What is your favorite Wilderness area in DDO and why?

[gelgoog]

What is your favorite Wilderness area in DDO and why?

Please list your favorite wilderness area and why. Also list your second favorite as well.

My favorite wilderness area in DDO is the Orchard of the Macabre.

Main reason is the layout with many enemies spaced out perfectly.
The xp for the area is nice and not too hard to get the slayer kills xp.
The loot, and turn in rewards for tapestries and such give you something to quest for in the area.
The design is simple and spooky, not too dark and not too bright. A lot of caves and tombs to search.

Second favorite of mine is The High Road.
Again I like the layout with a good amount of enemies spaced out on the map.
The xp is adequate for the level, with plenty of slayers and rares.
The loot is decent.
The design is where I really enjoy the area. It’s not as large as king’s forest, yet gives a Forgotten realms feel to it.

[Loromir]

What is your favorite Wilderness area in DDO and why?

Please list your favorite wilderness area and why. Also list your second favorite as well.

My favorite wilderness area in DDO is the Orchard of the Macabre.

Main reason is the layout with many enemies spaced out perfectly.
The xp for the area is nice and not too hard to get the slayer kills xp.
The loot, and turn in rewards for tapestries and such give you something to quest for in the area.
The design is simple and spooky, not too dark and not too bright. A lot of caves and tombs to search.

Second favorite of mine is The High Road.
Again I like the layout with a good amount of enemies spaced out on the map.
The xp is adequate for the level, with plenty of slayers and rares.
The loot is decent.
The design is where I really enjoy the area. It’s not as large as king’s forest, yet gives a Forgotten realms feel to it.

I like the Amrath Wilderness. I love finding the Pit Fiends and Horned Devils. I know they are pretty weak compared to Sully, Harry and Horoth, but I still feel a small sense of accomplishment when I kill one all by myself.

[Hendrik]

#1 Underdark. They accurately represented exactly what I thought it would look like. Large, multi-level and immersive. Just a beautiful zone.

#2 Stormhorns. Simply a beautiful area to wander around in. Large and diverse population. Enjoyable just to be in.

#3 Kings Forest/High Road. Both very well done and I enjoy exploring and wandering around. Just wish High Road was larger.

Hands down THE BEST part of these explorer zones is the Random Encounters. One of the top three best additions to DDO!

Whomever thought up that idea gets many gold stars from me.

Thank you!

[parowan]

Well my son is named Griffin, so you can probably guess which wilderness I was most excited for :D

I don't like undead, or mobs that resurrect/reincarnate, other than that Orchard is nice. Forgotten Realms tropes bore me, so meh to the Underdark. Demonweb is annoying. Other than that I like most wildernesses. I even like Wheloon, which many people hate. Too many mobs? That's what invis is for - you're in a prison city not a ghost town!


Hands down THE BEST part of these explorer zones is the Random Encounters. One of the top three best additions to DDO!

Whomever thought up that idea gets many gold stars from me.

Agreed - sometimes it seems buggy, but overall this is an awesome game mechanic.

[patang01]

Kings forest - perfect synergy between visual (dark lumbering forest of tall trees) and sound, both music and environment. It always feels like fantasy when I run through it. Underdark is pretty good too.

Visually it's hard to beat stormhorn but the music just doesn't fit it. Sure, it's unique for the wilderness but it doesn't feel like fighting yourself up a mountain.

[brian14]

1. Sorrowdusk. Very much the feel of 1st edition AD&D circa 1983.

2. Sschindylryn. I know it is sort of unfinished compared to the Underdark, but that's exactly why I like it. Just like Sorrowdusk, it brings the memories of D1-3 modules and Vault of the Drow.

3. Orchard of the Macabre. While first two I like for aesthetics/nostalgia reasons, Orchard is the "practical zone". Best wilderness to rack up experience at the levels where quest experience comes slowly and painfully.

