Fell Dragon Fight Issues

[LeonHard]

As a solo Warrior player playing in hard mode the Fell Dragon Fight is frustrating to the point of pushing me to the the brink of rage quitting once and for all, not because of its intrinsic difficulty or the player lack of understanding of the mechanics, but because of multiple idyosincracies in the behaviour of the dragon and the environment.

What is especially annoying and completely unacceptable is that the short time interval of vulnerability of the Dragon cannot always be exploited by melee players because of the almost unpredictable landing site of the beast and, even worse, the collisions with the Dragon model, that can easily push a player character off the stone ring, resulting in completely wasting the vulnerability window while still causing the flying adds to spawn (those adds are indeed the main time-waster for melee players, since they can't be hit unless stunned first and since they inflict a considerable amount of damage, preventing the player from tanking their hits).

A second source of random death is the weakness of the uplifting air current in the center of the ring, that can lead to death by plunging into the Red Shroud after colliding with the stone platform inner sides once randomly pushed over the inner border of the arena.

That the Dragon fight requires specific items in order to proc the stun makes these issues even worse, because it compels the player to farm for hours in order to be able to earn a few miserable attempts at a fight that is insanely stacked against melee-only builds for no rational reason at all.

All these issues have been reported since november (just check the comments in the thread on the feedback website) and addressing them should have been a priority over adding cosmetic only features to the game.

[Amos]

Commenting only on your first point regarding the unpredictable landing site. I do not have that experience at all. The dragon will always fall right in front of where it was facing at the moment its stun bar got filled. You can use that to your advantage by making sure it'll always land as close as possible to you while not close enough that it will knock you off.

[LeonHard]

It might always fall to its front, but since the arena is hollow in the center, distance is also likely an issue. In my experience when he is flying towards the player but he is on the other side of the arena, he doesn't always fall on the player's side only because he is facing the player.

Anyway, when playing melee you usually want to try to bring the Dragon down close to you or you will waste a lot of time anyway while running up to him. And if he is on top of you he will end up pushing you anyway.

[OctoberSky]

I was not aware that the dragon landed in order for a melee player to hit and stun it. I thought that the only way you could achieve a stun was using a range weapon, either stun arrow for rangers or lightening staff charges for casters. But this is new information regarding melee abilities to also inflict stun. Many thanks for this.

[griffonwing]

I actually killed him from the exit cave across the chasm. I was unaware that the red mist wasn't deadly shroud. I assumed I had to level my flame altar higher to change the shroud. So I fired a couple times, as a lark, and was surprised when one hit. I then simply pelted him until he died, set down an altar (in case I dies in deadly shroud), and flew over to loot him.

[LeonHard]

Originally posted by Amos:

Commenting only on your first point regarding the unpredictable landing site. I do not have that experience at all. The dragon will always fall right in front of where it was facing at the moment its stun bar got filled. You can use that to your advantage by making sure it'll always land as close as possible to you while not close enough that it will knock you off.

So, I wanted to check the info about the Dragon falling in the direction he is facing when the stun bar is filled and now I'm certain that it doesn't work that way.
In my last attempt I waited until he was casting the firebreath attack that has him slowly rotate around while spewing fire in a circle and I purposefully filled his stun bar when he was facing 90 degrees to my right side. The engine had the dragon land close to me, on my left side.

[Amos]

Originally posted by LeonHard:

Originally posted by Amos:

Commenting only on your first point regarding the unpredictable landing site. I do not have that experience at all. The dragon will always fall right in front of where it was facing at the moment its stun bar got filled. You can use that to your advantage by making sure it'll always land as close as possible to you while not close enough that it will knock you off.

So, I wanted to check the info about the Dragon falling in the direction he is facing when the stun bar is filled and now I'm certain that it doesn't work that way.
In my last attempt I waited until he was casting the firebreath attack that has him slowly rotate around while spewing fire in a circle and I purposefully filled his stun bar when he was facing 90 degrees to my right side. The engine had the dragon land close to me, on my left side.

I don't know if anything changed with the recent patch since I haven't downloaded it yet but I'll parrot you and say that pre-patch I'm certain that it did work that way. I've killed the dragon 20+ times and the behavior has been consistent. It'd be freakishly high odds on it landing exactly where I thought it would every single time if it were random.

[LeonHard]

Originally posted by Amos:

I don't know if anything changed with the recent patch since I haven't downloaded it yet but I'll parrot you and say that pre-patch I'm certain that it did work that way. I've killed the dragon 20+ times and the behavior has been consistent. It'd be freakishly high odds on it landing exactly where I thought it would every single time if it were random.

I don't know either, but that's what happened to me yesterday. Honestly, I have never noticed the dragon landing consistently in the direction he was facing and that's why I said I found the pattern inconsistent. I had the dragon land while flying sideways more than once. I don't know what is actually going on but in my experience predicting where the dragon is going to land is anything but easy.

[Alabardica]

I have a clean archer and I play with a clean warrior (that is, I only have the skills of an archer and he only has those of a warrior). When facing the boss we noticed some flaws that could be easily resolved, I think with some tricks that could be done... For example, the arena could be filled by removing the central hole, which is annoying and takes away a lot of room for maneuver, especially for those who cannot attack at long range. The warrior is very penalized in my opinion in this battle, being a tank who attacks the enemy, but unable to block the devastating fire he finds himself a sacrificial victim more often than not. Without room to maneuver he would need a stamina bonus equal to mine as an archer to survive, but given that he has other advantages it would be nice if he could use them without feeling like a useless roast meatball. Maybe improve the possibility of blocking fire damage or additional protection, or the grappling hook could at least move the dragon to facilitate the warrior's range of action on him. A few tricks that would make our warriors more enthusiastic about the boss battle, which is difficult for everyone as it must be, but not impossible. Finally, I believe that the fire damage is too high.

[DarkFire]

The first time I took on the dragon I was fully specced as a sword & board warrior. The dragon can be defeated via melee but for me it was so un-fun that I respecced as an archer and found that to be much easier.

[Sgt.JESUS]

I fought him with my archer and my mage and beat him no problem, my warrior i got the bastard to 1/3rd of his life before the freaking cold timer run out and i had to flee.

This fight is not for solo warriors, it can be done alright, partying those fireballs fills that stun bar a lot, but then multiple times that bi-tch fell on my head throwing me off the arena and lossing time to damage him.

I agree, the arena should be better, but its seens this fight is made for a group, it really shines when you go there with friends, now with mic communication you can coordinate and even the warrior will help a lot with that stun bar.