The Secret World: Scenarios and Patch 1.8.1

ChuchoVsScenariosSmall

Since the launch of the Augment System and Scenarios I have been running The Hotel, The Mansion, and The Castle as often as cool downs will allow (once a day each, eating up about an hour of time), and since that time there has been all kinds of noise on the official The Secret World Forums about the need to tune the difficulty of them down. I’m not sure that’s absolutely necessary. As I’ve expressed here, and here, I think that expecting a Platinum score in any given Scenario is a bit defeatist. Like pretty much everything in The Secret World, the difficulty of any given encounter, Scenario or not, often comes down to build. With so many skills and abilities, it’s definitely a challenge to find what works for any given fight. I’ve shared my build and I won’t rehash this argument  again.

HotelPlatinum

That is not to say that the Scenario system is perfect, because it’s not. However, for me it’s not that sometimes I’ll get lucky on random events and sail through a given Scenario, nor is it that sometimes I will get hit with every conceivable stumbling block and barely squeak out a Bronze score with one, sole survivor standing. Nope. I’m actually fine with all that, as I’ve said. No, for me it’s the fact that the Augmentations (the whole point of the Scenario system to begin with) are random drops.

MansionPlatinum

For the first time today, in all the time I’ve been running Scenarios, I scored a Platinum. And then I quickly followed it up with a second Platinum. As you can see, from the two images above, I got pretty lucky with the events in both Scenarios (though I did get Traitors in one … the little bastards). My first run ended in Gold. But still, this isn’t really my complaint. What had me banging my head against the keyboard was that on that Gold run I didn’t get a single, measly Augmentation. Not one dropped on all three bosses, or any of the waves and waves of Vampires and Werewolves in The Castle.

I’ll keep this short and sweet: with the amount of time we’re expected to invest in these Scenarios, not to mention energy, spastic running back and forth, repair bills, and everything that goes with the frenetic killfest that is a Scenario, to walk away with nothing to show for it, Augmentation wise, is pure bullshit. Each Scenario should have at least one guaranteed Augmentation (which one it is can be random, I’m fine with that). Either make the Augmentation drop rate on the final boss 100%, or have the quest for the Scenario reward a random Augmentation. You listening, Funcom?

Ok, with that off my chest I wanted to cover one final thing. Today Patch 1.8.1 was applied to The Secret World. Along with a host of bug fixes (thank you for making it so the Gear Manager no longer saves Head Accessories, but please fix it so that it saves Damage Augments!) and tuning changes to zones, quests, dungeon bosses, achievements and what have you, a sweet little piece of fluff was added that I have been dying to have in an MMO since I started playing them. Well, what is it, you ask? Greenscreen, bitch.

ChuchoVSGreenScreenSmall

One of the default backdrops in the Albion Theater is a new Greenscreen. I played around with it a little and I’m getting the sense that, as I’d hoped it would be when I wished for it up on star, the possibilities are quite endless. The ability to seamlessly composite any scene on the stage performed in front of the Greenscreen backdrop and screen captured or recorded, with whatever background you want outside of the game is simply amazing. I don’t know why this sort of thing has taken so long to appear in a game, but I am more than pleased to see it appear in The Secret World.

ChuchoVSCthulhu

Chucho gives Cthulhu wat’fer!


4 Comments

  1. Ocho November 14, 2013 4:08 pm  Reply

    I agree. Every scenario is difficult, but I’ve got to the point where, on solo, I am almost guaranteed a win, be it with 1 survivor or all of them. Like you, I got my first platinum run as well, at the Hotel. Unlike you, the worst of the 3 for me is the Mansion. I always get screwed on the Mansion. 😛

    I wish as well that an augment was a guaranteed drop. How hard is it to make an “augment bag” that drops a random augment? I calculated out the grind ahead, and holy hell, it is stunningly ridiculous. Truly a system for the most dedicated.

    But, until that point, I did find a way to “increase” the drop rates of augments. They don’t just drop off of mobs, they also are found in the crates left by Venice, which can still be looted after the scenario is completed or failed. Once you are done, take a minute or two and do a search of the grounds, while the screen is blue, and pick up any remaining crates you can find. Doing this, I picked up a couple of augments I would’ve missed otherwise.

    • Tenten November 14, 2013 4:10 pm  Reply

      Oh? Wow! Thanks for the tip. I will be doing that crate run at the end from now on.

  2. pkudude99 November 14, 2013 5:46 pm  Reply

    Me too on the crates. I got 3 augments on my 1st Hotel run with my Bronze, and I only got 1 on my Platinum run. Haven’t done any more scenarios since then — was doing 24’s on Monday and haven’t been on since yet. Hopefully tonight. . . . .

    Btw, this link leads to showing a pic of all the maxed out augments — my opinion is “mostly underwhelming.”

    http://www.lomsglobal.com/index.php?threads/augments-info.694/

    • Tenten November 14, 2013 6:01 pm  Reply

      I don’t know. Given that you can have multiple augments of different kinds equipped, I don’t think it’s all that underwhelming. They seem similar to signets, but for abilities instead of talismans or weapons. Not a huge boost, but every little bit counts.

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