Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.

  • Captain Wolf348
    Lord
    Insider

    Now, I know a lot of people have made their voices heard about, why act 2 should not be time limited. But maybe it's a good thing as when it's gone the devs can work on events to make them better for when they return. With that said I am going to start with the new Molten sands event, and what it should look like when it returns.

    The Event Itself
    As of right now, the event is basically fighting multiple skeleton lords with ridiculous amounts of health until an Ashen Lord. This needs to change, Instead what it should be is more closer to the Herald of the Flame Adventure. For example get rid of the skeleton Lords, and focus on waves of Ashen, Obsidian, Bone and Blade, and Dark Ancient Skeletons (Who have actual ancient weapons) This would make the flow of the event seem less tedious. But after each wave Volcanic Activity Builds, Lava flows and Geysers pop up and are dangerous but not annoying. Finally, When the Ashen Lord arrives, that's when the Volcano Erupts, But nerfed enough as to not constantly force players to run back to their ships. Meaning the Volcano is more likely to hit you on the island then your ship.

    I would also like to add this. As of right now, the three skeleton lords' tank so many throwing knives but the Ashen Lord is very weak. That is completely backwards. Have the Ashen Lord be more resistant to the throwing knives.

    These changes would the event's pace go smoother, feel less tedious while also being exciting.

    Environmental
    Now I don't know about you, but when the Orb said Molten Sands was a sacred Temple, I was expecting that big gate to open. When this comes back, hopefully you guys can (Unless you have other plans) As of right now there are very little ancient structures.

    Loot Pool
    As of right now, the loot pool although still paying well, is a complete disaster, lots of low tier items and way too many kegs and chests of rage. essentially way too much stuff to haul especially considering how long it takes to get loot out of Molten Sands. Now Below is A hypothetical vault pool that I believe is less tedious and lucrative, while also giving enemy players enough time to set an ambush.

    1 Ashen Chests of Legends
    1 Orb of the Banished
    3 Ashen Stronghold Chests
    3 Ashen Stronghold Skulls
    3 Ashen Crates of Bone dust
    4 Ashen Captain's Chests
    4 Ashen villainous Skulls
    4 Ashen Merchant Crates
    4 Pristine Red Maw Teeth
    3 Ashen Skulls of the Banished
    7 Collector's chests to help transport loot efficiently
    5 Ashen Bottle Quests for the Roar

    This is only a suggestion but would make the fort seem valuable

    Hopefully any devs reading this would take this feedback to heart

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  • BurnBacon
    Vanguard
    Insider

    As of right now, the event is basically fighting multiple skeleton lords with ridiculous amounts of health until an Ashen Lord.

    and they all die just as fast with the Tridents and Kegs.

    For example get rid of the skeleton Lords, and focus on waves of Ashen, Obsidian, Bone and Blade, and Dark Ancient Skeletons (Who have actual ancient weapons)

    seem less tedious

    So, Make it easier. Very much easier.

    Volcanic Activity Builds, Lava flows and Geysers pop up and are dangerous but not annoying.

    Atm, this be the very thing players dislike the most. Not the Npc but the island.

    constantly force players to run back to their ships.

    Wait, players are leaving there ship so close to the island? Sigh....explains a lot.

    three skeleton lords' tank so many throwing knives but the Ashen Lord is very weak.

    Just reduce damage Knives do to SK and AL

    These changes would the event's pace go smoother, feel less tedious while also being exciting.

    Makes it easier, less of a challenge is likely boring, like any other WE because they were Nerf to the ground to meet needs.

  • Captain Wolf348
    Lord
    Insider

    My main point with this post is that the foundation is great it just needs a bit more work before it returns

  • PC MonkFish
    Marauder
    Insider

    The most egregious thing is the vault and how long it takes to extract.

    I am just leaving all loot apart from CoF, Orb and Ashen Athena. Started a Fort where someone had done the exact same thing.
    Loot pool could have acknowledged this and also provided high tier Faction loot that can be fitted into collector chests as well as all the bulk for visual WOW factor.

