I do not post on here much, granted, so I don't know the arguments that the people that aren't clearing Lost Island HM are that it's too difficult and over-tuned, but I'm gonna go out on a limb and attempt to explain that not only is lost only perfectly tuned, but it is the first real challenging hard mode FP in the game.

I have tanked and cleared the instance almost a dozen times, and have tried both with two ranged DPS and one ranged, one melee. Granted, the second boss seems tough at first, second, and third glance...but this is not meant to be on scale with normal HM flashpoints, as is made perfectly clear by the distinction as part of a separate weekly quest. The Rakghoul Invasion, if you can actually get to/kill Doctor Lorrick and follow the story, is quite interesting stuff.

None of the scripted events are "impossible" by any means, and anyone who has cleared it can tell you that with each run the familiarity with each event increases your team's efficacy. Prior to Lost Island, there were no truly difficult (and by that I mean non-bugged) flashpoints. None. Now a flashpoint exists which requires very tight group coordination, combined with a mixture of the appropriate gear and skill, and everyone cries nerf. The problem is the ever-so widespread sense of entitlement among players, not the difficulty of the instance.

You do not deserve to be able to clear a HM just because you're 50. Lost Island and Denova are great additions to the game because of their undeniable level of challenge. The Rakghoul Invasion/Campaign, cliched zombie mode though it may be, is perhaps the best "to be continued" content in the game. If either Lost Island or Denova are nerfed, to the point where there is no challenge for the hardcore playerbase, then nothing but problems lie ahead.

-Humbly Yours

Totally agree, I really like the new FP, I think it's tuned just fine.

I'd even say I'd love other Flash points to get an new level of difficulty, call it nightmare or whatever, with the same degree of difficulty.

Maybe not to unbalance too much they could lower the black hole commendation reward for the rakgoule weekly to 3 or 4 and add an other weekly asking to do 3 of the FP in "nightmare" difficulty for 3 or 4 black hole commendations, that would give us a reason to do the old FP again.

I agree with the OP. I played Lost Island Hard Mode for the first time last night and though we didn't clear it, I still felt that it was truely "hard." Every encounter we did clear required everyone in the group to coordinate and work together and use all of our abilities. Therefore every victory felt like a victory and the close fights were exciting. Like raids, clearing it will come with familiarity of the mechanics and increasing the skill of the players. Lost Island is a place where gear score can only get you so far. THIS IS GOOD.

Leave it as is.

I absolutely agree with the OP.

Lost Island is a great FP which actually challenges you to clear it. Still i got 2 complaints about it: (this is als about hard mode)

1. It is too long. Clearing it with several wipes (which are normal if you play a difficult FP for the first time) takes way over 2 hours. The fact that you can not do it in several sessions but always all over again makes it frustrating. If you do the first 2 bosses you dont wanna waste the effort and its a huge let down if you have to cancel the rest because some ppl dont have anymore time.

Possible solutions or things that could help:

- Shorter walks after wipe, or even better revive right in front of the boss

- Allow speeders inside the FP

- a OPTIONAL lockout, just like the OP lockouts (based on bosses killed) but resetable (if you wanna do it with a new group again)

2. The gear drops are terrible.

Mini-bosses drop Tionese crystals? Bosses drop Columi?

Players which could benefit from these drops are undergeared for this instance in the first place. Granted if you know the mechanics well it might be possible to take some non-columi alts in the instance, but thats super hard mode then (just think of the platform boss with a sub-columi healer). The only thin in line is the rakata chest pice from the end boss.

Of course this a followup problem of the former itemization (obtaining Rakata gear is much easier than Lost Island). I hope future content is much more in line with the new hard modes and this is just a transition phase to a more rewarding loot/effort (effort != time, but effort == difficulty) itemization.

I think each Lost Island boss should drop 1-2 black hole commendations instead of tionese crystals (except of course the minibosses, as the first miniboss could be farmed way too easily)

/signed

As I posted in the whine thread, this FP is perfect - good, hard progression outside of ops. Good mechanics, requires a good understanding of the fight and really tight group coordination and is very satisfying when it all comes together and you take down LR-5 and Lorrick.

I do like the idea of another difficulty tier for existing FPs (but only if the final bosses dropped BH/Campaign or there was at least a daily/weekly for BH comms). Would give some incentive to do them again since I have no need for any of the gear in any FP, I just run Kaon/LI for the BH comms.

There is nothing rational about making content that few will play.

Now before you say L2Play I did the instance one time and cleared it. Nobody could be bothered to run it again since then.

Quick question for those wanting it to stay the same: How often do you run it? Have you run it more than once?

If you dont wipe the FP takes around and hour. 45min if you skip the worthless bonus boss.

So? But you will wipe occasionally (and often in your first runs, as you should). Whats the problem to let you respawn right before the boss? Always running back huge distances is just a useless timesink, which is clearly nit required in this FP.

