C'mon now, I can win boss fights without pressing a single button.

[DPswfan]

Imma add something. Consider it food for thought. I don't know about you but the third tI'm through I find things so FREAKING EASY. I mean take kotet for example. The first time I nearly died in that dumb walker in ch 1. The second time I faired a little better. The 4th time I did it and skipped most of the checkpoints. Didn't need the health up because it was a walk in the park. But I swear the first time through was hard. Once you know the mechanics everything becomes simple. I'll struggle in an op that a raider would breeze through only because I've never played it before. So replayability = easy. Regardless of everything else. Screw level sync. It doesn't make things easier. Having played the class and the story before does.

 

Replaying a class and story does often make things easier. That said, that does not negate the fact that the class story leveling experience is beyond easy. I have never leveled a Bounty Hunter before but it is my 5th character so I know how to play the game overall. I wasn't exaggerating when I said I can beat story bosses without using any attacks. I was being literal. My companion will literally, and I mean literally win the fight for me. The game essentially plays itself. That is a problem and it has nothing to do with me being a somewhat experienced player.

[Fygee]

It doesn't work like that. The Veteran and Master modes are for Zakuul chapters ONLY. I wish you could do this in 1-50 alongside the so oft requested story replay.

 

That's a shame. Maybe it could be implemented in a future patch. It would make having decent equipment up until 50 more worthwhile again, and also provide greater rewards for items instead of an endless sea of useless greens.

[Edyn]

I am currently leveling a Bounty Hunter and I am finding the game too easy. Not that this game was ever difficult per se but at least it didn't play itself. The last few boss fights I've had, I thought to myself "why bother?". I just set my companion on damage and they take care of everything. I do not have to press one single ability and I can still win the boss fight. This is silly and immersion breaking. The combat doesn't even have to be difficult necessarily, but at the very least give the illusion.

 

I know some of you will likely say that I should play without a companion but you know darn well that the game is meant to be played with one. They are part of the story. And yes I could remove some of my gear. Nevertheless, I shouldn't have to work around the mechanics of the game just so it doesn't play itself.

 

I love the story in this game. In fact, I play most video games for the story. However, I like to feel like I am a part of the story. Having zero challenge whatsoever, does not accomplish that. I know it isn't likely but I wish bioware would do something about this. I find it hard to imagine that people find this kind of gameplay engaging.

 

I had this same issue on my current Warrior. I really wanted the final showdown with...

Baras

...to be epic, but it wasn't meant to be. My Wrath wiped the floor with him without even trying. The "epic final showdown" with my character's nemesis was beyond immersion breaking - it was a joke.

 

I wasn't even able to dismiss my Companion for the fight, as the game automatically summoned him once the encounter began. I could have put him on passive, but it would have been just stupid to have my Companion just staring at my character like an idiot while she fight her nemesis. On top of that, I was way over that level 12 synced fight, so I most certainly had every possible stat maxxed for that level, and add on top of everything a Companion who hits harder than I do. My favorite part of this nonsense is when I basically three shot [him and that queued a cut scene which showed a real, legit struggle between the two opponents, but when the cut scene ends, I basically just three shot him again. Epic.

 

I really wish BW would stop breaking and ignoring vanilla content in favor of their KOTFE/ET golden child, GC system and "pack opening experiences."

Edited February 14, 2017 by Edyn

[Aeneas_Falco]

Given that the boss fights for class stories are instanced, I'd love to see Bioware adjust the difficulty on them. Why not bump the bosses up to level 70, and bolster players if they're underleveled?

 

The main issue with bosses like Vitiate or Baras is that they're on a starter planet, and the level sync changes bumped them all the way down to the level of the planet they're on. Before level sync they were level 50 bosses, and at the time that was max level.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Aeneas_Falco

[Fleurdelis]

That is not a universally held definition of what a boss is. There are raid bosses, world bosses & chapter bosses. They can all be called bosses depending on context.

 

Who's Universe? Calling something a boss does not make it a boss.

 

Before 5.0 I could solo World Bosses. Now they take a large group moving back to being a boss.

 

I don't consider anything in the chapter a boss. Could kill them solo when the game launched and can still do it today.

 

To me a boss is a single entity that requires a group of people to kill.

 

Pat yourself on the back for leveling solo against those "Chapter Bosses" if it makes you feel good.

[Damask_Rose]

Imma add something. Consider it food for thought. I don't know about you but the third tI'm through I find things so FREAKING EASY. I mean take kotet for example. The first time I nearly died in that dumb walker in ch 1. The second time I faired a little better. The 4th time I did it and skipped most of the checkpoints. Didn't need the health up because it was a walk in the park. But I swear the first time through was hard. Once you know the mechanics everything becomes simple. I'll struggle in an op that a raider would breeze through only because I've never played it before. So replayability = easy. Regardless of everything else. Screw level sync. It doesn't make things easier. Having played the class and the story before does.