  • Super87Ghost
    Lord

    For me there is 3 things i dislike about this event:

    • the earthquakes. That happen a bit to often and limit your movement while fighting. I am fine with the volcano going off once in a while, as it does now, but the amount of earthquakes is just to much in my opinion.
    • all factions have ashen loot for their side, except for Reapers (and Hunters, but they don't have ashen variants). Why does Reapers not get the ashen variants, even though that is the faction where you by far have to sail the most for to hand in the loot.
    • it takes way to much time to empty the vault, since the distance between the vault and a harpoonable place is pretty far ánd there are no BB skeletons who can help you. I would like to see those skeletons on the fort too, just like other forts. Even if you don't want them to help you fight, just put them in the vault itself, so you can dig them up when you open the vault.
  • PC MonkFish
    Marauder
    Insider

    @super87ghost said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    For me there is 3 things i dislike about this event:

    • the earthquakes. That happen a bit to often and limit your movement while fighting. I am fine with the volcano going off once in a while, as it does now, but the amount of earthquakes is just to much in my opinon

    I fight in the cave so at least you tend to miss the geysers launching into the sky the majority of the time. A storage crate full of fruit taken from raid voyage sea fort makes for not a bad fight.
    I've done 3 forts and never taken environmental damage from exploding volcanos so unsure if it is coded not to damage or my parking by cannon tower is blocking it.
    Patrolling skelly ships don't seem to aggro either - which is nice.

  • ZapredelniyKot
    Commander
    Insider

    @captain-wolf348 Answer 1 question: WHY do you need an ashen version of stronghold items? The game is already overloaded with a variety of loot, and adding such a "one-time" loot won't benefit the game (and JUST because YOU need this loot doesn't mean everyone needs it). It would be understandable if we were talking about a single loot (as in the case of the reaper warrior's casket and urns). After all, you won't take the loot from the Ashen Fortress (if your wish comes true) just because "oh, I don't need this loot anymore." Think about what can HELP the game, rather than CLUTTERING it with unnecessary loot.

  • Fry9889
    Commander
    Insider

    The setup maybe takes a bit too long. Maybe skip the eternal guard part, and get the key directly from the outposts after reaching lvl 5. Perhaps move the eternal guard to the fort itself. Swap out some of the skeleton lords with an eternal guard maybe.

    Hauling all the loot to a convinient spot is a bit of a pain. Perhaps a tunnel or something in the vault to a more convinient location might be nice.

    On a similar note getting the reaper items all the way back to the hideout is a bit of a chore. Maybe the outpost skelly could accept only reaper specific loot (urns/caskets). It would still force large stacks of general loot to be taken to the hideout. It would help with the reaper voyages also.

    But those are relatively small issues. In general I quite like the event.

  • D3ADST1CK
    Vanguard
    Insider
    Founder

    @pc-monkfish said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    The most egregious thing is the vault and how long it takes to extract.

    I am just leaving all loot apart from CoF, Orb and Ashen Athena. Started a Fort where someone had done the exact same thing.
    Loot pool could have acknowledged this and also provided high tier Faction loot that can be fitted into collector chests as well as all the bulk for visual WOW factor.

    They should just have a tunnel thorough the back with a second vault door that opens when the key is used. Less running and still able to harpoon directly to your ship.

  • Marwood II 87
    Ship Mate
    Insider

    Some sort of a larger version of the sea forts pulley system with be ideal so we can put the current high tier items on like the Chest of Fortune, Ashen Athena, Meg scales/teeth etc. I’d still carry the orb but it would cut down the time it takes to get most stuff out.

    Currently I’m just taking the above items and leaving the rest because going backwards and forwards for everything as a two-man sloop isn’t the best experience. There should also be a RNG on a Box of Wonderous Secrets spawning in the vault.

  • Captain Wolf348
    Lord
    Insider

    @captain-wolf348 loot pool is hypothetical not literal just an example of how it could be better

  • xDreegan
    Ship Mate

    I just finished my first Molten Sands about 2 hours ago and MAN.... do I NEED A WHEELBARROW!!!

