Adventure Packs... [Archive] - Dungeons & Dragons Online Forums

AbyssalMage

12-22-2011, 03:07 AM

OK, looked at both of these:

Reviews of all adventure packs (updated and overhauled) (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=287854)
RoBi3.0's Free to Play Guide (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?p=2396345#post2396345)

and although it has tons of helpful information I feel like I still need help.

With the holidays upon us I am still hoping to see 30-50% off adventure packs in the DDO store. And its only rumor that they will be selling them again like last year so still holding out hope and want a plan in action if/when they do.

And taking into consideration I am quickly running out of F2P quests(Normal Difficulty/Non-extreme challenge):
Free-to-Play (F2P) Quest List (http://ddowiki.com/page/Free_to_Play_quests)
I have:
5 x lvl 7 quests
7 x lvl 8 quests (-1 b/c of Extreme Challenge)
1 x lvl 9 quest
3 x lvl 10 quests (-1 b/c of Raid)
4 x lvl 11 quests
5 x lvl 12 quests
1 x lvl 13 quest
2 x lvl 15 quests
1 x lvl 18 quest
So I have quite a few holes to fill in from 8+ for leveling.

Low Level Packs
Not interested ATM, plenty of low level F2P quests available. Something I may purchase after/when I TR but have to get to 20 first.

Mid Level Packs 8-15
The Necropolis 1-4 - Meets some of my needs for level range. Mino Leggins come w/Necropolis 4.
The Ruins of Gianthold - Has good reviews. Meets level range needs.

High Level Packs 14-20
Not really sure :(

Any suggestions? On a budget so that's why I have waited for the x-mas sells if they happen :) But even if they do, need the least amount of adventure packs that will get me to 20. Trying to get "My best bang for my buck" in adventure packs that will get me to 20. If they go on sale for 50%, I would love to get 3-5 packs.

Just for reference:
3-5/6 Adventure Packs (mid/high)
32 point builds
Monk Class
Are all things I'm hoping go on sale (50%) and are on my "Santa wish-list"

P.S. Thanks to everyone who commented on helping me with my Cleric clarification/confusion (http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?t=354713). So far its been a blast.

umeannothing

12-22-2011, 03:27 AM

The Necropolis 1-4 - Meets some of my needs for level range. Mino Leggins come w/Necropolis 4.

Mino leggins is actually minos legens.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Minos_Legens

I would suggest if you buy an adventure pack, buy Vale of Twilight first, there is no point in leveling to level 20 if you have nothing to do when you get there, and that is where most of the level 20 stuff is, other than that, Amrath quests for level 18=20 as well would be my suggestions for you, the rest you can get later as you get favor.

Gianthold is nice, but there is enough F2P content for you it isn't really a must for leveling.

And make sure to finish the slayers in all the explorer areas, it will help you level immensely as a F2P/TR too.

You can get a guest pass for farming a minos too, if you know anyone that can help you with that, you only need Necro IV for that as well.

MRMechMan

12-22-2011, 03:28 AM

If you want me to go into details, I can, but here is what I would suggest in terms of order:

1. Vale of twilight
2. Reavers Reach
3. Sands
4. Necro4
5. GH
6. VoN
7. IQ1
8. IQ2
9. Deleras
10. Shavarath
11. Necro2
12. Fens
13. Carnival
14. Devils assault
15. Tangleroot

There are a few others but I don't have them (so can't comment) or regret buying them (so can't advise getting them). Some people will probably tweak these based on what packs they enjoyed, but if I had to start from scratch I'd probably buy them in that order, roughly.

maha0201

12-22-2011, 03:45 AM

1. Vale of twilight ( crafting, exp, 3 raid) [ imho must ]
2. Reavers Reach ( carfting, exp ) [ imho must ]
3. Necro bundle on discount < ( 1000 tp - 4 packs round 370 favor, awesome exp, 1 raid )
4. Secret of artificers ( carfting, sets, exp, 2 raid )
5. GH ( exp, 1 raid, 10 prema hp via favor )
6. VoN ( exp, epics, 1 raid )
7. Sands ( epics, base items, exp, 1 raid )
8. Plaza chain ( exp, crafting )
9. Devils assault ( easy tokens, 1 epic raid, easy farm on elite for exp and shroud ing)
10. Red Fens ( epics and nice exp on lvl )
11. Shavarath ( set, 1 raid )
12. IQ 1 ( exp, items )
13. IQ 2 ( exp, upgrade of IQ1 items and ioustones )
14. Sentinels ( ok exp, must for monk/bard, easy epics )
15. Carnival ( ok exp, easy epics )
16. Tangleroot ( awsome [solo] exp )
17. Delara ( awsome exp [ group ( caster or divine + rog needed ) ] )

Mine list with some explanations.
1st toon was capped with only vale. At the time highest f2p quest was lvl 13 or so mad to order ( lvl 18 one in IQ isnt good at all for exp :) )

Templarion

12-22-2011, 03:48 AM

MRMechMan's order is pointing in the correct direction. However, I think this one would be better:

1. Vale of twilight
2. Reavers Reach
3. Gianthold
4. Necro4
5. Red Fens (if you are planning to TR ever, you need easy epic quests - if not then you don't need this pack)
6. Carnival (see above)
7. Sands (Sands is not so valuable because it's lower level than Gianthold)

The rest should be bought if you find them from sales. Order doesn't really matter much.

