In my previous message, I wrote that fighting for the Dark Forces against the Light Forces in Arena of Darkness felt extremely exhausting and punishing for me.
I do not want this feedback to be only “I had a hard time.” I would like to explain more clearly why it felt that way, using specific mechanics and examples from my run.
One of the most problematic examples for me was:
139618 [Köleleştirilmiş Talaghan Kalkan Kaplumbağası]
When this boss appeared, the game gave me around 08:13 remaining time. During the fight, the boss repeatedly used a mechanic where it “pulls its head inside” and becomes untargetable.
Based on my own timing observations:
08:04 -> 07:40
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
07:16 -> 06:52
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
06:28 -> 06:02
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
05:37 -> 05:12
The boss was untargetable for about 24-seconds.
04:46 -> 04:22
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
03:57 -> 03:33
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
03:08 -> 02:43
The boss was untargetable for about 25 seconds.
02:19 -> 01:55
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
01:31 -> 01:07
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
00:45 -> 00:09
The boss was untargetable for about 24 seconds.
So, from what I observed, the boss becomes untargetable roughly every 48-51 seconds and stays untargetable for around 24 seconds.
This means that the boss cannot be attacked for almost half of the fight.
On top of that, the boss also has this buff:
1502976 [Kalın Kabuk]
Effect:
+75% reduced incoming magical damage
+75% reduced incoming physical damage
So the boss is frequently untargetable, and even during the short windows where it can be attacked, it takes 75% reduced damage.
With the time limit, this becomes a very harsh DPS check for a non-endgame player.
Whenever this boss appeared in my run, I failed at that stage.
However, the problem is not only this one boss. While fighting for the Dark Forces against the Light Forces, many punishing mechanics overlap at the same time.
Examples:
1503006 [Kıvamlı Sıvı]
This debuff reduces movement speed by 50%. This becomes very punishing when the player needs to reach the green healing buffs on the ground or move away from dangerous mechanics.
1503004 [Güçlü Isırık]
This debuff deals 15% damage every 2 seconds. For classes without self-healing, this feels extremely punishing.
1502981 [Sızmış]
This debuff reduces physical defense by 80%. When this debuff is active, incoming damage becomes much more dangerous.
1502979 [Korozyon]
This debuff deals damage every second and reduces maximum HP by 8%.
1502978 [Yan!]
This debuff also deals damage every second. By itself, the damage did not feel too high, but together with other debuffs it adds even more pressure.
Another boss:
139615 [Köleleştirilmiş Deniz Rüzgarı Maga]
When I attacked this boss, it applied stacking pressure through debuffs such as:
1502979 [Korozyon]
1502978 [Yan!]
In a run where there is already percentage-based damage and heavy survival pressure, this became even more exhausting.
Another boss:
139604 [Atreus]
This boss was especially frustrating for me. When attacking the boss, or as the boss loses HP, it seems to gain a buff that heavily reduces incoming damage. From what I saw, this reduction can become extremely high.
On top of that, after dying, the boss resurrects itself.
With the time limit, the combination of high damage reduction and resurrection made this boss feel almost impossible for a non-endgame player.
Another enemy:
139610 [Ysabell]
This mob was also very frustrating in solo play.
Several of them can appear at the same time. They frequently heal themselves, and they also have:
1503010 [Diriliş]
Because of this, after killing them, they can resurrect again. This makes the player’s DPS feel wasted and slows down the run heavily.
The green healing buffs on the ground are a good idea, but in their current state, their duration feels too short to me.
The green buff:
1503082 [Restoration]
seems to last only around 6-7 seconds and restores about 5% HP per second.
However, if the player is already slowed, taking percentage-based damage, or surrounded by mobs, reaching this buff is not easy. Even if the player reaches it, 6-7 seconds may not be enough for classes without self-healing.
I was able to survive some situations because I was playing a healer. But I honestly do not understand how classes without reliable self-healing are expected to survive these mechanics.
There is also a smaller but noticeable issue with combat chat messages.
During the fight, messages such as:
“Ironweaver dealt X damage to enemy forces”
appear very frequently in the chat.
In a mechanically intense fight, this creates unnecessary chat noise and makes it harder to follow important warnings or mechanic messages.
My feedback is this:
If this content is intended only for strong end-game players, I can understand that. However, if that is the case, the game should communicate this more clearly.
If beginner or mid-game players are also expected to progress here, then the current combination of mechanics feels too punishing.
The issue is not one single boss or one single debuff. The issue is the combination of many punishing mechanics at the same time:
- Long run duration
- Strict time limit
- Bosses becoming untargetable very often
- Heavy incoming damage reduction buffs
- Percentage-based damage
- Heavy defense reduction
- Movement slow effects
- Self-healing mobs
- Resurrection mechanics
- Very short healing buff duration
- High time and resource loss after failure
Because of this, fighting for the Dark Forces against the Light Forces feels extremely punishing for non-endgame players.
My goal is not to ask for the content to become completely easy. I only think that the intended player level for this side should be clearer, and some mechanics may need to be reviewed from a non-endgame player perspective.