    Granted; I take full blame for this as I Solo-Slooped this one. But the

    1. Amount of Loot
    2. Distance to Travel
    3. Earthquakes that ruin movement
    4. Volcanic Activity stays a threat to your ship, which along with the Skelly Patrols really dissuades me from all those Loot Kegs (Please buff to survive at least one sneeze)

    Makes hauling loot a lot more egregious than it needs to be. And since I'd rather the Roar not be nerfed, I think some more effort needs to be put into additional tools with which we can interact with the world.

    I will say also that I actually enjoyed the Molten Sands fight more than the other Forts. I prefer this sort of difficulty with fights as opposed to wave-clearing grunts, and is a change I'd like to see happen to the Shrines especially.

  • PC MonkFish
    Marauder
    Insider

    @xdreegan said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    I just finished my first Molten Sands about 2 hours ago and MAN.... do I NEED A WHEELBARROW!!!

    LOL
    Was playing with some Reapers last night who surprisingly and pleasingly did not betray me who had a good system.

    • Move loot out of Vault

    • Go to ground floor level of Fort above and grappling gun to collect loot below. Ammo boxes there to reload ammo.

    • Move loot to Northern Cliff face where it is reachable from ship grappling gun.

    Me - I'm gonna continue to ignore the vast majority of it.

  • sammyr0cks
    Lord
    Insider

    This is more of a general comment, but regarding the loot, why is there garbage loot in a treasure vault? Low tier items should be reserved for washing up on a beach, or floating with RNG barrels. The top event in the season should have top loot only, not a silver cup worth 97 gold.

  • xDreegan
    Ship Mate

    @pc-monkfish I ended up just going to the left of the exit from the Vault, and placing my treasure on the rock next to the ramparts of the fort. There's a small drift of ocean your ship can float into to get into range to grab them from there.

  • Flashkannon5118
    Rogue

    @super87ghost said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    • all factions have ashen loot for their side, except for Reapers (and Hunters, but they don't have ashen variants). Why does Reapers not get the ashen variants, even though that is the faction where you by far have to sail the most for to hand in the loot.

    Reapers take all loot - it's all Reaper loot. Anything you can turn in, you can turn in to the Reapers. So all the ashen items there are all Reaper items. Frankly, I'm glad the reaper stuff isn't super valuable - you have to sail to Reaper's to turn it in, and that's a pain, if you're not a Reaper.

  • DrBensei
    Master
    Insider

    Wanted to make my own feedback thread, so I'm using this thread to add my thoughts to existing feedback so it's collected in one spot for the community managers.

    @super87ghost said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    • all factions have ashen loot for their side, except for Reapers (and Hunters, but they don't have ashen variants). Why does Reapers not get the ashen variants, even though that is the faction where you by far have to sail the most for to hand in the loot.
    • I think that's because they are battle caskets/battle urns which - like their reaper fort counter parts - count as a joker for 4/5 Reaper loot commendations. The ashen variant is the only once this doesn't count towards, ironically. My feedback would be to create ashen battle urns/caskets either exclusive to this event, or which are also part of ashen garrisons (they could be in the ashen key vaults). Which in turn would then count towards all 5 (as they are ashen).
    • I also agree that earthquakes should be reduced, while volcanic eruptions seem about fine as they are now.
    • it takes way to much time to empty the vault, since the distance between the vault and a harpoonable place is pretty far ánd there are no BB skeletons who can help you. I would like to see those skeletons on the fort too, just like other forts. Even if you don't want them to help you fight, just put them in the vault itself, so you can dig them up when you open the vault.
    • I agree their should be recruitable skeletons like on any other fort (including the Fort of the Damned, btw)
    • I still think their should be an easier way to gather the loot. Either make it a smaller stack that is worth more OR (preferred)
    • as many others said, add a new backdoor to the vault that opens and closes with the main door. Or make it use an ashen key. It doesn't have to be direct access to the sea, you could still add a little path in a tunnel to walk if the time to gather the loot needs to be "nerfed"

    @Fry9889 said:

    The setup maybe takes a bit too long. Maybe skip the eternal guard part, and get the key directly from the outposts after reaching lvl 5. Perhaps move the eternal guard to the fort itself. Swap out some of the skeleton lords with an eternal guard maybe.