 

My 8 year old son recently started playing and is also finding the vanilla content quite easy. He has never played an MMO before, has only a few datacrons, and just got his first class buff & heroic moment attack. His companions only have the influence gained from conversations & he's using looted gear. I asked him if he found fighting the Emperor to be difficult and the answer was no, it was very easy. That used to be a challenging fight. (I'm sure he will need help with some of the new fights.) A combination of level-sync, rapid exp gains, beefed up companions and reduced health/damage on mobs has made the earlier content trivial for even the newest of new players.

Edited February 14, 2017 by Damask_Rose

[TUXs]

I am currently leveling a Bounty Hunter and I am finding the game too easy. Not that this game was ever difficult per se but at least it didn't play itself. The last few boss fights I've had, I thought to myself "why bother?". I just set my companion on damage and they take care of everything. I do not have to press one single ability and I can still win the boss fight. This is silly and immersion breaking. The combat doesn't even have to be difficult necessarily, but at the very least give the illusion.

 

I know some of you will likely say that I should play without a companion but you know darn well that the game is meant to be played with one. They are part of the story. And yes I could remove some of my gear. Nevertheless, I shouldn't have to work around the mechanics of the game just so it doesn't play itself.

 

I love the story in this game. In fact, I play most video games for the story. However, I like to feel like I am a part of the story. Having zero challenge whatsoever, does not accomplish that. I know it isn't likely but I wish bioware would do something about this. I find it hard to imagine that people find this kind of gameplay engaging.

Put your companion on passive. Disable some of his skills. Remove your class buffs. There are plenty of ways for YOU to make it more challenging, but no ways for someone new to the game to make it easier. Just because you enjoy the monotony of meaningless fights, doesn't mean everyone does. The ability to adjust the difficulty is already in your hands...use it.

[jstankaroslo]

Put your companion on passive. Disable some of his skills. Remove your class buffs. There are plenty of ways for YOU to make it more challenging, but no ways for someone new to the game to make it easier. Just because you enjoy the monotony of meaningless fights, doesn't mean everyone does. The ability to adjust the difficulty is already in your hands...use it.

 

I wonder how much would YOU enjoy your game "playing" it with half of your skills disabled and half of your team afaik.

Stop trolling this thread, this doesn't concern you.

[tharbison]

I agree op it's pretty easy and silly

 

I hate when players suggest running naked, or without your companions, or without your skills, or fighting with your fists to make it harder lol. I mean technically that would make it harder, but...what's the point of playing a game about lightsabers, cool gear & companions without lightsabers, cool gear & companions?!

[TUXs]

I wonder how much would YOU enjoy your game "playing" it with half of your skills disabled and half of your team afaik.

Stop trolling this thread, this doesn't concern you.

I commented on the thread topic...you just quoted me to attack me personally for some reason. If you have an issue with me, take it to PMs.

 

The reality is, the tools to adjust difficulty ARE there. Players can no longer out-level content, so it needs to be enjoyable and beatable for every conceivable skill level and by players with any variety of difficulties playing the game. If you want a bigger challenge, make it happen...it's easy as hell to do.

[casirabit]

I agree that the fights in your story are way too easy now. I can remember the fights before the changes and how challenging they were but they changed it.

 

Then you have people complaining doing Valiyn Spirit Fight how difficult it is on story even though they been told how to do it using the circles and they say it can't be done.

 

It can be done I did it before someone wrote it and explained how to do it and my first toon to do was my main which is a sawbone healer. Yes it was challenging to do it with my sawbones but I figured it out and did it. It really seems people do not want to do challenging things and wants the fights handed to them. Why play a game then?

[casirabit]

I commented on the thread topic...you just quoted me to attack me personally for some reason. If you have an issue with me, take it to PMs.

 

The reality is, the tools to adjust difficulty ARE there. Players can no longer out-level content, so it needs to be enjoyable and beatable for every conceivable skill level and by players with any variety of difficulties playing the game. If you want a bigger challenge, make it happen...it's easy as hell to do.

 

Not really Tux. I can still do the class boss without a companion and it is still very easy and this is without the best gear. I wanted to test it because of all the comments do it without all your good gear, do it without your companions and do it without your buffs. Still easy and it shouldn't be that easy.

[TUXs]

Not really Tux. I can still do the class boss without a companion and it is still very easy and this is without the best gear. I wanted to test it because of all the comments do it without all your good gear, do it without your companions and do it without your buffs. Still easy and it shouldn't be that easy.

It's easy to you, that's fine Casi...but you're a very seasoned vet of the game. As I said, it needs to be able to be completed by a HUGE variety of players...you're not near the bottom.

[casirabit]

It's easy to you, that's fine Casi...but you're a very seasoned vet of the game. As I said, it needs to be able to be completed by a HUGE variety of players...you're not near the bottom.

