Reviews of all adventure packs (updated and overhauled)

[sirgog]

This is a revision of an older thread - with reviews of each adventure pack.

If you agree/disagree/have a different perspective/whatever, feel free to post your review below. The ratings out of ten are my opinion only - I know that, for instance, I think Demon Sands is better than Threnal, but not everyone will agree.

I've also posted for each pack what player types it is best suited to. Some players want to amass the best loot, some want engaging storylines, some want extreme challenges, others want to get to level 20 as soon as possible. (Personally, I fit groups 3 and 4 mostly, with a bit of 1). For this reason, each pack has a rating out of 10 for loot, XP, challenge, replayability at high level, and immersion (covers both storyline and other similar things such as sound). They'll also get comments (not a rating) for a general 'fun factor', which is quite subjective. Also note that a higher rating for challenge may not necessarily be a good thing - 10/10 for challenge means 'this pack is hard to beat, at least on the higher difficulties', not 'this pack is a perfect difficulty for you'.


List of Adventure Packs (thanks to RoBi3.0 for compiling this, and more useful F2P info here: http://forums.ddo.com/showthread.php?p=2397294). If this info is no longer accurate, please let me know. In particular, prices may be wrong.
Name-Cost in TP
The Catacombs-250
Tangleroot Gorge-550
Shan-to-Kor-250
Three Barrel Cove-650
The Necropolis part 1-250
Sorrowdusk Island-450
Devil Assualt-350
Delera’s Tomb-850
Sharn Syndicate-350
The Devils of Shavarath-650
The Demon Sands-850
The Red Fens-450
Phiarlain Carnival-350
The Necropolis part 2-350
The Ruins of Gainthold-995
The Ruins of Thernal-550
The Necropolis part 3-350
The Vale of Twilight-850
The Necropolis part 4-850
The Restless Isles-550
Reaver’s Reach-350
The Vault of Night-750
The Path of Inspiration-495
The Dreaming Dark-495


Low-level Packs: (level 1 to 7)


The Catacombs - 250 points
Description:
This pack unlocks a small chain of quests set in three or four dungeons. The quests are filled with undead and vermin. Most of the foes aren't dangerous at all, except for their numbers.
Fun factor: Mediocre - too many similar foes. One invincible wraith changes things up a bit.
XP: 4/10
Challenge: 5/10 (main difficulty is mana conservation, particularly solo)
Loot: 2/10 (the few mediocre items are outlevelled fast)
Immersion: 9/10. One of the best story arcs in DDO
High level replayability: 0/10, like most of the lowbie packs.
Best feature: Cool storyline.
Worst features: Uninteresting mobs, and it can be hard to form a group to finish the chain if your group disbands part way through.
Ease of getting a group: Not too bad.
Overall: Not recommended, but not a terrible buy unless you are a roleplayer.
Recommended level range: 2-4 (normal); 4-6 (hard); 5-8 (elite)
Rating: 6/10


Tangleroot Gorge - 550 points
Description:
This pack unlocks a chain of ten quests set in one enormous, two-part dungeon. You'll launch a series of attacks on the hobgoblins of Splinterskull Fortress. The quests are varied - you'll have to deal with melee brutes such as ogres, hobgoblins that are potent casters, and even a (practically) invincible giant spider that you have to escape from after killing her eggs.
Each time, you will progress a little further into the complex.
Fun factor: Quite high. Although the path to completion can get repetitive, there are lots of cool things to discover, such as a flesh render (a reasonably high level foe) that you can set free to wreak havoc amongst the Splinterskull defenders while you watch it from a safe location, and a battle with elementals in a secret underwater cave (this battle is an optional that most players do not attempt as it has poor rewards; it's well worth doing once, however).
XP: 8/10. Some parts of this chain offer the zerger over 1200 XP/minute. However, don't expect great XP if you aren't both ultra-familiar with the chain and in a group that is purely after XP - this chain has pretty poor XP if run slowly.
Challenge: 5.5/10. A few fights in the chain can be tough on elite, particularly if you do not know what to expect.
Loot: 6/10. This pack offers three min level 5 +3 stat items (all bound to account, so you can keep passing them to your new alts if you have the shared bank - even min level 7 unbound ones are quite expensive on the auction house) and Visors of the Flesh Render Guards, a clicky you will use until very high level. Edited downwards - while these items remain as good as they always have been, they are now just outclassed by the Abashai set from Chronoscope (Devil Assault pack), which anyone with a shared bank can pass around from character to character.
Immersion: 6/10. The hobgoblins can be pretty stupid at times. 'Ooh look, attackers keep coming through this gate, let's leave it open for them next time'.
High level replayability: 0/10
Best feature: Speeds up levelling through having both good XP and loot.
Worst feature: As you need to complete the entire chain to get end rewards, it's frustrating if you get halfway there and the group disbands - you will probably need to start over with a new group.
Ease of getting a group: Very easy, every VIP tends to run this chain 3+ times on every new character rolled.
Overall: Recommended for all players except those on a tight budget, but in no way an essential purchase.
Recommended level range: 4-6 (normal); 4-7 (hard); 6-8 (elite)
Rating: 7.5/10


