Conflux III : too difficult ?

Custom dungeons for CSBWin. Includes all Confux 2 and 3 discussions.

Moderator: Zyx

Forum rules
Please read the Forum rules and policies before posting.

Do you think that Conflux III is too difficult compared to Conflux II ?

Yes
7
33%
No
4
19%
Harder but well balanced
9
43%
Conflux II was already too difficult
1
5%
 
Total votes: 21

User avatar
megar
Journeyman
Posts: 65
Joined: Thu Dec 29, 2005 10:15 am
Location: France

Conflux III : too difficult ?

Post by megar »

Just wondering what the players think.
I just walked in Conflux III for a few hours, and I noticed there were much, much creatures, and they were much tougher.
Tough (I did not unlesh the hell).
Conflux III _is_ a marvelous dungeon, but I think it is a bit too difficult for beginners. (requires much training)
I may also be wrong, that's why I am doing a poll.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Maybe I'm biased because of the progression I've seen in playtesting, but I don't think that the creatures etc are any worse than conflux II> I think someone had complained about the difficulty, so maybe this is reflected. Some creature are slightly harder, like vexirks, so I must admit to not doing the levels in sequence. Also, you might find <delete spoiler> may give the illusion of more and harder monsters

I certainly never advocate training - conflux II is no exception. sit around trainign and miss out. Csreful exploration, especially of easy areas, is the way to go. You don;'t have to twat everything you see, you can run away or use i8tems up

Personally I've managed to not instantly die with a single curse, ressurected. The level gain and ability to improve is there.

Maybe punishes you a little in the beginning, but then again you are beginning - restarting doens't really lose you anything.
User avatar
Sophia
Concise and Honest
Posts: 4239
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:50 pm
Location: Nowhere in particular
Contact:

Post by Sophia »

beowuuf wrote:restarting doens't really lose you anything.
Except time and, after a while, your interest.

After a few dozen one-hit-kills one usually finds oneself looking for another dungeon to play.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Well, make in your case : )
User avatar
Zyx
DSA Master
Posts: 2592
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2000 1:53 pm
Location: in the mind
Contact:

Post by Zyx »

I'd like to know whic parts exactly you find too dificult.
User avatar
linflas
My other avatar is gay
Posts: 2445
Joined: Tue Nov 04, 2003 9:58 pm
Location: Lille, France
Contact:

Post by linflas »

as sophia, i think the 4 guides are too weak at the beginning, they die instantly too often..
User avatar
Trantor
Duke of Banville
Posts: 2466
Joined: Wed Mar 09, 2005 4:16 am
Location: Berlin, Germany
Contact:

Post by Trantor »

I don't really see much difference between Conflux III and Conflux II - both are very hard dungeons. I admit that after having started freshly several times, I do lose some interest because reaching decent levels with my characters is hard for me. But that is probably due to my being too careless or too bad of a player. It is sort of a pity that Conflux is so hard, since there is so much to see and explore, and I fear that some players may get turned off by the high difficulty. Quick thought: if there already is a "hell" button, could there also be a "heaven" button that makes the game easier?
User avatar
Zyx
DSA Master
Posts: 2592
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2000 1:53 pm
Location: in the mind
Contact:

Post by Zyx »

Yes, a heaven button could do the trick I guess. Maybe I'll add some hit points too...
User avatar
Suule
On Master
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:42 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Post by Suule »

Being a beta tester I have to say - it's not hard. You just need to get 'used' to it.
User avatar
Paul Stevens
CSBwin Guru
Posts: 4318
Joined: Sun Apr 08, 2001 6:00 pm
Location: Madison, Wisconsin, USA

Post by Paul Stevens »

Everyone complains that CSB is too difficult after
playing DM. But those of us who have stuck with
it have learned the ropes and get along quite nicely
in CSB. I think the same will be true of ConfluxIII.
But learning the ropes will be a much bigger task.
This dungeon is not just big; it is DENSE. There
are no empty hallways and extra spaces.

It is not a dungeon you can charge into and overcome
with force. You must explore, learn about it, and
conquer it with finesse. The feeling of accomplishments
will keep coming for a long time.