I recommend avoiding these quest packs (some not worth even if -50%):
1. Catacombs (horrible xp, bad loot, low level)
2. Shan to Kor (good xp but there are lots of quests on low levels)
3. Necropolis 3 (can be good xp but needs skill to solo, lots of other quests available on these levels)
4. Thernal (I have heard only bad things about this)
5. Three-Barrel (see above)
6. Sorrowdusk (nothing special here and lots of other quests available on these levels)

Madness packs I haven't ever needed. I checked wiki and the loot isn't anything uber. There can be a few decent xp quests but I have been fine without.

Ew_vastano

12-22-2011, 03:58 AM

Koowluh

12-22-2011, 03:59 AM

My intention is to "own" each adventure pack and challenge pack at one point and I am hoping on a good sale as well. At the current rate that these sales are going however, I suspect that the great Christmas deal we're getting is 50 percent off of mummy rot elixers.

So don't hold your breath on that sale. If it comes, take the above people's advice. Avoid TBC and Catacombs, VOT, VON are advisables.

zedlx86

12-22-2011, 04:43 AM

Here are my picks, in order from low to high levels:

Phiarlan Carnival

Devil Assault: for the lowbie item set

*skip Delera's Tomb; not worth it, even for the Voice of the Master
*also skip Ruins of Threnal; regretted getting this one

Vault of Night: Get this, since here's when the f2p quest leveling slows a bit. One of the best raids you can find at medium levels

Demon Sands: followup from VoN; has some nice items

Necropolis 4: skip the other Necropolis packs, keep this one for the Orchard and Abbot raid

*I've no real preference for other packs between Sands and Vale; Gianthold is not that good IMHO

Vale of Twilight: it has the most popular raid in the game, so what do you think? ;) Also comes with the Subterrane, for Planar Token farming

*Don't have Reaver's Reach, so I can't really comment, but this one is one I regretted not getting the last time Festivult was around. Got Gianthold instead :(

Devil's of Shavarath: endgame content; expect high levels of expert gameplay requirements in LFMs, but worth it IMHO

I haven't looked at some of the newer packs since Harbinger. Vaults of the Artificers has some really nice craftables if you can spare the TP. I recommend getting the free challenge tokens as a Premium member to try it out before buying it.

MRMechMan

12-22-2011, 05:04 AM

*get Delera's Tomb; if only for the Voice of the Master

Fixed. Deleras is ABSOLUTELY worth it. You don't need it, but 5% extra xp=215,000 XP on a legend life. That alone makes it worth getting for TRs,and still very nice for non TRs.

Oh, and it has the BEST xp for levels 7-9. Part2=1k/min for multiple runs, Part4=3min quest and 1k/min for 12 or so runs...great xp any way you slice it. And the dead shall rise is also a good farm...5min quest and good for 1k/min+ for 8 or so runs, at least.

Not essential, but certainly speeds things up a LOT for levels 7-9ish, and a little for levels 5-20.

Urjak

12-22-2011, 05:09 AM

First off: This really depends on your favourite playstyle!

Second:
No matter your favourite playstyle, there is always one pack at the top of the priority list:
Vale of Twilight!
This pack has 5 quests, 3 raids and 3 explorer areas!
This pack gives a lot of xp at the higher levels (the quests are lvl 16, raids are 17-18)
Lots of cool loot drops in here. Especially: GREENSTEEL! GS allows you to craft very good weapons as well as really good clickies and accessories!
And last but not least: One of the raids in here (The Shroud) drops large devil scales which are the main currency for high level trades! Most stuff is priced in lds not in plat!

I composed here a few lists of what I would advice based on your playstyle (only picked 3 playstyles, even though there are a lot more ... and also those choices are ofc biased ;))

1.) You want to have 1 or more first life toons, that you level to cap and only play endgame stuff once
1.2) Amrath/Devils of Shavarath:
While not the best xp/min, you can get VERY usefull item sets here (ToD-sets), which are useful for just about any toon! If you want to spend a lot of time at cap, you will probably spend a lot of time here ;) (and it also helps to get those last few xp needed to cap ;))

1.3) If you play a THF-melee: Vault of Night:
This pack drops the eSOS (although very hard to get, this is the probably best twohanded weapon in the game => get it ;)). While the epics in here are not the easiest, you will learn and adapt to them ... lots of time at cap ;)

1.4) Sands of Menechtarun:
While the epics in here are quite tough, there is lots of very good epic stuff in here for just about any toon

1.5) Red Fens:
Especially if you play a melee character: the claw set is really nice. If you dont play a melee character choose either of Carnival or Sentinels instead to have a constant income of epic tokens (choose Sentinels if you play a bard or monk)

1.6) House C (Secret of the Artificers?)
epic MA and LOB are definitely the hardest epics atm. Thus I wouldnt put them higher up on your priority list. Normal is quite doable in more or less random pugs (as long as you get a decent tank)

2.) You plan on TRing a lot. In this case you need a lot of high level adventure packs to get the xp needed to get from level 17 to 20:
2.2) Reavers Refuge:
VERY good xp and you can get dragontouched armor here :) ... also the quests are quite nicely done, so a lot of fun on top of it :)

