Star Fortress Heroic no longer soloable...

[Anaesha]

I guess you were too busy claiming that I was using an overpowered class (Merc) earlier when you responded to my post to read that I did it in 200 with a level 6 companion. No alliance buffs.

 

Did it ever occur to you that I might have forgotten about it? I've been reading and posting in a lot of topics since four this afternoon. I can't be expected to remember EVERY fning thing I've read today.

 

Beside's you're taking it as a personal attack which is just retarded. It's a game try treating it as such.

[mrsrachelm]

Actually for reference in my own class I'd love to see a Marksman sniper. Dreading trying to do these as one.

 

I second this! I am exactly that and I am just NOT up for the pain

[Anaesha]

I second this! I am exactly that and I am just NOT up for the pain

 

yeah especially with the tank stance still slightly broken.

[Halinalle]

It does look like you need very high influence companion and very good gear.

 

Just tried to do heroic mode with rank 24 T7 and it was hopeless.

Watchman

208 + few 216 + 204 2-piece + 186/204 relics

 

- Paladins deal way too much damage

- I even died against one Knight of Zakuul because T7 just couldn't keep me alive. I tried again with T7 in tank mode little buddy went down fighting like a warrior before I got to my first Zen window.

 

So I decided to leave at that point.

 

Other issues I was experiencing:

- T7 randomly stops healing and just idles

- T7 died instantly few times to one standard enemy

[MillionsKNives]

Did it ever occur to you that I might have forgotten about it? I've been reading and posting in a lot of topics since four this afternoon. I can't be expected to remember EVERY fning thing I've read today.

 

Beside's you're taking it as a personal attack which is just retarded. It's a game try treating it as such.

 

Nah, entertained that you keep touting off about how it's only done by people who overgear it despite evidence to the contrary. And one would think that if you responded directly to one such piece of evidence it might even stop you from posting BS. But who am I kidding, that would be a silly expectation.

[Rhilon]

I managed it tonight on two characters. It was not easy.

 

Both were mostly 208 geared with a couple of 216 pieces from crystal purchases. First was a Vengeance Jugg who got slaughtered by the first elite Knight of Zakuul he encountered. Dropped him on the second try though. Finally worked through both Paladins, then got reamed at the EPHEMERIS room where you take on two elite Knights and their cronies at the same time. Failed twice, no contest. HAD to swap to a tank spec to survive and still died once (mostly 208 tank gear as well, drops from pre-nerf SF runs). Finally scraped through that one. Stayed in tank spec and slowly ground my way through the rest. Honestly the Exarch was easier than those damn elite Knights, even if he did take forever to whittle down. Companion was at 38 influence level.

 

2nd was a Deception Assassin, also mostly 208 geared with a couple 216's from crystals. Stealthed my way past 90% of the mobs, had a hell of a time on the Paladins. Died 3 times on one of them, barely killed him finally. EPHEMERIS room was easier, as I had much more CC to work with. One-shot it, but it was close. The reactors were more nerve-wracking, but doable. The damn Exarch took 4 tries however, mostly by spamming Ball Lightning and running in circles for what felt like an hour. Companion died near the end of that fight. Companion was level 32 influence level.

 

Tried a third time on a Lightning Sorc, same gear and similar companion influence to the previous two. Got to first Paladin. It raped me so hard that I gave up after two attempts without dropping him below 85% health. No comparison to the other classes that had good CC or tank spec to fall back on.

 

TLDR; yes, it IS possible. No, it isn't easy. For some classes it may be damn near impossible. Honestly, I don't mind that they tuned the companions down, but they nerfed them WAY, WAY too far in my opinion.

 

EDIT: Specialist buffs were active, and used 3/4 special items picked up on the way through as well.

