[b]Post Update Review:[/b]
The beginning and middle of this strike still take as long as they always have, so people are still skipping this strike. At the same time, however, Valus is a total push over; often dying before the first wave of enemies, which feels... Deflating? Valus is now the shortest lived boss encounter in the game, in my opinion.
The Roc strike did not need this. The nightfall, maybe, but 33% is way too much. 15-20%, maybe. The better solution would have been to increased his critical damage area by 10-15%, so you could actually get consistent critical hits with a sniper, just like every other strike boss.
My points still stand as originally posted below.
I am curious what everyone else's take is on this strike, post update. Please respond and let me know.
[b]Original Post:[/b]
After reviewing the weekly update, it appears to me that the dev team has missed the real issues of the Cerberus Vae III strike as the Nightfall.
The Roc strike isn't an issue. My friends and I can storm through it in 12 minutes. This is by no means the fastest, but it is certainly less than the quoted 27 minutes (if memory serves).
So, in my opinion (let me know if you agree), these are the real problems with this strike as the Nightfall: Lightswitch and Angry.
Here's why:
Lightswitch:
[spoiler]As a level 32, a level 30 enemy will one hit kill with Lightswitch. Duh, right? The problem with this particular modifier on this strike is the Psionic Blast, which can travel (seemingly) forever without the enemy being close to you. Couple this with Epic and the fact the you are swarmed by Psions at the boss fight, you cannot camp in a spot and spam the bullet sponge known as Valus Ta'aurc while aiming down your sights. Further, when you do see a Psion, you cannot run out in to the open as Valus will release a barrage of rockets, each meaning to cause your demise, should they make contact. You are literally forced to pigeonhole yourself and shoot through a tiny crack at Valus.[/spoiler]
Angry:
[spoiler]This is a problem because of the large number of Phalanx's that spawn. They drop shield, sling their pistol over a corner and spam you with bullets. These are often majors. This present a small target you have to shoot at under duress and when you do, the enemy stay hunkered down. You literally get no chance at dealing critical damage. These enemies specifically demand flinch when shooting at them, otherwise you've tripled the time to kill.
Why is this a problem? Well, 3 out of the four guards for Valus are Phalanx majors that hide in a tower, with Angry and Lightswitch. You can't get close to them, can't deal crit damage. What do you do? Spam Icebreaker rounds. Don't have an Icebreaker? Don't bother.[/spoiler]
Other misc problems:
[spoiler]The Colossus, or shall I say mini Valus. These guys should not be able to spam rockets. This is the most absurd enemy in the game: heavily armored, mini gun and rockets that are spot on. No other enemy has two weapons with range variance to bash you with: mini gun at short range and rockets for long range. And the rockets are insta-kill. Give me a Hive Knight Major with a Boomer and Arc Shield any day of the week.
The Tank. The problem I have with tank is it's ability to hit you without being in it's line of site. I've stood under the bridge leading up to the tower where the first guard hides and been hit and killed by that damn thing. I couldn't even see the tank.
Valus Ta'aurc. His health isn't the issue. The limited opportunity to hit for critical damage is the huge issue. You simply don't have enough time to line up multiple shots on him like you do with Sepiks, Sekrion and Aksor. [/spoiler]
Now that I've complained, here's my attempt at providing solutions:
[spoiler]Reduce the distance the Psionic Blast can travel. Reduce the distance at which it is activated. Don't let it be a one hit kill. Maybe 75%. Something less dramatic. Lower the shield and the health on the Psion Major's or remove Psion Majors. These are supposed to be the weakest of the adds, like Thrall or Dregs and should be easier to dispatch with. Nothing is worse than spamming bullets at these Psychokinetic slinging baboons, just to get them half way dead and die to Psionic Blast with L/S.
Drop the Phalanx Major's health by a 1/3 or remove Angry from the lineup of modifiers.
Remove the rocket attack from the Colossus or reduce the damage output and the distance it can be activated. Increase the spread and reduce the accuracy. I'm not saying it has to be terrible, just not the one hit cop out that it is.
Make the canon attack from the take require line of sight. Increase the charge time. It's hard to land three critical shots with the Black Hammer and pull back before that thing fires. Not impossible, just hard. Further, reduce the proximity damage. I've had that thing hit low and way in front of me but died to blast damage. Not saying it has to be a. Direct hit, but if I am hiding 10' behind the rock that it hits (not a pebble, either; the side of a mountain), I shouldn't be killed. Maybe 90%, but not fully.