And the bonus boss being worthless, because of poor loot design for the FP is a major complaint.

I absolutely agree with the OP.

Lost Island is a great FP which actually challenges you to clear it. Still i got 2 complaints about it: (this is als about hard mode)

 

1. It is too long. Clearing it with several wipes (which are normal if you play a difficult FP for the first time) takes way over 2 hours. The fact that you can not do it in several sessions but always all over again makes it frustrating. If you do the first 2 bosses you dont wanna waste the effort and its a huge let down if you have to cancel the rest because some ppl dont have anymore time.

Possible solutions or things that could help:

- Shorter walks after wipe, or even better revive right in front of the boss

- Allow speeders inside the FP

- a OPTIONAL lockout, just like the OP lockouts (based on bosses killed) but resetable (if you wanna do it with a new group again)

 

2. The gear drops are terrible.

Mini-bosses drop Tionese crystals? Bosses drop Columi?

Players which could benefit from these drops are undergeared for this instance in the first place. Granted if you know the mechanics well it might be possible to take some non-columi alts in the instance, but thats super hard mode then (just think of the platform boss with a sub-columi healer). The only thin in line is the rakata chest pice from the end boss.

Of course this a followup problem of the former itemization (obtaining Rakata gear is much easier than Lost Island). I hope future content is much more in line with the new hard modes and this is just a transition phase to a more rewarding loot/effort (effort != time, but effort == difficulty) itemization.

 

I think each Lost Island boss should drop 1-2 black hole commendations instead of tionese crystals (except of course the minibosses, as the first miniboss could be farmed way too easily)

All of the issues you bring up are a matter of learning the flashpoint. If I told you the time it took my group, skipping as much as we could, to get from start to Lorrick kill you'd never believe me. My team(s) can pretty reliably do a full clear in less than fifty minutes, with maybe a death or two on boss fights. If you can kill the robot, you can clear the place. As far as Rakata drops, Doctor Lorrick drops not only a Rakata chestpiece, but a Columi weapon...for the reward, the time you put in is well worth it. To say nothing of the awesome story and the fact that, again, the challenge is what makes it fun. Lost Island is a keeper, and future FP's ought to follow in its footsteps.

There is nothing rational about making content that few will play.

 

Now before you say L2Play I did the instance one time and cleared it. Nobody could be bothered to run it again since then.

 

Quick question for those wanting it to stay the same: How often do you run it? Have you run it more than once?

As futile as replying to this drivel may be, I can't help myself. This instance is NOT meant for those geared in anything less than Columi for the most part. It is NOT on par with any of the earlier Hard Modes. What it IS is the most rewarding/challenging four-man content currently available (at least as far as I've seen). When you learn the strategies you get a legitimate sense of accomplishment because of the difficulty.

P.S. There should always be content that only a few will be able to see/beat. It's called end-game. That one MMO that made you think you're entitled to finish all of a game's content lied. Sorry. This is not a mere "l2play nub" post, this is about content that takes knowing what you're doing, who you're grouped with, and how to maximize your own effectiveness.

All of the issues you bring up are a matter of learning the flashpoint. If I told you the time it took my group, skipping as much as we could, to get from start to Lorrick kill you'd never believe me. My team(s) can pretty reliably do a full clear in less than fifty minutes, with maybe a death or two on boss fights. If you can kill the robot, you can clear the place. As far as Rakata drops, Doctor Lorrick drops not only a Rakata chestpiece, but a Columi weapon...for the reward, the time you put in is well worth it. To say nothing of the awesome story and the fact that, again, the challenge is what makes it fun. Lost Island is a keeper, and future FP's ought to follow in its footsteps.

How is learning (and therefore doing the FP multiple times) the FP improving a terrible itemization?

How do you justify tionese crystal (they have been worthless in the other HMs as well) drops as "well worth it"?

By the time you learned the FP well enough to clear it in less than an hour you wont need anything from there (except maybe for the weekly).

I have been through this FP twice now and there was not a single drop which i would consider useful for me. It was mostly the same for my group and most items have been greeded for companions, money or disassembly.

Clearing EV HM is easier than this and in terms of items far more rewarding. This is the imbalance i am criticizing.

Also, i dont want any nerfs to the bosses or the trash. I dont want less trash. But i dont want a double punishment for a wipe which results in a useless timesink.

If they are not going tone it down, they need to up the rewards.

Honestly with that particular Flashpoint, it shouldn't be giving Tionese crystals & commendations anymore. Jus have them drop Columi commendations, would probably fix quite a bit, same with all other gear up to final boss. Have it be good, not crap.

Because you need a good geared group to do that place in the first place.

JJ

There is nothing rational about making content that few will play.

 

Now before you say L2Play I did the instance one time and cleared it. Nobody could be bothered to run it again since then.

