March of the machines

[DonnieMcKarlo]

Not sure if the forums are alive enough for me to make an efforted rant, but I'm still gonna do it.

So basically after my 3rd moon trip I decided that I want to try and tackle the hardest instance - march of the machines. Here is a bit of a summary:

1) Drops after battles - ~40% more crystals, except last instance where you can easily hit 20 crystals (ark minimum so far for me has been 24), seemingly high drop for insignia, wondering if I'll find anything else

2) Mobs:

protectors - have huge armor, one of the following skills - dismantling curse (-armor), last bloom (+morale after dying, most common), defensive (+30% armor, rare and by far the most annoying). Found throughout all the levels.
servitors - average stats, not really an issue, have the reanimation ability. Found upwards from level 3.
modulators - the morale backbone of the moon armies, decent attack, no armor, skills - dismantling curse, reanimation, leech life (regains some hit points after each attack, insignificant), there is always at least 1 modulator in the army except the last stage.
impetors - annoying grunts of the moon forces, have decent hitpoints, attack and armor and very often either of these skills - powerblow, berserker. Found in all levels except the last stage.
subjugators - bulky but useless, rejoice everytime you see one of these, they drain quite a bit of morale and are pretty weak, they also don't have any abilities. Found in levels 6-9, possibly last opponent in 10.
oppressors - huge hitters, but drain alot of morale, have some armor, no abilities. Found in levels 6-9, possibly last opponent in 10.

3) Trend: I usually win 60% of my battles, the rest are draws, for the following reasons - most moonfolk lose relatively little morale, they are very hardy, mostly they take a minimum of 4 attacks from my top units. I use only up to tier 4 though - I rely on my serpent and brewmaster both with corroded rotoscalpums and I use a Icebreaker frigate.

another thing - starting from the 3rd level, the mobs are more likely to hold aegidons which makes it alot harder to bring down their morale fast. Also every 3 levels an additional mob spot will be available - so during 6-9 you will be fighting an 8 mob stack, which basically increases the chance of a nasty enemy spawning.


4) Suggestions: The way it is now, it is not worth it farming this dungeonline, because I can't reliably complete it which makes me earn less crystals then a succesful ark run, which I can complete 100% of the time. Other drops aren't worth it too, here's a few suggestions how to make it more appealing.

-raise mooncrystal drop to ~70% of the arks droprate
-either significantly raise the protectors morale penalty or slightly raise impetors morale penalty - it's ridiculous at the moment, the amount is nowhere near appropriate to their abilities on the field
-give a similar cap to protectors like tier 6 support units for global mobs, I had to fight 4 in one stack once... needless to say, that one was impossible°

A last word - I really like it overall, the idea to give a really hard endgame instance which challenges our armies and doesnt give a 100% chance of completion with no challenge whatsoever. But at the moment, it quite often feels like it comes down to luck of what kind of enemies will spawn. Like I feel its nearly impossible to complete the instance if there isn't an oppressor in the opposing army, which is just stupid mentality. I also accept the possibility that maybe with just tier 4 my army might not be strong enough to reliably complete the instance, but I wonder wheter it's a design flaw or intended that way.

I really look forward to other players opinions on this, cheers!

[MasterMagus]

Hello.

This instance made for mostly "real money spending players". Without atleast tear 5 it is pretty useless to go there. Soon i will travel and try it with one tear 5 unit, but i highly doubt that i can win with only one tear 5. Its more like you need 2 tear 5 + strongest weapons, and to have 2 tear 5 units in team, you need 2 "tear 4 or 6" units as well to make huge morale, or 6-unit ship,- only real money investisions can make this to happen, or another year of grinding.

Yes - forums are nearly dead, few more month and game will be fully dead.