[Chauncey1]

The Deeps area before the final quest in the Fens. Because it was so different from everything else in the game. And lightning attacks worked REALLY well.


But now, the Storm Horns are my favorite, because the area is friggin huuuge and the creatures are a nice change. Followed closely by Sschindylryn and the Web, just because of the way it looks. The artwork in those areas is beautiful.
The Underdark gets honorable mention. It looks fantastic, but it's too sparsely populated IMHO.

[wesclough]

I like wilderness areas in general, and still have nostalgic feeling when I think back to the first times I explored Korthos Island and The Cerulean Hills. Now a days my favorite wilderness areas are probably The Storm Horns, Giant Hold, The Vale of Twilight, and Menechturan in no particular order (or rather the order varies from day to day).

[zDragonz]

Tangleroot. Does anyone need to do the run? I always did it to help out. The spider ruins, the ogre dwelling, the lizard man caves, the thick jungle, the bridges all feel scary. Makes me wish they made it into an Epic version.

This one used to own the lfm's back in 2007.

We used to gather around the entrance and discuss our strategy. It was intense and frightening. Gave me the shakes. I was about to go into a dungeon where not a lot of folks survived.

[Chai]

I like them all and explore them all when leveling most of the time.

The Subterrane is awesome. While most players will solo most slayer zones, many people still dont like going into the sub alone at level. :p

Amrath was cool because it was the first one I remember melee really shining in a slayer zone. When it first came out, it wasnt a caster playground like most other slayer zones are.

[Bridge_Dweller]

The Underdark is the best one, hands down.

[CheeseMilk]

I really like the Underdark. I'd like to see it expanded, and be given more reasons to venture there.

Amrath's super-cool, too. Titans wandering about, whirling blades flying around, angel corpses littering the landscape... another area I'd like expanded upon.

[Vallar]

I would have to say the best was Vale of Twilight, I have done the 10K kills on two characters so far. The reason were how the mobs were found in packs (since I mostly play caster), it is really easy to just blast off a good number of these mobs quickly.

However, when I dinged 20 and went to King's Forest, I immediately loved it. I liked how the rare encounters work and the scaling of the area (though I hated going there alone since then I would have to walk through huge areas without ever seeing a mob; which there was a scale slider or something for how many mobs to spawn), same goes for SS and Underdark, they both rock.

[Lorianna]

Storm Horns. :) I love the environment, love the way it's laid out, love the variety of mobs.

So much so that...

I grab my lute and head out to the hills
I'll kill some griffons just for a thrill
King's Forest just feels old and worn
After the beauty of the Storm Horns
Don't speak to me of Giant Hold
The thought of more giants just leaves me cold
'Few kills in and I'll be on my way
To where the harpies and the satyrs play

The hills and mountains make me feel reborn
Can't get enough of the Storm Horns
I walk the trails, dodge the owlbears
Take deep breaths of the mountain air

I'll go dancing with the satyrs there
Let them braid flowers into my hair
Their songs and stories are well-rehearsed
But they don't compare to bardic verse
There may not be chests here, or piles of gold
There are dragons, though, or so I'm told
The older zones earn naught but my scorn
They can't compare to the Storm Horns
So if you ever see me walking north
Grab your pack, my friend, and sally forth
We'll hike through forest and the snowy peaks
Come back to town after a couple weeks

These hills and mountains make me feel reborn
I can't get enough of the Storm Horns

[Panzermeyer]

There is one area I want to be my favorite but another takes the win.

First of all the Underdark is spectacular. Just what I thought it might look like. As an experience the underdark is hands down the best. However only having one quest and only a few explorer's doesn't give any players any reason to actually run around in the Underdark. VERY disappointing.

So based on that second reason, playability hands down it has to be the King's Forest. First of all it has a multitude of truly random encounters. This is simply totally awesome. There are four quests out here, (should be more, how about some gainthold like side quests Turbine) and most importantly the map respawns, including random encounters. HFCIT?!?!