My Opinion:
I also think that nobody is going to learn it all in any
finite time. I think that it should be approached as
a team effort with spoilers published freely. It ain't
like most games where one person can hope to go
it alone. Some of the puzzles (I have the advantage
of being able to edit it) are much too complex to be
discovered reasonably by chance. I also think it would
be more fun to approach it as a team. And nobody is
forced to participate.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

The only small thing was the stamina of guides, and I haven't played properly since I mentioned that. Otherwise I guess I know enough to avoid certain death? I find it a challenging start (for the first five - ten minutes) if you are facing the rats right off or the sewers, but then it's very doable!
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

There are already two spoiler threads around people can look at and post on if they like - i'd advice avoiding the mal guild one, as i think it spoils too much too soon
User avatar
Des
Um Master
Posts: 461
Joined: Wed Jun 11, 2003 11:58 pm
Location: Southampton, UK

Post by Des »

It's a brilliant dungeon packed with fantastic new features and yes it is aimed at expert players so it has to be challenging. I've been playing for a while with the four guides and I've actually had exactly the same problem at the start that I had with Conflux 2 - the "Right Zed's Dead" factor. He just hasn't got enough health points to be a front line fighter. With a measly 23 one rat bite and he's a goner. Taking Hissa instead is a decent option, especially as it takes a while to get a flask, so having no priest levels at the start is no great loss.

Oh and I completely agree with Beowuuf about training. It's a bore. All I ever do in that respect is get all characters to try and cast a few spells with 'spare' mana whilst exploring.
User avatar
Zyx
DSA Master
Posts: 2592
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2000 1:53 pm
Location: in the mind
Contact:

Post by Zyx »

I slightly raised the hitpoints for the next release). However, the guides, though weak, have other skills, which you must use to compensate.
For example, Zed has his horn, an incredibly useful item through the whole game.
You're not supposed to charge and go to melee for the first fights. There ARE other tactics, much more efficient. Find them!
User avatar
rain`
Artisan
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:44 pm

Post by rain` »

There are three hard parts I found.

A) Lack of good food, for most of the dungeon i've been through, I've kept my food at critical red and just drank water. Its easy enough to MON potion every once in awhile, so this is easy to overcome. Besides, using ADGE to double-check the MON potion statistics (and ignoring the rest of the spells, even though they are probably hidden by DSAs), i did verify that MON potions are indeed the best bang (experience) for your buck (mana). Combined with constant horn-of-fear usage, I've noticed my priest levels far exceed all other levels of characters. It takes so much food to keep 4 characters fed it simply isn't worth the weight to carry it around, not hard but annoying. On a scale of 1 to 10 on annoyance factor... 3.

B) Vexirks. Frankly, I think they are way too extreme. I have moderate characters (no real training) and one fireball/lightning bolt from any vexirk = instant KO. They are easy enough to kill, even when confronted by many groups (blown horn + run around and whack em), but when you turn and start walking down a long corridor and out of nowhere a fireball comes at you, your simply dead (assuming 4 party members, as I took). This is just annoying, not hard. =[

C) Nerf'd sar potions, GARRRR, now I dont even want to try maleficient guild >< Sometimes I think these 'quirks' werent bugs but hidden features, until they are removed =[. Denerfinize sar potions plz.

Is it too hard though? Nope, some items could still use some nerfing (cough the horn) and some first-level guild members could use improvement. If you were to pick one character and only one character to use at the start of the game, it definately would not be leif. Ironically if you choose all first-level guild members, leif is the most valuable. Interesting debate to consider in itself! The difficulty level to a CSB-master such as myself proves interesting yet still trivial. I really do like the fact that monsters can get in a 'sneak attack' at times, which forces some new tactics. I must commend you, Zyx, on that feature, I think it absolutely awesome.

Now I'm not far enough into the game to make 100% accurate assumptions on the degree of difficulty, but this is my assessment so far (I'm working on mines/spiders atm). I'll be picking up where I left off come this weekend, but my final assesment as of now is the difficulty level is definately not too hard for the single-digit minute CSB beater!
User avatar
Sophia
Concise and Honest
Posts: 4239
Joined: Thu Sep 12, 2002 9:50 pm
Location: Nowhere in particular
Contact:

Post by Sophia »

rain` wrote:the difficulty level is definately not too hard for the single-digit minute CSB beater!
Whoa, really? :roll:
User avatar
Zyx
DSA Master
Posts: 2592
Joined: Mon Jun 05, 2000 1:53 pm
Location: in the mind
Contact:

Post by Zyx »

points A & B will be fixed, as well as the horn.
But what about Sar potions? Do you mean Sar wine? Do you expect them to behave like ful bombs? Do you mean they are useless? Do you know an effect for Sar potions that I don't?
Please explain. If necessary, pm to avoid spoilers.
User avatar
stewy
Craftsman
Posts: 122
Joined: Sun Nov 13, 2005 9:02 am
Location: Idaho

Post by stewy »

flash chat!
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Umm, vexirks are hard - what party are you using? They are hard, just are they hard becuase you have an initiate party facing them?

