I think havoc in its current state, minus glaring flaws (deplyoments, blight spreads, pre-emptive rituals) is very fun. Re-learning the game after being complacent on maelstrom has been a blast and I would like to see it further improved and tweaked towards towards higher ranks to 50 and such.
However, The biggest issue with havoc isn’t necessarily havoc itself, but getting into the game. I do believe that a Havoc QP wouldn’t be a good idea due to the higher difficulty calling for more organized comps that can’t be achieved with automated matchmaking, so the party finder makes for a good alternative- in concept. However, due to how it is implemented in game there is a lot to be desired; namely the inability to actually communicate the host’s intent.
If I wanted to express what my intents as a host or what I want out of the possible joiners, I am unable to. This makes for a rather frustrating system as the joiners have no Feedback on why they’re being rejected or what they could do to better suit the party. If I wanted a composition of 2 ogryns, a vet and a psyker- there is no way for me to communicate that outside of detailness rejections that could mean anything and nothing to the rejected. If I wanted to go a specific style, like a taunt-gryn or a venting-psyker- I am unable to beyond asking them afterwards if they joined the party- which only disservices me and the joinee if they had a different idea of how they wanted to play. That’s also not mentioning I can’t inspect their load-out without a mod.
I also just flat out communicate my goal. If I want to do my weekly reclear with a no-frills and serious run- I can’t communicate that and just have to outright deny people with sub-optimal builds with no stated reasons on either why they’re rejected or what they could tweak to better fit into the group. If I just want to have fun on and experiment with off-meta on my havoc assignment, I also can’t communicate that to people whom may assume that we’re playing to win.
Here’s a few solutions to that;
Add the ability to create personalized comments on a party finder listing. A simple 120 character limit akin to Final Fantasy’s 14 Party finder would dramatically help with explaining intent in an easy way. A simple line like “2ogryn,1psy,1vet. no smite plz. weekly reclear srs run” would instantly make intent and goal clear and allow people to adjust themselves to better suit that particular listing.
Create a whisper function to allow for a line of communication between the host and the requestee. Frankly this is very simple basic feature that should’ve been here since the start when the morning star is a public server, but whatever.
Redefine the strike-team organization system to have a party leader that is the only one whom can accept, deny and boot memebers in their party. I’ve had a few instances of a undesirable player disrupting the whole lobby- and without a standard kick function- the only recourse I had was to leave the party in general and re-invite the non-problematic party members just to disassociate with them.
I’ve also had occasions of a member forcing their way in from a person from someone who was accepted after their request. This is very disruptive, including the fact that members can also accept/deny requestees even without the behest of the lister.
Allow for the selection of class-specific slots that those who don’t meet can’t request for. If I have a full team with only 1 slot remaining and want a specific class- I have to trudge through requests from players utilizing classes that I have not the slightest intent for on boarding them for. Allowing the game to automatically filter out undesirable classes rather than me declining them en-mass would make onboarding so much easier.
imo party finder over all needs to be changed. one of my only attempts at havoc this “season” i got rejected from every single strike team except one havoc 40 which only 2 people on my team were ready for (my self not included).
i really think they should just make it an auric-esque system and change havocs 1-40 to be 5 levels that have the same difficulty as the current 20 25 30 35 40 levels
I don’t agree. The entire point of havoc is to be an extra-hard game mode that requires deeper cooperation between players, specifically to divide labor into specific roles from the game’s classes and subclasses. Trying to circumvent that would ironically just make it harder for everyone, since havoc-players would be further torn party finder or opt-ting to use quickplay on a completely random set of players whom, more often or not, very subpar. Imagine trying to tell open-mic sammysanchez2024 to not run into the open of 3 billion gunners and trigger a ritual when all he knows what to do use use smite and occasionally use his profound dueling sword, while you’re under stress of twins and a burgle when half the team is down. That’s a very easy way to burn people out of havoc.
You think you want quickplay, but you don’t.
Frankly the Party Finder system is basically a necessary evil. If you, at all, want to engage in content that requires heightened cooperation, you will need a system that allows you to vet whom you want and your party or not. It’s been a thing in MMOs for over a decade now and, if tweaked enough, I see no reason why this game can’t.
If overall balance adjustments are made so that everyone can use their preferred build, weapon, or class without any issues, there will be no more kicking others from games, or being kicked yourself.
the only thing left would be player skill, but that can be resolved through level-based matchmaking per rank.
in other words, a party finder wouldn’t be necessary.
simply adjusting the balance would solve 90% of the problems.
Literally… The way it’s set up is completely unfun & more punishing than anything. Playing in pubs is a huge nightmare with ranking & demotions, plus it’s buggy as hell too. I was locked in at 40 & got demoted because I was helping lower ranks in their games, it’s bs. If they made it optional to pick your havocs instead of ranking & demotion. Also, it would be cool if you could choose your Havoc, map, conditions, etc. That way everybody can be happy at least. Should’ve been this way from the start, they complicate things too damn much, but that’s Obese Shark for you. The only way you can really beat 40’s is in pre-mades for the most part.
