More like NMD 120+ from what I’ve read in other posts…
Minion builds are non-viable anyway after Blizzard nerfed them into oblivion a ways back… Minions need a serious buff so they can be of actual use in WT3/WT4. I’ve found it’s better to sacrifice Minions in favor of personal power due to just how poorly Minions perform in this game.
I think its hilarious watching all the people standing up for blizzards design and blaming the players, telling them to try harder, or gear better. The problem isn’t that, the problem is that it was not advertised correctly. They did tell everyone that the first level of AoZ would be about the same as a NM100, which is clearly not the case.
Using myself as an example:
I have killed Uber Lilith, multiple times. I have a very defensive build, which actually isn’t necessary for Lilith but does make Duriel a cake walk. I can clear a NM100 without dying, most of the time. For reference, I have done it about 50 times and I have died maybe 5x at the most in all those runs. Most of them near the start of my attempts.
AoZ on the other hand, I have been unable to clear the first tier1 after 15 attempts. This clearly shows it is NOT:
"The first level in Abbatoir of Zir is similar in difficulty to a level 100 Nightmare Dungeon. "
That is a direct Quote from blizzard, word for word.
I went into this event, knowing very well that I was never meant to finish it. I figured, based on what Blizzard advertised, I would clear the first level, and then depending on how steeply it climbs I would maybe get to level 2 or maybe even 5. Didn’t really know how steeply it would climb so I had no clue. I didn’t really care about getting to T25, or racing up the leaderboards and still don’t.
But clearly this content was not meant for me. Someone else in this thread suggested that they just need to lower the bottom tier or two a little and not touch the upper tiers. That would be the best solution, and thus give the players what they advertised. Even nerf the bleep out of the exp you get from a level 1 AoZ, to compensate, don’t care.
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Sounds like a high school kid with beer. Tried it once at a party, got sick, never drank it again…
This shows a lack of curiosity… if you fail the first time at something, or find it too hard, or not to your liking, I think you should at least try once more for more data points to make a real informed decision…
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I don’t know what you were watching… but the stream even said you won’t be able to beat the highest level… dared people in fact… on top of that, the requirements aren’t casual friendly… you have to know the game, your build, the skills, and the game well enough to hit 100, complete every chapter of the season journey, and have beaten lilith… sure you could cruise control by letting other players carry you to most if not all those requirements, but if that is the case, why not just have other players carry you through AoZ?
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You must have bad RnG. I think in my last 30x T1 runs solo, I have seen a bunch of one shooters but survived all of them with my Firewall Sorc. How many runs did you do to say it was bad RnG?
I quoted Blizzard, exactly what they said in the news feed built into the loader for this game.
blizzard quote:
“The first level in Abbatoir of Zir is similar in difficulty to a level 100 Nightmare Dungeon.”
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I am starting to believe this is the case. I had been reading multiple complaints and stories of folks who can clear NM 100 quite easily but fails badly in T1 AoZ.
At first I thought these players must be bad, but the number of folks reporting this is too common than I would expect (assuming none of these players are trying to trick me with their stories).
When I look at my runs with my Firewall Sorc (no Ball Lightning skill mixed), out of the 35x runs that I recorded and uploaded in my YouTube, I only failed twice (the last one was because I was looking at my inventory) but there was no time where I was sweating. I was confident in each run that I will complete every single one of time. I couldn’t be that good. It’s just Tier 1 after all.
I am starting to think T1 is technically NM 120 in difficulty at the very least. If NM 100 is like T1, anyone cruising NM 100 should easily clear T1.
Edit:
Another reason why I believe it’s advertised incorrectly is just look at all the Math problems that Blizz had and all the failed communication attempts they had before. They are pretty consistent.
Edit:
If folks can give a better argument and prove NM 100 is equivalent to T1, I would only conclude two things: a lot of players suck at T1 and I am just good which I refused to be true
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Yes… if you can beat a level 100 NM dungeon, you should be able to beat (unlucky rng nonwithstanding) the first level of AoZ… Hard as it is to believe, there are some players who have difficulty beating a tier 100 NMD… its truthful advertsing… if you can beat a T100 NMD, you should (in theory) beat the first level of AoZ… if you cannot, and you didn’t cheese the mechanics in your T100, you have some other issue you’re not being honest about… you should be able to beat it…
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I would argue they cheesed the T100… either by selectively playing the perfect affixes for their class/build… like avoiding Stormbane if you have issue with lightning damage or avoiding drifting shade because you have issues reacting to all the ground effects… or if you had someone carry you through to completing a T100…
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That thought has come to my mind multiple times but none of these folks would admit any, lol.