So you can step out and keep running around out in the king forest how hours and never have to leave getting kills and rares and all that. Not even the new areas match this playability, though they moderately use the same engine. It is the only respawning map, and has the greatest number of random encounters. You just cannot bet the playability of King Forest's.

Visually it is fantastic. I would completely agree that they have done a far far better job with the Storm Horns, (the white out snow storms and view from mountain top is simply spectacular). But there are not nearly as many random encounters as king's forest, and the map doesn't respawn. Seriously?

So since they did such a fantastic job with the idea of the the Underdark and it is what I want to be my favorite area, King's Forest takes the win just for experience and playability.

Oh and did I mention that the XP is amazing out in King's Forest, and if you get a full party with dungeon scaling you rack up the kills like no one's business.

[Sarzor]

I actually like sands. It's large enough to wander around, but also clear-to-see.

I used to like Gianthold alot, but since they changed the visuals, they kinda give me a headache now.

[Furbitor]

Three barrel cove.


Hands down. It has a just right expanse and beautiful scenery. Only things wrong are: mobs are static, no random anything... too few quest for size area... the water areas need more action.


it could be sooooo much more.

[kned225]

It has to be gianthold. Maybe not the most beautiful zone, but its a champion of design. Nice amount of mobs, good size, almost any quest can be run to easily with minimal fighting. Convenient shrines at the quest entrances. Not to mention three teleport areas.

All that and still worthwhile to do the s/e/r. Hats off to whoever designed it

[Lorianna]

So since they did such a fantastic job with the idea of the the Underdark and it is what I want to be my favorite area, King's Forest takes the win just for experience and playability.


The underdark is pretty fun, yeah. First time I fought a purple worm down there I squealed. "Yay, purple worm! Omg!" :)

Would definitely like to see them add another 4-5 quests down there. It's such a huge area, and has such potential, but they didn't do much with it.

[Panzermeyer]

The underdark is pretty fun, yeah. First time I fought a purple worm down there I squealed. "Yay, purple worm! Omg!" :)

I literally jumped out of my seat. Scared the **** out of me.

And to be honest when I am running down there and forget things, it still freaks me out when they just up. They are AWESOME!


Would definitely like to see them add another 4-5 quests down there. It's such a huge area, and has such potential, but they didn't do much with it.

Absolutely. Or random encounters, or more explorers, or a respawning map. Any of those though map this area much much more playable. Seems like it should be rather simple to do.

[Chauncey1]

The underdark is pretty fun, yeah. First time I fought a purple worm down there I squealed. "Yay, purple worm! Omg!" :)

Would definitely like to see them add another 4-5 quests down there. It's such a huge area, and has such potential, but they didn't do much with it.

I think they leave openings for future additions.
Have you done the Belly in the Beast quest yet?

[ThePrincipal]

1. Devil's Battlefield
2. Vale
3. Gianthold

[Lorianna]

I think they leave openings for future additions.
Have you done the Belly in the Beast quest yet?

Yeah. It's a fun quest, though the first time I did it it bugged out on me and I sat in the worm pit for like 10m until I found one of the mobs had gone invisible and was partway stuck in the terrain. :)

They definitely need to add more dungeons down there, though. Maybe a beholder or mind flayer city...

[Havok.cry]

Cannith Manufactory and attached areas.

[Chauncey1]

Yeah. It's a fun quest, though the first time I did it it bugged out on me and I sat in the worm pit for like 10m until I found one of the mobs had gone invisible and was partway stuck in the terrain. :)

They definitely need to add more dungeons down there, though. Maybe a beholder or mind flayer city...

A beholder or mind flayer city!?!?!!

Talk about repeated party wipes, lol.

[FranOhmsford]

Pretty sure 90% of the forums knows what I'm about to say but I'll say it anyway -


3 Barrel Cove is the best Explorer Zone in the Game - Simply Perfection now it has actual loot rewards but I loved it long before it got those.

