I just tried the new Surge mechanic in summoning thralls. And while I like the concept, I was dissatisfied with the experience.
Game mode: Single Player (PvE)
Region: North America
System: PC
I like the idea of working to be able to summon the really good thralls. Grinding through the vaults to get decayed eldarium is okay (a little low on the drop rate, but okay). Reaction: Mildly annoying
Having to kill Maelstrom monsters to get greater, lesser, and unstable essences… also grindy. And also could use a better drop rate, but okay. Reaction: Mildly annoying again.
Crafted: Focus Altar of the West
(Relic Hunter spawns)
But putting together all the ingredients, and summoning the “Most Powerful Surge” (got an achievement for that) produced waves and waves of useless thralls. Half of them are “Veteran” which are ‘one-skull’ mini-bosses that can’t be knocked out. Very good loot, though. Reaction: Mildly pleased.
Lots of dancers, fighters, and archers. Which after one dancer, why do I need more? That’s rhetorical. Same with fighters and archers. I can only take one around with me. My base never gets attacked in PvE (no more purge). So again, mostly useless. Reaction: Neutral (only a couple worth keeping, but are worth keeping)
And for crafting thralls, the main reason for doing all this grind, got me one T2 armorer and one T3 blacksmith. Not one T4 crafting thrall in all the waves of all three platforms. And yes, the waves kept coming and I kept killing to the point that my inventory couldn’t hold anymore. And since I was the only player in my solo “server”, there was no one else to “steal” the good thralls. I got to see and inspect every single one. The closest to a T4 crafting thrall that dropped was one T4 dancer, “Nimbletoe” – but any T1 dancer can do the same “remove corruption” that she can (just different speed), so mostly useless. Reaction: Major disappointment
If that’s what the most powerful surge produces, after all that grinding for decayed eldarium and essences, then what’s the point? The reward - payout ratio is very skewed towards PvP (needing fighters and archers to fight other players and defend bases).
Something needs to be fixed in the drop rate of T4 thralls in the “Most Powerful Surge.” There should be at least a few T4 guaranteed crafting thralls to be collected. Please consider adjusting these summoned surges so that this experience is not repeated.
@Multigun – if this is how surges are going to work on Siptah, I can see many people looking to your T4 thralls spawn mods for remedy. Just a heads-up.