 

My problem with this is that the players are getting these bosses done too easy and then when they get to some of the more challenging fights, Valiyn's Spirt for one, they come complaining to the forums and saying it is too hard and they don't know how to figure it out and then they get into flashpoints and operations not knowing what to do.

 

These fights should at least teach them how to use their abilities and figure out to stay out of certain things but it's not and that is creating problems in group activities.

Edited February 15, 2017 by casirabit

[TUXs]

My problem with this is that the players are getting these bosses done too easy and then when they get to some of the more challenging fights, Valiyn's Spirt for one, they come complaining to the forums and saying it is too hard and they don't know how to figure it out and then they get into flashpoints and operations not knowing what to do.

 

These fights should at least teach them how to use their abilities and figure out to stay out of certain things but it's not and that is creating problems in group activities.

They can ask for help with the Vaylin fight if they need it, but maybe it should be toned down if you think it's that hard. The story stuff has never been difficult and pretending they should be made more difficult to improve FPs and Ops is just silly lol. You learn FPs and Ops through experience, not through leveling.

Edited February 15, 2017 by TUXs

[casirabit]

They can ask for help with the Vaylin fight if they need it, but maybe it should be toned down if you think it's that hard. The story stuff has never been difficult and pretending they should be made more difficult to improve FPs and Ops is just silly lol. You learn FPs and Ops through experience, not through leveling.

 

I don't think the fight is that hard. I did it on my sawbones the first time. I stopped and looked at my surroundings, something that I learned back when I was leveling so yes you can learn your abilities and mechanics through leveling or you could. Now no. I remember my first fight on my sorceress with Zash. I went in carefully and figured out what to do when she started attacking me. It was challenging but I figured out how to do it and it brought to me that you need to be aware of your surroundings which is something you need to learn in flashpoints and operations, not just rush end there and not paying attention.

 

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree here.

[TUXs]

I think we are going to have to agree to disagree here.

What exactly are you disagreeing with me on?

 

There are ways you can make the game more difficult for yourself, right? People of all different skill levels and physical issues play this game, right?

[Aeneas_Falco]

I agree that the fights in your story are way too easy now. I can remember the fights before the changes and how challenging they were but they changed it.

 

Then you have people complaining doing Valiyn Spirit Fight how difficult it is on story even though they been told how to do it using the circles and they say it can't be done.

 

It can be done I did it before someone wrote it and explained how to do it and my first toon to do was my main which is a sawbone healer. Yes it was challenging to do it with my sawbones but I figured it out and did it. It really seems people do not want to do challenging things and wants the fights handed to them. Why play a game then?

 

The Vaylin and Arcann fights are no more difficult than some of the the old class story boss fights before nerfs. I think part of the reason why some people struggled with them is that they hadn't been around since 2012 or 2013, and had gone 65 levels without having to pay attention to fight mechanics or be tactical with their ability use.

 

It's easy to you, that's fine Casi...but you're a very seasoned vet of the game. As I said, it needs to be able to be completed by a HUGE variety of players...you're not near the bottom.

 

I agree with you that class story bosses need to be able to be cleared by the majority of players, including casual players. They shouldn't be as challenging as flashpoint or Ops bosses.

 

Nevertheless, there should also be at least be some light 'entry level' challenge. Class and planet story boss fights should require some degree of participation on the part of the player, forcing them to pay attention to fight mechanics and use their abilities tactically.

 

At the moment the class and planet story bosses are too easy and require *no* participation at all on the part of the player. It is not an exaggeration to say that you can put a companion on tank stance, walk away from the computer completely as the fight starts, and come back to find that T7 or Vette had smoked Vitiate or Baras all by their lonesome. That's not a light challenge meant to accommodate new or casual players. That's God mode.

Edited February 15, 2017 by Aeneas_Falco

[mmmbuddah]

If you set the difficulty to Master, then the 1-50 experience will be more challenging, and closer to how things were back in the before times.

 

Story Mode difficulty is just that: difficulty that's easy for all strictly for story progression.

 

There are no difficulties for the 1-50 stories....its just story mode period. They didnt change those.

[PlasmaJohn]

The story stuff has never been difficult and pretending they should be made more difficult to improve FPs and Ops is just silly lol. You learn FPs and Ops through experience, not through leveling.

Specific mechanics sure but what's getting in serious short supply are rudimentary MMO skills like interrupts, CC breaks, cleanses, etc. Heck getting some people to use something other than their basic attack can be a challenge. And yes there are enrage timers in Story Modes.

 

If the levelling content isn't going to encourage people to learn about those skills then there's no point to putting people through it if they're not interested in that content. But we're in the new world order of Grind Is Content so what do I know?