And I have taken leif, on his own, on many, many occasions. I infact find him the best single charatcer.
User avatar
rain`
Artisan
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:44 pm

Post by rain` »

Sar wines (lol not sar potions) used to have a LIGHT ability which was easy wizard levels at low levels (And free light) with unlimited charges.

Now they don't!

Boo Hoo!
User avatar
rain`
Artisan
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:44 pm

Post by rain` »

Vexirks are easy to kill, but annoying when you turn a corner and get blasted by a fireball resulting in that screaming "AHHHH" sound followed by the credits :P.

I tried single-player Leif, ended being I had not enough mana to cast light, yet only enough mana to make mon potions, but no flask. Besides, if your going to one-man it, best bet is the guy with the horn of fear (fright trump now).
User avatar
Suule
On Master
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:42 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Post by Suule »

Well the first thing a beginners do in Conflux is to rush onto the monster with their blade swinings. A cautious "Hit and run" approach is necessary. Not to mention the "Dance of death tactics" (especially when handling monsters that can throw projectives. The only problem now is defeating the High Priest. Casting OH VEN on him doesn't work anymore.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

The way to counteract the light issue is a) know the dungeon, or b) go upstairs to the two levels with the food monsters and light and build up some levels and get some stuff

I do think maybe an extra torch or two wouldn't go amiss, torches are one of the few punishments that are too nasty, sicne when they are gone you can't really move.

No one said you have to do the levels in order - the temple has some sweet items you can get, so being able to cakewalk it with low party isn't best, especially since you then can take out council vexirks easy later

Exploring the storgae area then wine cellars, then upstairs areas before sewers/temple is the best i think...
User avatar
Suule
On Master
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:42 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Post by Suule »

I go for the wine cellars first... when I have Leif in the party that is... using hit and run technique I manage to get some levels quickly, not to mention few necessary items.
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

Noting wrong with hitting wine cellars first, rats easy to kill with door and blows - just gotta watch for the hits. Just prefer to come at them from the other side so there is more room to explore...plus getthe shining for light...
User avatar
rain`
Artisan
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:44 pm

Post by rain` »

Even still, without a flask, leif cannot gain priest/wizard levels...

Although, I did overlook the fact that you gain experience by failing a mon potion (and it doesnt require a flask!) so I guess it is possible. Slowly but surely!
User avatar
Suule
On Master
Posts: 656
Joined: Tue Aug 09, 2005 11:42 pm
Location: Warsaw, Poland

Post by Suule »

REAL MEN DON'T NEED NO STINKIN' LIGHT TO FIGHT RATS!
User avatar
beowuuf
Archmastiff
Posts: 20687
Joined: Sat Sep 16, 2000 2:00 pm
Location: Basingstoke, UK

Post by beowuuf »

??? Yeah, you cast ya into thin air, he still gains levels. Not as much for the not successful spells as successful, but he still gains levels decently - one level = ability to cast ful . Plus you can just get the moonstone and use ti rather than the shining if your light is fine and then you can gain wizard levels from the start.

I much prefer his heaalth, strength and mace to wizard levels

Eh, i prefer light to know whre i am. Yes, if you are spinning around at the door like a girl you don't need light : ) If you are fighting in corridors the ability to not have them suddenly appear is helpful
User avatar
Ian Clark
Um Master
Posts: 487
Joined: Sat Sep 25, 1999 3:07 pm

Post by Ian Clark »

Once the characters have gained a few levels, it isn't that hard and once the fireball spell is unlocked, it becomes a lot easier.

I've searched high and low for the "forest's foe" item that will allow me to progress in the fighters guild...I know exactly what it is but does anyone have any ideas where to find it??
User avatar
rain`
Artisan
Posts: 164
Joined: Sat Feb 19, 2005 11:44 pm

Post by rain` »

Tsk tsk tsk Ian, that would ruin the fun!

Anyway, fireball spell? whats that for? ^^ It gets a whole lot easier once poison bolt/poison cloud are unlocked.. oh wait, they arent locked! Poison cloud, if used correctly, is much more mana efficient than fireball. Poison bolt on the other hand (with its non-standard format) is a little bit 'nerfd', but still very useful in comparison with fireball, which is actually cheaper in mana cost compared to the standard.
Post Reply