There are Too Many Annoying Elements in Soshenstar River

When Neverwinter’s “Tomb of Annihilation” was announced during the “Stream of Annihilation“, Lead Designer Thomas Foss was quick to point out that the Jungles of Chult are going to be dangerous, the content more challenging. This comment always stuck out to me because putting an emphasis on this aspect very early seemed to indicate its importance to the module. Neverwinter as game indeed more caters to the casual crowd and endgamers are always thirsty for that next tier anyway. In my opinion the devs gradually did a better job with dungeon design, but Chult also upped the challenge in solo content.

[su_box title=”More on Tomb of Annihilation!” radius=”0″]Want all the latest on the new Tomb of Annihilation update? Click here for the full coverage![/su_box]

Challenge vs. Annoyance

When you enter Soshenstar River you indeed experience more difficulty overall. Mobs hit harder, have insane aggro ranges and throw different types of control powers at players. Adventurer’s need to be careful not to pull to many mobs at once in areas that are densely populated. This is fun for a while, but over time something strange happens: It gets annoying. First you try to figure out the new powers and how to properly deal with them. Later however when the exploratory aspect wears off and you only want to get over your dailies, things start getting a little frustrating.

Aggro, Ambush and Overpulling

This has nothing to do with generally bringing an underpowered toon to the jungle. Mobs surely hit hard, but if you dodge red and focus a little bit more on healing and control, you are going to do good. The issue starts with the stuff that you can’t really avoid. Several threads on the message platforms complain about the aggro range of raptors and their ambush ability. With an epic mount you are able to sneak by them most of the time, but there are paths where you have to fight them everytime. Otherwise you get de-mounted, proned and possibly even killed before you can react.

Then there are problems of overpulling in the Batiri and Yuan-Ti areas for different reasons. In the Batiri village you sometimes pull additional mobs just because of the placement density. Yuan-Ti’s in the meantime can send toons into the next mob with a control power.

Is that really challenge?

Now who am I to complain? We wanted a challenge and there is one! While challenge can admittedly be annoying though, annoyance is not always challenging. And I believe this is a case of the latter. As I’ve pointed out, not all stuff can be completely avoided even by acting smart. I get that it’s part of the whole jungle being dangerous and getting chased by dinos all day theme, but long-term it’s just another area where you have to do dailies. In that context nobody likes doing more stuff than necessary. Challenge becomes an obstacle that you are no longer eager to overcome, but frustrates because it shouldn’t add to already annoying tasks.

This begs the question whether all of the stuff is really necessary. The mobs are already challenging if players choose to engage in a fight and most might even have to avoid the Allosaur and Tyrannosaur altogether. So I personally don’t think you’d lose too much atmosphere in the end and would definitely appreciate it if at least the Compys and Velociraptors would be a little less tenacious.


What’s your take on the challenging vs. annoying factors in the Soshenstar River? Share your thoughts in the comments below and visit the corresponding thread on our message board!

Neverwinter UN:Blogged is always looking for writers to contribute to the blog. If you are an active player and search for a way to spread your opinions, analysis, diaries or reviews to more than 40,000 regular visitors, then don’t hesitate and get in touch with us on our contact page or message board! We are currently especially looking for console and PVP content, but that’s not exclusive. There is no frequency requirement, you post how often you want.

j0Shi

j0Shi plays the Neverwinter MMORPG since the open BETA in 2013 and is a regular contributor to the blog and the whole UN:Project. Originally a Guardian Fighter, he has built up ALTs of all classes and plays on BIS/near-BIS level.

7 thoughts on “There are Too Many Annoying Elements in Soshenstar River

  • August 10, 2017 at 7:04 am
    Permalink

    I don’t have the problem with the difficulty (yet I am well equipped), but the repetative missions are a pain. I don’t know, but there are only 4 or 5 different missions you can get at the camp, and those become boring really soon.

    • August 10, 2017 at 7:18 am
      Permalink

      That’s why I mentioned the repetitive dailies, because it’s connected imho. Like if the stuff you do in the zone was interesting, mob placement and ambushes wouldn’t be such a pain. But you have to cycle through four quests all week and then deal with additional annoyance? That’s really a tad too frustrating.

      As you’ve correctly said, it’s to some degree a question of gear. I roamed through Soshenstar River on a legendary mount on preview and rarely got hit. In live with an epic one it’s already slightly more annoying and guys with blue mounts probably don’t stand a chance of escaping. That also applies to other areas of equipment.

  • August 10, 2017 at 7:37 am
    Permalink

    I agree with Blazious’s comments above regarding the missions, i would also add that finding the items to make the lures is turning into a major pain. I have spent many hours hunting for the critters that drop these items to no avail only getting 1 ogre bone from the undead around the camp.
    Progression through this campaign is going to be long and painful for people without an active guild who do hunts. Because much of this new module requires team work (in making the lures and actually hunting the critters) its going to take much longer and is already frustrating the hell out of me. Initially i was keen to get stuck into this new module on my main toon who has completed everything else but now i find myself more and more playing on my alts and working on other campaigns.

    • August 11, 2017 at 12:41 pm
      Permalink

      Well, hunts aren’t necessary for progression, the dungeon and boons unlock without it, it’s completely optional. Plus the rest of the campaign is pretty fast so I have no issue with hunts being the long term leisurely pursuit once you’ve gotten all the boons and have been farming the dungeon.

  • August 11, 2017 at 8:23 am
    Permalink

    I’ve stopped doing the trophies and hunts cos it’s too time consuming plus rewards are pretty useless. I’m just concentrating on middle path in campaign just to get to new dungeon as soon as pos

  • September 18, 2017 at 10:58 am
    Permalink

    Batiri Goblins… For the love of the gods, reduce their range and density. 10k tank and I died 3 times. TANK. Just completely overwhelmed. Can’t get to Celeste, last group guarding her, which seems to pull 3 other hordes every time, in the process of fighting them.

  • January 12, 2018 at 2:14 pm
    Permalink

    I absolutely loathe that area for these reasons. More than the ridiculous range and cross over effect of the raptors are the length control times and range. The electrical shock lasts far too long and the fear control sends me three mobs out. I even mini rage quit this morning after being wrecked on my 14.5k cleric by Batiri three times. My Harpers Bard, who is a complete a*****, pulled three closely surrounding mobs to me. Then a rider pulled a second mob while I was fighting the Brave for a trinket.

    I still say someone on a legendary mount at full speed should not be taken down by chompys.

Comments are closed.