Question about buying adventure packs

[Mastery404]

Greetings,

I bought an adventure pack when I just reached lvl5 for 650 turbine points, but at the end of the adventure I barely obtained 1 rank and a half. The npcs kept telling me to repeat the same dungeons so I left the zone I bought disappointed.

My original purpose was to avoid repeating quests. What I'm worrying at this very moment is the amount of money I'll have to expend to reach level 20 if I keep trying to avoid repeating the same quests. So, is it possible to not repeat quests until the maximum level for a reasonable amount of money without going VIP but through the turbine store?

Thanks!

[sirgog]

If that's Tangleroot, there's 7 or 10 quests (depending how you count them) in one dungeon complex. Keep going back in there, they will be quite different each time.

[CheeseMilk]

I'm gonna guess you bought Tangleroot or Restless Isles.

Those are both quite repetitive. I understand exactly what you mean, since Restless was the first pack I bought, too.

But have faith! Most of the other packs offer FAR more in playable content (and experience!) and are far more varied in their questing options.

I'd recommend that your next purchase be the Demon Sands pack (I believe it has the largest explorer area in the game) followed by Gianthold, The Vale of Twilight and The Devils of Shavarath. Just having those four will get you to level 20 easily on a first life character. You'll have to repeat the quests a few times to get the gear you'll want out of them, but that's the MMO lifestyle.

[Backley]

At 650 TP you bought either Three Barrel Cove (quest of level 4 to 7) or The Devils of Shavarath (levels 19-20). Since you are level 5, it must have been Three Barrel Cove.

In general, no one recommends Three Barrel Cove as it has no named items and rather poor XP.

Most other adventure packs will be better, you just picked a dud.

[Mastery404]

Since you are level 5, it must have been Three Barrel Cove.

That's right.

Also, thanks for the advices! I'll stick to CheeseMilk path.

[Phemt81]

You should have asked first...

Just buy The Vale of Twilight and... profit! ;)

[Backley]

My original purpose was to avoid repeating quests. What I'm worrying at this very moment is the amount of money I'll have to expend to reach level 20 if I keep trying to avoid repeating the same quests. So, is it possible to not repeat quests until the maximum level for a reasonable amount of money without going VIP but through the turbine store?!


I'd recommend that your next purchase be the Demon Sands pack (I believe it has the largest explorer area in the game) followed by Gianthold, The Vale of Twilight and The Devils of Shavarath. Just having those four will get you to level 20 easily on a first life character.
Using the lists at http://ddowiki.com/page/Quests_by_Adventure_Pack
and
http://ddowiki.com/page/XP

Free to Play quests once on Normal shows 155,887 XP (not counting optionals, etc.) +25% for first time Normal completion = 194,858 XP, which only gets you to level 6R4 (if you could even run all of them at that level).

Gianthold (950 TP, level 13-14 quests) on Normal shows 57,371*1.25 = 71,713 XP
Vale (850 TP, level 16-18 quests) on Normal shows 68,405*1.25 = 85,506 XP
Shavarath (650 TP, level 19-20 quests) on Normal shows 48,009*1.25 = 60,011 XP

total: 412,088 XP, which is enough for level 9R3.

Even if you assume you double the XP from XP boost weekends, XP shrines, explorer area slayer/rares/points of interest, and quest optionals, that still only gets you to 824,176 XP, which is enough for level 13R1.

All of the F2P + P2P quest in the game once on Normal (no optionals, explorers, etc; Edit: now excluding the Challenges): 957,901*1.25 = 1,197,376 XP, which is enough for level 15R4.

You will need to repeat quests and/or run them on Hard or Elite with a Bravery Streak bonus.

[CheeseMilk]

Okay, so not so easily. I was assuming running norm/hard/elite on each pack, and getting some time in the slayer areas.

But trust me, you'll WANT to run higher-level content more than once.

It's way more fun.

[BiliousBulette]

I'd recommend that your next purchase be the Demon Sands pack (I believe it has the largest explorer area in the game) followed by Gianthold, The Vale of Twilight and The Devils of Shavarath.

Demon Sands was the 1st AP I bought and personally think it's superb value. The explorer area is so huge you can get lost in it, while the variety of dungeons and enemies is also top-notch imo. Irc got my 1st toon from 12 to 15 just with this AP (though I do repeat instances and farm rares for loot).

[unbongwah]

My original purpose was to avoid repeating quests.
This is probably not a practical goal, I'm afraid, especially not if you're trying to minimize your DDO Store purchases. It takes 1,900,000 XP to reach lvl 20; the base normal XP for all DDO quests combined is ~815K if I've added right. [Base elite XP is usually 10-15% higher.] I think the max possible XP bonus is 220% (barring XP pots, ship bonuses, etc.) - and that's presuming Elite Bravery streaks the whole way thru, no deaths, full trap bonus, etc. [Plus you're not a VIP so you can't unlock Hard & Elite right away for Bravery bonuses unless you pay for it or bring along a party member who can.] A 65-100% XP bonus is a more realistic expectation for a F2P first-lifer.