2.3) Dreaming Dark:
Also really good xp! Very short quests with an interesting story (especially the final quest is really cool) and good xp/min

2.4) Necro 1-4 pack (or at least necro4):
This pack is a little different to most others in that it has very different challenges and many of them require a (somewhat) full party. If you are tired of the always same beatdown: these are for you! Necro2 has REALLY good xp (shadow crypt has probably the best xp/min in the game) at that level. Necro4 offers quite good xp too (especially at a level where you start needing it)

2.5) Sentinels or Carnival:
Well you need an epic pack to get a heart of wood for TRing ;)

2.6) Devils of Shavarath:
xp/min is not the best, but since the quests are all long (and offer a lot of xp ... just little in comparison to completion time) a good pack to get that last xp you need to cap

2.7) Gianthold:
Very good xp at mid level

3.) You are more of a casual player looking for interesting packs instead of powergaming:
3.2) The 2 madness series:
Combine VERY cool quests with nice xp at the levels where its needed

3.3) Reavers Refuge:
Cool quests with incredible xp to get you to level 20

3.4) Inspired Quater and Dreaming Dark:
Those 2 combined offer a great and uncoventional story line :)

3.5) Necro 1-4:
In case you are looking for something different to the ever same straightforward beatdown

3.6) Carnival
Very cool quests PLUS epics :)

EllisDee37

12-22-2011, 07:08 AM

Are you melee, arcane, or divine?

If melee, I would definitely get the following as my first four packs, in order if I were still leveling:

Red Fens
Attack on Stormreach
Vale of Twilight
Reaver's Reach

Dragontouched armor is a great way to finish out your gear setup with nice flexibility.

You can't beat the Attack on Stormreach melee weapons for first-lifers, and there are other goodies as well. (Nice evasion armor, nice set for wisdom-dumping toons who need it to cast spells, great monk stuff.)

Red Fens is just all around good for everyone in the game if only for the Mire set. I wore the Mire set all the way to cap and then kept it on until I farmed up some rocket boots. (Cannith Boots of Propulsion)

DogMania

12-22-2011, 07:30 AM

Vale of Twilight!
This pack has 5 quests, 3 raids and 3 explorer areas!
This pack gives a lot of xp at the higher levels (the quests are lvl 16, raids are 17-18)
Lots of cool loot drops in here. Especially: GREENSTEEL! GS allows you to craft very good weapons as well as really good clickies and accessories!
And last but not least: One of the raids in here (The Shroud) drops large devil scales which are the main currency for high level trades! Most stuff is priced in lds not in plat!

1) Greensteel does not drop its made
2) Cannith crafting will now give better weapons that GS
3) And because of 2 LDS are now not worth so much

Ungood

12-22-2011, 07:32 AM

Simplified List:

Attack on Stormreach: Level 13, Cost: 550 TP

Has quite a bit of named loot, and a dual part quest story as well as a upgradable crafting system which will keep you going back just for the parts to get what you want. Compared to GH this is a far better pack at a far less cost that will keep you entertained without needing to depend on a raid for a chance at the "good loot"
Harbinger of Madness&Reign of Madness: Level 15 - 17, Cost: 450 & 450

At a whopping 900 TP, and a total of 8 Quests, as well a brutal boss fight and I might add some decent loot to keep you questing for more, these two packs as well will keep you quite occupied for less then the price of Giant Hold.
The Red Fens: Level 9, Cost: 450 TP.

A solid and challenging pack that will offer some great loot sets and has an Epic Verson to play with once you make 20th.
The Daemon Sands: (LvL 10, TP: 850)
Sentinels of Stormreach: (LvL: 7 TP: 450)
Phiarlan Carnival: (LvL: 5, TP: 450)

All of these not only offer challenge and decent loot in their own right, they all have an Epic Difficulty setting, so they can keep you occupied long after cap.
These would be my suggestions to start you off and get you some decent gear and good quest time while watching that TP costs.

brian14

12-22-2011, 07:50 AM

Are you melee, arcane, or divine?
OP did say Monk.

If you are on a budget so tight you can only buy ONE adventure pack, it should be Vale of Twilight. That's even more important than Necropolis 4, since after all you can get Heavy Fortification in other ways than Minos Legens, but there is only one way to get greensteel.

After that...

Well, Necro 4 for Minor Legens. You can safely skip Necro 1-3. I have about half the packs, and still do not have 2 and 3, and probably never will.

Red Fens is cheap and has the best Explorer area in DDO in my opinion. It is just a very Fun pack. It does not have any "must have" treasure, but some very handy ones like Ring of the Mire -- almost only Spearblock item in the game which is not armor or shield. My ranger wore it until level 20.

EllisDee37 mentioned Attack on Stormreach. That's another Fun pack, and treasure is invaluable for a melee but IMO not so much for a monk.

If you can buy these three and still have TP for more, then I would say you are not on a tight budget after all :)

1) Greensteel does not drop its made
2) Cannith crafting will now give better weapons that GS

I suppose it is true, but to craft better Cannith weapons that GS you need to spend at least as much time, and FAR more plat. (Or give up equivalent amount of plat by deconstructing loot you would have sold otherwise.)

FrancisP.Fancypants

12-22-2011, 08:16 AM

Go for Gianthold and the Vale-I can get to 20 on just those and the f2p stuff, there are almost always groups for them.