    • I also think this would be a better idea.
    • The fort also generally has the problem that it feels like "more of the same, but increased HP", which is incredibly disappointing. Fighting the Eternal Guard would have made a more intersting boss fight.
    • Still I think it would be more interesting if it even had it's own boss like the FotD has Graymarrow. I don't know if it could be fit into the lore, but how about reviving the Herald of the Flame and give him one or two patterns that are different from other Ashen Lords?
    • I also think it would be more interesting if one wave had two Skeleton Lords (+ minions) like the old FoF had

    Adding to that, I have more comments:

    • If the event returns with the Smuggler's route in tact, the "aggression radius" of the skeleton ships needs to be nerfed. I am fine with ships attacking ships going away or fleeing the fort, but they shouldn't attack a crew that is just parking at the fort.
    • This is more of a general emergent PvE problem: To me it felt a lot like you get guaranteed PvE encounters back to back. Several times I had to fend off an invading ship, followed by a meg and one time followed by a Kraken on top. Also when running to Galleon's Grave, it was followed by a second meg lots of times.
    • Positive Feedback: I think adding a bonus to Morrow's Peak was a good idea for this event. Should the event return, this should either be repeated, add a bonus to Galleon's Grave or add a bonus to the Reaper's selling spot in the Roar if Mike Chapman ever follows up on that idea he once teased some time ago.
    • Skeletons should shoot from towers if no ship is on an active fort.
    • Skeleton Lords should award treasure maps. It would give players more options: Challenged players can decide to return later to at least get part of the loot. Tucking players can decide to wait a little longer until crews who did the event retrieve the treasure (the loot has to be worth stealing in that case). One could also hide a Stronghold Gunpowder barrel that could be used to either defend against players or use against a boss.
    • Replace the skeleton captain wave near the end with a Master of Arms, and place it after the first skeleton Lord wave. The arms vault could be similar to a Reaper Fort vault, but I'd suggest adding Tridents of the Banished instead of the normal ones.
    • OR: Instead of having a Master of Arms, add a Sanctuary of the Banished on the second island dedicated to weapons and replace one of the Lords with a regular Eternal Guard that rewards a key. Players can then decide to either already come with a key OR stack Molten Sands Keys to use the Sanctuary Keys they get from clearing the Fort OR players have the option to either use the "armory" to defend their ship against PvP OR give players the option to go to any of the other sanctuaries for more loot.
    • Adding to that, Loot from the Gold Hoarders, Order of Souls and Merchant#s Alliance should be replaced with the Banished variants. Or just better loot from their loot pools.
    • I think the Devil's Shroud should be pulled back a bit to make for more interesting fights behind the fort. Not too much, just a little bit.
    • Crews who started Molten Sands should spawn back closer. At least, they shouldn't spawn at something like Port Merrick... Ideally I think they should still spawn in the roar or at least at an island in the wilds to the east side.
  • CPT PlainView
    Master

    @captain-wolf348 said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    The Event Itself
    As of right now, the event is basically fighting multiple skeleton lords with ridiculous amounts of health until an Ashen Lord. This needs to change, Instead what it should be is more closer to the Herald of the Flame Adventure. For example get rid of the skeleton Lords, and focus on waves of Ashen, Obsidian, Bone and Blade, and Dark Ancient Skeletons (Who have actual ancient weapons) This would make the flow of the event seem less tedious. But after each wave Volcanic Activity Builds, Lava flows and Geysers pop up and are dangerous but not annoying. Finally, When the Ashen Lord arrives, that's when the Volcano Erupts, But nerfed enough as to not constantly force players to run back to their ships. Meaning the Volcano is more likely to hit you on the island then your ship.

    I'd like to make an addendum to that. Instead of Skeleton Lords, I'd like to see a different kind of boss enemy, in line with the same principles and health scaling as Skeleton Lords in other Fort events and Bounty Voyages, but with a twist: Obsidian Lords. New kinds of bosses that are effectively new lieutenants in Flameheart's army that combine the aggression and mobility of Skeleton Lords with a small selection of the incendiary arsenal of the Ashen Lords (namely the fire breath, fireball throws, ash clouds, and fiery shockwave attacks) whilst using weapons that we've never seen skellies use before (i.e. Throwing Knives, Double Barrel Pistols, Blowpipes, Spears, etc.) and when they are defeated they each drop an Obsidian Ashen Winds Skull and an Ashen Key. In fact, I'd like to suggest that the final boss not even be an Ashen Lord. Have it be another Eternal Guard, with different moves if need be. We already have two other World Events with Ashen Lords, let's keep those exclusive to those events.

