Wrapped up the second Croatoa arc last night (dinging Rita to 31 in doing so) with the “free the enchanters, protect the henge” mish. While similar in structure to the “stop the Fir Bolg from escaping” trial mish in the first arc, it has some substantial differences that make it … well … actually enjoyable.
- The bad guys are not monomaniacally sprinting for the henge. They will, in fact, engage you in combat if you hit them, or come within their aggro range. Granted, Red Caps are a bit more clever than Pumpkin Heads, but, really, the way the FB trot past at high speed unless you actually manage to hit each and every one with something (and, even then, they’re only temporarily distracted) is one of the most maddening things about the first henge mish.
- There’s a mission timer. Once the last enchanter is in place, a 15 minute clock pops up. While that’s quite a while to stand there and deal with wave after wave, it avoids the other most maddening aspect of the first henge mission, wondering how much longer / how many more waves there are to go.
There are other things about the first henge mish that are difficult — the haziness of the atmosphere making it difficult to see the FB under the trees; the long pauses between waves — but those are just challenging, not “Can we just let the next wave through and be done with it?” frustrating. If the above two items were incorporated into the FB mish, it would be ever so much more enjoyable.
So totally agree with you on this one. I’ve just taken to skipping the FB one altogether either by dropping it or letting it fail. It’s just a big pain in the butt, while the other mission is really a lot more enjoyable – especially with 2 or 3 friends along.
On the most recent run-through of the FB one, each of our characters had it. Ran through Margie’s, did the usual teethgrinding, and saw I hadn’t gotten mission credit for it. So I just dropped it with credit — not as much XP, no SOs, but a hell of a lot less aggravation.