The Seal of Shan-to-Kor - 250 points
Description: A chain of three quests (plus an optional quest) which see you storm an ancient, well defended hobgoblin city in pursuit of an ancient relic.
Fun factor: High. This chain is utterly amazing the first time you run it - the caverns en route to the giant city are truly amazing. Other than the mindnumbing Misery's Peak, this is the first of many quests in the game that are truly three-dimensional - not just several flat levels on top of each other (like the Waterworks) but areas where you have to climb from the bottom to the top of an enormous city.
XP: 6/10. Experienced zergers can milk about 750xp/minute out of this chain.
Challenge: 6.5/10. Except for one room, this chain is quite forgiving on hard or normal, but running elite at low level requires quite solid play.
Loot: 4/10. Nothing special here except the Ring of Feathers, which has an ultra-low drop rate and whilst it is nice (and valuable) because it is min level 1, it mimics readily available min level 5 items, so it is easy to live without.
Immersion: 8/10. The hobgoblin city and mushroom tunnels are astounding.
High level replayability: 0/10
Best feature: The scope of the hobgoblin city.
Worst feature: The last quest is near to impossible at-level on elite without trapsmithing, but you won't realize this until you are right at the end.
Ease of getting a group: Easy, as most VIPs will run this 2 or 3 times on each new character.
Overall: Not essential, but not a bad purchase.
Recommended level range: 2-4 (normal); 4-6 (hard); 5-8 (elite)
Rating: 7/10


Three Barrel Cove - 650 points
Description: A pirate island with several non-chain quests loosely themed around pirates, with a cool wilderness area (second best one in the game IMO).
Fun factor: The explorer area is fun to play around in, but some of the quests are pretty frustrating.
XP: 3/10. The quests offer medium to poor XP and take a long time to run to.
Challenge: 7/10. Some of these can be tough - but possibly in a frustrating way ("this is the seventeenth time I've missed that jump") rather than a fun way ("gah, that boss, we got so close but he just held on and wiped us at 3%")
Loot: 0/10. It's all random loot generator stuff, and less chests than several F2P quests in the level range have.
Immersion: 5/10. There's something about pirates that just doesn't fit some of the quests out there.
High level replayability: 0/10
Best feature: The variety. The quests here have more variety than any other adventure packs save some of the best endgame ones. There's a puzzle-based quest, quests with undead, and a quest fighting pirates.
Worst feature: Two of the quests are extremely frustrating. The ladder jumping is horrible, and hard even for high level characters with permanent featherfall and a capped Jump skill. The XP is terrible.
Ease of getting a group: Pretty hard to get a group as VIPs that focus on powerlevelling don't go out to Three-Barrel at all, and the pack isn't cheap, so won't be as popular amongst F2Pers.
Overall: Not recommended. This pack really needs a major overhaul - I'd recommend adding two unbound named items (one generally useful, one more niche item) to each quest, roughly doubling the XP, and adding Epic mode, or something else that makes it worthwhile to higher levels. Do all that, and the pack will be worth 650 points.
Recommended level range: 3-6 (normal); 4-8 (hard); 6-10 (elite)
Rating: 4/10


Necropolis Part 1 - 250 points
Description: Five undead-themed quests, chock full of skeletons, wights, zombies and others. Each time you want to run the final quest (The Bloody Crypt), you need to run the four 'flagging' quests again. Can someone please check if that is still the case post Update 8.
Fun factor: Not particularly high, save for The Bloody Crypt which has a cool final room (cool the first time you see it), with a boss fight unlike anything else in the game.
XP: 7/10. The Bloody Crypt is worth around 1000 XP/minute to the seasoned zerger, although they will need a party of 4 or more that splits up to achieve that.
Challenge: 5/10. Only difficulty really is making it to the next shrine without running out of SP, and surviving elite traps.
Loot: 4/10. Everything is quite quickly outlevelled.
Immersion: 8/10. Some of these crypts feel creepy, and there's few things more D&D than a crypt full of undead and traps.
High level replayability: 0/10.
Best feature: The fight with Brother Salazzo at the end of the chain
Worst feature: Reflagging every time you want to run The Bloody Crypt, also the fact that one of the quests requires 4 switches pressed simultaneously, making it impossible to solo at all and impossible to duo or trio without Hirelings.
Ease of getting a group: Moderately tough. This quest chain has a bad reputation, due to being in the same area and being released at about the same time as the Necro 2 pack.
Overall: Not recommended. Should you buy it, do so at level 4-5.
Recommended level range: 4-7 (normal); 5-8 (hard); 7-10 (elite)
Rating: 6/10


