"Endgame" (Before Final Boss) seems really imbalanced.

[Intern Waffle]

I've been on the "endgame" for a while now, and literally EVERYWHERE I GO everything is WAY too overpowered.

EVERY SINGLE AREA I now have access to says "Danger!". None are "rated" for my level.

EVERY SINGLE BOSS I go to that's just hanging out on the map is extremely strong.

EVERYTHING is too strong. It's like the game jumps from a 7/10 difficulty to a 9/10 difficulty without any bridge from 7 to 8 or 8 to 9. Did they screw this up or something? What am I missing? There's absolutely no guidance on where to go, there's no indicators on what is and isn't "doable" (besides the "DANGER!" warning on what *isn't*, which you can only see by flying all the way over to something to check)...This is very frustrating, I want to do this content but there's seemingly a huge gap of "Go grind I guess" between unlocking it and actually doing it.

[Kapika96]

Yeah, kind of feel that content is meant more for NG+ rather than your first playthrough. Or, at least as post-game content. ie. you finish the main story, then re-load the save (they put you back before the final boss so you can still do other content) and then go do it.

The story certainly suggests urgency too, even if there aren't any game mechanics to force it. Definitely seems like you're meant to go straight for the final boss rather than spending time on side content first.

Doing NG+ you can get through Act1/2 pretty easily, and then should be a high enough level for that content.

[Hatman]

Originally posted by Intern Waffle:

EVERY SINGLE AREA I now have access to says "Danger!". None are "rated" for my level.

There is no rating. They always show the danger sign regardless of your level.
The danger sign doesnt mean you need a higher level, just that those are special encounters that may need certain tactics, some don't involve fights at all.

Originally posted by Intern Waffle:

EVERY SINGLE BOSS I go to that's just hanging out on the map is extremely strong.

That, is true. You're supposed to explore the other, now accessible locations first, before facing those bosses. Eventually they become a cakewalk and the toughest bosses are in some of the side areas.

Originally posted by Intern Waffle:

EVERYTHING is too strong. It's like the game jumps from a 7/10 difficulty to a 9/10 difficulty without any bridge from 7 to 8 or 8 to 9.

Yeah can't argue. There's a trial and error approach to locations in endgame. You gotta roam around and figure out wich ones you can do before facing the tougher one. And there's a LOT of locations to explore in Act3. Trust me, you'll have no issue clearing everything before the finale if you want to. Just pick your fights for a while.

[Drax]

Zero grinding required. Just before the final boss I was able to do about half the stuff on the map AND I missed a lot of lower level stuff. I've gotten all the way to the end end game (lvl90) without having to make any effort to grind at all. But I was fighting and clearing levels. If you ran past 90% of enemies then you're going to be low level.

Just don't go for anything spooky and crazy looking in the sky. There's lots of optional areas on the ground that you probably haven't done yet that are relatively low level like 'Falling Leaves' and 'Frozen Hearts'. The latter of which is the other side of Monoco Station.

But build quality starts to matter a LOT more at this stage of the game. A messy build can get you through the story fine but you need to start having much better builds to clear this. Like every character having the 'Cheater' picto for a start.

[Leonhearth0]

Most of the end game content is supposed to be done AFTER you defeat the final boss to prepare for the new game +.
So, finish the game first. It may sound illogical, and perhaps it is, but if you do too much stuff, or farm, the final boss will be too easy in comparison.

[Ulieq]

Almost all the bosses are unbalanced due to the parry system. It's either you parry 100% even though the attacks aren't properly telegraphed, or you get 1 hit KOed or face 4-10 consecutive attacks. Its really sad and is the major downside of what would be a great game. Renoirs fights are more based on 'luck' as you can't even tell what he is doing when he attacks, you'll end up blocking, parrying, dodging and he attacks still don't come, it's silly. Nothing is worse in gaming than dark souls mechanics.

[prusswan]

killing the optional and overworld mobs really make the difference

I went from getting wiped in Frozen Hearts to just tanking nearly anything (maybe the pre-nerf patch helped too as I was getting a lot of burst damage with Burn)

[a passerby]

I asked the same question as well. The first area I visited in Act III was The Reacher, which is Maelle's relationship side-quest area. I then went on to Sacred River and Sirene's Dress respectively for Monoco and Lune. I then went on to Frozen Heart and now I think I'll end the game since I think level 66 might make me overleveled. I'll then do the other optional areas after I complete the main game, which I guess is how the devs intended it.

Originally posted by Hatman:

There is no rating. They always show the danger sign regardless of your level.
The danger sign doesnt mean you need a higher level, just that those are special encounters that may need certain tactics, some don't involve fights at all.

It absolutely has to do with level. After I leveled to a certain point, multiple areas like Frozen Heart and Dark Shores no longer tell me they're danger zones.

[Drax]

Originally posted by Ulieq:

Almost all the bosses are unbalanced due to the parry system. It's either you parry 100% even though the attacks aren't properly telegraphed, or you get 1 hit KOed or face 4-10 consecutive attacks. Its really sad and is the major downside of what would be a great game. Renoirs fights are more based on 'luck' as you can't even tell what he is doing when he attacks, you'll end up blocking, parrying, dodging and he attacks still don't come, it's silly. Nothing is worse in gaming than dark souls mechanics.

Massive skill issue and not even true.

Even if you struggle with parry timings, there's only like two side enemies that require parrying. Dodging is very easy and more than enough. Not to mention you can make heavily tanky builds with pictos that make your characters tank multiple hits per turn.

[alt]

Originally posted by Ulieq:

Almost all the bosses are unbalanced due to the parry system. It's either you parry 100% even though the attacks aren't properly telegraphed, or you get 1 hit KOed or face 4-10 consecutive attacks. Its really sad and is the major downside of what would be a great game. Renoirs fights are more based on 'luck' as you can't even tell what he is doing when he attacks, you'll end up blocking, parrying, dodging and he attacks still don't come, it's silly. Nothing is worse in gaming than dark souls mechanics.

this is wrong on so many different levels. if youre getting 1 hit KO'ed the problem is your build, not the game. every attack has not only some sort of visual queue, but auditory queue as well.

sorry to say it, but this is a 100% skill issue situation from the poster i quoted.

i would say, go explore and find out whats behind the "danger" levels, see what happens.