. Which in my opinion is insane as I feel a melee character with his stats should not be dependent on debuffs. (He can barely self buff 7s let alone debuff critters there)

My mage on the other hand wars and hits for 300+ and gets rid of creatures easier. OK he gets melee hit more but that is easily fixed with a Drain Health I or a quick heal.

In the end hmy mage can solo a turbo mite for example while my axer could hit one of those for hours on end without dying but without significantly damaging the creature either.

And yes Mages need to kill fasster because they cannot tank, that's all fine and dandy but someone please explain to me the use of tanking a critter and then discovering it takes forever/ is impossible to kill even with max skill and weapon.

If Caul is not intended for Solo hunting fine, just make sure it is not just impossible to solo for melees but for mages as well.


Caul proves once more what has always been true about this game. (It's not so much a complaint but it's just an observation): Mages rule and melees need mages.

It's a fact of life I have learned to live with on Dereth, but it still annoys me from time to time

[Some weird guy]

Well the more time I spend out there, the less and less I like it.

1. To many creatures..period
2. A lot of this stuff detects you over half a radar screen away and attacks, not a big problem except theres 700,000,000 million of them.
3. Your landscape developer has an un-natural love for trees and shrubbery...the same luberjack team that owned Aerlinthe seriously needs to be contracted to clean this isle.
4. It's becoming the 'norm', sadly, to have to hunt with every debuff and vuln in existence on you, now we have more that reduce your dammage, cause you to miss more and get hit harder (archer/melee)..which is redundant when these things have so much health to start with.
5. The casters here are casting to fast, sometimes (due to the animation of melee/archer) it is not possible to heal before that second war hits, and it does kill you. That is not fair at all.
6. Kinda relates to number 1...in general this isle is a clustermess (is that a word?). For the most part, it's all valleys and cliffs we have to run through, which wouldn't be bad, but there are 700,000,000 million things in these little valleys. You guys got so much stuff on here that you could reduce the indigenous population of Caul by half...and nobody would know.
7. Boss monsters? I have spent 2-6 hours a night on Caul since patch day..I have yet to see anything but over 100+ colossal mites, do these other bosses even exist?

I appologize if this post comes off as rude, I have 4 copses on Caul atm that I cannot recover due to the amount of creatures. I stoped counting at over 50 (yes 50) just immediatly surrounding my bods. Ive tried logging off to let the landblock reset, new spawns same size...very frustrated and very upset atm.

EDIT: oh yay, now the server is going down, I better stop talking now, otherwise Im sure to get banned...

[Brother Carnage]

Great place to hunt for high level characters. :)

The Bore is just plain scary now. I agree that the level restrict should be changed. Or slow down the spawn rate in there.

[Bensam]

I spent a few hours on Caul this weekend (finally). It is clearly not a place for a solo melee.

My axer has ok strength (326 buffed), ok axe skill (493 buffed), ok equipment (weapons are +/- 2 of max damage, both resistance and armor rending, all damage types), and ok magic d (315 buffed). He self casts 7's in all three schools.

If more than one magic caster (Dark Zeffir, Nefane, etc) gets on him he is dead if he dosen't run. Why? Because he can only hit these things that have 1000+ health for 40 or 50 (before he is debuffed). He just cannot survive the chain casting when he kills so slowly.

[Dextai-Shu]

The change was great!


I will have to agree with most here, that if your not equipped with life magic your in for a long painful battle. an still yet with life
it does'nt help a whole lot, the high health critters still manage to slay most groups.

This is one of those areas where the highest class armor an weapons is a must to survive. Between the weapon debuffs and vulners it makes it especially harder for the 100-126 range melee class.

As far as the weaker critters in the front, between the exp an poor loot they drop they are hardly worth the level required to hunt them imo.

The back areas are definately more interesting and more lethal, and thats where i like it.

The rats are a nuisance, they take awhile to kill, the exp isnt really great an the loot if any, isnt worth salt. I beleive they were created just to be what they are a nuisance.

The zefirs i could live without too, 1's ok but ive noticed they spawn in 3's-4's, with the damage they do an the spells they cast, they can wipe out an entire party of +126's easy.
If you could change how they add to help each other or lower their spawn groups it would help alout.

Northeastern section:

Some great looking statues an castles that scale across the ridge leading one to beleive theirs something more as you progressed.
Only to find some more dense an hellatious spawns and a deadly cliff at your side. If another quest on caul happens,or perhaps just a dungeon to hunt in, i beleive it should go in that area.