Sorrowdusk Island - 400 points
Description: Two chain quests and an explorer area. The chain quests first set you against ogres and trolls, then in the second chain sets you against their evil masterminds. This chain oozes the feel of pen and paper D&D more than any other chain in the game, IMO. The first chain is short, easy and has four quests with little variance - the second chain is longer, harder, more varied and is fantastic the first time you run it.
Fun factor: Grey Moon Waning (the first chain) isn't great, but the Cult of the Six (Co6) chain is great.
XP: 9/10 for the seasoned zerger, but don't expect overly good XP if you aren't one.
Challenge: 6.5/10. Some of the quests are downright mean on Elite, although all of them are zergable if you know exactly what you are doing.
Loot: 4/10. Would be lower, except that the only non-epic featherfall trinket in the game drops here with a good drop rate (it feels like a 50% chance to get it).
Immersion: 9/10. The storyline here is fantastic, especially the way that the true villains are slowly revealed. The 'it doesn't take a kalashtar...' line in the DM voiceover is good for a laugh too.
High level replayability: 0/10
Best feature: The variety of the Co6 chain, and the near perfect difficulty (assuming you don't have foreknowledge of the chain).
Worst feature: The loot is disappointing by modern standards. Perhaps the end reward list could be a good place for some useful weapons to be added, something like account-bound min level 8 +5 flaming weapons.
Ease of getting a group: This chain is pretty popular amongst VIPs, most play it 1-3 times on each character.
Overall: Recommended but not a high priority if you are on a tight budget.
Recommended level range: 5-6 (normal); 7-8 (hard); 8-10 (elite) for the first chain (Grey Moon) and 8-10 (normal); 9-11 (hard); 9-13 (elite) for Co6.
Rating: 7.5/10


Devil Assault - 350 points
Description: One quest and one raid. The raid takes place in and around the Marketplace during the Stormreach Devil Invasion that was a live event years ago but has now been retconned to occur before we land on Korthos. It can be played on Epic difficulty by somewhat geared level 20s. The quest has a unique difficulty mechanic - it is level 6 on Normal, 12 on Hard, 18 on Elite (and of course, 25 on Epic).
Fun factor: The raid is a blast on Epic (I've never run it at low level, but have heard good things about it there too). If you are sufficiently geared to complete it, Devil Assault is great on Epic as well, but for 80% of players, it will just be a frustrating failure.
XP: 6/10. Pretty mediocre for the Devil Assault quest, and due to its difficulty (for the level), most groups attempting the raid below Epic accept severe XP penalties to bring in more powerful higher level characters.
Challenge: 10/10. Devil Assault is playable and challenging at almost all levels (4-7 normal, 9-12 hard and 15-19 elite, then 20 on Epic), and on Epic is considered by most the second-toughest epic dungeon in the game (behind Chains of Flame) by most players. The raid will put you to the test too, if you don't run it with severely overlevel characters.
Loot: 9/10. The raid has extremely good weapons and equipment sets you will use from levels 4-5 through to around 10 or 12. On Epic, the best Augment Crystals (for epic items) in the game drop here, as do crafting ingredients for the Shroud (used to craft many of the top items in the game), and several epic items from here are really good. Even on Devil Assault Hard, excellent handwraps drop, albeit with a ridiculously low drop rate.
Immersion: 6/10. Lower for Devil Assault (why are the devils not just teleporting out of the room?), and higher for Chronoscope, which has some great plot scenes.
High level replayability: 9/10 - this pack is really designed more for high level play than for low.
Best feature: Loot.
Worst feature: Devil Assault can be quite dull, with long pauses in the action followed by deadly fights followed by another long pause. Also, acquiring the scrolls required for making the Epic item upgrades is frustrating - runs of the raid on Epic will frequently see 12 seals, 4-6 shards, and 0-1 scrolls (you need one of each to epic-ify an item).
Ease of getting a group: It can be hard to get a group below Epic that will still get XP (i.e. no drastically overlevel characters). On Epic, it can be tough to get a group that is good enough to win. Both of these issues can be ameliorated by joining a guild of somewhat competent players.
Overall: Recommended highly to people with somewhat geared level 20 characters. An OK optional purchase for others.
Recommended level range: Hard to say for this pack.
Rating: 9/10 for powergamers; 7.5/10 for others.


Delera’s Tomb - 750 points
Description: A series of four undead-themed quests where you investigate mysterious disappearances from a graveyard, then take the fight to the necromancer responsible. Lots of traps, lots of skeletons to kill, plus a tense atmosphere.
Fun factor: Fun for the first ten or so times. There is a LOT to explore in one of these quests if you want to do so. Note that I'm personally burned out on this chain as I've run it so often, so I don't enjoy it much, but most people do.
XP: 11/10. The quest XP on its own would warrant a 9.5, but the true gem here is an end reward - the Voice of the Master - that adds a 5% bonus to all XP earned while it is equipped. It's a tribute to D&D creater Gary Gygax, who narrated quests here and passed away recently.
Challenge: 5.5/10. These quests are middle-of-the-range as far as difficulty goes.
Immersion: 8/10. Great storyline, interesting dialogue, and the characters of Hargo Grimmare and Delara Omaren are well done.
Loot: 9/10. The Voice of the Master will be used until you hit level 20 on every character, and is always available as an end reward. Carnifex (which has a low drop rate, 10-20%) is the best two-handed weapon in the game until level 10. The Golden Cartouche (~50% drop rate) is an amulet that most characters with the Use Magic Device skill will use until they replace it with raid gear.
High level replayability: 0/10 (you might come back and run this again for a particular end reward, but you won't have fun doing so).
Best feature: The XP and loot.
Worst feature: Some of the foes are dull to fight - Skeleton Archers in particular. These archers aren't dangerous, but just take ages to kill. In addition, it is easy to stuff up the quest progression and miss out on an end reward.
Ease of getting a group: Very easy. Every VIP runs this a LOT unless, like me, they've run it 100+ times and are getting a tad burned out on it.
Overall: Recommended unless you are on a tight budget. Highly recommended if you prefer high-level play to low-level - this chain will get you there faster. Buy this immediately upon hitting level 5.
Recommended level range: 5-8 (normal); 5-8 (hard); 8-10 (elite)
Rating: 9/10


