Why is the Absman Winter of Woe fight not fun?

CorkscrewCorkscrew Member Posts: 540 ★★★
Yes, I know there is a massive, merged thread, however, I'd like to focus on a very specific emotion that this fight introduces:
Hopelessness.

I've completed this fight on my main and alt account using the following champs, 7r2 Hulk, 6r3 She-hulk and 6r3 Sandman. (#Robots pending)

I'm setting aside the common gripes of energy cost and punishing nodes because they've been done to death.

Given the objectives and the mechanics of the fight, my experience has been that She-hulk and Sandman are ideal counters. In short:
- Removing unstoppable, which allows you to control the flow fight and making brute force inconsequential. You can also freely intercept without fear.
- Removing the regen, which allows you to use lower ranked champs because you don't have to out-damage the regen. Let's face it, neither champ is at the top of science, what are the odds you are one of the few that really took them all the way up.

The first fight completed was with Sandman. Took Absman all the way down 32% and then had a medium detected as a light and was left stranded. Took one hit and died. Up until that point I felt completely in control of the fight and although it took a long time, had barely taken any damage.

Thought I would just pop in a 40% and finish the fight. In the time, it took me to get to my sp2 to apply decelerate, he regened back to 65%. Several minutes of fighting (given my lowly Sandman) just wiped out in a fraction of that.

Now I have to be perfect otherwise, next time he will be back to full. Given I had now been playing straight for probably 30 minutes at high intensity, phone was starting the lag and heat up, causing the fingers to be sweaty - there was a distinct possibility of a mistake or missed input. Finished the fight on 34%. This happened also on a She-hulk fight. So, with perfect counters, I could go from hero to zero in the blink of an eye or worse... backwards.

There have been very few fights in recent memory that you don't feel you could just chip away and you would eventually be done. There are very few fights where progress can be lost (looking at you bugged Bahamut).
However, this is one fight, where one mistake either your own or input issue could cost you and you'll be right back where you started. The idea that you could spend a ton of resources and not ever finish.

Many people love a challenge, very few people are endeared to the feeling of something being pointless, never ending or unbeatable. Considering this is just the start of a lengthy sequence of these challenges and pivotal in the acquisition of deathless champs, many players have been given the worst thing that Kabam could have possibly given... the feeling of hopelessness.

Comments

  • PT_99PT_99 Member Posts: 4,134 ★★★★★
    Kabam totally had high meeting asking why was there no healing gate fight in Necro? (Air Walker don't count, just knock him down lol)
    So they double downed on this abs man fight.

    I'm surprised this abs man doesn't have healing efficiency node or something.
  • Wicket329Wicket329 Member Posts: 3,333 ★★★★★
    PT_99 said:

    Kabam totally had high meeting asking why was there no healing gate fight in Necro? (Air Walker don't count, just knock him down lol)
    So they double downed on this abs man fight.

    I'm surprised this abs man doesn't have healing efficiency node or something.

    Air Walker, Diablo, Wiccan, and I think Galan all had healing mechanics. There were several healing fights in Abyss and Labyrinth as I recall as well. Even Realm of Legends had Wolverine back when heal reversal wasn’t even a thing.

    The healing on this Abs Man is a lot, I agree. But pretending like it’s new (and that there wasn’t any in Necropolis??) is a take wildly separate from reality.
  • GaborrrrrGaborrrrr Member Posts: 28
    High energy cost, really bad AI, node combination, champ restriction, abs man regeneration, input issues since last update
  • BeastDadBeastDad Member Posts: 1,805 ★★★★★
    No, it was meant to be a resource grab.
  • Doctor_Doom94Doctor_Doom94 Member Posts: 77
    If namor regen can get a nerf, not sure why not absman regen. It was too much to take care of even with max despair mastery
  • Wicket329Wicket329 Member Posts: 3,333 ★★★★★

    If namor regen can get a nerf, not sure why not absman regen. It was too much to take care of even with max despair mastery

    Using what champion?
  • MasterAKUMAMasterAKUMA Member Posts: 26
    Considering that Abs already has lots of immu. The DOT immune node is the dumbest one in this SQ, which completely limits your options.
    So everyone should understand that Kabam never wants anyone to have fun in WoW, they just want you to spend your item and time on this challenge that is totally restricted by their rules.
  • CorkscrewCorkscrew Member Posts: 540 ★★★
    Wicket329 said:


    Air Walker, Diablo, Wiccan, and I think Galan all had healing mechanics. There were several healing fights in Abyss and Labyrinth as I recall as well. Even Realm of Legends had Wolverine back when heal reversal wasn’t even a thing.

    The healing on this Abs Man is a lot, I agree. But pretending like it’s new (and that there wasn’t any in Necropolis??) is a take wildly separate from reality.

    Heal reversal was THE thing. You were either going to eventually out-damage Wolverine with Starlord or heal reverse with Guillotine.
    While Abyss, Gauntlet and Necro all have roadblock fights, they don't have what is going on in this fight. What they all allowed the player to do was have a natural rhythm.
    This fight is arduous with the damage mitigation making it a slog and that progress can be continually wiped out if you're chipping away with lower ranked champs.

    We are also in the age of horrible inputs. One hit and you are done in this fight, and it might not even be your fault.
    I have my everyday phone which is an iPhone 14 Pro and an old Android phone that I use for testing. I have to use the old phone because inputs on new iPhones are garbage. Kabam never did anything about the higher frame rates with the new models.

    They've already admitted as much that inside the eventual gauntlet style - Absman's regen is going to be a problem.
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