Necro 4 is nice for the Orchard, but the raid is such a mess. It's alright XP and Minos is nice, don't get me wrong, but I wouldn't buy any pack for just one item. That said, I think it's fun. The first 3 necros are the only packs I don't own and I've never missed them, so unless you're desperate for silver flame pots I'd just get 4 and save the points.

If you're gonna TR, Carnival has the easiest epics (there's usually an LFM up for eSnitch at least). Sentinels isn't bad either, or Fens if you really want something a little more mid-level with epics.

EnjoyTheJourney

12-22-2011, 08:20 AM

If the OP is mostly interested in gear, leveling, and all things "min/max", then solid advice from others is being provided, in this thread.

If exploration ranks quite highly as a source of fun, then working toward getting more packs, and specifically packs like Three Barrells Cove and Sorrowdusk Isle, are likely to add quite a bit of fun to the OP's game. I wouldn't necessarily put them ahead of packs that facilitate leveling, especially if on a budget, but they're a lot of fun to play.

At the end of the day, most of the APs are quite inexpensive, especially given the number of hours of fun you can have from playing them. Most of them cost the equivalent of a couple of cups of coffee, or at most the cost of a movie theater ticket, and you can play them until the servers are shut down.

Ew_vastano

12-22-2011, 08:23 AM

sorry missed you were a monk, greensteel for a monk is next to useless no wraps and endgame no slots on equipment to place greensteel accessary. ( for those about to shoot me down tell me where to put one. head:- helm of the mronanon, goggs:- ravens sight, trinket:- gem of many facets, cloak:- envenomed, rings:- tod burst, ammy :- sirens charm, gloves:- claw or charged or spectral, boots:- madstone or corrosion, belt:- mronanon, bracers:- jidz teka)

Assault on stromreach is an absolute must have stonedust wraps drop in eyes of stone (f2p i know) but you need to farm assualt for marks and the other items to make them vampiric also garments of equilibrium (heavy fortification, +13 concentration, damage increased 1 diestep) drop there also a must have best lvl 13 armour for monk there is untill you make your dragontouched (from reavers refuge).

And all that gear comes from :-

sentinals of stormreach (jidz)
sands (spec gloves)
red fens ( claw gloves, ravens sight, sirens charm)
devils assault ( gem of many facets, boots of corrosion, envenomed cloak, charged gauntlets)
vision of night (helm and belt of the mronanon)
shaverath (tod rings with elemental burst added)

MRMechMan

12-22-2011, 08:32 AM

/scoff

I don't think the OP is TOO worried about ToD rings, epic chrono set and epiccing any sands items yet.

Most monks I know have at least a HP greensteel item...slots aren't THAT rigid and 45 HP on a monk is certainly very nice.

Sentinals is a good shout for jidz teka, but vale is still the #1 pack to buy, even for monks.

Cyndrome

12-22-2011, 08:34 AM

1. Vale of twilight
2. Sands
3.Carnival
4. Red Fens
5. Devil's Assault
6. Shavarath
7. Necro Pack
8. Sentinels
9. VoN
10. Cannith
11. Assault on Stormreach
12. GH
13. IQ 1
14. IQ 2

Vale of Twighlight is a must. I don't see the use of Reaver's Reach anymore. All of my Dragon Touched armor is in the bank and the quests are not as fun as the rest of the middle/high level content. You can run Harbinger and Reign of Madness on passes, but the rest of the packs will give you a lot of replayability. 2-5 all have epic levels as do 8-10.

NarakuSama

12-22-2011, 08:59 AM

1) Greensteel does not drop its made
2) Cannith crafting will now give better weapons that GS
3) And because of 2 LDS are now not worth so much

in terms of damage GS do alot more damage for cannith crafting weapons.
cannith crafting allow you to make items that cannot be found easly if at all.
for example a weapon with holy burst and greater evil bane, if the base wep is silver then you have the perfect weapon for anywhere you might find devils/deamons/vampair/ any other evil monster.

GS offer things that cannith crafting dont like perfect DR smasher.
GS weapon is evil alignment but you can add holy and even smash adamantine if you go on mineral {didnt used one of these but i'm sure it do that >_<" }
the shoud is great raid but stay alert for the blades -__^
also you can make items with raise dead spell on them and can use it once per rest.
in cannith factory you can make alchemical weapons and choose their base (silver, adamantine and so on...) but its much harder to make and correctly very hard to gather resource from the raids, after that you can only add elemental effects on them.
GS with elemental effects are much better.
example: my +5 Supreme Tyrant Green Steel Greatsword of Fire (all tiers fire) :D
gonna make 3 more all tier acid, air and water :D

and LDS still worth alot but their price have dropped from what i'v heard

HanTheMan

12-22-2011, 09:09 AM

My suggestions for what to get based on monk:

