Fey Meander Trials and the general FTP and Low Spender Upset currently being felt!

[lone bolt]

The below has been translated into Russian and Chinese for the widest response possible

Приведенный ниже текст переведен на русский и китайский языки для максимально широкого охвата аудитории.

以下内容已翻译成俄语和中文，以便尽可能广泛地获得反馈。

English Translation
The first thing I am going to say is that, I am a spender, I’m not a Kraken, I don’t consider myself a Whale either, but I do spend good money on this game, and have done since October 2024 after starting in the OG in June 2024.

Now I am “lucky” in so much as I have a wide and well “Inspired” Hero Roster to choose from, and although I am not the very best in the game, I usually challenge for top 20 in the Season, but despite this, I have to say, that rarely in this game have I seen sooooo much upset to the balance, as I have with this new “Fey Meander Trial” whereby very skilled FTP and low spenders have been totally left behind in the leaderboard positions, when they normally feature welll!

Their skills notwithstanding, they are unable to progress through after level 61 - 120 was opened yesterday, many are stuck in the low 70’s and the leaderboards reflect it too!

I was lucky, but it took 6+hrs of various tests, tweaks, tantrums and ultimately rotations of my well stocked Hero Roster to make it through all the way.

Now the point of this suggestion thread is for other players to express their own thoughts, and not have me speak for them, therefore I hope that with this floor opened to them, they will make their thoughts known regards this, and even other content, and allow them to say whether they are, or are considering, giving up the game because of the massive imbalance being experienced across much of the leaderboard on the content in the game.

So, over to you guys! State your thoughts below!

Russian translation

Первое, что я хочу сказать, это то, что я трачу деньги, я не Кракен, и я не считаю себя «китом», но я трачу на эту игру немалые суммы, и делаю это с октября 2024 года, начав играть в оригинальной версии в июне 2024 года.

Мне «повезло» в том смысле, что у меня широкий и хорошо «вдохновленный» список героев на выбор, и хотя я не самый лучший в игре, я обычно борюсь за место в топ-20 в сезоне. Но, несмотря на это, я должен сказать, что редко в этой игре я видел такое нарушение баланса, как в этом новом «Испытании Феи», где опытные игроки, которые играют бесплатно, и те, кто тратит мало, оказались полностью позади в таблице лидеров, хотя обычно они занимают высокие позиции!

Несмотря на их навыки, они не могут продвинуться дальше после того, как вчера открылся доступ к уровням с 61 по 120, многие застряли в районе 70, и это отражается в таблицах лидеров!

Мне повезло, но потребовалось более 6 часов различных тестов, настроек, истерик и, в конечном итоге, ротаций моего хорошо укомплектованного списка героев, чтобы пройти весь путь.

Цель этой темы для предложений — дать другим игрокам возможность высказать свои мысли, а не заставлять меня говорить за них. Поэтому я надеюсь, что, открыв для них эту возможность, они поделятся своими мыслями по этому и даже другому контенту, и смогут сказать, собираются ли они бросить игру или рассматривают такую ​​возможность из-за огромного дисбаланса, наблюдаемого в таблице лидеров по контенту игры.

Итак, слово за вами! Выскажите свои мысли в комментариях ниже!

Chinese translation below

首先我要说明的是，我是一名氪金玩家，但我并非那种“海怪”（指氪金大佬），也算不上“鲸鱼”（指氪金大佬），不过我确实在这款游戏上花了不少钱，从2024年6月开始玩原版游戏，到2024年10月开始就一直在玩。

现在，我“幸运”之处在于我拥有一个庞大且“灵感迸发”的英雄阵容可供选择。虽然我并非游戏中最顶尖的玩家，但我通常都能在赛季中冲击前20名。然而，即便如此，我不得不说，我很少在这个游戏中看到像这次新的“妖精漫步试炼”这样对游戏平衡造成如此巨大破坏的情况。许多技术精湛的零氪玩家和低氪玩家在排行榜上被彻底甩在了后面，而他们通常都能在排行榜上名列前茅！