Edited November 18, 2015 by Rhilon

[BenitsubasaChiyo]

Just did a Heroic SF solo run on my 208 PvP geared Commando, Gunnery specced;

 

 

As for utilities, I specifically used Heavy Trooper (+3% Endurance, +3% healing received) and Charged Barrier (1% DR per Grav Round/ChargedBolts/Med Probe) and Chained Gunnery (+25% damage increase for Hail of Bolts AOE, great for clearing summonable trash in reactor rooms) from Skillful tier;

Med Zone (+30% healing received while Reactive Shield is active) and Advance the Line (+4sec duration for Hold the Line, good for kiting) from Masterful tier;

Forced March (kiting yadda-yadda) and Overclock (2 charges of Tech Override every 45 seconds for extra self-healing/DPS)

 

No alliance buffs

Used class-specific buffs and Advanced Anodyne Versatile Stim, as well as a normal Anodyne Medpack you can buy from a droid in SF itself

Didn't use Heroic Moment

 

Used 41IL Nico Okarr, he spent half of the run in DPS stance, only switched to heals for the Praetorian (I never went lower than ~70%HP, Nico stayed at ~60% for the duration of fight), 3-step reactor stage and the Exarch fight.

 

 

By and large, the reactor stage felt the most tricky, because I was used to standing like a derp in AOE not so long ago, instead of moving around a little bit. This time I had to run in circles, use all of my self-healing abilities, DCDs and CC. Died once on that stage precisely because of such derp moment. Tricky? Yep. But doable.

 

Elite and Champion mobs were quite easy.

 

Exarch fight was ok, but I noticed my companion struggling to keep himself up. He finally died just a few seconds before I landed a final blow.

 

Overall, it took me roughly an hour, give or take 10 minutes.

 

Conclusion? Soloable, even with a gear arguably not suited for this kind of content. Of course, I would assume it's a completely different story for classes without any kind of proper self-heals

 

And still, 75% nerf to healing is taking it way too far IMO. Unfortunately, it's almost as if the concept of "middle ground" doesn't exist for BioWare: they only know overpowered or borderline useless.

Edited November 18, 2015 by BenitsubasaChiyo

[YankeeDelta]

As a player, all I have wanted since release was the opportunity to experience all of the great stories that Bioware packed into this game in a solo and casual friendly manner. That was the game that was promised, the game that played to Bioware's strengths, the game that provided massive launch numbers, but the game that was never delivered.

 

If I wanted a game that forced grouping and raiding to access the content then I would play WOW, who is much better at tuning combat.

 

Instead I turned to Bioware for unparalleled storytelling and world immersion, but instead found that Bioware is STILL intent on chasing down their Moby Dick, to hell with their fans and loyal subscribers.

[ryoutou]

By and large, the reactor stage felt the most tricky,

 

Definitely was the part I struggled with the most...lots of dps coming at ya from the two elites, the spawning four, the robot thing the exarch brings to life and the fire on the floor. Took several dirt naps here but worked it out. Exarch fight was easy compared to the third reactor room, at least for me.

 

None of the rest of it was a worry at all.

 

And if this is the toughest solo content? People gotta relax, the sky is most definitely not falling.

 

Just did some lowbie toon stuff leveling too...not having any issues so far. Dunno what people are on about. I think they came to a conclusion well before even logging on. Its just not that bad.

[BaronV]

Actually Star Fortress Heroic is still soloable. Its just much much harder now. I don't know if its doable without the bonuses though (One for All achievement).

 

Sorry to say OP, but with 218 gear and lvl 49 influence if you can't solo it you need to learn to play. Its soloable with 25 influence. Harder yes - very much so, but still doable.

[YankeeDelta]

Definitely was the part I struggled with the most...lots of dps coming at ya from the two elites, the spawning four, the robot thing the exarch brings to life and the fire on the floor. Took several dirt naps here but worked it out. Exarch fight was easy compared to the third reactor room, at least for me.

 

None of the rest of it was a worry at all.

 

And if this is the toughest solo content? People gotta relax, the sky is most definitely not falling.

 

Just did some lowbie toon stuff leveling too...not having any issues so far. Dunno what people are on about. I think they came to a conclusion well before even logging on. Its just not that bad.

 

Question: What is your character's persuasion level?

[BaronV]

I managed it tonight on two characters. It was not easy.

 

Tried a third time on a Lightning Sorc, same gear and similar companion influence to the previous two. Got to first Paladin. It raped me so hard that I gave up after two attempts without dropping him below 85% health. No comparison to the other classes that had good CC or tank spec to fall back on.