1500 Total Slayer at 330 average kills per instance makes it one of if not the fastest slayer to complete.

Plenty of Rares - All good fights with no silly mechanics.

Loads of Explorers incl. one of the best in the whole game {warning: have underwater action handy!}

And unlike Ataraxia you can actually go for a long relaxing Swim!


Would love to see what's on the other side of the Island btw - Behind the tavern - Possible Future Epic Zone with New quests and a Raid if the Devs do things right!

Also - Black Loch from Sentinels Pack happens to be an Explorer out here.


2nd Place is going to go to Sands of Menechtarun.

I Like Orchard of the Macabre too and have put that second in the past BUT the more I play Sands Slayer the More I love it!

Even if the Undead Zone is a massive minus and Loot has silly low Drop Rates {Does RoSS EVER DROP?
- The Gnolls alone Place this Zone close to the Pinnacle of DDO Explorers

If there were more Undead available in their Zone {around Wiz King} and NOT Hidden below the sand until you run over the top of them!
If The Drop Rates were made slightly more palatable

Well then I might have to change my mind about which Zone gets that coveted #1 Spot Because Even with those Minuses Sands still comes pretty close!

[Clatterfist]

I love Vale of Twilight, because it's a beautiful place with an excellent quest series... but the new Forgotten Realms explorer areas are so well done that I might just have to give the nod to The King's Forest.

[brian14]

Pretty sure 90% of the forums knows what I'm about to say but I'll say it anyway -


3 Barrel Cove is the best Explorer Zone in the Game - Simply Perfection now it has actual loot rewards but I loved it long before it got those.

1500 Total Slayer at 330 average kills per instance makes it one of if not the fastest slayer to complete.

Plenty of Rares - All good fights with no silly mechanics.

Loads of Explorers incl. one of the best in the whole game {warning: have underwater action handy!}

And unlike Ataraxia you can actually go for a long relaxing Swim!


Would love to see what's on the other side of the Island btw - Behind the tavern - Possible Future Epic Zone with New quests and a Raid if the Devs do things right!

Some speculate that the other side of Three-Barrel Cove is where Smuggler's Rest is. Note that we can access only half of THAT island too.

[Panzermeyer]

A beholder or mind flayer city!?!?!!

Talk about repeated party wipes, lol.

That would be super awesome!!!! Suddenly all those Silver Flame Talismans from all those TR's become super important LOL

[Lorianna]

A beholder or mind flayer city!?!?!!

Talk about repeated party wipes, lol.

It'd be fun as heck! And would fit perfectly into the underdark. :)

Maybe a faction or two, where you can side with one group against the other in a quest-chain. Join with the beholder faction to help wipe out the mind flayers, or join with the mind flayers to wipe out the beholders. Get involved in the politics of the underdark! Get enough favor and you earn things like a trinket that protects you from psi blasts/beholder eye beams.

Fight mind flayers and their intellect devourer allies against beholders, spectators and beholderkin... :)

[Chauncey1]

That would be super awesome!!!! Suddenly all those Silver Flame Talismans from all those TR's become super important LOL

Yup!

[Chauncey1]

It'd be fun as heck! And would fit perfectly into the underdark. :)

Maybe a faction or two, where you can side with one group against the other in a quest-chain. Join with the beholder faction to help wipe out the mind flayers, or join with the mind flayers to wipe out the beholders. Get involved in the politics of the underdark! Get enough favor and you earn things like a trinket that protects you from psi blasts/beholder eye beams.

Fight mind flayers and their intellect devourer allies against beholders, spectators and beholderkin... :)

Aaaaaw YISSS!

[Panzermeyer]

It'd be fun as heck! And would fit perfectly into the underdark. :)

Maybe a faction or two, where you can side with one group against the other in a quest-chain. Join with the beholder faction to help wipe out the mind flayers, or join with the mind flayers to wipe out the beholders. Get involved in the politics of the underdark! Get enough favor and you earn things like a trinket that protects you from psi blasts/beholder eye beams.

