[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]