1) Vale of Twilight - good customizable gear; 3 raids with lotsa good stuff
2) Shavarath - rings are v.good for monks
2) Gianthold - some good items here and good leveling xp
3) Sands/Vault of the Night - decent for leveling at the level range; choose based on which epic items you need - Note Sands epic items are much harder to make than VON items in general.
4) Sentinels/Red Fens/Carnival - these are the easy epics; pick based on what epic gear you want to use.
5) Deleras - very good leveling at level - +5% xp trinket
6) Cannith - higher level customizable gear, to get after u have gotten your stuff from vale and maybe a few easy to craft epic items
7) Devil Assault - good items for low level (join a no xp farm run, never try the raid at level); challenging epic; good place to farm crafting blanks for wraps
8) Reaver's Refuge - customizable armor (I find this subpar but honestly monks lack armor for some roles); good levelling at the level
9) Attack on Stormreach - best levelling wraps can be got here - decent leveling xp
10) All Necro - nothing much here that you will miss on your 1st life - good wraps for dark monk in Necro2; get if you need SF pots
10) Both dreaming pack - some very good items and good leveling xp
11) Both madness packs - some decent specific build loot - fun and amusing quests
12) The Restless Isles - some good items, quests and raid are comparatively hard to run for xp
13) Tangleroot Gorge - good goggle clickie for low levels - nothing much else spectacular from this pack
14) Vaults of the Artificers - expensive, non epic can be played for free, items from f2p are already pretty good
15) Sharn Syndicate/Shan-To-Ko/Catacombs/Sorrowdusk - you miss nothing by not getting these packs
16) Therenal - pain in the ass quest, another place to get a +5% xp item, wraps are good if you TR back to monk
17)Three-Barrel Cove - absolutely pointless pack, which is a shame as the wilderness zone is very pretty

CheeseMilk

12-22-2011, 10:00 AM

OP is not a monk. Monk is at the top of his "Hope these go on sale" wish list. As well it should be, monk are a lot of fun!

Don't buy 32 point builds. You can unlock it with 1750 favor, and while that may seem like a lot if you don't have any packs yet, it really does start to add up once you've purchased a few packs. Spend your points on a shared bank instead, you'll find a lot more items from the bought adventure packs are Bound To Account, and that's the only way to get them to your other characters who might be able to use them better.

As the general consensus states, Vale of Twilight is an absolute must-have. Sure, the weapons from the Cannith pack might be better, but in you're going to need decent equipment in order to complete those quests. Green Steel is what the vast majority of us wear while we're first grinding out better stuff from endgame quests. This pack has three explorer areas and three raids as well, so it'll keep you busy for a good long time.

I take it from your post that you're level 8 (Or thereabouts). I'd recommend getting the Demon Sands pack. It has a HUGE slayer/explorer area in which you get full experience from levels 8-15, the quests range from lvls 10-12 and are worth a lot of xp. It also goes epic, but they're quite difficult, and there are much better packs (Carnival, Fens) to cut your epic teeth on.

The House D packs (Sentinels, Sorrowdusk) are okay xp, but they're worth a lot of favor, and the house D favor reward is a vendor that sells Returning arrows, which are fantastic if you have a non-AA ranger. Sorrowdusk was the first pack I ever bought. It can get a bit repetitive, since there are 10 quests, but only four dungeons, but it has a slayer area as well, and it's a good place to learn how to solo. Sentinels also goes epic.

Vault of Night is another pack that has a massive amount of mid-level xp and goes epic (again, Fens or Carnival should be your first epics, these are also difficult). It's also a source of House K favor, which will get you more bank slots.

Attack on Stormreach is another great mid-level pack, with some fantastic loot that will last you well into the Vale. It also ties into the f2p Stormreach lvl 12 quests, and you can upgrade loot from there.

Really, the packs you'll like depend on what you like as a player. If you do a quest for the first time and you absolutely love it, ask around, see what other similar quests are available. Some people love the Necro series, some absolutely hate it. Some find Tangleroot horribly repetitive, some like the feeling of moving slowly through a dungeon, making progress with each new quest. Some people want the fastest route to endgame, some people prefer levelling and exploring.

I've never been VIP, but I now own all of the packs, and I don't regret buying a single one. More packs = more favor = more Turbine points. Remember that you can grind out 100 favor easily on each server for bonus points, that can certainly make a big difference in the amount of money you'll have to spend to get everything you want!

HanTheMan

12-22-2011, 10:15 AM

Ok if he isn't a monk then Shavarath drops in position by a lot. I'd say is jus around Delera level on my list.

Sorrowdusk honestly is only good for an AA for special material arrows, most toons do not make good use of bows besides ranger splashes. I just use returning thrown weapons mostly.

Honestly, a lot of my recommendations are based on loot - if you have a melee - my list of recommendations doesnt change much, however for a caster or healer, Necro is more recommended for example, while VON/Sentinels/Red Fens drops in recommended position.

brian14

12-22-2011, 10:22 AM

Sorrowdusk honestly is only good for an AA for special material arrows, most toons do not make good use of bows besides ranger splashes.
What special material arrows? Do you mean ogre/troll collectibles you turn in to Verisigante? There is that, yes.

Intentionally or not, Sorrowdusk is "nostalgia pack". More than any other part of DDO it has the feel of 1st edition AD&D. If you spent many caffeine-fueled night playing Gary Gygax's modules back in 1980's (which I did), you will love it. If not, it is rather meh.

