Hi, so the first boss in Freehold got a stealth change. He can no longer be moved (after the parrot phase) outside of the arena.
This tactic allowed the tank and melee to be in a safe position where they could only be hit by one spell at the time (wich almost one shot dps at high keys) while range is basicly untouchable in this fight.
The thing is, what led to this tactic is the fight itself. It’s full of RNG : who’s gonna get hit by azerite shot, where the bird is going to charge, who’s gonna get targeted by the poop. With abilities that will one shot anything without a CD in 22/23+.
The fight is still very very cheesy if you decide to run a comp without melee. You can just have the range sitting outside of the range of abilities & the tank running in the arena.
I think this fight needs some kind of a revamp/tuning (and it’s not the only one) maybe some visuals allowing melee to move properly, like making the bird’s poop a projectile like the Underrot “Living Rot” monsters (it’s basicly the same spell).
Maybe remove the possibility of cheese in the fight but allow players to know who’s getting targeted by a spell so they can react and play around it (ex : mage is targeted by azerite shot => blink in a spot where it wont hit his team, and ice block). With the bird pooping & charging all around the place it could be a challenging fight without beeing subject to tons of RNG. (Like the first boss of King’s Rest).
I hope this will get some attention, because m+ is a very nice format, but I think the cap where you can push should reside in your ability to push enough heal / dps / resist (i mean tank resisting to big hits combo in the game) and not some random spell in a dungeon that start one-shot people at a certain key level.
This change is also a big nerf for most of the dps melee class that weren’t rogue / dh since they can’t try to preshot short defensive CD & hope to survive.
How is the bird rng? you see him land then you move,
Only thing people get hit by is azerite shot, which you see him pick a Target for too so you can activeate defensives , it fires pretty fast so you prob want to position so you’re out of your teammates way in the first place not try to move after cast… So again no rng
It’s not about the charge doing damage. It’s about the bird position.
The bird pooping is proximity base, it will go on the closest target to him - WHEN he is in the air, it’s really hard to track off because the patern he takes depends on where he finished the charge.
That was my job as a healer, just stand in the middle & bait the poop, but I assure you that when you’re in the middle of the arena, you have a very poor visibility on the bird. This “mechanic” was discovered by players and it’s clunky.
And the azerite shot doesn’t allow for reactive play. I’m sorry, as a healer I can see Eudora powder shot’s target, they hurt really hard but I know it’s going to happen in the next second. I don’t have this option for azerite shot.
My problem with the fight right now, is in keys 20 & above in tyranical, the poop will take 15-20% health of a player, if it happens at the same time than azerite shot, this person is dead.
This fight will still be cheesed, just in a different way and, probably more range friendly. The rest of the dungeon is on the whole different level, much easier, that’s why I don’t get this boss.
And I think you missed my point.
I’m just saying, among all the boss fight we have in m+ this one is poorly designed.
Bird lands, you use your eyes to see where it will charge, dodge, gg.
Players make sure to be spread around the boss to minimize players hit by the Powdershot, gg. As long as you’re topped off, Powdershot won’t kill you.
Vile Bombardment only deals dmg every 1.5 second which means you move out as soon as you’re hit and gg.