There are in fact four Task Forces in the Shadow Shard. These are:-
Explorers and Exploiters - Contact: Dr. Quarterfield (Level 40 to 44)
The Legend of Ruladak - Contact: Sara Moore (Level 40 to 50)
The Saga of Faathim - Contact: Justin Augustine (Level 44 to 50)
The Saga of Lanaru - Contact: Faathim the Kind (Level 44 to 50)
These are among the longest, most tedious, and most boring task forces in the game. That said, I've personally completed Justin Augustine, so it is doable with a good and organized team.
The main problem is that the Shard TFs are old. The Shadow Shard was introduced back in Issue 1 or 2, so it's essentially launch content. It hasn't been updated since. Hence the TFs are fairly boring "go here and kill X" hunt missions, and the few doors that exist are lackluster.
There are a few epic fights to be had in the Shard TFs - in particular, the Rularuu AVs are a sight to behold. Also, the TFs do force you to explore and fight in the Shard, which is something most people rarely do.
However, the question is whether that outweighs the sheer tedium of how these TFs are structured - and I'd say not very much.
Another problem is the ridiculous difficulty involved in navigating the Shadow Shard.
First of all, the Shadow Shard is not a single zone. It is in fact made up of four different zones, and the TFs make you travel between them. Note this.
Second, while the zones are really cool looking and beautiful - floating islands hanging in distorted space... they are a complete beast to traverse. It's fine if you fly or are really efficient in teleporting...or if you have a temp power jetpack you don't mind using. Otherwise, you'll have problems. It's a long bottomless fall, and dropping down teleports you back to where you entered the zone.
There is a method of last resort - there are geysers that blast you from island to island, but this can be reasonably inaccurate. If you step into one of those with super speed, combat jumping, or even sprint turned on, it's likely to alter your parabolic arc such that you miss horribly. And even then you have very little control of where you end up, and often trying to steer gets you into worse trouble.
And aside from the difficulty in travelling, there's also duration. These zones are BIG. Large enough that you can't Recall Friend from even halfway across the zones, much less from one end to the other. There IS a range limit on teleportation, if you didn't realise - some players don't, because it rarely comes up. Well. It comes up in the Shard.
This would be why the Shadow Shard is so horribly unpopular.
All that said, if you want to do a Shard TF, be damn sure you have at least one flier on your team who can recall members. Preferably multiple flying teleporters, because you may need to set up a teleport chain.
Your team leader should ideally be a flier as well, because for the first few missions you're going to need to return to the contact to turn things in.
After my lengthy rant on the subject, you've probably guessed I ain't too keen on the idea of a Shard TF, but if you need a warm body who can fly and teleport...Space Mage might be of assistance. I can make most days if I know in advance.
And you will need warm bodies if you plan on doing this.
Because all the Shard TFs require a full team of 8 people to start.
-- Acyl
Explorers and Exploiters - Contact: Dr. Quarterfield (Level 40 to 44)
The Legend of Ruladak - Contact: Sara Moore (Level 40 to 50)
The Saga of Faathim - Contact: Justin Augustine (Level 44 to 50)
The Saga of Lanaru - Contact: Faathim the Kind (Level 44 to 50)
These are among the longest, most tedious, and most boring task forces in the game. That said, I've personally completed Justin Augustine, so it is doable with a good and organized team.
The main problem is that the Shard TFs are old. The Shadow Shard was introduced back in Issue 1 or 2, so it's essentially launch content. It hasn't been updated since. Hence the TFs are fairly boring "go here and kill X" hunt missions, and the few doors that exist are lackluster.
There are a few epic fights to be had in the Shard TFs - in particular, the Rularuu AVs are a sight to behold. Also, the TFs do force you to explore and fight in the Shard, which is something most people rarely do.
However, the question is whether that outweighs the sheer tedium of how these TFs are structured - and I'd say not very much.
Another problem is the ridiculous difficulty involved in navigating the Shadow Shard.
First of all, the Shadow Shard is not a single zone. It is in fact made up of four different zones, and the TFs make you travel between them. Note this.
Second, while the zones are really cool looking and beautiful - floating islands hanging in distorted space... they are a complete beast to traverse. It's fine if you fly or are really efficient in teleporting...or if you have a temp power jetpack you don't mind using. Otherwise, you'll have problems. It's a long bottomless fall, and dropping down teleports you back to where you entered the zone.
There is a method of last resort - there are geysers that blast you from island to island, but this can be reasonably inaccurate. If you step into one of those with super speed, combat jumping, or even sprint turned on, it's likely to alter your parabolic arc such that you miss horribly. And even then you have very little control of where you end up, and often trying to steer gets you into worse trouble.
And aside from the difficulty in travelling, there's also duration. These zones are BIG. Large enough that you can't Recall Friend from even halfway across the zones, much less from one end to the other. There IS a range limit on teleportation, if you didn't realise - some players don't, because it rarely comes up. Well. It comes up in the Shard.
This would be why the Shadow Shard is so horribly unpopular.
All that said, if you want to do a Shard TF, be damn sure you have at least one flier on your team who can recall members. Preferably multiple flying teleporters, because you may need to set up a teleport chain.
Your team leader should ideally be a flier as well, because for the first few missions you're going to need to return to the contact to turn things in.
After my lengthy rant on the subject, you've probably guessed I ain't too keen on the idea of a Shard TF, but if you need a warm body who can fly and teleport...Space Mage might be of assistance. I can make most days if I know in advance.
And you will need warm bodies if you plan on doing this.
Because all the Shard TFs require a full team of 8 people to start.
-- Acyl