HanTheMan

12-22-2011, 10:43 AM

As in adamantine arrows for LOB, silver for Shroud/VOD/TOD etc from house D vendor

Urjak

12-22-2011, 10:45 AM

1) Greensteel does not drop its made
2) Cannith crafting will now give better weapons that GS
3) And because of 2 LDS are now not worth so much

Yeah I guess I formulated it badly. It doesnt drop the finished gs items. It drops the materials to craft them. OFC you can farm tod to death for shards and buy the rest from the ah. But that will be REALLY expensive (on argo lds prices are at 550k to 1000k atm ... so they didnt drop in value .. they INCREASED in value recently (for whatever reason) ... prices used to be 350k ... so quite a huge increase lately)

Yeah if you are only for boss beaters true. Or if you want to carry one weapon set for each mob you might encounter: sure. But if you want an all around weapon that might not be the absolute best in every situation, but at least you dont have to switch every other second: LIT2 is still awesome.

Apart from that (as someone else already mentioned) the power of gs is not only the ability to craft LIT2. You can craft sp/hp/conc opp/smoke screen/raise dead clickie/haste clickie (CL16 i think)/displacement clickie(CL16 i think)/cold absorb items for tod tanking/and probably a few more cool things I just forgot atm

2 lds are on argo worth 1,1mill plat to 2 mill plat ... thats not much for you???? then I highly suspect you used one of the recent "bugs" ;p

EDIT: somehow skipped the part that the op plays a monk ... so if the OP is mainly interested in staying monk and running endgame stuff exclusively, I would move Devils of Shavarath and Red Fens to the top and Vale on 3rd place ... though IMO they are then about equally important ;) ... dont forget that a first life monk just reaching cap wont have all those super rare epic items right away (and thus no place for slotting gs accessories) ... and especially as a first lifer getting gs items is by far easiest to get by running the shroud (instead of trading / farming eDA)

der_kluge

12-22-2011, 10:48 AM

3-5/6 Adventure Packs (mid/high)
32 point builds
Monk Class
Are all things I'm hoping go on sale (50%) and are on my "Santa wish-list"

Monk is a great class, and I do recommend it. You can earn 32-pt. build on your home server with favor, so the only compelling reason to buy that one is if you wanted to make a bunch of alts on other servers. It's worth it to make a favor toon on all the servers, and get them to 100 favor. That's good for quite a few free turbine points.

Also, get Shared bank as soon as you can. It's pretty critical, unless you have only one primary character, I guess.

As for packs, I consider these critical:

Vale of Twilight, Sands. Both those fill f2p holes in the leveling process, and could easily get you to 20, though with a fair amount of repitition. After that, I'd go with IQ1. Great loot, and decent XP. That would take you to 20 easily.

Of the necro quests, IV is the best, and the most worthwhile to have. The only compelling reason to get I-III is if you wanted to make a deathblock necklace item. Which, don't get me wrong, it's a nice item to have. But there's very little other compelling reason to own all of necro. I also like Gianthold, but if you have to pick between Sands and Gianthold, I'd go with Sands any day because of better loot, and epic content.

You can skip Tangleroot, Three Barrel Cove, and Sorrowdusk Isle. Very little reason to own all those. Threnal is also an obnoxious bore, and if you own Delera's, there's no compelling reason to own Threnal.

Nice to haves, but not critical: Reaver's Refuge (don't have any idea why some folks were placing it so high on their list), IQ2, Shavarath, and both madness chains.

EllisDee37

12-22-2011, 12:58 PM

Sorrowdusk was one of the first packs I got for the favor to unlock 32pt builds. I really like it, but largely from the nostalgia factor mentioned above. There is zero loot worth having from it; not even the featherfalling trinket matters anymore since the introduction of rocket boots. At least the bravery bonus was very kind to Sorrowdusk, making it well worth a single elite pass while leveling.

If you want 32pt builds and you're on a budget and you'd like to have a monk at some point and/or you're playing melee, I suppose I would go:

1052 Free to play
207 Vale of Twilight (starts every list to 1750)
63 Attack on Stormreach (must-have outfit for monks, essential weapons for any first-life melee)
216 Ruins of Gianthold
48 Phiarlin Carnival (easy epics)
54 Red Fens (easy epics)
126 Vault of Night*
-----
1766 favor

This has it all. You have enough favor for 32pt build, plenty of xp to easily get to 20, great first-life melee weapons (and monk outfit) to farm, the two easiest epic packs for farming tokens for TR, and, of course, Vale of Twilight for all your green steel needs.

*Vault of Night is in the list simply because it's a great pack, not for any loot or epics or anything. It has loot and epics and everything but that's not really something a first-lifer can worry about. But it's expensive. If the budget is tight you could swap out Vault of Night for Sorrowdusk Isle simply because Sorrowdusk is some of the cheapest favor in the game. (117 for 450 compared to VON's 126 for 750.) Everything else is in the list either because it has great loot or super cheap favor.

TimoteoDeLani

12-22-2011, 01:40 PM

If your intention is to build favour for buying more adventure packs and unlocking veteran and champion then you need to look at what adventure packs give the most favour for the least TP cost, preferably with high XP as well.

http://ddowiki.com/page/Adventure_Packs (can sort by TP/favour and Base XP/favour).

I'm currently doing this with an alt account. My recommendations are:

1. Spend at least $5 on TP. The benefits of being premium are huge - more characters, no limits on auctions or plat capacity. And it will allow you to buy an adventure pack straight away.