 

TLDR; yes, it IS possible. No, it isn't easy. For some classes it may be damn near impossible. Honestly, I don't mind that they tuned the companions down, but they nerfed them WAY, WAY too far in my opinion.

 

EDIT: Specialist buffs were active, and used 3/4 special items picked up on the way through as well.

 

Agreed. I play a madness sorc as my main. They are extremely fragile. Don't know if it is possible to solo it for the One for all achievement now. Maybe with generous use of Unity and the Heroic Moment.

[Avalyssia]

Definitely was the part I struggled with the most...lots of dps coming at ya from the two elites, the spawning four, the robot thing the exarch brings to life and the fire on the floor. Took several dirt naps here but worked it out. Exarch fight was easy compared to the third reactor room, at least for me.

 

This is exactly what I had problems with too. Thankfully I had collected 2 of the quest items to bring down the exarch from my previous 2 deaths lol

[ryoutou]

Question: What is your character's persuasion level?

 

1682.

 

Beats me where that comes from these days...finished three class quests, havent chased down holocrons.

 

What helped me is tank class and being fairly handy with the class I guess.

[ryoutou]

This is exactly what I had problems with too. Thankfully I had collected 2 of the quest items to bring down the exarch from my previous 2 deaths lol

 

I actually had to do that on purpose on the last room....kill for the items, die, then run into the room and pop all defensive cooldowns as well as the damper - use the capacitor on the exarch and hit the console as fast as I could. Took me multiple tries, but not too bad.

 

Boss was easy comparatively...just loads of dps and a L16 companion.

 

It was fun to get through though and got a piece of gear

[SithKoriandr]

This doesn't mean they'll get rid of my The One and Only title, does it? The one that requires no buffs and soloing the heroic star fortress?

[FrozenMist]

Actually Star Fortress Heroic is still soloable. Its just much much harder now. I don't know if its doable without the bonuses though (One for All achievement).

 

Sorry to say OP, but with 218 gear and lvl 49 influence if you can't solo it you need to learn to play. Its soloable with 25 influence. Harder yes - very much so, but still doable.

 

It is. I just finished a run with AP PT (Full pvp set 208 with 208 augs. No buffs used since I am only lvl 2 with the specialists on that toon. Lana inf lvl 11 as healer). It was not easy and I died 3-4 times in the 3rd reactor room, but I got it done.

 

With 218 gear and lvl 49 inf it is the player at fault, not the game.

[denavin]

A heroic mission designed for a team of 2 players is no longer soloable? Say it isn't so!

 

It certainly may be a bit more challenging than before but you can complete them. The intent is that you can complete any [Heroic 2] with your Companion counting as one of the two. If you find this isn't true for any Heroics tomorrow, let us know.

 

-eric

 

Read it for yourself A&swipe

[Sol-Ra]

It's all been said on both sides. It's doable came close myself on the Heroic trying to get the One For All. Did not do it. I won't say impossible but I will need to gear up more that what I did before.

 

Yes I believe BW took the swing too far. I don't mind a challenge, but this was a time consuming mess tonight. I'd either suggest take the number back up some to give us a chance or drop some of the hit points or damage the heroic does to give us a chance.

[TX_Angel]

Actually Star Fortress Heroic is still soloable. Its just much much harder now. I don't know if its doable without the bonuses though (One for All achievement).

 

Sorry to say OP, but with 218 gear and lvl 49 influence if you can't solo it you need to learn to play. Its soloable with 25 influence. Harder yes - very much so, but still doable.

 

Ahh, there it is... the learn 2 play comment...

 

So, do you feel good about yourself now? Shall I go learn... to play another game?

 

They nerfed this into the ground and turned it into a "smash your head into the wall over and over" thing and you're happy?

 

Well, I guess some people like that sort of thing. The vast majority don't however.

[Glower]

Our goal with Fallen Empire was to ensure that all of our story content was very accessible to all players, new and old. The power of Companions was certainly a part of that, and so we do want them to be strong. However, we went a bit too far on the strong side, and need to bring that back in line.

