My own thoughts on getting overwhelmed by bodies, specifically Act 2 first boss and scarabs

So, just stating, has a Asmongold video about his thoughts on improving PoE2 that dropped about 1 hour ago (I'm sure the team will study it even if I don't mention it). I agree with most of his thoughts except hot swapping from checkpoint to checkpoint as death respawn could cause complications or exploits for that system. Unless it used the amount of time and the graphics for a Town Portal to move from Checkpoint to checkpoint. Hmm... Game balance is hard, man.

Anyway, I'm playing a Sorcery Witch centered around Phys damage with minions to create skirmish zones for me to bombard. I use Bone Circle to keep enemies off me. My experience fighting the Hyena champion at the beginning of Act 2 was ASS. Not because I couldn't beat the boss, I did on the second try. It's because the "Ambush" mechanic overwhelmed my ability to MOVE. I was able to hold off a pure push of bodies for a moment with Bone Circle, and then the rush filled in the gaps completely bypassing my Minions who got swamped and overwhelmed. Then, there was nowhere for me to go to get a moment to cast a spell, and I was not stunned. I was immobile because there were hitboxes hemming me in on all sides. That did not feel good.

I adapted on the second run, and was able to anticipate the mechanic and raise some bone scorpions to fill things out and raise more of them as hyena bodies dropped and eek out a win. And then the Post Fight ambush did the exact same thing to me as what killed me the first time. I beat the boss, but I was punished for it. Because I died, and I got no loot drops.

I mean, good job using the audio cue for "Ambush!" But the NUMBER of bodies coming at me was just too much, and my build is meant for holding back bodies. If you reduce the number of ambushing enemies by about 25% in the mid boss and post boss ambushes, it WILL feel a lot more fair.

But the scarabs are also just GD annoying in Keth. The fact that your spells can go above their heads, but they still bodyblock you in is just stupid. If they are short enough to be able to duck my attacks, they should be short enough for me to step over; they should not body block you in!

Anyway, it's a beta and mechanics are being tuned, I just wanna let you know my thoughts for the sake of the future players.

-Oh, and I slew the Devourer on my first try, mainly because I watched videos from the promos and some players who fought it and learned the mechanics ahead of time (because I couldn't log in for reasons at that time). If I was a slightly more casual gamer, I would have had a very hard time. Half of my equipment slots were empty of anything that gave anything my class would actually want, like Energy Shield, so I was squishy as all heck. So your average gamer would be dying a lot to that boss, due to a lack of ability to survive hits. One way to go is to reduce the output of damage by the boss, but that might be dicey with more experienced players.

My thought is that the three NPC you meet at the Clearwood encampment should each give you one piece of equipment for the class you are playing (Helm/boots/body), just a barebones blue with 1 modifier on it. That will vastly improve the onboarding experience for newer players. Turn it into a mini-tutorial, by having one of them be a White item and the NPC gives you a currency to make it Blue (enforced clicks that only can be activated if you are able to claim the prize to prevent exploits of gathering up a stockpile of the currency). That onboards players with power, as well as knowledge to make their own power in the future.

So just a quick check in, I did the Terracotta Warrior ambush room last night, and that felt FANTASTIC!

The slow pace of the soldiers closing in was claustrophobic and well telegraphed for their objective of penning you in on all sides. I initially tried to stand my ground and fight it out, raising defeated opponents as meat shields, but my DPS couldn't keep up with the tide. Then I frantically pushed back a few targets to make a hole to escape through, dashed through the ranks of the animating warriors, out of the room, and then set the doorway as a choke point to annihilate the warriors one by one.

I had a blast.

The scarabs feel unfair in being penned in by something so small that I should be able to step over them. The large number of fast moving bodies for the Hyena boss post death Ambush felt unfair because of the combination of their numbers and speed in closing in on you.

The Terracotta Warrior ambush felt fantastic because you had the time to dread, make a plan, have the plan fall apart, and still desperately find a way to survive. The main difference between all these encounters are 2 key points.

1. The Scarabs are small and hard to see, and should not be able to block you in with their size; while the Terracotta warriors are much easier to see and obviously have the ability to body block you because of their size and material.

2. The Hyena ambush happens swiftly, and partly off screen so you are not immediately aware of what is happening; while the Terracotta warriors initiate ON screen and move slowly enough that you the player are not caught completely unaware when violence is initiated. So visibility and speed of interdiction by the attackers.

But yeah, just leaving feedback for the Beta. The game is great and it's getting better by the day! Thanks for all the hard work! Once I start getting paychecks again, I'm definitely upping my Supporter pack ranks, but for the time being, launch day is a good time to be between jobs.