It’s been a little while since the last informal dev letter, so it’s time to do a little catch-up.
Our last update added revamped, and in some cases completely redone, faction missions as well as an additional mission in South Africa. The faction missions utilize a new scaling tech aimed at our more endgame players (defined as those with gear above Elite 3), and that appears to have been a hit! We will be using this tech as much as possible in future content. It’s also been fantastic reading the various theories to come out of the missions added to South Africa.
We’ve been working very hard on the next release, and it’s coming together nicely. So what is it? Well…
As many of our long-time players will attest, when scenarios first launched prior to the relaunch hints were made at possible additional scenario types. We decided that it was high time to add a new scenario type, complete with different mechanics and an overall different feel. To that end we have been working hard on creating the new “Occult Defence” scenario type!
We looked at player feedback from the Seek & Preserve scenarios: what was liked and what was disliked. From there we designed a new scenario type, incorporating the best aspects of past scenarios, while removing the most disliked or incompatible mechanics. We also wanted to make sure that this new scenario had a different feel, entirely.
I want to save the full reveal for @Andyb’s blog post, which will cover it more in-depth. But here are a few teasers:
Survivors? Naw, not in here! No picking up a hammer and standing in Filth puddles.
Scaling difficulty inside the scenario? Yep. Start at a difficulty you’re comfortable with, and push yourself to go as far as you can! It’ll be well worth the effort.
Timed intermission? Nope, you need to go AFK for 5 minutes after a wave? Go for it. Just make sure to tell your Duo partner first…
Unpredictable and fast paced enemies? Yes, indeed.
Testing for this scenario is already underway, and the initial feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.
And of course there is a strong story backing this addition, complete with its own Legends. Just don’t tell the Druids I said that. Wait… oops.
Very exciting indeed. I hope it’s challenging I mean you can have a Lumie and Dragon version for those less capable but us Templars need content that puts you on the edge of your seat and I’m sure you can deliver that
Scenarios will be much better when you don’t have to commit (and push ) ~30 minutes of uninterrupted time to them. I will def run them more often.
This sounds great!
Lotro had a “scenario” based system that was a huge success. It including a lot of variety in maps and also in different modes. People seem to have a pretty low happiness running scenarios now to level glyphs… hopefully this helps out.
According to @AndyB on the discord this was more of a poor choice of words then anything. By events I think the intention was to mean repeatable content like this scenario for example. Content that keeps players engaged and coming back. Maybe he can confirm but that was my understanding.
Ooooh, I can’t wait! It’s been ages since we’ve heard word of a new scenario!
It sounds pretty awesome. A way to challenge yourself AND new story and delicious, glorious legends to devour? You know I want that lore. I’ve been waiting to hear about the Druids ever since we saw their badges in the Sunken Library years ago! We’ve been receiving tiny tidbits about them from the Agent Network and a certain key in Kaidan, but the lust for lore is never-ending!
Not to mention, those timed intermissions will be certainly great for all of my sudden AFKs I wind up doing while I play! ;D
This is correct. There may be tie-in events for the new content we make, like for the new scenario. There will be a new limited-time seasonal event to coincide with the release. Even when the event ends, the scenario will remain in the game.
If this is the system responsible for everything being a meatwall with gargantuan healthbars but no other notable features, have you considered not doing this?
I’m excited for the possibility of a new scenario type, but if the main thing that a piece of content tests isn’t my skill, build, or equipment levels, but my patience to spend time slowly plinking down a dungeon boss sized healthbar by myself while it likewise fails to do any meaningful levels of damage to me, then I’m not very likely to do it more than once or twice.
I mean you can have a Lumie and Dragon version for those less capable but us Templars need content that puts you on the edge of your seat and I’m sure you can deliver that 
) ~30 minutes of uninterrupted time to them. I will def run them more often.