2. If you have another account with TP, or have a friend who is willing to spot you some, use guest passes for packs that have them and are just a continuous run of fairly quick quests. Since you're doing these mainly for favour, run through them with a well-above level character, teamed up with someone who can open on Elite - 90 minutes is plenty. The only real exceptions are Delera and Necro 1 which give very good XP and should be done with Elite Bravery bonus if possible (it's probably worthwhile getting a 180 minute GP for these 2). Make sure everyone in the party knows you are using a GP and need to complete quickly.

a. Catacombs;
b. Shan-to-kor;
c. Tangleroot;
d. Sharn Syndicate;
e. Sentinels of Stormreach;
f. Delera (note has other quests as well as the main chain);
g. Necro 1.

3. Use guest passes for specific high-XP/favour quests e.g. VON1 + VON3 (or VON1 + VON2 + VON3 if you're confident in getting through all 3 in 90 minutes).

4. Buy packs based on amount of easily-accessible favour and XP for TP, also considering where you will need XP boosts and what has good equipment. Unfortunately, most of the worthwhile packs are very expensive, so it's just a case of building TP until you can afford the next level-appropriate one. Don't be sucked into spending TP on less worthwhile packs - there may be some short-term gain, but long-term it will cost you.

a. Sorrowdusk (buy this with your $5 of TP);
b. Demon Sands (most favour is accessible without raiding, lots of good items + XP);
c. Gianthold (most favour is accessible without raiding, lots of XP, several good items);
d. Necropolis bundle (minos legens, most favour is accessible without raiding, several boring quests, lots of XP in Orchard over many levels);
e. Vale of Twilight (a lot of the favour here is hard to get - 3 raids - but everyone should have Vale);
f. Reaver's Reach (high XP, best favour for TP, cheap, high level).

EllisDee37

12-22-2011, 01:51 PM

f. Reaver's Reach (high XP, best favour for TP, cheap, high level).High level packs don't count because it's nigh-impossible to get them done on elite on a first life.

I wouldn't go for the non-loot packs to get favor simply because even when you get pretty much every pack in the game, each tr will still only get you around 500 tp per life. That's two full lives just to get gianthold, for example. Much cheaper in the long run to get your first 1750 favor with packs you also want for other reasons.

Reaver's is a perfect example of the kind of pack you buy with the TP you earned from getting to 1750 favor in the first place.

Unless you're playing a caster or really like undead for some reason, I would stear clear of necro.

FooWonk

12-22-2011, 02:46 PM

Top 5 packs by XP & XP/min:
==================
Threnal
Necro 2
Sorrowdusk
Gianthold
Vale of Twilight

Top 5 fun packs:
==========
Threnal
Vale of Twilight
Demon Sands
Devils of Shavarath
Vault of Night

Top 5 for swag:
=========
Demon Sands
Red Fens
Vale of Twilight
Secrets of the Artificers
Delera's Tomb

Borathan

12-22-2011, 07:56 PM

Personally, if you're looking at the Necropolis 4 pack and plan on getting all the adventure packs at some point, don't buy them individually. The combined pack that has 1-4 is a better option cost wise.

I'm still kicking myself for buying one of them a while back because the discount I lost

MRMechMan

12-22-2011, 09:51 PM

Top 5 packs by XP & XP/min:
==================
Threnal

Top 5 fun packs:
==========
Threnal

As someone who has threnal, I would probably put it in my bottom 5 for XP, and would DEFINITELY put it in my bottom 5 for fun.

I guess it IS opinion, but I doubt your is shared by many people.

AbyssalMage

12-22-2011, 11:47 PM

Templarion

12-23-2011, 12:29 AM

Thanks for the wonderful reply's :)

Here is what I am thinking (based on people's responses)...
1) Vale of Twilight
2) Reavers Reach

3) Necro (4, 1{?} & 4, or Bundle....still haven't made up my mind on this one)
4) Sands
5) Gianthold
6) VoN

3 - 6 are still changeable. Red Fens and Carnival where the other two AP's that had honorable mentions. Secrets of the Artificer, Devils Assault, and Shavarath also has a few votes. Still undecided on the final 4 (picks 3-6) though. If I go with this list (above) that is 4640 TP's (full price) and 2320 (or 2643 w/Necro 1-4) so still within the budget.

I have decided to add Shared Bank to my "wish list" but think that sell already happened :( Does the Shared Bank purchase effect every server or only the server you purchase it on?

Want the 32 point build only because I don't feel like unlocking it on every server (I have alt'itis syndrom)

Well thought. I wouldn't buy Necro bundle but it's your decision. Necro 2 contains only Shadow Crypt and Necro 3 is basicly ****. You can create Silver Flame amulet in Necro 4 alone so that's basicly all you need. Necro 1 has good xp in it but there are so many f2p quests on low level it is not needed.

I still say Sands is not as important as GH but there is not a big difference. GH has better xp quests, Sands has better loot. I have never got any good loot from Sands and I don't like grinding items as much as levels - that's why I have my opinion.

Red Fens and Carnival are only worth if you are going to incarnate. VON is expensive considering it's not very useful for leveling (VON3 is good) - though it's worth it if in sales.

CheeseMilk

12-23-2011, 12:47 AM

VON is expensive considering it's not very useful for leveling (VON3 is good) - though it's worth it if in sales.

Man, farming just von 3 and 5 is enough to get you from lvl 9-11 pretty easily. It's great xp.