Fight mind flayers and their intellect devourer allies against beholders, spectators and beholderkin... :)

Whether in Underdark or not, this would be an awesome idea for a quest in general.

Being able to choose which faction you are going to support in the quest, and the results of the quest will change, end fight would be different. Loot would be different.

That would be awesome.

[Talon_Moonshadow]

When it first came out, I loved the Desert.
But it is old now. Still like the size of it and think it is well done.... but after you've done it enough to know every grain of sand, it loses its allure.

I like Amrath... but actually Amrath feels small. Wish they would open up more of it.

King's Forest... wow! That place is huge!

Underdark! Even better! Feels huge too! (but actually, a little sparse.)

Demon web was cool at first. But small and same thing over and over again.

Storm Horns may be my new favorite. Huge! Beautiful.
But I haven't been able to play much recently. Haven't spent as much time there as I would have liked.

[Livmo]

That would be super awesome!!!! Suddenly all those Silver Flame Talismans from all those TR's become super important LOL

I like the drinking game in Delerium with the beholders. I also enjoy shooting beholders out of the air in groups in Invaders! with Endless Fuseledge (prob mispelled). I'm all for this idea.

Also, now that I read all these posts I no longer have a favorite or list of favorites. The upshot is that I realized there isn't a slayer area I don't like.

[Lorianna]

Whether in Underdark or not, this would be an awesome idea for a quest in general.

Being able to choose which faction you are going to support in the quest, and the results of the quest will change, end fight would be different. Loot would be different.

That would be awesome.

Yeah. The only downside I could see is that they'd have to design different quests based on faction, and if you use the "side with one, can't side with the other" idea, half the content wouldn't get seen by any given person. Or perhaps you could do something like...

Quest 1: You get a quest from a hiding slave, wanting you to break in and help a bunch of villagers/whatnot who are being held captive by the mind flayers to be used as husks, food, etc. While you're in there, you find a beholder that they've managed to blind and are keeping in a cell. The beholder tells you that if you help it escape (and kill a bunch of flayers, including a named one that blinded him) it will reward you, and might have another task for you to kill even more mind flayers.
Outcome 1: If you kill the named mind flayer, "meet the beholders" becomes the next step in the chain.
Outcome 2: If you decide to spare the mind flayer (who will be neutral before the fight, allowing you to talk to him), you learn that the beholders are going to just use you as pawns, and should you be willing to help the flayers, they'd be willing to assist you as well -- even releasing some prisoners to show their good faith. "Meet the mind flayers" becomes the next step in the chain.

Quest 2 (Beholder version): They want you to kill off several key members of the mind flayer council, which will weaken their position in the underdark due to the infighting that will follow for position, allowing the beholders to advance into some nearby caverns and secure them for their own purposes. Once it's done, it leads into a third quest, "Betrayed!"
Quest 2 (Mind Flayer version): They want you to hunt down and kill two elder beholders, using a magical macguffin that makes it seem as though they were killed by other beholders, rather than by adventurers. This will cause the beholders to start throwing accusations around at one another, and weaken THEIR position. Once it's done, it leads into a similar third quest, "Betrayed!"

Quest 3 (both versions): The side you joined with has you meet with several of them in a remote cavern, where they'll "reward you" for your service. Of course, since they're evil monsters bent on devouring people, they'll naturally attempt to betray you. It turns into a frantic "fight your way out" quest where they attempt to bury you under a horde of beholders, beholderkin, etc / mind flayers, mind-slaves, taken, etc. If you manage to get out, you're met by a member of that race who has forces come in to protect you, allowing you to escape, claiming that the group that tried to backstab you was actually just a "rebel group" who saw allying with "wretched surface-dwellers" as a sign of weakness, and wanted to stop it. Whether or not you believe them is up to you... :)

That could lead into even more quests, working for the side you chose, etc. Kind of like the Eveningstar chains, which are 3-4 quests each. You'd start working for various factions on either side, potentially having the chance to betray one side to the other, etc.

