kro's labrynth : baleful spiders less baleful?

[Velaris]

Just curious if this was a part of the recent update.

- baleful spiders no longer have web? (instead try and cast blindness/deafness and ray of enfeeblement on you, occasionally...can spiders do that???)
Also, baleful spiders seem to be worth half the xp they were before the update

- loot drops are now rarely happening, and not worth much, and no gemstones after about an hours worth in this area. (perhaps 3-4 loot bags in this time)

I mean, this was a difficult area just prior to the update, and rewarding for both loot and xp, now it feels lessened.

Any explanations of what happened to this area and why?
Much appreciated

[Cubicle]

The previous Baleful Spider had a couple issues. It gave way too much xp and it had a web ability that could not be dodged. This was not intended. I simply swapped the previous spider out with a phase spider. If the phase spider is casting strange spells, that's what the base model came with. If the abilities are too unusual, they can be changed np, if that's what players want.

Kro's Descent is a CR18 area, but Oghranns (CR20+) is now accessible from Kro's Labyrinth, if you're looking for a higher xp/item zone. Oghranns may need a .TRN update for the sky, or maybe it's just me?

[Velaris]

Hey!

Thanks for getting back to me on this. It makes sense to change out the spider template, though I didn't personally mind the web spells since I'm melee and having no range attacks in this zone means they come to me anyway
If they could cast a saveable web spell, and keep the other spells to use on stuck opponents, well maybe that could work.
Of course most adventurers around here are drow, and their innate spell resistance makes these other low level spells inneffective.
Right now the mouther is the only challenge here at level 15, seems to take and dish out a beating.

Just checking, but were the loot drop rates for the zone changed as well as a result of swapping the spider? Or was I just being incredibly unlucky?

Thanks for mentioning Oghrann's though with the undead (no crit) there and all the casters, that place is just not worth it for a solo fighter build, high crit rates save my butt, being only level 15 and soloing a 18 cr zone is great, but I can't stretch myself to 20+ without asking for trouble.

Once again, I welcome any feedback on the zone, and appreciate you taking the time to educate me

[Cubicle]

The item drop rate was not modified for that area. I'll make tweaks to the areas/mobs as I go, but the baleful spider issues seem to be fixed. Just remember, the current UpD base build isn't a replacement for the UD/Surface areas. There are other grinding/rping locations that might better fit your playstyle.

Also, please post here if you have any further creature issues. http://bgtscc.net/viewtopic.php?f=34&t=54752. Thanks for your feedback.