 

-eric

 

He said nerf them "back in line", must be a wrong line! This is the Bioware after all:D

Edited November 18, 2015 by Glower

[jakeobione]

Still can solo it, but I don't know why anyone would want to. The combat in this game has always sucked, with a piss poor engine to boot. The companions this time around at least masked how poorly combat is in this game.

 

Now it's back to the forefront. No desire to slog through all that Alliance garbage. With the old companions I might have, sure as hell won't now.

[WorldSmasher]

I have mixed feelings about this.... I couldn't beat the champion final boss before the nerf. I don't know how I'm suppose to do it, now after the nerf, with my level 65 Assassin with level 190 blues and greens mods in orange gear. Can't get better mods without buying gold from the farmers or going into operations. Which I don't do.

 

I took one of my level 60's out for a test run after the nerf. I did a 2+ Heroic on Dromund Kaas. It took a small effort, but I completed it. I did a 2+ Heroic on Corelia. It was a bit more of a challenge, but it was most doable. Then I went to Ilum. Did a 2+ Heroic there. It was definitely harder. I wiped once, but completed the mission. Finally, I went to Makeb on that level 60 toon where I did a 2+ Heroic, "The Specialists." I wiped twice on my way to the tower. In the tower, I wiped three times against the Ratcatcher. It just wasn't doable.

 

I had a Sorcerer with the companion as DPS, then as Tank. I was gonna have her do heals, then realized that my Sorc is DPS, not Tank. After the third wipe, with companion as DPS, I called it a day. The Sorc is level 60, equipped with 186 purples and 190 blue mods in orange gear, 186 implants and earpiece and 162 relics.

 

I'm imagining that if I do a level 60 2+ Heroic, I'll get my butt handed to me with the regular silver and gold mobs.

 

do it grouped more and learn the mechanics of it then try again its all it takes

 

Nah. I WANT to solo it. I want a stronger companion. So, either tone down the champion bosses a bit, or beef up the companions, or give easier access to the good mods for our orange gear, or a combination of the three.

[WorldSmasher]

Quote: Originally Posted by WorldSmasher View Post

I have mixed feelings about this.... I couldn't beat the champion final boss before the nerf. I don't know how I'm suppose to do it, now after the nerf, with my level 65 Assassin with level 190 blues and greens mods in orange gear. Can't get better mods without buying gold from the farmers or going into operations. Which I don't do.

 

I'm in a mix of 208 and 216, have never stepped foot in an Op, and never bought credits. I earned data crystals from doing planetary heroic missions and bought stuff from the gear vendors in Odessen.

As for The Specialists, were you just trying to kill him without using the panels on the wall?

 

Nah. I was going for the panels on the walls to put out the fires. I could only get him down to just under half health.

[DreadtechSavant]

They're not designed for two players. This was stated yesterday. Heroic 2 means player + companion.

 

THIS.

 

Star fortress is hard and sure some will still do it solo, most probably not. Companion are about what they were before 4.0 so that's not the problem. The issue is for a lot of solo players is A. level - sync because before we could do the heroics because we could just do them at what level was comfortable for us. Normally that would be between 5-10 level above the recommended level.

 

4.0 because companions were overpowered we could still do them despite the level-sync. Now well not done all and most of the first 3-4 planets are still doable. Later planets harder but just do the ones you can and leave the ones you cannot.

 

Star Fortress is different as this is part of the quest storyline. As said it not the companions that need changing but the star fortress knights and boss's need down grading a little now or have it that the story quest does not require the hard mode and leave hard mode for those who want the challenge. So at the moment a solo player and companion cannot do them. in-fact I could not do the Alderaan one solo before the companion downgrade. Did not have the highest gear but was not far from the top rated stuff. Companion's affection was at 32.

 

It is worth remembering that in Eric's post he did say if you find they cannot be done to say so. Maybe it's worth waiting to see if anything is done before the I quit response. If anything is done it wont happen overnight so don't expect it to. BW wont change it over a few posts and will wait for far more feedback than just a few threads because most threads are made up by the same few players.

Edited November 18, 2015 by DreadtechSavant