Hi everyone, I want to make this post to show my appreciation for my guildies and also share my story of us conquering Atoraxxion - Vahmalkea.

I have heard about a lot of complaints about the new dungeon. But for me personally and for our group, we have a really great time! We are just a bunch of casuals and not very geared but we still decide to go and try the dungeon despite all the warning about loss crystal and how it's very high effort with little rewards.

[The first hurdle]

On the first day, it was very fun. Everything is new and shiny. A mix of puzzle and grinding and randomly dieing is super fun. A lot of people report about how the dungeon is super bad because it's a public instance. All the potential trolls and people just flagging and messing with puzzle solving. But in my case, I have been super lucky and I have encountered some of the best moment during the dungeon just because it's public and a lot of different group of people can join.

One memorable moment is when a party ahead of us was trying to solve the puzzle and they couldn't do it. We jump in to help them and try to solve it together. We have a "Big Brain" player in our group and she just smash through all the puzzle with some research. Both parties end up doing all the following puzzle together and we have a good time helping each other through the dungeon. At one time everybody was wondering why the mobs respawn so slow then suddenly one random guy run through the group and shouting it's node war time. We didn't realize we were on a NW server and everyone just choose a new server and jump together. It was goofy and funny.

[A mixed of ancient architecture ...]

The dungeon being public has offer a way to enjoy the dungeon with your own strength and it's something PA can just make some improvement to reduce griefing and it's good. In my opinion, there's no doubt a majority of BDO players just want to go in, bonk some mobs and get rewards. But there also exist minorities like me who wants to use some brain cells and solve some puzzle while dungeoning and my other friends who are strong can carry me through the fighting. The ratio is definitely not 1 in 5 so being a public instance, 1 people can carry 9 or 14 other players who only enjoy bonking. Not to mention, there are puzzles that require coordination from everyone so nobody ever feels left out or not contributing to the raid.

[... and relaxing nature]

Unfortunately, we didnt know that Krahtenn heart drop is not guaranteed drop for everyone in the party and when we move into the next area, we realize that one of us don't have a heart drop so he's stucked at the previous area. We were disappointed because taking down the Krahtenn was hard for us without knowing the mechanics so we decide to rest and comeback the next day.

[Hi Simon]

We finally comeback the next day with a lot of knowledge about the mob mechanics now. We blast through the dungeon and thinking this is super easy. Until we reach the final boss. We have to try over and over again at the final boss room while starting to learn how to do it. There is no penalty for death so the whole final boss process is actually really satisfing. Slowly learning how to measure both boss HP reduction in phase 1. Figuring out how to communicate well during phase 2 for all the colors while dodging the rocks. Dodging and leashing the boss to avoid lava in phase 3. Unfortunately, we fail at the last step because too many members die. We take a rest again and comeback the next day. Somehow we dont feel defeated but rather a sense of progression. Everytime we retry, we do something better.

[War council meeting before final boss]

And the day finally comes. For all the boys out there it's time to show the white witch who's her daddy. For all the girls out there it's time to show who's the baddest witches in town. It's time to kill these Zekrom and Reshiram and take the key to our paradise.(Spoiler alert: The paradise is kinda small but hey, at least it has a knowledge in water).

I know people speed run the thing in 30 mins and we did it in 3 days but we finally did it. The joy when a bunch of plebs finally finish it is really awesome.

[Mysteries await]

The dungeon has flaws but don't let that scare you for what it has to offer. It is best to enjoy this content with friends. You will feel the sense of progression when you start to understand all the mechanics and get better at killing elites as well as final boss. It feels just like learning a new class and the feeling of joy when you finally pull off a carpal tunnel syndrome inducing combo. Furthermore, I haven't feel a sense of community bonding like this since the last MOS event until now. I return to the dungeon alone later to do some knowledge and just meet a random group of people and they help me with hidden puzzles and we share our knowledge info and it's pretty wholesome.
A lot of people crying and complaining about Atoraxxion, I understand your frustration. But I think if you really wants to contribute to the game instead of complaining, start giving suggestions on how to improve it.
For the weekly rewards, If you speed run the whole thing, its pretty fast and the rewards is ok for it. Just act like you needs to learn a rotation of a grind spot to increase your trash loot but here you can either learn the mechanics or find a good group. If you get too much from a content, the cm value of the items will go down. If not, people will feel forced to do it or they will fall behind. And if everyone thinks the rewards still feel lackluster, maybe add a TET acc or something that equivalent to Khan's heart for doing Khan (Basically a big loot with low chance).

For the crystal loss, it's kinda devastating for casual players who just want to try out Normal dungeon. On the other hand, hardcore player who do Elvia rarely die and if they do loss crystal they replace it quite easily. If you cant replace you loss crystal or it's way too difficult for you to take the loss, dont use expensive crystal it's not for you. But that's a topic for another day. I think it would be nice if the crystal loss only occurs in Elvia and not in Normal version and more people will be willing to join.

For the RNG mini boss drop to make key, once you know how to kill the boss, it's quite easy to farm them til all 5 members got it and the drop rate is not even low. I just think maybe make the mini boss drop a party thing. It doesnt have to be guaranteed but if it drop we should all get it and if it dont then we all dont get it and suffer together. You don't really need extra hearts if you already got it. And if one of the member don't get it, the whole team has to do it again anyway. Furthermore, it makes the one that don't get it feels kinda bad, like a "reliability" and dragging everyone down result in a less fun experience. If this happens to your team, play with a mindset that no one left behind, you are a team, you go through this together.

For the griefing, I think Atoraxxion might be in the same situation with Khan. It's a good weekly activities for you and your guildies but it would be nice if they make it a pve zone like season and don't have to go through all the monsterbane cannon shenanigans. But if you ever meet trolls, just throw some UWUs and send some feet pics instead of flagging and being toxic.

For anyone who will say PA won't listen to us or do dumb stuff, If you believe that then I can only advise you that don't cry about something you can't control, do something about what you can control. And what you can control is the way you enjoy your game. Play the game the way you enjoy the most. That's why I listed "Player-side Solution" for some of the troubles I listed above.

[Squad]

Sorry for the long post. I just want everyone to enjoy the game more. Please don't hate me for wanting some positive energy.

Thank you PA for giving us our "Axxion" and have some fun guild bonding activities. Looking forwards to "Sycrakea".

Finally thank you Ruff, Grey, Modo, Noi and Frost for the journey.

Good read. I think you should just ignore them haters, they will cry about anything anyway. On the good side, PA actually listen and change the crystal loss to exactly the same of your ideas. Go check patch notes this week.

Don't you hate it when some random guy starts shouting node wars?

Just Kidding! Very nice work you've put together here. Good Luck!