I also don’t agree with this take. Sometimes there will be builds that will just outright unviable in some difficulties- and that’s be fine. Something things will have its limits and will need to be filtered out. That isn’t to say it shouldn’t be buffed or change for better- but if everything becomes “havoc-viable” then havoc will eventually turn into the new auric maelstrom and would simply be too easy again.
Frankly I’d like to see nerfs instead of buffs.
Truth is that I like havoc being really hard to the point where somethings become unviable. I like having to min-max everything to its absolute and still struggling. This isn’t to knock people who do want things to run things that aren’t the absolute best, but I feel like havoc- if it wants to be a true endgame mode that is to be as tough as nails and appeal to the absolute pros- will have to cut the chaff and require people to play in ways they may not initially think of. At some point, havoc will have to be played for its own sake.
I want a havoc with 40 crushers, 20 specials, 2 monsters and a set of twins and a captain at all of the same time and I’m not even kidding.
tbh, most weapons are actually havoc viable- it’s just that the playerbase is simply too… new to actually experiment and try new things.
hence i never played them besides the solo portions where i could do my stuff without some overeager nerd trying to tell me what angle i need to attack the boss from.
did every raid in age of conan ONCE for the atmosphere and content visually wise and never bothered much afterwards.
raid schedule and applications my ass.
i dont even jump through that many hoops for a real life job, the fkk i’m making a clown out of myself for game?
thats the beauty of darktide up until havoc, you dont.
for all i care the dude behind the monitor is a substitute for a bot and unless you’re blessed with the voice of james earl jones, you stay mute for all eternity.
granted, havoc 40s with randoms are a pain in the ass most of the time but if you got mates that know what they’re doing, ingame commands are absolutely sufficient to see you through.
afterwards its gg, bb and i never have to bother about a squeaker munching in his mic.
and honestly thats the only way i gonna play this.
I think you’re forgetting the fact that you can also host your OWN listings that you can choose whom gets through your desired requirements. This isn’t an advocation to force people into meta- people have and will continue to do that if or if not if a system like this is in play- but to make intentions and communications clear.
You are in your own right to host havoc games that entirely consists of no strategies, compositions or builds. Adding a party finder comments will change nothing, if not only help you as you can find people akin to your way of play.
The chances of that will only be higher if you can communicate intent and the ability to better vet on how you want your team to be- if anything.
last time pirx and i listed a havoc, afternoon on eu servers, we quit after waiting for like 10 minutes with one dude applying…
in the time it takes to find ONE havoc match either way, i wrap up 3-5 auric maelstrom matches to upload.
even if i’m at home right now, my day too only has so many hours.
so not having to go through the party finder and hop into matches like i already do on the normal mission board would be a huge improvement for my time investment.
and honestly, the amount of fails wouldnt even be higher seeing how people fail at the first or second room even WITH syncing their loadout in the party finder
rather throw myself at 20 tries and have one sticking than waiting 30 minutes to fail at the 5 minute mark cause some dude thought he’d skip half the map again
the idea that all builds and weapons are viable is ultimately based on player skill.
simply put, as long as you have the skill, you can use any build or weapon effectively in Havoc.
even for highly skilled players, it wouldn’t be fun if certain builds or weapons became completely unusable in Havoc.
that said, i completely agree that balance adjustments should primarily come in the form of nerfs. Only a handful of weapons truly need buffs, the vast majority should be nerfed instead.
that’s exactly my point: let players decide what matchmaking method they use. you can gladly build your team as you like and i’ll quickplay even at the risk of running into sammysanchez, and if i use the party finder, then because i want it and not because the game wouldn’t even let me start without.
How people still won’t understand this is beyond me.
At least give the QP option instead of railing against even including it for those who want it.
I play Darktide to PLAY DARKTIDE not sit on a UI screen watching time tick away and getting rejected or rejecting.
Let me choose, along with the others who also chose, to put our rank on the line with QP. Should even add to the “tension” the ranking was intended to bring. But I don’t have to wait 10+ mins just to see an allegedly prepared player (based on what info we can get) down at the first horde and leave immediately or after we fail anyway.
I’ll be infinitely more happy at least getting the chance to succeed multiple times a session than staring at the party finder fruitlessly.
“funniest” thing so far, 3 x zealot 1x psyker (by the time the team was full, who rejected earlier) failed and “remade” the team 3! times in the span it took for me to find one match.
all those talent cushion cuddlers do is hide behind a meta they cant even utilize properly, so why would i bother going through the artificial layer if the rear end product is just as inferior ?!?
i mean i can grind into a very fine paste using multiple machines, in the end its the same i put in in the first place…
reminds me of all those pompous “kung fu masters” with these ludicrously inefficient flaylings and poses, getting literally beaten up by a dude who roughly translates into “blue melon”
into a very fine paste using multiple machines, in the end its the same 