Sharn Syndicate - 350 points
Description: Several short quests in the Marketplace with goals that aren't just the standard 'storm XXX dungeon and slay XXX'. All of these involve combating the Sharn Syndicate criminal gang.
Fun factor: Reasonably high. The quests are all highly unique; who hasn't wanted to rob a bank in DDO? In addition, the quests look to reward smart play and teamwork on Elite.
XP: 6/10. Quests offer acceptable XP, but nothing special.
Challenge: 6/10. These quests are very easy on normal, and somewhat mean at-level on elite.
Immersion: 7/10. The environments are interesting, but the bank robbery is quite implausible.
Loot: 6/10. The weapons are great at level, but are very quickly outlevelled. The non-weapon item drops are frustrating - minimum level 1 +2 stat items are great, except you outlevel them too fast to even bother keeping them, and they are account-bound.
High level replayability: 0/10. This could *really* do with Epic mode, or something along those lines like a Paragon mode that jumped the quest up to be like a level 16 elite.
Best feature: Eight trapped art objects, that you can perform a series of tasks to 'study' the traps. It's only an optional, but it's cool.
Worst feature: Competes with a lot of other quests at its level.
Ease of getting a group: Not so easy, especially for the quest that pretty much requires trapsmithing skills on elite.
Overall: Interesting quests, but may be too short to be worth your money. If you are playing on a tight budget pass this one up; otherwise consider it.
Recommended level range: 3-5 (normal); 4-6 (hard); 5-8 (elite)
Rating: 6.5/10


Sentinels of Stormreach - 450 points
Description: Several medium-length quests in House Deneith or the Searing Heights, that revolve around trying to stop a necromancer from establishing a pirate army. Also available on Epic difficulty.
Fun factor: Pretty good, although one of the quests is very much like The Pit, requiring precision jumping, trap dodging and little fighting. I like that in moderation; some people hate it like the plague. That quest is completely optional, however - if you don't like it, you can get every item from the pack without touching that quest.
XP: 5/10. Just not enough XP for the time these quests take.
Challenge: 7.5/10. These quests are *tough* for their levels, especially above Normal. On Epic, however, they are easier than most.
Immersion: 6/10. The zombie pirate meme would fit in well in a game like World of Warcraft, where the world has less of a serious feel than Eberron has.
Loot: 7/10. Would be lower, except for the monk bracers that are useful at all levels.
High level replayability: 6/10.
Best feature: Choosing where to begin the 'assault a pirate fort' quest.
Worst feature: Competes with a lot of other quests at its level. Downright poor loot on Epic.
Ease of getting a group: Can be a tad hard - few lowbies own the pack, noone runs it on Epic more than once now.
Overall: Cool quests, but just not enough in-game rewards to expect that you'll be running them much.
Recommended level range: 7-9 (normal); 9-12 (hard); 10-13(elite); 20 and partially Shroud-geared (epic)
Rating: 8/10


Phiarlain Carnival - 350 points
Description: Several short to medium quests in House P that surround a troupe of tiefling circus actor wannabes.
Fun factor: Meh. I'm not a fan.
XP: 4/10. The first quest has low XP and can be easily failed. Later quests don't make up for this.
Challenge: 6/10. These quests are among the easier epics.
Immersion: 4/10. A cabal of fiends seeking to infiltrate Stormreach makes sense - but why would they disguise themselves as a travelling carnival to do so?
Loot: 6/10. The Epic items are mostly mediocre and outclassed by Shroud items, and the pre-epic versions aren't anything special. The Epic Antique Greataxe is the only real exception, and it's a smidgen ahead of similar Shroud weapons that you can equip at level 12.
Best feature: Hellhounds performing tricks on flaming spheres.
Worst feature: Pre-epic, competes with a lot of other quests at its level. Epic, some of the fights are just tedious, particularly Crateos and Malicia, both of whom take forever to kill but don't really ever seriously threaten the party.
Ease of getting a group: Below average.
Overall: Nothing special.
Recommended level range: 3-6 (normal); 4-8 (hard); 6-10 (elite); 20 (epic)
Rating: 6/10





Next post: The level 8+ packs.

[sirgog]