撇开他们的技术不谈，自从昨天开放了61-120级之后，他们就无法继续前进了。许多人被困在70级出头，排行榜也反映了这一点！

我运气不错，但为了通关，我花了六个多小时进行各种测试、调整、发脾气，最终不得不轮换我那储备充足的英雄阵容。

现在，我发这个建议帖的目的是让其他玩家表达自己的想法，而不是让我替他们说话。因此，我希望大家能畅所欲言，说说自己对这个以及其他游戏内容的看法，并说说他们是否因为排行榜上某些内容存在的巨大不平衡而放弃这款游戏，或者正在考虑放弃。

所以，轮到你们了！请在下方留言！

[mossy fern]

F2P here, i got to level 90 on first day and i like the challenge.
level 1-60 was no problem.
level 60 to 120 is hard and i´m happy about it, if
level 120-180 will not be totally impossible even with max psycore and i would like to see oponent teams of maximal 5 members, cause the stages are pure chaos with so many heros on the teams. i would also like an option to hide pets, but that´s another suggestion

[kind fern]

The key heroes for this mode mostly are stun/energy reduced hero like Ripekas, Astaion, Garrika which are easy to get/ max inspir. So this is not P2W brick wall and impossible for FTP. Challenge must be hard and I'm ok with this.

[rich token]

I disagree with this wholeheartedly. If we can auto straight through it it adds nothing to the game. This at least provides some challenge and chat in the community. I like it.

[frank rivet]

The big problem is there is no big difference between rank1 and rank 20 , you must do something for top 5 players , to give us the desire to push hard and spend money

[lone bolt]

You get a nice title for 14 days lol!

It’s not just this new content, it’s the trend that there are very few places the low spenders/FTP are able to rank anywhere, without grinding their hearts out over it, and are basically saying, “enough is enough!”

If you don’t have a 5 x i5 team in Arena, Realms and 3v3 you won’t be in top 5

If you don’t have at least 4 x i5 on Vortex you won’t be top 20 or possibly even a lot lower (i5 Rook depending!)

If you don’t have inspired hero’s you will seriously struggle to make top 10 on any of the Speed Runs etc

There is no storylines, to keep the Story driven players there, the Gear drops are still absolutely laughable and we are then seeing players basically sneering at them for wanting to have a chance somewhere in the game to achieve a good rank where there are any!

THOSE are just some of the often repeated issues raised, and we are seeing those players and even Krakens walking away……and in bigger numbers now too

So please, don’t say “it’s a challenge get used to it!” For many players EVERY PIECE OF CONTENT IS A CHALLENGE NOW, but Fey Trials has pushed it over even further for the slide to become an avalanche……..

[tidal zealot]

I completely disagree. It‘s the game mode I enjoy most and it‘s totally doable with standard defensive ice/nekro-teams. My choice:

[tidal zealot]

The krakens I witnessed leaving the game did so because of repetitive non-challenging time consuming fights like otherworld bosses.

[shadow halo]

Finally a challenging encounter, thats what have been asked for long enough and many players i talked to feel the same, its rejuvenating and refreshing. It raises the participationlevel of interactions in a lot of alliances

[rich token]

With stanguem

[lone bolt]

And a lot of inspirations 😉🤣

[rich token]

Clever planning I say…

🧐

[tidal zealot]

Ardreth only i2 is very very lazy I‘d say … 😉

[open jungle]

I 💯 agree with @lone bolt in this one.
After S1 everything is now on repeat. I don’t have fully inspired heroes or 30 types of each gear. I have not a chance to get further from lv73. I’ve been copying other teams that had made it, but they were all fully inspired.
If one of 5 heroes are not fully inspired, that is still way more than the low spenders have.

I miss the calm adventure part of the game.
If someone want hard challenges, let them
Have it, but please don’t forget us that came into this game because of the adventure.
That part is now stone dead.
I miss it.

