On Friday, the second test of the new RvR Dungeon: Thanquol's Incursion was held. It lasted much longer than the first and had a good amount of player participation. The reaction was mixed as expected. It is a mostly new concept they are going after, so I don't expect it to be perfect right off the bat.
I joined up with a pug warband and we made our way to the Manor BO in Praaq. There we took the portal to the Skaven instance. At first, Destruction was short handed, which resulted in some light skirmishing with most of our attention on Skeetk. Eventually the sides became more even and most of the fighting was between the players.
This left Skeetk without much dps on him. About an hour later, Skeetk was dead. Due to the length of the encounter attrition set in, so when it was time for Throt the Unclean we did not have enough remaining players to compete. That is pretty much where the test ended for me too. So, what was good and what needs work?
Length. Skeetk took entirely too long to defeat. Perhaps it was because our instance was competitive, but an hour for one boss is just too much.
Skeetk. The boss himself was not very epic. He barely stood out amongst the players surrounding him. The only ability I ever noticed was the red goo on the ground. I'd love to see him made bigger and his abilities more pronounced.
Zone. Much of the fighting takes place in an arena like area, which is pretty big and mostly flat. There are perches and overlooks but they are far from the center of the area. Fighting actually got pretty boring during the Skeetk fight. We ended up just playing Ring around the Boss as melee groups chased around casters.
Interesting PvP. At times the fighting was pretty fun. Having to contend with the bosses abilities and using them against your enemy was enjoyable. PvP should be the focus, but using the boss as a part of the environment rather than as the primary antagonist has some potential.
Different. It is certainly different, which will be a nice break from the Open RvR campaign. It's unclear how often this dungeon will be open, but every once in a while I think it could be fun.
Against All Odds. Much like any other RvR experience, you risk being outnumbered. This instance is no different. I would like to see Against All Odds apply in there (as well as the city siege) to help encourage outnumbered players to fight on.
While this test was a bit rough, I do think the RvR dungeon does have some potential. Sadly, I don't have much feedback beyond the first boss. The next 2 seem to require more PvE effort, which is not something I am a fan of. There should be some more tests coming up, so we will see how it goes.
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