Endgame and Eternal Ascension

Personally i think there are 2 separate issues, the first one is a balance one, right now it's impossible to win by ascension on the final island, this is caused by a number or reasons, on top of the list there is the number of realms on i4 and the 36h unbroken timer. but these things can be balanced with tweaks to the numbers.

The second issue for me is a gameplay related one, eternal ascension or not endgame still feels very swallow to me, when we read the announcement for the new endgame last server we were all pretty excited, and the part on the pvp side is pretty cool, unlimited conquers i mean, but the fallen part is really boring, there really should be more to do with them then simply send them in mass to the EG.

Personally i would welcome some PVE options on the map related to fallens/demons that are congruent with the theme of the eternal light, the first time i read the endgame eternal light post last server i was thinking how cool it would be to have demon actually flooding from the gate and dungeon and invading the map. (And i still think that.)

Right now it's basically the same as a normal island with a few small additions, endgame should feel special, realms should feel the need to escape by ascending, i like the idea of survival through ascension and i think it would be interesting to go a little in that direction. I mean, the lore of the game is based on it so i don't see why not lean into it.

I asked my realm members about it, and the following list is my summation of their opinions. Don't see it as one big change, but many small changes that could be experimented with, in addition to each other / to whatever has already been mentioned:

• No buildings (town).

  
  

  • no way to make new troops, only able to fight with fallen
    • alive troops at EG time will be converted into fallen / just disappear.
      • Make it a war of attrition
• Only able to fight with fallen.
• No orbs, only EG.
• Able to use fallen in more places than just EG.
• Mix of fallen and alive units + town available, but able to use fallen in tower fights etc. as well.
• 10 (or however many) towers/spots around the map that, if a realm holds them provides bonuses eg. 10% inf strength, 5% wood production etc. Only able to fight in them with fallen.
  • each of these could also provide a bonus to the orbs a realm has. Eg. a realm with 100k orbs and 2 towers counts as 140k orbs etc. Make it worth fighting over these instead of hoarding orbs only.
• Gate only able to work once. 1 winner, rest losers.
• More stuff to play with than just the gate
• Long travel time to the Gate is meh
• Give smaller realms something to do. (We were decent size but because of the uselessness of fallen and small realm size all we have done past 2 weeks is just attack Naurun, and pretty much nothing else)
• A bit mixed feelings about only fallen or both alive and fallen usable. Both ideas seem fine, but fallen usefulness definitely needs a tweaking.

The general consensus is that endgame has been boring because there have not been much to do (in fact we think there have been less to do than usual).

Der ErregerToday at 10:56 PM

my thoughts on endgame so far:
there has to be a selection process or a limitation of who is able to send Fallens to the gate
my idea to fix this would be to implement more value to orbs on i4. My suggestion would be the following:
You need to sacrifice orbs to gain a time window in which you can send fallens to the gate. Example: You sacrifice 100k orbs and your realm gets the ability to send fallens to the EG for maybe 10 hours. Sacrifice more and it buffs your Fallens with more combat power, or something.
This change would spark natural warfare over orbs, especially towards the realms who do not plan on ascending but orb hoarding to win. And it limits the realms which are able to send fallens to the gate. Also it improves the dynamic between living and dead troops. Combine it with more prominent suggestion of making the ascension timer milestone based, it could work out pretty well, and it wouldnt need any major rebalancing of the current mechanics.

Create the option to can convert troops in fallen .

In defence to get 2x times fallen troops , in attack only 1x

Firstly - the concept of fallen armies fighting for the victory is fine, I think the problem largely revolves around the crossover between Live and Dead gameplay.
- Fallen combat should not produce XP or Soul Energy

Secondly - There is far too much of a World Wonder (Travian Legends reference) feel to the Eternal gates (EG). Holding the EG automatically ensures that it is "you vs the world". There must be some restrictions for this. I.e. Costs Orbs, Minimum Orb requirement, Maximum Attack Frequency.

Thirdly - The game needs more balancing. Imo - There should be a maximum number of Realms fighting for an EG. This can be accomplished by The final Moonphase sparking Automatic ascension onto an "underground" world. Top8 Orbs, 9-16th, 17-24th etc. A new map specifically for fallen. How you control this I am not sure - but we definitely need some seperation between the 2. Just an idea - but 20+ realms on any Island with 1 gate does not work; multiple gates also does not work.

Additional pointers -

- Fallen should be the dead of your enemy; not your dead troops. Suggested and approved by the community
- Fallen shouldn't be created once endgame begins.
- The ultimate goal should be to create a system where gates are ascended, in an order which represents individual realm capabilities. This is a game, sport, it is not an exact science but there should be some correlation between the 2.

I dont think any player has the correct answer, but between us we have a damn good idea if a concept the devs describe to use has credibility and a continuing realtionship between devs and players is critical to getting the best results here. The endgame will make or break Arkheim imo.

after each time you driven away from the eternal the timer shouldn't get reset you know what I mean? after you take it over timer should continue where it stopped last time.

Another idea if player base grow up (and / or only for the 4rth or 3rd and 4th island), which could make the Endgame content more viable (currently 15 players against one whole island isn't that much :s) could be to put 2 or even 3 Eternal Gates per island (and not only 1)

They can have different timer until ascension. Depending of the realm's objectives, it can be more rewarding to fight for a specific one.

Like, being one of the few trying to control the gate with the longest ascencion timer, and not fighting with tons of others realms trying to control the one with the shortest timer.

They could even add some kind of bonus for 5% / 10% or even 15%.

(Like time reduction for troops production, or ... Something else ?, and one without bonus for, maybe, the one with the shortest ascencion timer)

Instead of the EG timer counting down, it can count up. At the end of the 2 weeks the realm with the longest hold time wins. The timer would save if you lose it so you just pick up where you left off. Orbs would have to be used for something else as others have suggested.

At the beginning of the Endgame, the Fallen Warrior Produktion shuld Stop. You can only Fight as long you have Fallen Warriors.

So you have some more Ways to Loss and to Win.

If you have no Fallen you must fight for Orbs.

You must unse your Fallen Wisely.