While some players are already struggling with the normal 5-man instances in the SF-MMO WildStar and are frustrated, top European guilds have already begun with the raid instances and have defeated the first four bosses.
Players who played WildStar during the beta or informed themselves about the game already knew: WildStar is significantly harder than other MMOs. Even the first instance at level 20 proves to be too difficult for some players, who then share their discontent in the forums. After numerous wipes, the group regularly disbands. Even when they have completed the dungeons, the rewards are too low: There is too little EXP and too weak items, according to some players in English forums.
For some a dungeon, for others the longest wipe festival in the world
The combination of the group finder, which randomly assembles players into a dungeon, seems to lead to wipe festivals. The developer Carbine is aware of the issue. They take the complaints about the low rewards for the high risk seriously. They are considering increasing the rewards for the dungeons.
However, there is also a counter movement against the demand for nerfs. Some players are pleased with the challenging difficulty level. This faction of the player base argues that new players just need to get used to basic principles like constant movement or interrupting, which works differently in WildStar. Here, multiple players must use their interrupt abilities simultaneously, as only then does the opponent actually stop using their skill.
The first four raid bosses down, yet the raids deliver what they promise
At a higher level, raid guilds are also struggling with the demands of WildStar. A number of top guilds are currently struggling with the challenging raids in WildStar. The access quest is particularly troublesome for them.
While in other games “content clear” is reported after a short time, this is still a long way off in WildStar. An English-speaking guild with a tasteless guild name has now managed to defeat the first four raid bosses of the Gen-Archives. Supposedly, they defeated the first one with only 16 out of 20 people, as the other 4 had not yet completed their access quest. They defeated the second boss, Kuralak, with 19 players, and Phagemaw and Phagetech Prototypes, bosses three and four, probably yesterday with 20 people. We have already introduced you to the first raid boss of the Gen-Archives.
That only 4 raid bosses have been defeated two weeks after the release, despite the guilds having ample opportunity to test the encounters on the beta server, speaks for a remarkably tough raid. Especially considering the caliber of players, who have been battle-tested in numerous fights, competing for the first kills. The 40-man raid will surely ramp up, as the bosses there were not released for testing.
Carbine itself expects that it will take 1 month before the first guilds clear the 20-man raid and venture into the 40-man. They will either need an alliance with another progression guild or must funnel two complete raids through the 20-man.
However, the guilds will likely be somewhat quicker than the anticipated month. Currently, there are still 2 bosses and a number of mini-bosses in front of the leading guilds. By the way, there have been no calls for a nerf from the raiders.
Update 14.06.2014: The English guild has now defeated the fifth raid boss in the Gen-Archives. The Phageborn Convergence has also taken down their genetically modified weapons. 4 mini-bosses and the final boss “Dreadphage Ohmna” stand after the Phageborn Convergence, before a World First clear can be reported. However, other guilds have also progressed this far, so there could be an exciting race for the World First.