Increase the critical damage area for Valus by 15% (random percentage).[/spoiler]
Whew... If you stuck with me, thank you. If you think I am being a whiny little brat, let me know. Nothing above is set in stone, just my take on the strike.
And before you call me a scrub, know that I have soloed this strike as the nightfall and weekly (when I used to be able to do so) many times and take pride in doing (or having done) so. It is, in my opinion, by far the most difficult and fun strike. The only strike I find more challenging is the Will of Crota. Both demand a high level of gameplay. As far as Cerberus Vae III goes, it can be tedious spamming IB rounds, especially when you'd rather use a shotgun, like I do.
Anyhow, thanks for you time and (hopefully) your feedback.
[b]Selected Posts From Feedback:[/b]
(A compilation of ideas that may be better)
[spoiler]
[quote]Funny you find will of crota more difficult because it's the only nightfall i have ever soloed (granted it takes a long time but I hadn't discovered the forums yet). I completely agree that all the ads in the valus fight are way more deadly then valus himself. Having angry on a cabal daily mission is bad enough but the major phalanxes will swarm you in the camping spot (my group had to resort to this after 3 consecutive trips back into orbit). I don't like the fact the you are basically invincible in the box but at this point it seems to be the only way. I think ads should only spawn when valus gets to a certain % health rather than on a timed basis. This would allow you to clear all the ads (similar to omnigul) and then damage valus from somewhere out side the box. This would be especially helpful when he reaches 25% health and roams freely because you wouldn't have to worry about getting slaughtered by ads when you have to leave the camping spot (he can usually be hit still if you can jump out of the hole and shoot him at the same time, which is what my group chose to do last time). Not having a burn also makes this fight soooo slow.
[b]~Elnoe2000[/b][/quote]
[/spoiler]
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Do you and your team ever use the crates spot for camping? Completely safe but it's also completely boring. I m glad they will help this by cutting down Valus' health. By my opinion, the worst strike is the black garden: you fight waves of Vex majors and they drop nothing valuable
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Funny the harder the strike the more enjoy them, this one though is too easy and is now no longer one if my favourites. All good points ... Just more proof of bungie dumbing the game down so real gamers have no fun or challenge.
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Personally it didn't bother me before patch and doesn't bother me now. The one strike I will skip 100% (excluding nightfalls), will be Omnigul. No matter what they do or not do I will always quit or skip Omnigul...
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Bump. Post update.
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I think they should put a burn on it and they need to stop the tank from shooting through mountains
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If they put a burn on it then I would have no problems with this strike... Regardless of what other modifiers they choose.
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http://www.bungie.net/en/Forum/Post/114175879/0/0/1 580 replies so far soon deej will have to acknowledge it.
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Thank you for this post. I can handle the ROC version, but angry coupled with juggler had my ammo gone in no time. I recently started over, so I only have an auto rifle(Abyss), shotgun(Swordbreaker), and Hunger of Crota. The turtle squad also have a deceptive melee range, no reload time, and just spam you to death. I tried fighting in the open during two attempts, then gave up and just hid.
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[quote][b]It ain't the difficulty, it's the asinine damage and lack of cover. Not to mention that you get ambushed by Psions with infinite (seemingly infinite) melee range. [/b] In a nutshell! Not so long ago, that spot under the ramp was a refuge...then I noticed during one NF that things had changed somewhat, as the ads gathered around with their shields to prevent line-of-sight sniping opportunities on their boss. Last night's NF run had 2x 31s down and me under the ramp. The boxes appeared to have larger gaps than I recall, and one was taking blast damage constantly from the horde that had taken up station opposite every aperture, including unlimited homing rocket barrages from the boss and others...and getting flambe-d by those annoying little purple-faced snitty little s•its! It ain't fun...it's surviving long enough to even have half a chance of a crack at the boss! If anything needs a good nerf, it's this...and that cabal captain on the Public Event whose shielding and homing rockets and superior health and teleport capabilities are way over the top - as i have mentioned in a previous posting. Last night, I think there were about 6x 31s & 32s at one just as we (NF team) were about to enter the 'it's a trap' cavern...and with all the firepower & determination in play, we barely just made it! Talk about an adversary being overpowered!? I digress. In summary, I concur with the viewpoints raised by the thread author, which, imvho, was a job well done! [b]Chin-Up & Grind On, Guardians![/b][/quote]
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Its pretty easy and can be done in under 20 minutes without burn damages
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It seems to me you found every reason in the book to complain about Valus. Solo'd it again, today, with my Titan. Psionic blasts hit me. Didn't kill me. Phalanx's have limited range medium fire rate pistols. Simply put some distance between you and they can't hurt you. Centurians? Word of crota had it's way with those guys. Thanks for the precision modifier bonus of 1 bullet for every 3 guys. It was fun. Tank part. I challenge you, the tank lieutenant, to hit a moving aerial target namely me. I've never had an issue killing you with the FWC scout rifle the calling/weapons of light and that is NOT about to change. Colossus? Mini Valus? No need to buff those guys up. The rockets are easy to dodge, the chaingun has a very predictable stance call, and the Colossus is without a doubt a giant teddy hugging love machine TURTLE with his speed (get it? Cabal? Space turtles? He he). The entire point of valus is DISTANCE and range control. If you see phalanx coming at you? Don't think of it as running away. Think of it as advancing in the opposite direction. lol...
