Doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result. It's a cliche and not even really true, but it is an apt description of the Skolas fight. After banging my head against the wall for 3 hours last night, I just couldn't take it anymore. I'm not the type to normally come to the forums to complain, but I feel it's warranted this time. For the record, I have beaten Skolas twice: once on the Arc burn week, and once last week (with a Warlock and Titan respectively). So I've beaten him both pre and post patch. Not to mention many hours of trying to do it both pre and post patch and failing. I know the strategy, I know the mechanics, I have all the right weapons, and I don't suck. I'm no MLG pro or anything, but I'm far from casual. I have no trouble completing any endgame content in Destiny. My issue isn't that the fight is hard, it is and it should be. My issue is that it isn't fun, it's frustrating. As an MMO veteran, I welcome the use of mechanics instead of bullet sponge bosses. I love that you have to communicate and work as a team to complete it. However, I feel that there is just too much for most teams to handle. Consider all the things to worry about: Skolas, the adds, the Devouring Essence, the Mines, the modifiers, and level disadvantage. None of these is any more concerning than any other, my opinion (and I stress MY OPINION) is that there are simply too many things to worry about for the majority of players, especially on teams with inconsistent rosters. The factor that annoys me the most is the level disadvantage. We had to deal with this during hard Crota as well, and even though that wasn't terribly difficult, I still feel it was a cop out. It's an artificial difficulty multiplier, and completely uncreative on Bungie's part. With such drastic penalties for being "underleveled" for a fight, like those that exist in Destiny as a whole, there really is no reason for any endgame encounter to be at a higher level that we are. I think even at level 34 it would still require teamwork and communication to defeat Sokolas and deal with all the other mechanics, but it would remove a lot of the frustration of being two-shotted by a random add. I think this would allow many more teams to complete the activity while not making it so easy that it's a joke. There is also the issue with the rewards. For such a grueling fight, there is really very little reward. You are not guaranteed any gear or weapons, and the treasure chests are no different than those in any other PoE encounter. For going 9-0 in Trials you are guaranteed an elemental primary, an exotic, and whatever other goodies you get out of the Lighthouse chest. It is very hard to go 9-0, so those rewards are appropriate. Defeating Skolas is also very hard, but the rewards are lackluster at best. Considering the way the rewards are currently in PoE, there really is no reason for the fight to be that difficult. There will be those that say the fight is fine as is, that the level disadvantage is just a part of the fight and we should just deal with it. I also expect a fair amount of "git gud scrub" and "filthy casual" remarks from the uncomfortably high percentage of immature people on the forums. My counter to the former is that Vault of Glass was hard, and fun, and rewarding, and there was no level disadvantage. The raid was level 30, and as long as you were level 30 you were on an even playing field. To the latter I will simply ignore you as I ignore the opinions of anyone not able to hold an adult conversation. I know Bungie will not change the Skolas encounter any further, and this is not some ultimatum that if they do not concede to my wishes I will quit the game.. I love this game, and I will keep playing it. My only goals in writing this are to vent my own frustration and hopefully find some other Guardians that feel similarly. If Bungie, by some random act of the universe, did read this, I would only ask that you consider those not it the upper echelon of gaming prowess when designing endgame activities. I am an MMO veteran so I understand that those types of activities should be challenging, but they should also be attainable by more than a small percentage of the player base. If you have no trouble beating Skolas three times every week, good for you. I truly am glad you have the skill and consistent team needed to do that. This post is not for you, and I hope you understand that in the end this is a game, and it should be fun. Right now, in my opinion, Skolas is not fun, it is a hot mess of frustration. I have a feeling I'm not alone in that opinion.