[tidal zealot]

With the adventure part I‘m fully on your side. For the hard fey I‘m sure, you‘ll succeed easily once you found your team. For me lv 75 was the hardest.
So, what‘s your main affinity? As usual it‘s a game of stunning - skill haste - positioning.
For me it went well with Quaesitia, Ripekas, Tiamat… It should work with Zeffi/Tamar/Ardreth/Rose/Sagomir… or Synarell/Huldork/Garrika/Halramar… or Iola or Gardrus… 😀

[open jungle]

I’m using Ripekas, Lossenia, Hvitar, Felicia and Elcebre.
I am stuck at lv75

[tidal zealot]

Sounds like a good team! I’d experiment with different positionings, lots of skill haste and resistance 🙂

[open jungle]

I’m doing it. Except from my not fully inspired heroes, there are some artefacts that it’s not yet fully levelled up. I maxed out all the crystals at the exchange shop

[tidal zealot]

Good luck! 🤞

[open jungle]

Thank you. I need it. 😊
Good luck to you too.

[frank rivet]

Im sorry i was talking about final saison ranking

[sturdy topaz]

Reminds of Fey from the pre-reborn version, especially 1st season when you generally just didn't have the heroes or the gear to push through in one go. But, it was doable by end of season even with epics.

Personally, I don't mind the difficulty. I managed with a low-inspired tank team and adjustments every couple of levels. I have Ripekas at i2, I think Eurion at i3, Dark Lady at i1, everyone else i0. What I did mind was having it open on a Monday in the middle of CC so I was more annoyed by taking time with difficult levels than I should have been. Also, the gear rewards - 3 of 4 of these sets are so niche they're almost useless. And with random stats, it's unlikely you get anything you can use even in a niche situation.

[limpid plover]

I agree with your about the adventure part. This is a real problem. But i totally disagree about the competitive part. This is normal as a F2P or low spender you cannot compete with whale. I understand it can be frustrating, but this is the reality. If you want to compete equally with everybody, so DG is not the right game. Or become at least a mid spender.

It's like in the real life. You cannot compete with the peeps that have way more ressources than you. A game doesn't escape this reality un less the devs decide to make it possible. And this is not the case here.

So if some players can't finish the Meander trial, i think it is normal. Rewards are not so important there. And even if it was, this doesn't matter since you have to keep in mind that you are there to compete. Just have fun and enjoy most of the game. But yes to enjoy it, i agree we need more story design.

[rustic pier]

WHen people say adventure do they mean the story quest thatthey often complete within the first 2-3 hours of a season and never do it again?

[finite tide]

I guess so (and at least I mean it that way) but @lone bolt would need to clarify here.

[limpid plover]

Story can be deeper thank that. i understand the players who want more story. Some play for the challenge aspect, some play only for the story, the lore, the graphic design. Dev should keep this in mind.

[rich token]

There was a story? I just remember the “skip button” minigame.

[rustic pier]

Please give examples of when the story has been deeper than that in the context we are addressing.

[limpid plover]

Never said the story was deeper, i said it can be deeper. So it good be good for players who are looking for this

[shadow halo]

I'd love more lore and story!

[tidal zealot]

Everything was connected in the original version, not just menus and lists. There was a meaning behind each fight and each exploration. I described it better here: https://discord.com/channels/928541801260908546/1420132934760792124

[jagged aspen]

As an f2p player, it was an extreme grind and I struggled all day. I don't think I can push past 120+ though.

[tidal zealot]

You don‘t need 2 damage dealers for fey. Fey is the place where supports may shine. 🙂

[jagged aspen]

@tidal zealotMan, I really don't get it. For a burn team, I can't just run Duram with two tanks and two supports, or Lelwanis without Dark Lady or boosters. When you say I dont need 2 DPS, who exactly do you consider to be DPS?