Mid and High level packs


The Ruins of Threnal - 550 points
Youtube video ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1SUjvxbvbtM
Description: About ten quests set in three or four large dungeons involving a series of attacks on House Deneith and House Kundarak interests at an archaeological site.
Fun factor: Great the first few times, but quest difficulties vary enormously within the chain - some quests are so easy as to be trivial; others are tough indeed. This just makes the chain frustrating, especially if your group is good enough to stomp some of it but can't beat other parts.
XP: 6.5/10. Parts of this chain offer very good XP, but one part (Protect Coyle) brings the whole pack down.
Challenge: 8/10. One part of this (Protect Coyle) is extremely difficult for its level, but in a frustrating way ("what? we failed AGAIN because that idiot woke up and aggroed a whole pack of mobs?"). The rest of the chain would be a pretty standard 6-7 here.
Immersion: 8/10. Good storyline.
Loot: 6/10. This pack has the best low-to-mid level one-handed weapon in the game (Retribution, a min level 6 longsword), the useful-at-endgame Mantle of the Worldshaper, and pretty much nothing else. The other items here could do with a bit of an overhaul to make them relevant now, particularly the Threnal Ceremonial Blade quest.
High level replayability: 0/10. You might come back here for the Worldshaper Mantle or favor; you won't enjoy doing so.
Best feature: Flesh Renders are great foes, and provide an introduction to the concept of DR (damage reduction).
Worst feature: There are two. Suicidal Coyle, and the absolutely horrible quest chain flagging, where you can very easily accidentally screw up and reset a chain.
Ease of getting a group: Very hard, except to repeat the high XP parts.
Overall: This pack really, really needs an overhaul - balancing the XP awards, totally rewriting the flagging mechanics, and giving Coyle an additional 1000hp (on casual and normal), 500 more on Hard and 200 more on Elite. Once that happens, I'll reassess the pretty bad rating it has here. I recommend first totally redesigning East 3, and giving it ~4000 base XP while reducing some other XP awards, then changing the flagging mechanics so that your reward for the West chain is a Kundarak Commendation Token, East grants a Deneith Commendation Token, South grants a Gatekeeper Commendation Token, and you can turn in one of each of those tokens to an NPC to be able to select your choice of end rewards for the chain from a partial list.
Recommended level range: 7-10 (normal); 9-11 (hard); 9-13 (elite)
Rating: 4/10


The Red Fens - 450 points
Description: Four quests and a wilderness area centred on the war between Sahaugin and Drow in a marsh.
Fun factor: These quests are very varied, with one stealth-based quest, one hack-and-slash with an exploration feel, one defense of a town, and then the final showdown.
XP: 6.5/10. Nothing much here. The wilderness area has OK XP, but none of the quests offer overl much.
Challenge: 9/10. Most of this pack isn't overly difficult, but the final quest is. The major optional in Into the Deep is extremely difficult to beat at level, especially on Elite (although it's been nerfed to be more accessible on Epic).
Immersion: 8.5/10. Good storyline. The final revelation of just who (or what) has been the main antagonist is well set-up.
Loot: 8/10. This pack has excellent items for a variety of low-level builds, and the Epic upgrades, whilst varied, contain some real gems.
High level replayability: 10/10. Epic on this pack was really well-done.
Best feature: DM voiceovers. The number of times I have heard 'RELEASE THE SCRAGS!' shouted into guild voice chat at random times continues to grow.
Worst feature: 'Underwater' combat that feels like fighting with your Haste dispelled and a Slow spell cast on you.
Ease of getting a group: Quite easy.
Overall: A reasonable choice for medium-level characters, and something to get for sure once you are level 20, although it may not be your first pack purchased at 20.
Recommended level range: 8-10 (normal); 9-12 (hard); 11-15 (elite); 20 (epic)
Rating: 8/10


The Vault of Night - 800 points
Description: A chain of four quests and two raids, culminating in a raid battle against Velah, the red dragon.
Fun factor: These quests are a blast at level 10 or so, and again at 20 on Epic. They are highly varied.
XP: 10/10. This is mainly for VON3, which is one of the best XP quests in the game in a good group. Be warned - it's a quest you can easily fail to complete if in a mediocre group. VON5 can be great XP too, but it is hard to find a raid group for at-level.
Challenge: 8/10: These quests are mostly a little tougher than expected for their levels. On Epic, 1, 2 and 6 are all easier than most epics, 3 and 5 are about average (5 is very, very shrine-light though), and epic VON4 is quite difficult for most groups, although some people regularly solo it.
Immersion: 6/10: Some things are amazing about this storyline, but some make no sense. Why does Velah not fly? Why don't Pragon Luridae, Champion Deathblood and their Beholder companion help Veil to kill the Marut? And so on.
Loot: 10/10. For level 20s, this has the best weapon in the game (Epic Sword of Shadows), the best AC armor in the game (Epic Red Dragonscale, which is also the second-best non-docent armor and best docent for enhancing melee DPS), the best non-docent DR armor in the game (Epic Stonemeld Plate), some excellent caster items (Epic Dragon's Eye), +4 tomes and more. While some of the non-epic loot is excellent at mid levels too, you need to be very lucky to acquire it before you outlevel it. The only thing missing is non-epic red dragon scales.
High level replayability: 10/10.
Best feature: Probably the first time you look over the side in VON6 and realise just where you are.
Worst feature: Having to repeat VON5 (usually on normal) every time you want to attempt epic VON6. While it's a very well-made quest, VON5 is so long, and easy, that it just becomes a chore.
Ease of getting a group: Easy
Overall: 9.5/10. Highly recommended to anyone with level 20 characters; worth considering for anyone else.
Recommended level range: 8-12 (normal); 8-13 (hard); 10-15 (elite). 20 with moderate gear on Epic.

