EVILUTION (Short Preset #1 by Big Fe)

[grim mason]

Everyone's been begging for more short presets, so here I go delivering the goods again. This is "EVILUTION", the first of my short presets inspired by OG DOOM levels.

3 rounds. 8 minutes. A mishmash of demons that create a short but intense fight for survival. Do you have what it takes to survive the EVILUTION?

Preset Details:
• Name: EVILUTION
• Map: Any
• Timer: 8 Minutes

Preset Codes:
Round 1: M2HA48G8184A00G
Round 2: M8N212HGG2H248
Round 3: MAZ2G04J40G01202

Video: https://youtu.be/VtoD0GbpXBg

[tidal shore]

just my personal preference but this is one of those encounters thats just like so hard that it just ends up being more frustrating than it is fun

ive been trying it for a bit now and i just get stuck on round 2 constantly running away from everything trying to whittle them down and then just getting unlucky with some combo of projectiles going through or just getting hit by acolytes (which i think are just the least fun thing to put in ripatorium presets personally)

[blazing acorn]

I give this preset a drum roll 8.5 out of 10!

a true Nightmare Tier encounter!

(Played on Ultra Violence: Standard Sliders and Settings)

https://youtu.be/Y27ZazYd9zE

[grim mason]

Well done! 👏👏👏

[grim mason]

Try to focus the Acolytes first! The faster you take them out, the easier it is to beat

[tidal shore]

i mean yes but thats not exactly easy when theres 10 other super heavies and the acolytes just dart all over the place

the cat and mouse mechanic is fine for a normal campaign encounter but for these jacked up presets i think its just not a very fun way to increase the difficulty imo

[grim mason]

I'm open to suggestions on how to make it more difficult in a fun way...if thats even possible lmao. High difficulty presets are either sheer numbers or cheap tricks in reality. Its about overcoming that BS in creative ways. You can do it!

[tidal shore]

just more fun interactions and a better balance of parryables/projectiles vs melees. like it just feels kinda lame when im running forever against a million projectiles and then turn around once to finally try to kill a baron chasing me and interact with it with parries and then acolyte spam kills me or 50 other projectiles come out of nowhere the moment i try to stop for half a second

thats just my preference. it feels like a lot of the high level presets just have a lot of rng on what projectiles hit when and what you spawn near to be able to clear quicker otherwise its just a wild goose hunt

the first wave of this felt like a better balance between things imo and was enjoyable to play

[grim mason]

That happens when you don't prioritize correctly. Like I said, acolytes first. There are ways to hunt the acolyte without it feeling like a wild goose chase. If you leave it for too long, it will punish you. Combined with a cosmic baron on your ass, thats where the difficulty intentionally spikes. You have to have mastered movement and prioritization in order to succeed in my presets.

[tidal shore]

i mean im not bad by any means lol like i understand movement and how to prioritize things but theres only so much you can do sometimes when the acolytes are just teleporting in the middle of 4 other super heavies every time you try to dive it before it just becomes frustrating

[simple ingot]

DONE!! The demons kicked my ass in the first encounters but it is a really good preset. I was about to suffer a heart attack in my last match because the time xD

[grim mason]

Well done!!

[austere estuary]

I've been running this encounter now for several hours and I couldn't agree more. Acolyte isn't a skill check of any sort. It's a punishment for not spawning near/next to it at the beginning of the round. Otherwise you're taking free damage as you're forced to deal with projectiles from all the other demons, cc'd, etc. Too many deaths are to that damn thing, it's absolutely BS. Yes, I've attempted this for several hours, tried different methods, different melee/runes/;etc. Nothing works, it's all BS because of that acoluyte. The round 1 is ok but the others really gotta go IMO.

and yes, hunting that single acolyte sucks the fun out of what is otherwise a very well designed encounter.

Also, you are more than welcome to disagree with my opinion and I won't be offended if you do.

[blazing acorn]

i didn't have any issues with the acolyte.. i beat him up relatively quick based on my video

[tidal shore]

I don't mean offense with this, but you're also playing on standard sliders and ultra violence.

they get much more difficult on nightmare + any other difficulty sliders

[blazing acorn]

i suppose that is true, i do use my own rules for my ripatorium reviews, as Ultra Violence encapsulates most players of doom aka the Gentlemen of DOOM, i do my reviews with said rules to showcase standard difficulty for these presets, as not every slayer is gonna wanna dive head first into Nightmare without knowing the arena first, it's why most players do UV, then Nightmare as they know what to expect at that point

but i do understand that Acolytes are annoying, it's why i rarely incorporate them into my arenas, and even if i do, it's ONLY ONE

not counting my "Cosmic Siege" i think that one had 2 in one round..

[grim mason]

All I will say is this: if I can do it, you can too.

[blazing acorn]

yup

[grim mason]

My presets aren't hard-locked to Nightmare either. You can play them on whatever difficulty and with whatever sliders you want.

[tidal shore]

Yeah but lets be honest, nightmare is the real default difficulty for ripatorium

i am now more consistently getting to the 3rd phase. should eventually be able to beat it but damn the amount of unparryable projectiles are a real pain in the ass lol

[tidal shore]

i wanna die