The spawns their are insane, groups an groups of hellians an biakas and the riff raff make this area unhuntable. Their are just to many dense spawns.

I watch the mages hunt from the edge of the area, and no one ventures within, well theirs a good reason. The spawns are so thick party's would get mowed down in seconds. ab white bunny revisited. haha.

My favorite critter their is the monstrous mites, decent exp, decent loot, and they look like the big bad wolf ate lil red riding hood , lol.

Overall nice job!!

[DracheDesAngst]

Better than what it was, but here's what's missing or wrong in my estimation:

No story line.

Boring but artistic monsters.

Poor cantrips compared to ancient temple, why should I want to be on cual eh?

Poor loot given the number of plats I burn.

Have wandering monsters that chew up the landscape, does everything have to be the same boring same old. Have hopeslayer automated to walkabout.. Christ, mix it up and have fun.. Tell the managers to stuff it and let the programmers have a go at it..


Btw: fix pvp, mage imbalance, and host of others..

[Zeds]

havent been there

wont be there for a goodly while to come , as I do not have the characters of level to go there and am not going to make a job of leveling to get them there .

I will see it when I get there.

[Mogosh]

This is a very nice area, much more interesting than before. This is my new home, and I have spent there 100% of my play time since I resubscribed on Feb 18 (yes, not everyone is cancelling :p )

What I like:
- at last a challenging place where high skill matters, and where maxed out chars cannot go to sleep. Much more interesting than the boredom of the Valley of death, although some creatures are similar. And there is also the Paradox (the most fun monster in game now, easier than a Quidiox or a Sentinel) that come by 2 instead of 3.
- the landing zone gives a good taste of what's ahead for levels 70s and 80s, even if it's not huge xp or loot.
- the navigation is OK. You can run from a spawn, and stop, turn and fight, and if you die, you can easily get your body.
- the landscape is weird and interesting, with lots of interest points. The center is frightening and deadly, just trying to fight there solo makes me shortcut an Alphus Recall gem, LOL :D
- I burned more AL gems and Gems of Stillness in Caul than in any period of time before. There is your gem-sink!
- the XP is huge, better than the VoD for a mage at least.
- running to the Asylum is easily doable for lower levels, so the quest can still be organized.
- there are various anti-class monsters, like marionnettes against mages, marguls against meleers, etc. This forces to be careful when trimming a spawn.
- for mages, you really have a use for everything: creature, life, war, magic defense. Since you cannot spec them all, you have to play differently depending on your template. Very nice way to at last have different chars for the end-game.
- last, but not least, griefing is nonexistent yet. There is room for everyone, no one will argue about a paradox. A lot more are just there, waiting for the brave ones ;) . People can solo without the others frowning because they take up some spawn.


What I dislike:
- my archer, otherwise much more powerful than my mages, has a hard time there. It's a mage-only land if you want to solo.
- some monsters do not cast spells, do not hit hard at all, do not stick, do not group, and do not run away (dogs, mites). This is like "please kill us one after the other and make XP". Caul is not supposed to be another VoD.
- the squids, revised with higher damage, are wonderfully challenging, but are too little XP for their difficulty. Loot compensates a bit.
- the rats are too inconsistent (the lower rats are terrible XP and quite dangerous in swarms, but the contagion rat is the best XP bargain in game)
- did the Magic D of the doomshark drop by like 40 points this patch? They are now too weak to belong to a paradox team.
- maybe the toughest monsters should not stick too much? It's strange to have mites hit you 3 times and run away, while Zephyrs will stay forever. I think 4 malevolent zephyrs can take down anyone in game, which means all you have to do if you accidentally call a group is run and loose your ground. That hurts pride :rolleyes:

Anyway, good job :cool:

[TheWraiths]

was the bracelet of dark essence quest removed?

the dungeon that maggies has is no longer in the cordinates maggie posted

[MIdnightFire7]

Its no longer on Caul. Its somewhere near OP BSD. I dont have the cords though. Sorry.

[Jheran]

I very nearly have fun out on caul, too bad I keep having to run off because 1-4 new spawn points appear on my head while hunting, sometimes replacing one that I killed off or just appearing out of a spot I thought was one of those few safe islands I could stand in. I'm a solo kinda hunter and while some may call it 'challenging' to keep a heads up on whats going on, having to constantly run off because 10 zefirs spawned around me each with 5000+ hp is hardly what I would call fun.

Its down right frustrating, all the more so because this area was almost fun! I'm shuddering though, to think of what it'll be like out there with my mage when marguls start debuffing my amuli coat.

[byteful]

I went there after the Feb. '04 patch....

