Been running this gauntlet on some of my different pirates. It is very hard with my lv65 swashbuckler and max level crew. Best I did was 5 bouts last night before they got me with most of the companions who joined battle being carried out feet first.

It was even worse today on my lower level characters, went in with a lv13 witchdoctor and a lv27 privateer. Only way to survive if you are lucky is if the lv65 pet shows up in time. And that only works for one or two bouts before you go down.

I started looking at what the enemy combatants had for skills. This last battle, the lv27 privateer was getting the beat down with 3 ranks of relentless as an example (plus other ablilities). Can I have ranks like that with my baby pirates?! Jokes aside, I think the level is scaled for the level of the pirate but the skills are not.

This isn't really a solo friendly gauntlet and it doesn't give you the find group option so I am inclined to think it is intended for solo play. I have not found anyone to try grouping up for a run to know how it might work out that way.

I tried the arena again after the patch. Pretty much the same results for all three characters, the swashbuckler only managed to win 4 bouts this time. I had hoped things would be tweaked and I guess they were in that the cooldown timer to go again was lowered. Not what I had in mind. I apparently missed the memo that it was Death Match Gladiator 101 on the other side of that trap door.

The concept of this gauntlet dungeon did intrigue me but the implimentation doesn't work. I will say thank you for letting us test, you saved me some money and much frustration as I wouldn't be buying Smuggler's Arena on live.

Did you do the Smuggler's Arena with other players? Because that's kind of the point of Gauntlets :p

anecorbie on Nov 22, 2014 wrote:

I now have a more balanced view point of the Smuggler's Arena. Last night I managed to wrangle an invite to join a group going in to try it. I had only tried to solo it before. It was easier and we managed to complete the entire dungeon with in 2 hours, losing only one or two companions per team member.
Its nice that the cool down time has been reduced, however, this is not something I would want to do everyday; it would then become a grind. Hunting ships for scrip seems a better option. I will be buying an Arena when test goes live, and save it for special occasions with my friends.
But one thing bothers me about the arena - we enter it from our homes, yet when we exit, we're in Avery's Court. Shouldn't we exit from where we entered?

I now have a more balanced view point of the Smuggler's Arena.

Isn't it amazing what can happen when you have time to process a new update?

It was easier and we managed to complete the entire dungeon with in 2 hours, losing only one or two companions per team member.

Uh huh.

Its nice that the cool down time has been reduced, however, this is not something I would want to do everyday; it would then become a grind.

As the Arena is a crowns item, it's completely opt-in for people who do want that.

And as only one person needs the Arena, and as it is tradeable, it's a great way to make friends.

Hunting ships for scrip seems a better option.

I agree.

And it's another great way to make friends. Hunting ships is much more efficient with even one friend.

But one thing bothers me about the arena - we enter it from our homes, yet when we exit, we're in Avery's Court. Shouldn't we exit from where we entered?

There are technical obstacles to that.

I reckon that some of these guys may be overpowered a bit, but in the same vain, I believe that different tactics are in order (e.g. fighting with a group).

As they said, you can try out new tactics in the practice matches (that will allow you to keep your companions) and when you're ready you can go for the real thing.

A bit frustrating that there is no cooldown period though. It's just one after another.

The Smuggler's Arena is not intended for solo play, and if you are scrip hunting it is pretty much useless if you are running solo. But again, the designers made it to be a serious challenge for a group of pirate captains, not an individual pirate crew.

As much of my time is spent playing solo or as part of a pair of crews (where the Smuggler's Arena is still deadly), I find I do not use it much at all anymore.

One of the main reasons I have almost completely stopped playing Wizard101 is that it has become increasingly unfriendly to solo play - not just in gauntlets and special optional dungeons, but in the core game as well. So far the solos-stay-away approach in Pirate is limited to the Smuggler's Cove and the Tower of Moo Manchu, and that's fine - it is nice to have group challenges. I just hope we don't see this approach creep into the core game as well.

I, personally, would love to see the equivalent of Moo's Tower or the SA designed exclusively for solo play. I am not sure how easy that would be to design, though... it might require different sequences of fights for the different classes of pirates, which would distract a lot of programming time from the core game!

-Indigo