Does the Shared Bank purchase effect every server or only the server you purchase it on?

Shared Bank does apply across all servers, however, you cannot transfer items from one server to another. I've seen it on sale quite a lot, so don't worry if you missed this round of sales.

Classes, races, adventure packs and things like veteran status, once bought, apply to all servers as well, but only if they're bought from the store. They have to be eared individually on each server if you can unlock them with favor.

Templarion

12-23-2011, 01:07 AM

Man, farming just von 3 and 5 is enough to get you from lvl 9-11 pretty easily. It's great xp.
To get in VON 5 you need to do the other VONs as well. In addition, you cannot solo VON 5 like you can VON 3. Shadow Crypt alone can get you from level 9 to 11 and Necropolis 2 is a lot cheaper than VON pack.

VON 5 is great xp but sometimes it can be pain to find parties to do it. I have skipped it in all but 1 life I've lived through. There is just so much quests at these levels to do, that new players shouldn't worry about low or mid level packs at all until most high level packs are bought. Also, to VON pack, grinding that red dragon stuff can be pain but if you love grinding items then it might be for you.

Koowluh

12-23-2011, 03:56 AM

The shared bank has not been on sale yet. I know because I am waiting for it too. I'm hoping it'll be available this Christmas, but I won't hold my breath on it (because I'm expecting the amazing and wonderful mummy rot elixers to go on sale this Christmas seeing how bad the sales have been so far).

MRMechMan

12-23-2011, 04:44 AM

Definitely get von before necro2. THe abysmal flagging mechanism and mediocre xp for the flagging (except 1) quests makes it lackluster on non TRs.

Whereas VoN quests are varied, exciting, interesting and...epic.

I enjoy farming von3...shadow crypt not so much. Too many undead quests.

Von=Beholders, a raid, maruts, robots, angry drow, fighting in someones dream, sword of shadow, FRDS, a dragon
Necro2=a lot of swimming, a lot of undead, a lot of mazes and not much story

If you are looking for raw, quick xp, SC>von3. But not by much, and it doesn't seem like necro2 fits what the OP needs.

FooWonk

12-23-2011, 08:21 AM

As someone who has threnal, I would probably put it in my bottom 5 for XP, and would DEFINITELY put it in my bottom 5 for fun.

I guess it IS opinion, but I doubt your is shared by many people.

The only part of Threnal that I don't enjoy is the baby-sitter quest, and then only because it has timed waves.

There are definitely packs with more overall XP. But for XP/minute, it's hard to beat. There are packs with really high XP quests (VoN3, Shadow Crypt), but the packs overall XP/minute is brought down by other quests in the pack. I've run the entire chain and various explorer area quests with folks on 90 minute guest passes.

**Edit**
To OP: I'd recommend Vale, Amrath, Sands, Reavers & VoN. By the time f2p quests start tapering off, you'll have plenty of paid content to last you through to 20 w/some fun raids and epics.
**/Edit**

Avenging_Angel

12-23-2011, 08:57 AM

Vale of Twilight is a must have to be into end game (three popular raids, five quests, two explorer areas, ingredients can be sold for a good amount of money, greensteel is a must have AND the pack is decent fun). It is also what brings you from 16-17 to 20, mostly.

Apart from that, which is general consensus, I absolutely LOVE Sands. I love the slayer area, there are many quests to run, some fancy loot... lots of stuff to do. The only problem is: it will not bring you to 20, not even close.

I'd also suggest Reaver's Reach because it's cheap. Dragontouched armor might be enough of a reason to buy it, but there is also some XP to help you get to 20 with some variation.

Get monk class. Skip 32pt (get it from favor: from the TPs you save by not buying it, you can get enough adv. pack to unlock it with no sweat) and Veteran (I know it's not on the list, but I felt like pointing it out). Get shared bank (loot from many adv. packs is BtA, and so are epic tokens/seals/shards; you fill find it very handy).

Red Fens is not bad either. I enjoy the quests and you can find some interesting loot for both lv 7+ and epic (you need at least a pack with epic setting, right?).
As for Necropolis, I'd suggest to get the bundle when there are discounts on the whole cart (so that you can have a double discount). Good exp for leveling up, fancy loot from Necro4, Abbot.
Between Carnival and Sentinels of Stormreach I would go for Sentinels. They are both commonly ran on epic, though, so it's more a matter of personal tast (loot from Sentinels is a bit more class specific, maybe?).
I think Gianthold is good and extensive, but not the best pack around (and it's very expensive), but I see there aren't many alternatives in that level range). Don't hate on me, veterans who grew up with GH as end game, but Sands stole my heart! :)
I enjoy Attack on Stormreach as well, both for the quest chain and the loot (I wanted to expand from the f2p part). I hate Delera's (ok, I agree, part 2 and 4 have great amount of XP to farm at that level if you TR a lot, but quests are SO dull; really, why everyone hates Catacombs and love Delera's, when it's almost the same stuff? Is XP the sugar coat on the pill?).

From favor only, you will be able to buy something nice in addition to anything you are planning to get. For instance, Devil Assault, Phiarlan Carnival, Reaver's Reach are all cheap pack you can get on every 20% discount period with TP you gathered via favor, and they are worth getting.

edit: Of course, it's my very personal opinion.