I personally try the more difficult NM 100 affixes even back in S1 and been uploading my progress in my YouTube channel. It helps me be ready with harder challenges. Also did challenges with No Potions in NM 100 and so kinda used to being in adverse scenarios in NM. So maybe that explains why T1 is not that difficult for me.
But maybe there’s an issue we don’t really know.
I took the claim that it was equal to NMD 100 to mean that it would be NMD 100 level mobs without any affixes. So I was actually expecting it to be easier. So whether someone “cheesed” beating NMD 100’s by not playing stupid affixes shouldn’t really matter.
It’s not. Level 1 of AoZ is easy as long as you build your character properly. I’ve been farming t100 nmd’s since i hit 100 on my first character on game release. Maybe that’s why it’s easy for some and not others? Actual experience at the game.
For anyone curious (and I don’t expect anyone to actually watch things in fairness) I recorded myself doing a T100 last night then a couple AoZ T1 attempts.
Not particularly good or bad modifiers. I didn’t filter I just grabbed a sigil.
- Increased Healing
- Empowered Elites (Poison)
- Monster Fire Damage
- Monster Barrier
- Armor Breakers
Its an embarrassing run because I forgot to pick up a statue initially, but I can’t be bothered to record another, and I didn’t want to cut it because edits bad. The boss takes me a bit because I’m already a high survivability low DPS build. Note: I do have a level 1 ToB glyph because of a friendly Conduit shrine in one of my 15 AoZ1 attempts.
https://streamable.com/72x7xa
Then I recorded two back-to-back attempts of AoZ1. Same build, same setup. Clear the mobs with little to no issue, get jacked by the Blood Seekers. I’m probably just bad, but the skills as designed require proximity. (I could have saved the conduit shrine in round 1 and cleared, but needing to kite back to shrines feels bad to me).
https://streamable.com/dtx2zu
Curiosity about stats (if any) can be sated here (prior to taking an Overpower potion).
https://streamable.com/6df32a
This is simply to say there are builds in the game that can work fairly well in T100s that absolutely cannot manage in AoZ1. Simplifying the discussion to “If you can regularly clear T100s you can clear AoZ1” just isn’t accurate.
Maybe its a skill issue (its probably a skill issue) but I don’t have the sigil powder to sus it out. I think its a gamble as to whether or not the build you’re playing can clear the hurdles of AoZ. Which is absolutely fine. However a lot of people prefer to not play to a meta, and the activity was advertised as (starting) on par with NMD100, and that “all classes could perform”.
I wish the next content they add will be more fun…
LOL… what makes a Tier 100 NM Dungeon a challenge is contending with the affixes… if you wait for a perfect sigil, that’s cheesing.
I haven’t even logged in to try it. I have no interest in over spongy enemies that can kill you in one shot while trying to dodge all there crap attacks.
Greater Rifts in D3 were better content. At least everyone could do it and have access due to just playing at the tier you were comfortable with. Only down side was the diminishing returns on leveling legendary gems. This is what D4 needs, new content that is scalable to the players skill level. Not this Dark Souls style game play.
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That was exactly my point. I was under the impression (possibly an incorrect impression) that AoZ had no affixes. So I expected it to be easier than even the easiest of affixes in a NMD.
I get that… my point is that if you have to cheese to complete a 100 (and by cheese I mean choose the best possible sigil to run that doesn’t pose any challenge to you), chances are you’re going to have issues with the density and hp pools (and randomly generated criticals) the mobs in AoZ have. If you can do any T100 without having to curate the right set of affixes on the sigil, I think AoZ isn’t going to slow you down until you’re in the 20-25 range.
My opinion… since ya’ll asked… :)… is that there’s nothing in between NM100/Duriel and AoZ-T1. I have a few people in my friends list that can kill Duriel solo and farm him effectively, they can also clear NM100 with consistency. But they can still get 1-shot in a AoZ-T1. AoZ doesn’t give you a way to get any better. You get the glyph and a nice damage boost, but people aren’t complaining about damage, it’s defense.
There’s a content gap between S2 part 1 and S2-AoZ. There’s nothing that can help a player reach from one to the other on their own. You’ll need outside resources to help you with that, builds, guides, etc. Then you can farm Duriel 300 times, never get an Uber… progression to AoZ is based on RNG. This is the content that is supposed to take you to AoZ? I don’t think it’s a realistic jump.
They rolled the dice on catering to broken builds, I’m guessing to try to keep the attention of their top players measured by hours spent playing. The number of people I saw yesterday logging out right after trying an T1… well, I’m sure Blizz has better metrics than I… but I’m quite sure the logouts after death is what has brought about their timely response.