[PlasmaJohn]

At the moment the class and planet story bosses are too easy and require *no* participation at all on the part of the player. It is not an exaggeration to say that you can put a companion on tank stance, walk away from the computer completely as the fight starts, and come back to find that T7 or Vette had smoked Vitiate or Baras all by their lonesome. That's not a light challenge meant to accommodate new or casual players. That's God mode.

No kidding. I was running tactical Mandalorian Raiders with my GM. Me with infl 20 Ranos, him with infl 47 Shae Vizla. While we were dealing with adds Shae smoked two of the bosses one of them being the end-boss.

Edited February 15, 2017 by PlasmaJohn

[DPswfan]

What exactly are you disagreeing with me on?

 

There are ways you can make the game more difficult for yourself, right? People of all different skill levels and physical issues play this game, right?

 

I am almost finding it hard to believe that you are being serious. This games' 1-50 story experience requires virtually no skill whatsoever. Even "easy" for most games requires more skill than SWTOR's class leveling experience. You talk about people of all different skill levels and physical issues playing the game. My goodness, someone with one eye and four fingers could still beat the class story content ( based on my experience, I don't mean that as an exaggeration).

 

At the very least can you agree that there should be a difficulty setting for the class leveling experience? Surely you can see how people might not want to disable their abilities, play without their companion, play naked, etc just to make the game harder. For the love of god, tell me you are at least that reasonable.

[Storm-Cutter]

Yup. A reasonable rank of companion can topple a champion mob without any player intervention. - Even some of them that have certain mechanics like interrupts or adds. - Set them on DPS and go about your business.

 

- And yet some people still think this game is hard, call for nerfs to mobs and wail that mechanics are incomprehensible.

I'm sure with a few tweaks the devs could sell a companion that does the whole levelling and end-game process for you. - Yours in the CM for 20K CCs. - Come back in a month and it's all done. - No need for that tedious sitting in front of the computer at all.

[jstankaroslo]

Weak story bosses problem should be finally resolved by the dev team because:

 

- the story difficulty level is set by KOTFE/KOTET content as this is most recent dev work. Vayilyn fight, Arcann fight, Heskel fight etc are the benchmarks here. Baras, Thanaton, Vitiate should be as hard.

 

- the above fights are difficult because they are story driven -Arcann has to be harder to beat than random grunt. There is much build-up before those final fights in original class stories. It is a huge let down that they end up before even full rotation is complete. Imagine say final fight in Arnold's Predator. If he one shot the beast we'd all be disappointed. Or Anakin-Obi-wan fight. Or Yoda-Palpatine. Hell, even Vader -Old Obi lasted long enough. Those fights need to be satisfying. People should be a bit afraid going through them. The fights need to be harder, but doable. As hard as Vaylin fight. Now they are a joke

 

- people CAN learn how to play doing solo content. This is no pvp or ops, but its a good start. Unless the fights are done by the companion

 

- After a satisfying final fight new players might get the appetite to check out the other stories. Thus staying in the game longer, paying for subscription

 

The argument that we can always play half the game (disable your skills, dismiss companion etc) are put here by people who obviously (or admittedly) don't do/enjoy original leveling content.

It is understandable that you don't enjoy it. To each their own. But why don't you want other people to enjoy their favorite aspects of the game? Do you care only about your stuff, your gameplay, your pleasure from SWTOR?

 

If someone states: I love leveling content, play it often, and I do it with half my skills disabled and without companion please don't change it -this is ok. This is valid opinion.

If someone says: I don't play it, I don't care about it, I just do ops and pvp. But don't change it, those whiners can always just play with one hand behind their back -this is just being douche.

[TUXs]

It is understandable that you don't enjoy it. To each their own. But why don't you want other people to enjoy their favorite aspects of the game? Do you care only about your stuff, your gameplay, your pleasure from SWTOR?

I had no issue leveling at all, so no...I don't care "only about my stuff"...see, I know one guy who played the game with one finger, because that's all he had. I know a guy who plays the game with NO hands at all. I know changes to the games dynamics can drastically impact their ability to play...granted, both guys were well above average skill levels, despite their limitations, but I don't want other people with similar limitations to be impacted just so you guys can feel complete.

 

I'm fine with leveling being monotonous and easy...let anyone who wants to see the story, enjoy the story. If you want a challenge, do PvP or GSF, do FPs or Ops, do Uprisings solo...you CAN adjust the difficulty on the newest content...why insist that everyone else be impacted by YOUR desire? Yes...leveling is easy for most people now...but it SHOULD BE...it always has been. You've got ways to increase the difficulty already that don't impact everyone else.

 

And obviously Bioware has heard your complaints...they've given you 3 levels of difficulty with everything they introduced the past 2-years. I have no issue with you asking for what you want as long as it doesn't impact everyone...your changes would...and that I don't like. If you want to push for SM/HM/NiM for 1-50, fine...I'd support that 100%...but not just a random increase in difficulty for everyone.