[tidal zealot]

You have a lot of time in these battles and supports also do damage. I ended up with zero dd (Tiamat, Astaion, Quaesitia, Ripekas and Felosia). It’s like the stages with "only support heroes" in the labyrinth. 🙂

[jagged aspen]

@tidal zealot we talking here about MEANDER TRIALS that is challenge fey mode idk how you can beat this with just supports no chance man, my best gear on 2 tank ripekas and eurion with lunar radiance and still they die in 10 sec they hit like crazy,i also watch SKRATCH and he said you dont have alot of option to beat this he was with HVITAR

[sturdy topaz]

That's why you might not want to bring in dps for some levels. There's 2 ways to get most levels done. One is to burst the enemies down in the first ult or two. But without the right gear, psychicore and/or inspirations you won't have enough power or maybe survivability to do that. So instead bring in the all-support team. It works. I used a Frost team for early levels, but the rest (aside from bosses) used Ripekas, Felosia, Quaestitia, Dark Lady, Torrin (or Ghulende).

[glacial anchor]

solo Lelwanis worked great there

[tidal zealot]

That was my team:

[limpid plover]

Fey is always a control issue. If you can control the ennemy, the fight is yours. So imo, the first thing you need to look for when building a team, is control. Then you need a solid tank. The healer is not mandatory. He can be easily replaced by a shielder. The last slots are/is for the DD. What work great in fey, is burn. Only Durem and Karf can do the job. For example, Halramar here is a beast in control with enough skill haste and resistance. Ergander is also very powerful with enough resistance/accuracy. If you can manage to keep him alive while Halramar control the crowd, it's done. Let the burn do the magic

[tidal zealot]

Yes, that‘s why heroes like Iola or Gardrus may outshine legendaries if you have a small roster. 🙂

[limpid plover]

Yes. Some epics are very useful here. A lot of players forget the epics but they can be good in such a situation

[rustic pier]

It was an extreme grind for all of us, even the krakens. One of the teams i used to get through Fey Trials.
All supports. Yes there is every chance if you understand the ability mechanics and how to maximise what each of these do.
And this is by no means the only team. People got creative.

[finite tide]

I beat it even with an epic in my lines xD

[tidal zealot]

And don‘t forget you can use food in Meander Trial, e.g. for more resistance, accuracy, attack… 🤩

[rustic pier]

Forgot to use the food but overall it was pretty manageable. Just over an hour to complete. No manual required

[sturdy topaz]

Thanks for the idea - wouldn't have thought to break affinity to add her. Can confirm this team also works swapping Elecebre for Torrin as long as there's enough resist for the supports. Did have to manual 3-4 stages, but otherwise no issues.

[tidal zealot]

Same. Used my old team as mentioned above.

[severe thorn]

I totally disagree with OP. Most of PVE is easy mode and the few things to come along to provide a challenge and you go crying?!? We need more challenge in this game, not less. You don't have to finish it, many won't and that's fine. I would like more challenging pve to the point even whales can't beat and it takes several seasons to do it. You have to keep the whales on their toes otherwise they will leave and the game will die. If you aren't a spender, don't expect to do as well as one. Just have to get used to that fact.

Also, I'd hate to say it, but "get gud". If you are a FTP or low spender, you have to be smart about summons and be on top of game knowledge to have a chance of competing a little with the whales. And maybe be a little lucky too.

For reference, I'm also a low spender. I started from scratch with the relaunch and have thus far spent around $100. Usually I go top 10 on normal Fey and finish within 1-2 hours. With the new Trials, it took 2x to 3x the time and I had to try and retry and at some points wanted to give up. But eventually finished and it feels much more rewarding when I did. And if I couldn't, I wouldn't have minded. I would just upgrade myself and try it later, or maybe next season I would do better. You are a low spender, don't expect to auto everything, just because they've given you content that allowed you to do that in the past. it's perfectly fine to have hard things that you can't finish on the first try, so you can work on your heroes until you can eventually do it. This is normal and should be considered fun.

And funny thing is, I finally just got Felosia this week. As FTP or low spender, you have to embrace the struggle (er the challenge). 🙂