I will put it like this.............


It is VOD x100. I have never seen so many darn monsters in one place.... LOL


3 Words......


I LOVE IT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Keep up the good work.
:cool:

[Some weird guy]

It was cool for the month of January, (albiet, over crowded
), I spent 2-5 hours out there every night.

Since all the rebalancing, and Feb patch, I've spent about 2 hours total and have no plans on going back unless I am asked to help with a recovery.

[Cash_we]

Why biakas are harder to kill and more agressive than virindi paradox and worths almust half the exp? My toon is not uber in any way, but the biaka is the only critter who kills her in 2 wars; I dont have time to heal after the first 170 damage shot. I know its because my endurance is low, but anyway, its a very dificult critter to kill compared to anything else its level range. Even virindi quiddiox dies faster, makes them a bit easier to kill than a biaka.
I love the new caul, I like it more than before, its great challenge and I can go solo, but some things are way out of balance.

[Rezif]

I LOVE Caul ... it was pretty cool when it was first updated. However, after the changes to the loot system, Caul became the place with the best loot profile & I couldnt get enough of it :D

[Mogosh]

Originally posted by Cash_we
Why biakas are harder to kill and more agressive than virindi paradox and worths almust half the exp?

The high virindis are certainly too well paid in terms of XP, I don't think you should compare them to the Biaka, or to anything. The Paradox does not cast regular war 7s, and their supposedly devastating melee attack can't seriously go through a good armor. The Quidiox is harder and overall quite similar to a Biaka, but is still overpaid at 1.1 Mxp.

As for your low endurance, it's probably not the main cause of your deaths: very many players die in 2 Biaka hits. The only way I know is fight only one at a time, full heal immediately, and debuff their war, focus and self if you are a mage. My archer has a much harder time, of course.
Also, if you had an infinite reserve of gems of stillness, you would have also another way... I ran out in less than a month.

Oh... but won't we get the ability to craft level 7 potions, and dispell level 7 vulns soon?

Biakas, beware of April patch... :) With consumable dispell 7, Biakas are going to become a major XP resource, since they are so numerous compared to the precious virindis...

[Shidoshi]

Well done, made my sword toon feel like a scared lvl 1 noob again!

[Brown suga]

Caul is great,

Good for lvl 100+

[Liaya]

I loved Caul last month. Really enjoyed the critters & re-learning my noob 'shoot & scoot' skills from my days trying to kill adult reedsharks in Hebian!! And playing "Drain War" with the zephyrs was fun :).

I haven't played too much since patch... went wandering about a bit this morning looking for some of the boss critters, until I saw the message about the servers going down.

Recalled and then saw...
"Slash Lure IV on your platemail hauberk has expired" (paraphrased... don't remember the exact wording) ...

Oh dear.... I never even knew it was cast! No wonder I thought the stuff was hitting harder! Now I'm gonna need to find a BP, girth & sleeves to reduce that debuff area to at least just the chest. And a whole lot more steel. (No, I'm a mage... can't wear cov armor unless I unspec something and throw points into melee def/missile def; thus turning those skills into just another arcane lore). And keep looking at my armor in the midst of battle to see if I need to cast a item dispell.

I suppose I could look upon this as another challenge... :/

[Zharina]

Nice job! Great hunting for the moderately high to high players. Fast spawn. Interesting monsters. Interesting quest items. Decent loot. You can carefully hunt solo or go on a mad romp with a fellow. I love it!

[Ganzor]

Shameless plug time...

http://ac.warcry.com/index.php3?showcase=realdereth/caul


If you like the caul, take a look. :)

edit- Oops, didn't notice the board I was on. Mods feel free to delete if this shouldn't be posted here.

[Opti_Silmara]

The Caul is fantastic, but the quest impossibly hard. It seems to only benefit those who already have the recall scroll {that includes me}.

With consideration for my small clan, it's an impossibly hard quest even if you have a full fellow of level 100+. Add to that it's so crowded with creats you have a severe lag factor.

The quest needs to be reassessed for difficulty I think.

Opti :cool:

[Mogosh]

Hi Opti_Silmara

Are you talking about the flagging part? It is much harder than it used to be, and does not really fit the "55+" restriction. You can take the jump shortcut, the trap is no longer a trap considering the monsters around... the less you face, the better. Also, take the SW hallway at the pit bottom, it's the shortest path. I 100% agree that this part is hard for sub-100.

