I'm also in the general A-S rank range for this new UQ in pubs. It is far from impossible, although I'm having to get used to stealing away boss aggro at the end. At least dancing with Shiva is fun.

If you want an actual answer regarding the population, a key word that will apply to many is "Burn out". An expected side effect of the increased content pace.

Currently expecting things to calm down and become rather quiet.

Preparing fashion to take into NGS is at least something to do in the meantime.

Pretty much anyone actually aware of overall content knows we are coming into the last few UQs and in general the last few pieces of content before awaiting NGS.

Nothing is a surprise. Our two main UQs for most of the rest of the game until NGS will be the new VR and probably the final boss UQ joining it after a short while. Pretty much everything that isn't Episode 6 is a trigger and doesn't need to flood the schedule.

Any events we get right now are to help with the wait or allow people to experience the endgame content.

But they will die to them when a certain damage check is not passed in the future.

To OP: It sounds like you met one of the few impatient people. Usually the mindset is having people join mid-countdown, but I've seen the same types do so on a pug of a 1 run UQ. If they are joining a lower level UQ, then yeah they really don't have business starting early. Such is just a meme outside of one scenario I can think of, and there are triggers for that.

If it us UH/Ultra Hard difficulty though, levels aren't in the equation anymore. Just gear and skill trees. Someone bragging about damage is often actually in the middle or upper middle of the damage ranges, from what I've met. The actually impressive people just do the damage.

In the case of berating for low damage though, it kinda depends on how low and the difficulty. A lot of our final content expects players to really bring in at least decent firepower. There really shouldn't be any kind of reaction though outside of the very obvious signs of lacking damage.

If someone is fighting with any of the gold/silver 15 star folder weapons or any of the usual Zig 15 stars, it usually is as simple as a skill tree tweak or learning their class. Such shouldn't mean much in most content. Just give a tip or some info, point them in the right direction and its all good.

But if someone is entering with 9 or 10 star trash weapons or using any of the infamous "hit rapidly but do no actual damage" tactics, those tend to be more common ways of setting people off. In a UQ with a damage check on UH, it can be a sign of an incoming failed damage check to anyone with a good eye.

Good news, a way to track such is in fact a feature added to NGS as far as I'm aware.

But currently you do indeed need to open the client order menu itself.

@Milk said in Divide Quest's overall discusion:

@SuccubusAlice said in Divide Quest's overall discusion:

@Milk said in Divide Quest's overall discusion:

I like playing with pugs in most content but after trying divide yesterday I don’t think I would enjoy it with strangers. It almost feels like you should be on mic together telling people their role so you get it done faster, being at the mercy of pugs for this would feel very stressful for me, not even gear related but either hoping they’ve done this before or they’re observant.

Getting an actual afk leecher for this would absolutely suck, especially gathering crystals.

I wouldn't say it requires a mic, just more that everyone knows the general plan for the 4 stage types.

Also in a group you generally want to choose Covert and Resupply over other missions as group play trivializes these, and Covert gives bonus rewards for 20 devices.

In solo play, the other 2 mission types can be ideal as being alone means easier manipulation of enemies or bosses.

Good tip, thank you! I just randomly picked yesterday, went ok but definitely felt like I needed an extra set of hands for one of them.

A general strategy I keep around for the 4 missions are:

In Elimination/100 Enemies, learning general bomb layouts is important. Sometimes the wise decision might be to move to a non-bomb target or lure a boss to stationary bombs.

In Suppression, the boss will, especially at high stages, be nearly impossible to kill by default. Focus on killing additional enemies for a massive damage buff. If solo, try to lure the boss around the terrain to make it have a hard time moving. Generally 2 stages of Suppression are stages avoided due to high life loss rate, especially with randoms: Mothership and "???". ??? is Masq.

In Resupply, group play will always be easier to S rank. 2 towers will be under attack at a time by 3 waves of enemies. Clear the first 2 waves as soon as they appear and collect as many crystals as possible. Dead ends might have a bunch. Rod Phantoms can use the Massen circle to sweep entire pathways. The goal is to max out the rank meter as it ends the mission right away.

In Covert, split up and collect crystals and hunt for weaker, glowing blue targets. Nobody should fight the mid boss alone, or at all if it isn't glowing blue. Orange devices will appear as the rank meter fills up, and each device is a buff and extra items at the end. Remember you have 3 minutes before acid rain, and after 4 minutes the rain hits harder and stops healing. The party leader must move to an exit and get the group out before the rain leads to death. Covert stages with "No Life Damage" allow you to ignore this and dance in the rain.

@Milk said in Divide Quest's overall discusion:

I like playing with pugs in most content but after trying divide yesterday I don’t think I would enjoy it with strangers. It almost feels like you should be on mic together telling people their role so you get it done faster, being at the mercy of pugs for this would feel very stressful for me, not even gear related but either hoping they’ve done this before or they’re observant.

Getting an actual afk leecher for this would absolutely suck, especially gathering crystals.

I wouldn't say it requires a mic, just more that everyone knows the general plan for the 4 stage types.

Also in a group you generally want to choose Covert and Resupply over other missions as group play trivializes these, and Covert gives bonus rewards for 20 devices.

In solo play, the other 2 mission types can be ideal as being alone means easier manipulation of enemies or bosses.

I don't think we can properly guess when global will get this graphical update until we get 100% caught up in content.

We still have a few things left, if I recall.

The answer is simple, you just move away.

I saw the massive circle forming, clearly a danger sign, and the first thought was to move away. And behold, danger avoided.

Not a dodge, but a full blown dash to the empty side of the arena.

Go back to sleep, Rain.

The barrier LITERALLY has a specific vocal line when its about to go up. If you listen for the dialogue, the barrier will never be an issue. Just back up when you hear the dialogue begin.

@Vashzaron said in Divide Quests - Dead on Arrival?:

I can solo it, thus I see no reason to possibly frustrate myself with randoms unless I wanted to spice things up a bit.

Same.

A big reason random groups are avoided is that having someone lacking in damage or someone that doesn't understand stages can be directly harmful to a run. Far more than in UQs.

I will note however, that people are not against forming groups outside of pugs. If you seek a group for Divide, try asking around. Although I heavily recommend doing at least up through stage 15 solo to get the hang of the mission types and ensure you handle things properly. Trust me, it will be very easy to tell if someone got to stage 21+ by getting carried.

This definitely sounds like it will be interesting to have around.