The Ruins of Gianthold - 995 points
Description: A huge pack, containing ten quests, one raid and an explorer area. The quests are highly varied (although they share a few things in common).
Fun factor: These quests are (mostly) awesome. The Crucible is one of the most interesting quests in the game (allow three hours to run it if it is everyone in the group's first attempt and you don't use spoilers, once you know what you are doing, you can get that down to twenty minutes). Gianthold Tor just feels 'epic', and has the best fights against dragons currently in the game.
XP: 8/10. Some quests offer the seasoned zerger 1100 XP/minute, but the days of getting 2500-3000 XP per minute from some of these have gone the way of the dodo. (Trial by Fire used to have twice its current XP)
Challenge: 5.5/10. With two exceptions (Elite Crucible, and the Gianthold Tor dragon fights) this pack is pretty easy for its level. The Tor dragons on Elite are great fights, but unfortunately there is no loot incentive to run them above normal, so few people ever experience the fight. This will go up if the devs ever increase the hard/elite drop rate of named items and/or dragon scales in the Tor.
Immersion: 9/10: Some good storylines, some of the best DM text in the game (albeit the least realistic), which creates a real D&D feel.
Loot: 8/10. Lots of good stuff, but most of it will be replaced as you level. This pack does offer the Dreamspitter and Madstone Boots, which remain best-in-slot for many builds, at least for situational use, as well as Blue Dragonscale Armor which works well in some builds.
High level replayability: 5/10. For level 20s, the Reaver's Fate raid and Gianthold Tor still offer some useful rewards, but both are very easy to beat. Can only go up, maybe to a perfect 10, once the epic version of Gianthold Tor that was accidentally leaked to Lamannia some time ago is finished and released.
Best feature: The number and variety of quests.
Worst feature: Probably the large number of times you need to repeat quests in here to obtain relics and dragon scales; this is somewhat ameliorated by them being tradeable. Also the raid is somewhat of a letdown.
Ease of getting a group: Easy for everything except elite Crucible and hard/elite Tor with dragons.
Overall: 9.5/10. One of the best packs.
Recommended level range: 12-14 (normal); 13-16 (hard); 14-18 (elite). Note that some quests (in particular Trial by Fire) are easier than this, others (the dragons in Gianthold Tor) are tougher.


The Necropolis part 2 - 350 points
Description: This consists of five quests, choc full of incorporeal undead.
Fun factor: Somewhat ruined by one or two really dull quests.
XP: 10/10. The seasoned zerger can amass as much as 2300-2700 XP per minute in the Shadow Crypt and pretty solid XP in one of the other quests. However, that requires extreme foreknowledge of the quest - without that knowledge, the puzzles in there may not be solvable at all.
Challenge: 6/10. The main challenge is not falling asleep while doing the swimming quest, or completing the final quest without firewall.
Immersion: 8/10. Undead, traps, and a vampire mastermind make for a compelling chain.
Loot: 6/10. This pack has some of the best handwraps in the game.
High level replayability: 0/10.
Best feature: The XP from The Shadow Crypt
Worst features: Incorporeal undead everywhere, endless boring swimming, irritating flagging mechanics, fights that are ridiculously difficult unless you have an arcane caster with Firewall, forced party splitting, I could go on and on. This chain needs a bit of an overhaul.
Ease of getting a group: Varies by quest.
Overall: Not recommended.
Recommended level range: 8-12
Rating: 4/10


The Necropolis part 3 - 350 points
Description: Another five undead quests in the Necropolis. These quests are tougher than their level indicates, with the exception of The Cursed Crypt.
Fun factor: Really varied here. Tomb of the Tormented is an infamous quest - it's a lot of fun for the first half of your first run, then it is just dull. This quest has quite a reputation, and is probably the most hated quest in the game. The other three level 11 quests are far, far tougher than their level indicates and not all that much fun, but The Cursed Crypt makes up for that and is one of my favorite quests in the game despite dozens of runs.
XP: 5.5/10. Solid but unspectacular, not very zerger-friendly.
Challenge: 8/10. These quests are tough for their levels, even on Normal.
Immersion: 7/10. Some are done well, some aren't.
Loot: 9/10, for two items - the Docent of Defiance (the best defensive docent in the game for most Warforged builds) and the Silver Flame Talisman, the best defensive item for fighting beholders and some undead.
High level replayability: 2/10, for the Cursed Crypt along.
Best feature: The Cursed Crypt is a really interesting and unique quest that rewards tactical play.
Worst feature: Rats in a maze (shudders).
Ease of getting a group: For the Cursed Crypt - not too hard. For the other four, near to impossible.
Overall: Like the Catacombs, I'm not going to recommend this, but it's not a purchase you'll be guaranteed to regret.
Recommended level range: 11-14 (normal); 12-14 (hard); 12-16 (elite) (quests are harder than their level indicates)
Rating: 6.5/10