However, the Caul Recall itself is much easier now, and should not cause much trouble to a fellow. Did you try it again recently? You no longer need the 3 types of attack (archer/melee/mage). It can now be solo-ed by sub-126s mages. The worst problems are the 3 bosses, but there are solutions: the gatekeeper can be killed through the wall, for example. Use Vitality Siphon, Heart Rend, and health to mana. The Auditor has 448 magic defense, but you don't need to face him. Kill the shades, wear an awakener or your focusing stone and some creature sunstone gaunts, and try Futility while he's still trapped in his room. You will eventually pass it, and once fully debuffed, a war at 400 will hit every other spell, and he's down in 3 successfull hits.
I am not sure about the Sage, since I had an extra key from a previous aborted run, but I think I remember he has 448 magic defense too, and there is a door to the room, so the same trick should work.
Also, you will have to kill 2 marionnettes in one room, but that's caul, and if you want to use the recall, you will have to kill marionnettes :)
The hardest part for me were the 2 times when you have to kill a pair of Telumiats blocking a corridor. That's a mage's nightmare, but can be managed with care (and marble+steel :p ). Most other Telumiats are alone, or behind doors so they can be killed with life magic.

I don't think the Recall part is hard for a 90+ quest. However, I agree that the flagging is hellish if you don't have high levels or a decent size group. I even tried as a pair melee/mage 126++. I'm sure it's doable with some sweat, but we had to recall out. Not very consistent compared to the Asylum...

[Opti_Silmara]

Yes I was talking about the flagging part really. Once past that it's not as bad. However the Singularity Bore is so extremely hard I can't imagine why they have it as 55+.

Even a full fellow of 100+ can die there. 3 of us 100+ tried to do it alone not so long ago and we all died. One was level 200, I am level 134, and the other level 112. So we called in a couple more at levels 126+ and 80+... Then 5 of us died. It really needs to be reassessed for difficulty. Though a full fellow of us made it last weekend, it still was dicey with deaths.

I hope they'll reassess the difficulty on this one. It's not always easy to get a fellow of 9 and nice if you can do a quest with only 3-4.

Opti :cool:

[Lloth]

Love the Caul. It sorta solves the loot nerf with a good number of gold and pyreal peas dropping. However the ability for monsters to repeatedly chain cast lvl7 spells makes it pretty hard to solo. Don't even think of going solo in the crater or you better be packin some DI to cover 2+ deaths tryin to get that first corpse =P.

Solo hunting is where it's at for me. The few people I like to group with and hunt aren't online half as much as me. And if you go with some people that you just meet out there you better be a ninja looter =P

Decent xp and good loots make Caul probably the best place for high lvl characters to hunt.

[Trekman]

Is Singularity Bore really 55+ ? Or 60+ ?

Recently a level 146 Mage and me level 202 Axer flagged a level 82 Axer. It was challenging but it worked - and on the way we recovered some corpses :D
It might even be an advantage to have a small group because the lag in there is already hard enough due to all those quadzillions of drudges coming to you in the narrow tunnels....

So in my experience a group with 2-3 higher levels can make it, as long as the "lower" toons are not below ~80... and as long as you know at which tunnel turn to wait&lure instead of running right into the middle of a biiiig drudge group. And as long as you move fast enough to avoid being backstabbed by the fast respawns.....

But level 55/60 is definitely a joke in there (unless you know a shortcut to avoid the drudges), even if you manage to avoid the few Assailers and Telumiat Hollows at the beginning.

I do not know the Caul Recall quest after it had been changed.

And Caul itself ?
I used to consider it "nice to hunt, good XP, **** loot" when it was invented.
After Phase 1 of the Treasure System changes it was "still nice to hunt, still good XP, but loot an impertinence".
I didn't visit Caul since last patch (Phase 2 ?).

[bonejacker]

That place Rocks!!!

Even tho it rocks me more. =P

[Elistra]

I love hunting out there!

It makes me wonder... do +Envoys ever watch people out there?

I ran from the drop one night, on my way to hunt more parfal nefanes and virindi. Jumping from the cliff, I landed in a tree. Jumping from the first tree, I landed in the second. All of this utterly unintentional upon my part, and no hesitation lol. I outran some of the riffraff enemies I didn't want to bother with, ran up a cliff, owned a parfal nefane, and was mightily pleased with myself.

The whole thing probably would have just screamed Arrogant Mage to anyone else watching.

Well, I was looting the parfal, and 6 or more of the high end margul-style enemies spawned right on top of me, lol. :p

I love solo hunting out there. If they nerfed that, I would be extremely irritated. You don't see me complaining because I can't camp hollow olthoi, do you?