    @captain-wolf348 said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    Loot Pool
    As of right now, the loot pool although still paying well, is a complete disaster, lots of low tier items and way too many kegs and chests of rage. essentially way too much stuff to haul especially considering how long it takes to get loot out of Molten Sands. Now Below is A hypothetical vault pool that I believe is less tedious and lucrative, while also giving enemy players enough time to set an ambush.

    1 Ashen Chests of Legends
    1 Orb of the Banished
    3 Ashen Stronghold Chests
    3 Ashen Stronghold Skulls
    3 Ashen Crates of Bone dust
    4 Ashen Captain's Chests
    4 Ashen villainous Skulls
    4 Ashen Merchant Crates
    4 Pristine Red Maw Teeth
    3 Ashen Skulls of the Banished
    7 Collector's chests to help transport loot efficiently
    5 Ashen Bottle Quests for the Roar

    I think most of the Stronghold loot ought to be 86'd from that. We can literally get all of that from four other existing World Events thus far (vanilla Skullforts, Reaper Forts, FotD, & FoFs) as well as small chances of the pieces popping up from emergent Meg & Kraken encounters. Molten Sands should have some different stuff in it.

    Athena's Fortune:

    • Ashen Chest of Legends: 1x (13,500-15,000)
    • Keg of Ancient Black Powder: 2x (3,000-5,000)
    • Villainous Skull of Ancient Fortune: 2x (1,400-1,550)
    • Gilded Relic of Ancient Fortune: 2x (1,400-1,550)
      Max Subtotal: 31,200

    Gold Hoarders:

    • Chest of Ancient Tributes: 1x (3,000-3,400)
    • Chest of Rage: 2x (3,000-3,500)
    • Ashen King's Chest: 2x (3,700-3,800)
    • Vessel of Fire: 2x (3,300-3,350)
    • Chest of Banished Tributes: 2x (2,500)
      Max Subtotal: 29,700

    Order of Souls:

    • Ashen Winds Skull: 1x (10,000)
    • Ashen Corrupted Bounty Skull: 2x (3,210-3,230)
    • Skull of Dark Banishment: 2x (2,500)
      Max Subtotal: 21,460
      (3 Obsidian Ashen Winds Skulls from the Bosses would amount to an additional 7,500)

    Merchant Alliance:

    • Firebomb Crate: 2x (1,150-1,950)
    • Crate of Precious Gemstones: 2x (2,100-3,600)
    • Banished Merchant Log: 2x (2,500)
      Max Subtotal: 16,100
      (2 Stronghold Gunpowder Barrels from Skeletons during one of the later waves would amount up to an additional 12,000)

    Hunter's Call:

    • Hunting Spears: 3x (80-100)
    • Crate of Kraken Tentacles: 2x (3,000-3,100)
    • Hunting Tribute of the Banished: 2x (2,500)
    • Pristine Boar Tusk: 2x (2,000-3,000)
    • Treasured Leopard Devilfish: 2x (1,500)
      Max Subtotal: 20,500

    Reaper's Bones:

    • Ashen Skull of the Banished: 1x (16,875)
    • Ashen Chest of Bones: 1x (12,150)
      Max Subtotal: 29,025

    Misc:

    • Ruby Mermaid Gems: 4x (2,000)
    • Emerald Mermaid Gems: 5x (1,500)
    • Cannon of Rage: 2x (250)
    • Trident of the Banished: 2x (1,000)
    • Ashen Chest: 4x
    • Ancient Chest: 4x
  • SnugPlayer18335
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @CPT-PlainView