So, bottom line, if you're on a budget, expect to have to milk your adventure packs for all the XP they're worth. :( I can only recommend checking out sirgog's reviews (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=287854) as well as the links below to figure out which packs provide the most bang for your TPs.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Quests_by_Adventure_Pack
This list (http://ddowiki.com/page/Adventure_Packs) also helps.

[Backley]

the base normal XP for all DDO quests combined is ~815K if I've added right.

This list (http://ddowiki.com/page/Adventure_Packs) also helps.That page (excluding the Challenges and adding the Free to Play quests from the quests list (http://ddowiki.com/page/Quests_by_Adventure_Pack)) is where I get the 957,901 XP figure from.

[Quetzacoala]

In general, no one recommends Three Barrel Cove as it has no named items and rather poor XP.

From the perspective of loot and xp, yes it is a terrible adventure pack. But this is a game about fun, and 3BC is actually a very fun pack with lots of variety within.

[EnjoyTheJourney]

From the perspective of loot and xp, yes it is a terrible adventure pack. But this is a game about fun, and 3BC is actually a very fun pack with lots of variety within.
In addition to being a lot of fun to play, TBC is a visually very appealing AP. Anybody who enjoys exploration is likely to enjoy TBC.

There is no reason why one must hurry through the game and no need to maximize loot per minute of time spent in-game.

[LrdSlvrhnd]

And there are only two places in 3BC where you get asked to go back in again, Fire Caves & Old Grey Garl... other than the standard quest repeating, which will happen pretty much ANYWHERE.

The XP and loot are fairly substandard, but I quite enjoy the area itself.

[santiago66]

This is a really useful thread. One of the mistakes I realise I have made is buying too many low-level packs. I spent about 2000 TPs on low level packs, even though I bought them on 20% reductions. I've now got characters around 10th lev and not enough to do without spending real money or farming favor with low lev toons on each server - not much fun.

So my advice is to see how far you can get with the F2P quests. There are lots up to level 7 or 8 if you go into all the houses. Only a couple of the purchased packs are as good as the F2P. I enjoy STK and have played Sharn Syndicate as a guest and thought it quite different. I think Catacombs is boring. I also bought Devils Assault but I think it's not worth the TPs for 2 quests, although people like the loot in Chronoscope.

Tangleroot and Sorrowdusk I think are a waste of TPs as I don't want to do them again with my new characters whereas I am happy to do some of the F2P ones again.

Deleras Tomb is a great pack. I still haven't done everything in it and am keen to try it with different characters.

Look at this page http://ddowiki.com/page/Quests_by_Adventure_Pack_(sorted_by_level_range)
and also take advice from the forum about which are the best packs. Play the F2P quests until you can afford the best packs. I think you will enjoy the game much more that way.

[Phemt81]

So my advice is to see how far you can get with the F2P quests.

Level 15-16 without any particular pain.

Level 18 grinding any xp coming your way (all flawless completion for example,etc.)

Thus, vale of twilight (15-20) is the must have on DDO.

[aberent]

... I keep trying to avoid repeating the same quests. So, is it possible to not repeat quests until the maximum level for a reasonable amount of money without going VIP but through the turbine store?


Most players that play DDO repeat content. If you are a VIP I can see that you would not have to run the same quest twice, however for premium players there just aren't enough free quests to level you to 20 without repeating dungeons.

[markusthelion]

I haven't even set foot in 3bc since 1942.......there are just WAY better adventure packs to spend TP's on. I'm a little sad they still sell it to be quite honest. :( (and for 650 TP's? THE NERVE!)

[EnjoyTheJourney]

I haven't even set foot in 3bc since 1942.......there are just WAY better adventure packs to spend TP's on. I'm a little sad they still sell it to be quite honest. :( (and for 650 TP's? THE NERVE!)
The next time they put TBC on sale, I'll gladly pick it up. I really enjoyed running through it with my rogue and I'm certain I'll enjoy it again with other characters.

Different APs for different folks, I guess.

[Combat_Wombat]

3bc was the first pack I ever purchased way way back in 2009. I don't remember it costing 650tp that is a bit steep. However before you become a jaded ******* vet that only cares about loot and how fast you can finish the quest(like me now) 3bc is a crapton of fun and is still my favorite of all time, unique quest mechanics, best adventure area, XP isn't terrible(really it isn't the quest with the big puzzle is actually **** fine xp for a tr grind if you aren't to dumb to solve the puzzle and bravery steaks makes the pack even better).