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I'd swap angry with solar burn, but it's just my preference.
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You've listed every reason I hate that strike. You're forced to play in a manner that just doesn't feel right. Lightswitch and Angry need to be readjusted with how they work. Flinching and staggering are CRITICAL to murdering things in this game, and Angry really removes your ability to fend off an enemy. Flinch less, okay but being completely immune to flinching is bullshit. Getting one shotted by a Psion's melee is exceptionally infuriating.
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Edited by xxDAMRONxx: 4/7/2015 8:53:47 PMIn truth, there is currently no component of this game that is difficult. Its just experience, after that its all pretty easy
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There's nothing wrong with the strike. It's a bit longer than others, and it seems to be stuck in rotation way too often. In my opinion the level of difficulty is not the problem.
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For me I just can't stand the phalanx shield and no critical hits psions are fine since I usually use word of Crota or a void shotgun with gjallerhorn for vallus
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The worst part of this raid isn't even the darkness zone. It's the Iron Line room when 2/3rd of you party runs through like they're trying to set a world record & you get stuck there.
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Easy fix to 90% of your problems. Stop getting close to the enemies.
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This strike isn't "difficult" per se. Valid is simply and incredible damage sponge. The whole team could unload full gally on him and not even half his health. Other problem is spoons with shields. Fast, damage sponges, one hit kill with their ground blast.
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good points. I agree with what you say here and unlike most, you provide possible solutions and evidence for your opinions. However i do think that when it comes to boss fights valus is more annoying than the others (besides omnigul). Giving him less health wont solve all the issues with the angry modifier on phalanxes but itll make the boss fight a little shorter thus helping with the overall average time. but i agree with what you say here.
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Funny you find will of crota more difficult because it's the only nightfall i have ever soloed (granted it takes a long time but I hadn't discovered the forums yet). I completely agree that all the ads in the valus fight are way more deadly then valus himself. Having angry on a cabal daily mission is bad enough but the major phalanxes will swarm you in the camping spot (my group had to resort to this after 3 consecutive trips back into orbit). I don't like the fact the you are basically invincible in the box but at this point it seems to be the only way. I think ads should only spawn when valus gets to a certain % health rather than on a timed basis. This would allow you to clear all the ads (similar to omnigul) and then damage valus from somewhere out side the box. This would be especially helpful when he reaches 25% health and roams freely because you wouldn't have to worry about getting slaughtered by ads when you have to leave the camping spot (he can usually be hit still if you can jump out of the hole and shoot him at the same time, which is what my group chose to do last time). Not having a burn also makes this fight soooo slow.
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After months of playing this game I have forgotten that there are people who...don't know how to play the game. This strike is annoying. Yes. But all the things mentioned above don't really make sense to me because if you lower said bullet sponge's health by a third, it will take less damage to kill him and make it easier to fight off adds. There are multiple places to hide and remain there to get your health back, pop a synth, whatever.
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The cabal are supposed to be double hard galaxy conquering militarised bastards! Guardian: it's to hard, so I'm not guna play. Bungie: ok, we'll take away the difficulty. Guardian: weapons are to powerful. And I get killed by them. Bungie: ok, we'll take away the difficulty. The aim is balance? Well............humans have been pushed to the edge of extinction. If things were "balanced" this wouldn't of happened. The nightfall is to hard. Let's take away "juggler" "light switch" "angry" "nightfall" "epic". Let's make it "level 10". In Fact let's make it so we can 1 shot all the bad guys and all guardians have unlimited ammo, health and "supers" BLAH BLAH BLAH pointless rant over