I wrote a scathing review of this layer years ago when it first came out.
The stage requires you to get multiple dodges in a row at the beginning of the fight. There is a mechanic to increase your dodge chance over time, but if you don't live long enough for the dodge chance to increase, you're praying for success walking a very narrow path of luck.
What was most frustrating for me is that nothing helps you get dodges: there's no evasion mod to give you a dodge bonus and Hondo does not have evasion in his mastery, so you can't even choose to increase your chances for success by giving him extra relics.
What I can say is that even though the design is terrible as it takes away any control over success or failure from the player, it's still possible to win this thing. Most people won with fewer attempts than you've likely put in. This is part and parcel of CG's bad design choices: when it's all RNG, even if most people get it within an hour or so, this is a bell curve with a. long tail. Some people are going to have to endure huge numbers of attempts without success because that's what "random" means. Some people win quickly, some people take much longer, and no one has overly much control over that. (Yes, mods matter some, but the dodges are necessary to success.)
I hated the basic design choices so much that I refused to play it through the bad RNG. I decided that I was going to play it one or two times each Saturday and that's it. I would win when RNG said I would win, and if it took 10 years I didn't care.
I didn't even end up with the worst RNG. Even playing the event so rarely I still beat the thing after a couple months -- which was a number of attempts I could have easily banged out in a single day if the very nature of the event didn't make me so furious.
I write this not because I have a solution for you: there is none. They didn't want players to have control over their success or failure here. The event has been this way for years and they won't change it now.
That said: you still have options. This is a game. It's supposed to be fun. If you're not having fun playing the Aphra event, don't play it. There's no reason Aphra should be considered mandatory in the game. Be good to yourself, take the time you need whether it's a week or a month or a year. Do what's fun and nothing more.
Always remember: it's just a game.
Capital Games Team