 

Quick question for those wanting it to stay the same: How often do you run it? Have you run it more than once?

I typically run it twice a week. Once to farm my BH comms and once to tank another set of guildies through it. I dont need the loot, I just want the comms. We typically have 0 ranged dps in the group. We might wipe once or twice...maybe if we miss an incinerate or if someone makes an error or the Doc. This flashpoint takes a lot of focus and coordination. Definitely best run with a group from your guild and much harder to PUG. I like it and I hope there is always something in the game with this difficulty level. It feels more like an operation than an EZ mode flashpoint. Great job, devs!

That said, I absolutely HATE run-backs and wish all fps and ops had a speeder that dropped you off right in front of the next boss/trash area. Running back is a waste of time.

/signed

The flashpoint brings a fun challenege, with that being said I don't want a nerf at all.. But it is silly that you need to be in columi, only to get columi from the bosses besides Lorrik. I say, maybe let the first boss drop rakata bracers & the second drop a rakata belt.. That way people aren't exaclty running Lost Island like a raid, but they are still getting good gear.

I don't think it needs to be nerfed, but I think the first boss needs to be retuned.

If you have to ranged DPS the first boss is a cake walk.

If you have two melee DPS the first boss is a nightmare.

That's gap in strategy/makeup needs to be addressed.

You shouldn't have to cherry pick your slots for a 4 person flashpoint. (And don't even get me started on being the only class that can't interrupt...)

There is nothing rational about making content that few will play.

 

Now before you say L2Play I did the instance one time and cleared it. Nobody could be bothered to run it again since then.

 

Quick question for those wanting it to stay the same: How often do you run it? Have you run it more than once?

We run the flashpoint everyday to help gear people up, for the weekly and just because it is nice to have somethign that requires proper co-ordination. One of our team got 2 columi upgrades from just daily modded orange gear and the Rakata chest.

If you don't know the boss mechanics, I can see how this place is ridiculously hard. Also if you're in full Tionese, I can see this place being extremely challenging. Hell, the bonus boss had a pretty strict enrage timer considering he only dropped a Tionese level relic. The first real boss is ridiculously hectic as well - though, if you can beat him you can probably beat every boss in the instance (if you have the DPS for the bonus boss).

I dunno, maybe change the enrage timer on the bonus boss and tune the first boss slightly.. The second and last bosses are fine as they are.

I enjoy a good challenge, especially in 4 mans, just as much as anyone, and my group was able to clear the place on patch day without getting hung up too long on any of the bosses, but you really have to think "would I want to pug this place? can I really trust to not have to be in here for hours with a few randoms?"

As it is right now, although I don't run 4 mans anymore, I wouldn't be comfortable forming a group for Lost Island HM random people from trade channel, specifically because of the 2nd boss. It's off-putting to go into a boss with a group of strangers and know a wipe-fest is imminent. 4 mans need to be accessible and tuned so that any group can go in and not wipe more than a couple times on each boss, and that 2nd boss is tuned to be far more difficult than the rest of the fights, effectively blocking people from even seeing the others. It's bosses like this that make people flat out leave a group, screwing over the other 3 people and you can't have that in a piece of content that people need in order to obtain the gear you should have in order to start Ops.

tl;dr, 4 mans should be pug-able, Lost Island HM as is, is a bit too tall of an order for "just throwing a group together" for. I think the 2nd boss should straight up have a mechanic completely removed, and I think the last boss could use nerfs to satchel charge and maybe the effective enrage in the last phase.

The first real boss is ridiculously hectic as well - though, if you can beat him you can probably beat every boss in the instance (if you have the DPS for the bonus boss).

 

I dunno, maybe change the enrage timer on the bonus boss and tune the first boss slightly.. The second and last bosses are fine as they are.

The bonus boss is exactly that: a bonus. His loot should be improved based on his difficulty (which is essentially nil once you're running Lost Island like any other HM). As far as the robot, he is essentially the "ready check" of the instance (with very different strategies depending on group make-up). Kill him and you're golden. Also, it's not just any piece of Columi that Doc Lorrick drops, it's the mainhand. Something only previously available on a week-long lockout timer now being accessible as often as you're willing to run the FP is great. The way I see this instance is less of an impossible mess and more of a way to farm Rakata chestpieces and Columi mainhands for guildies.

Nice post OP, agree with most of it. However this thread will just become an argument like the rest I've aired my views before, but in short:

-Make 1st boss a little bit easier, not much, just a bit. People dont mind struggling on the last boss of an instance, but hate being stuck on the first, especially when the next 2 are easier.

-Drop Columi commendations, not Tionese crystals.

-Enjoy the difficulty. Just because it's new doesn't mean its compulsary. All the loot that drops can be obtained elsewhere in the game, so you dont have to do it on HM if you dont want to. Story/Normal is there to enjoy the story, and get your columi/rakata elsewhere.