The Restless Isles - 600 points
Description: This pack contains two very long quests and one two-part raid plus an explorer area. The quests are interesting but there's little incentive to run them more than once or twice each. The first part of the raid is an enormous puzzle, which requires significant teamwork to solve and is unlike anything else I've ever seen or heard of in any MMO. The second part is a battle against a reasonably mean Warforged Titan raid boss, which requires precision play and tactics rather than brute force, but really only requires a couple of people with everyone other than two or three key people nothing other than spectators.
Fun factor: I personally didn't find this content all that much fun - your results may vary.
XP: 4/10. The Titan preraid is really good XP per minute if you can get a group of 12 flagged at-level players that know it well - however, that is close to impossible to organise. The rest is just - meh.
Challenge: 6.5/10 for the combats; 9/10 for the puzzles.
Immersion: 4/10. Lazers just make no sense in D&D. Plus, why can't my 38 Intelligence Wizard solve this puzzle just by looking at it?
Loot: 5/10. The Chattering Ring is the best-in-slot item for AC builds and the Seven-Fingered Gloves and Belt of Brute Strength are fantastic for pre-20th-level characters. This would be higher, but these items are just notoriously hard to get.
High level replayability: 3/10. Running Titan in a smallish group is somewhat entertaining at all levels.
Best feature: The loot, and the first time you try to figure out the puzzles.
Worst feature: Waiting around in part 1 of the raid when your subgroup has completed its puzzles but other subgroups haven't and aren't sure what to do - you can be stuck for half an hour sometimes.
Ease of getting a group: Hard to fill, especially if you do not know the puzzles.
Overall: Only worth considering for the raid loot.
Recommended level range: 9-11 (normal); 11-14 (hard); 13+ (elite), these quests can be pretty mean on Elite with level-appropriate characters.
Rating: 5/10


The Demon Sands - 850 points
YouTube video ad: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=RMVZtQsoC_0
Description: This is a huge pack, almost the size of Gianthold, with about eight quests plus a raid. The quests are varied, long, fun and rewarding, and there's also an enormous explorer area.
Fun factor: Pretty good here. There's a lot to explore (particularly in the Chains of Flame and Tomb of the Wizard King quests).
XP: 9/10. Chamber of Raiyum and Offering of Blood are automatic go-tos for every TR'ed character and offer a lot of XP, especially the former. Top-notch groups can manage over 2000xp/minute in Wiz-King (most groups can realistically expect 700).
Challenge: 10/10 on Epic, 7/10 at level. These quests are generally tougher than Gianthold when run at-level, and on Epic, they are the majority of the tougher epics.
Immersion: 9/10. Really gets a boost for the Court of Lailat. Look at it from above.
Loot: 9/10. Several best-in-slot items here on Epic mode, including the extremely coveted Epic Marilith Chain (the top melee DPS armor), the Epic Chaosblade and Epic Unkor's Cleaver (the highest DPS vorpal weapons in the game, the former being worth using even in situations where vorpals do not work, and the Torc of Raiyum, one of the best items for any class that can heal themself from SP. Oh and lots of the non-epic loot is good when you get it, particularly the Spectral Gloves, Bloodstone and Firestorm Greaves, all of which are still used by many level 20 characters. Be warned: Some epic upgrade items have *extremely* low drop rates.
High level replayability: 10/10. Some of the best epic quests are here.
Best feature: The quest "Against the Demon Queen", the last quest required to flag for the raid. Great story concept, great quest. If you hadn't noticed, the whole dungeon is in the shape of a marilith.
Worst feature: The size of the explorer area makes for some loooooong runs to get to the real quests, especially Chains of Flame.
Important warning: These quests are unforgiving on Epic - they are entirely unsuited to 'fresh' level 20s without gear.
Ease of getting a group: Quite easy (getting a group that can succeed on Epic is less easy)
Overall: Quite highly recommended for levelling. Not recommended for people that are new to level 20, but highly recommended to people that have seasoned, geared level 20 characters.
Recommended level range: 10-14 (normal); 12-15 (hard); 13-17 (elite); 20 (epic, suitable only for geared and experienced players)
Rating: 9.5/10


Necropolis part 4 - 850 points
Description: Finally, a bunch of quests in the Necropolis that's not packed full of stinkers! This unlocks five quests and a raid, plus (IMO) the best explorer area in the game, the Orchard of the Macabre. Although all undead-themed, the quests are highly varied - there's a maze (Inferno of the Damned, really fun quest if you have a patient group that's never seen it before), a straightforward hack-and-slash (Desecrated Temple of Vol), possibly the best non-raid boss fight in the game (Cholthuzz, the boss of Ghosts of Perdition), and some truly unique and memorable encounters in Litany of the Dead.
Fun factor: I really liked this content - personally I prefer it to Gianthold, although I'm in a small minority there. However, be warned: the Abbot raid is tough, and unforgiving. Parts of it require flawless execution, and a small lagspike at the wrong time can cause a group to fail the raid.
XP: 8/10. Good XP to be had here, but other than Litany of the Dead (which requires flagging), nothing spectacular. Goes up to 9.5 if you have a group full of geared veterans that can do true speedruns of the quests, but these groups are very rare.
Challenge: 8/10. These quests are mostly tougher than their level indicates. The Abbot raid is worthy of an 11/10 here.
Immersion: 7/10. Somewhat mixed here.
Loot: 9/10. The Black Abbot raid has some nice loot, but the most significant item of loot comes from the Orchard of the Macabre explorer area - if you collect twenty Shreds of Tapestry from rare encounter chests out there (they have a high drop rate, about 60%), you can turn them in for one of the game's best defensive helmets, Minos Legens. You can use this at level 11 and probably will keep it equipped until level 20 on almost any build of any class.
High level replayability: 6/10. These quests are still tough enough to be entertaining on elite with 'fresh' level 20s and offer some nice gear. The Abbot raid is still difficult at 20 (too difficult for many players).
Best feature: There's a lot of good stuff here, but I'd go with the feeling of satisfaction you get when you finally solve the maze of Inferno of the Damned.
Worst feature: In this entire pack, melee classes are quite weak and will feel (correctly) that their party doesn't really need them. The Abbot raid is an exception - here they are weak but useful. In particular, Rogues will feel terribly weak.
Ease of getting a group: Reasonable.
Overall: Recommended. This isn't an essential purchase like the Vale of Twilight, but it's still a great pack.
Recommended level range: 14-16 (normal); 15-17 (hard); 16-18 (elite) for the quests, 18+ for the raid
Rating: 8.5/10


