Whereas some members of our group of ragtag journos have been skilled New World gamers with tons of of hours banked, a number of of us (myself included) have been much less expert, usually console-centric gamers. With Aeternum marking the growth of the sport to the console group, our group was a very good illustration of the combo of gamers one is prone to discover within the MMO transferring ahead.
To assist our get together stand an opportunity of getting via the raid, we got characters with primarily maxed-out stats, the craziest gear and gadgets within the sport, and our dev staff members’ steering and help. The factor was, we didn’t coordinate when selecting our character builds, that means regardless of rolling 10-deep, solely one of many devs was outfitted to behave as a tank.
This didn’t bode properly for us, and we certainly in the end received our asses handed to us, however not earlier than we took down hordes of Hercyne monstrosities with us. Gangs of werewolves and corvids descended on us as we made our method via the ornate ruins, plagued by traps, ambush factors, and mazes that pressured the group to coordinate, play protection, resolve puzzles, and maintain our composure as we fought via the chaos.
The factor that struck me instantly in regards to the raid was that, regardless of our group having a tough go of it (the devs needed to give us just a little “dev assist” to assist us progress after we couldn’t beat the primary boss), I used to be having a blast! An enormous cause for that comes all the way down to the design of the Hive of Gorgons. The primary boss encounter, The Echidna, is an ideal instance of how intelligent and sophisticated the raid can get. As we scrambled across the area making an attempt to keep away from the big creature’s lethal chew, tail, and spines, a way of panic set in, whilst our dev guides have been primarily telling us precisely what to do to win. It was tremendous intense and chaotic, with potential one-hit kills coming at us in all places we turned.
The Echidna’s AOE floor pound assault, if not dodged, would ship us hurtling into the sky atop jutting pillars of stone. From atop the pillars, ranged assaults dealt extra injury to the Echidna, and we have been protected against the extra lethal assaults. And when you fell to the bottom and wished to make your method again as much as one of many taller pillars, you can use your pickaxe to decrease them, successfully making stair steps again as much as extra advantageous floor. What’s cool about that is that it incorporates one of many sport’s core mechanics–mining/gathering–into one of many sport’s most demanding battles. It doesn’t really feel contrived in any respect, and never solely does it add layers of technique to the boss struggle, it additionally seems cool.
Regardless of our greatest efforts, we weren’t in a position to take the Echidna down. The following part of the raid noticed us break up into two groups to navigate a labyrinth crammed with Gorgons that might primarily merc us on sight (dev’s tip: “When you see one, RUN”). A few of us lured the Gorgons away so others may stand on buttons to open our path to flee, after which it was a mad sprint to get everybody out of the maze, which was simpler stated than performed with the Gorgons on the prowl.