    The kegs in the fort would not work, as the place is filled with chests of rage. My friend and I did the fort, but a skelly ship came up, and my friend thought he could take it out sinks so i was stuck at the fort with warden chi. I SWEAR I HAVE DONE THIS 1000 TIMES, but I tried to keg her and a vent opened up DIRECTLY under me and blew the keg (I had done this 5 times in the same session, none of the kegs had gone off) So I spawned on the ship and we were very close, AND SOMEHOW some players were there even tho 2 minutes ago I did a horizon check, and found nobody. Another time, I teamed up with some guys there, and they didn't form an alliance (which woulda been smart seeing what I did...) They gave us a few items and we went to morrows peak (I will say they took all the good stuff, chests, skulls, orb, etc...) And we sold the 4 items, so I was like "cheapskates!) so I pretended to be them and sold most of the stuff including the CoL (they sold to either athenas or normal trading companies, and since we parked at sovereigns, it was that easy! sadly the sold the orb first thing, but I got most of the stuff) XD

  • CPT PlainView
    Master

    @snugplayer18335 said in Molten Sands Event. Changes Needed When it Returns.:

    @CPT-PlainView

    The kegs in the fort would not work, as the place is filled with chests of rage.

    Fun fact, the Chests of Rage in Molten Sands' vault only start heating up when they are picked up. Leave them be and they lie still until you're ready to move 'em. Or if you set off the Nukes in that Vault, then they also go off.

  • SnugPlayer18335
    Seafarer
    Insider

    @cpt-plainview

    Aaah.. that makes sense.

  • RoboRob R66Y
    Seafarer

    i only did 1 of these forts and decided what i thought all along was correct. i went looking at the other ship crests we have available and how plain and kinda cross these rewards are were not incentive enough to bother with this fort. the problem with this game imo is its just the same thing... from day 1 its just killing a boat load of skeletons. forts have always been the best path to money and reputation. im too lazy to even look into this but i fee like you invented some new items there. ashen strong hold items i dont think exist right? i would approve. i found it weird the reaper loot was normal loot in this fort when everything should be ashen. i just did ashen bottles to get my reaper roar loot on community weekend instead.

    so i try to look at it from both sides in terms of loot but its really hard. because even a new player today will very quickly end up in the position of a year 1 player and having too much gold because each season this game is literally dumping a galleon full of gold coins on our heads. until they ad the ability to swim around in our mounds of coins like scrooge mcduck i dont see the purpose in so much gold.

    i am happy these new fort offerings have been giving the ancient meg stuff as i really dont like fighting the flaming meg. the coral ones not bad though they are both a bit tedious as a solo player.

    this vault is annoying to get loot out of. and while i constantly say how devs dont come here or listen to our feedback.... maybe?

    this by far is the worst vault to ferry loot out of right? not sure why when doing this event it wasnt thought of. we dont currently have this exact thing in the game. but how about some mine carts for stuff like this? like have a track with a pallet on wheels or something we can load up the treasure and at least get it to the cave entrance, same for treasure vaults. they added a pointless stool we can pick up on islands which just allows people to break the game more than anything. they could add a sled with a pull rope even? or for molten sands only once the vault is open similar to sea forts maybe have a gate we can open in the ceiling and have a lift that we can load the loot onto and raise up to a point where the loot would be harpoonable by our ship? though not sure if theres even a spot we could park that would get us close enough to the center of the vault to harpoon?

    despite not wanting to as i decided i was only going to do that one fort i did grab all the loot. was solo doing it and it took forever. also all those collectors chests with 2 items in them and loose items on the ground. why? to give the appearnace or more loot? especially when the charred meg teeth blend with the black rocks

    another thing i would love and would be a really pointless change but ocd? for forts especially. all small items in a chest and the chest to have a unique cosmetic for the trade company its for. minor qol for people who might organize loot on their ship. i mostly stack everything in the center for harpooning but as i would max out trade companys i started sorting loot on bow sprit to sell at reapers, loot in middle to sell at sovereigns. being able to identify the loot in the chest by its art rather than looking inside? insanely minor qol request but yea.

  • DrBensei
    Master
    Insider

    Each time I start a fort and get sunk by a crew intercepting, I spawn close to sanctuary outpost... I know it wants to spawn you out of danger, but this just seems too farfetched...

    They even sunk right after me but I just don't feel like waisting 15 minutes while they probably spawned right next to it...

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