Again, it might be tough to really do unless the quests were kind of generic enough that you could swap out the monsters in them but use the same maps for either side, which would lessen the amount of work needed to craft each quest.

[sirgog]

Best: Orchard and Schindlryn.

Both have high mob density, but also both are easy to navigate, so you don't grow to HATE them when you have to run through them every time you want to run a real quest.


Worst: Underdark.

The sole reason that I have only run Belly of the Beast one time per life, if that. It adds 10 minutes or more to the quest while being so trivial in a group that the only danger is falling asleep.

Dishonorable mention to the LOB and MA preraids. They'd be higher, except those raids get run so seldom now (largely because of the preraid time waste) that noone really remembers how boring they are.

[shores11]

My favorite explorer areas are: <drum roll>

1. King's Forest - The entire area just breath's the essence of The Forgotten Realm's which is by far my favorite world in D&D. Abandoned villages, scorched area, rivers, outpost, etc...

2. The Storm Horns - I like the FR look and feel like King's Forest but also the new mix of monsters not before seen in DDO.

3. Ataraxia's Haven/Gianthold Ruins - It's a toss up but I really enjoy running these two areas when leveling up because they offer enough of a mix of mobs and area to make it fun.

[EllisDee37]

My vote goes to Three Barrel Cove.

[Trillea]

1) Sorrowdusk - I love killing ogres and trolls. Donno why, but I always have.

2) The Underdark - the first time I went in there, I looked up at the clock and 3 hours had passed.. I got completely sucked in (and it took me forever to find out how to get to that snoring red dragon, after which I kicked his butt solo).

3) The house C explorer area - lots of close-together groups of monsters to kill that give good XP.

Other than those however, I really don't like any of them.. most of them have the monster packs spread out way too far.

[Uska]

1. The Vale a variety of mobs and terrian and its just fun and you can get a lot of xp on your first run through it.

2. tangleroot its just fun

3. Amarath another fun one

4. The desert big area lots of different things to see and kill

5. Kings forest fun and you might get to kill a dragon

6. High road another fun

I just like the slayer areas in general if I just have a few minutes to goof off I can jump in the one suited to my level and have a little fun.

[Erdrique]

I have always really enjoyed running around the Desert, so I would have to say it is probably my favorite wilderness area. I like running from the undead area with the nicely crafted pyramids all the way to other side of the map with the deep caverns in the Scorrow area. It isn't uncommon to see one of my characters out there gathering slayers and explorer points.

I'm not sure what I ranks as my second favorite area. I really like Three Barrel Cove. I remember how it was just a small town and then how it got redone to what it is now, a beautiful landscape indeed. However, I also favor the Vale of Twilight and the Ruins of Gianthold. I also like Ataraxia's Haven...lol, I'm just indecisive :P.

I'm hoping that in the future the Ruins of Threnal area will be turned into an explorer area as well as the adventure area prior to the Faithful Departed quest (The Shrouded Vale area). I'm also wondering if the Steam Tunnels will ever become an explorer area (since they turned Waterworks into an explorer area so long ago).

I haven't really had a chance to explore the Stormhorns or Wheloon as of yet, and I have ventured very little in the House C areas, so my opinions on those are non existent at the moment.

[brian14]

Whether in Underdark or not, this would be an awesome idea for a quest in general.

Being able to choose which faction you are going to support in the quest, and the results of the quest will change, end fight would be different. Loot would be different.

That would be awesome.
"Belly of the Beast" and "Sins of Attrition" do this in a very limited way -- optionals in the first one, and boss in the second one. But those are really minor variations. I agree that a quest where you truly choose sides would be great.