The Vale of Twilight - 700 points
Special note: This contains two different areas, the Vale of Twilight and the Subterrane. Although you get both for the one purchase, they feel different enough that I'm reviewing them separately.
Description: Contains five quests, a standard wilderness area, and the most important raid in the game, The Shroud. The quests and raid centre around attacks on Eberron by the devil armies of Shavarrath and their cultists.
Fun factor: Except for one terrible quest (Coalescence Chamber), these quests are a lot of fun, and the Shroud remains somewhat entertaining even after dozens of completions, although you get sick of it eventually. One part of it is designed to hardly ever play the same way twice, as there's a semi-random selection of key minibosses.
XP: 7/10. Nothing special, but it's solid. Seasoned zergers will get great XP from two quests, Rainbow in the Dark and Running with the Devils.
Challenge: 8/10. The difficulty ramps up a bit here, compared to previous content, particularly above normal. The Shroud raid is punishing to ungeared or poorly built toons that have been able to be effective at lower levels, and is particularly punishing to characters that have a mediocre or low hit point total.
Immersion: 9/10. Great storylines here, and roleplayer types fall in love with Rainbow in the Dark.
Loot: 12/10. Regardless of your class or build, you will be able to craft items here with 5 abilities, and they will be so powerful you would use them even if you could only get three of the abilities. For example, my main character, who has most of the Epic gear they are chasing after, wears three crafted items from the Shroud nearly the time, and situationally equips four others. Shroud weapons utterly outclass anything other than epic items, and Shroud accessories outclass even most epic items.
High level replayability: 8/10. Generally quite good, this rating would be higher if there was more of an incentive to run the Shroud above normal, as geared level 20s still want things from it but find it too easy and quite dull on Normal after dozens of runs.
Best feature: The Shroud, parts 2 and 4 - intense, exciting battles.
Worst feature: Part 1 of The Shroud. It's incredibly easy (even on Elite) and dull, monotonous and long. Also Coalessence Chamber, although that quest has been improved somewhat.
Ease of getting a group: Very easy for everything except Coalescence Chamber.
Overall: A true must-have. The pack to buy, if you buy only one pack.
Recommended level range: 14+
Rating: 10/10


The Subterrane - Free with the Vale of Twilight
Special note: The Vale of Twilight pack contains two different areas, the Vale of Twilight and the Subterrane. Although you get both for the one purchase, they feel different enough that I'm reviewing them separately.
Description: Contains two raids and the game's only raid group explorer area, all hiding underneath the Stormreach marketplace.
Fun factor: Quite high. The raids have some intense battles, and one quite unique puzzle in Hound of Xoriat.
XP: 5.5/10. This would be higher, except both raids take a while to get to and both are failed (resulting in no XP) occasionally to often, depending upon your group. Plus, most of the XP comes from raids you can only do once per 3 days.
Challenge: 9.5/10. Even the explorer area is punishing to many builds. The raids are quite accessible on Normal, but both really require a combination of good to excellent tactics and good to excellent gear on hard and elite. Hound of Xoriat on Elite is one of the toughest encounters in the game, and one of the few raids that is pretty much unable to be completed outside of guild groups.
Immersion: 7/10. Some nice touches - the ancient Giant runes among them - but once he realises you pose a serious threat to him, why doesn't Suulomades just set everything he has onto you at once? Also, what are the undead Giants doing down here?
Loot: 8/10. Many builds will find one, maybe two best-in-slot items, or close to it, in these raids. However, the lack of weapons found there reduces this factor, as weapons are usually the most important and powerful loot.
High level replayability: 9/10. These raids manage something virtually no other content in the game manages - they are accessible to more casual players on Normal, yet remain challenging and rewarding to powergamers when played on Elite. More raids should take a leaf out of this book, and should use the unusual loot tables from these raids (where some items are common on Elite but almost never seen on normal).
Best feature: There's quite a few highlights. Possibly the really unique fight with Garamol in the Subterrane, which is chaotic.
Worst feature: Having someone fall due to lag (or lack of Mario Brothers skills) en route to VoD, which requires the rest of the group to wait. Also, the explorer area is really under-utilised, there are a lot of nooks and crannies that noone ever explores because there's just no loot incentive to do so, but the area is too tough to explore solo for most builds.
Ease of getting a group: Not hard if you have appropriate gear for these raids.
Overall: Would be worth considering even if it wasn't a free bonus.
Recommended level range: 18+
Rating: 8/10 (but hey, it's a free bonus with a 10/10 pack so who's complaining?)


Reaver’s Reach - 350 points
Description: Four quests and four small explorer areas where you team up with your former nemesis the Stormreaver and try to prevent another former nemesis, Sor'jek Incanni, now a lich, from creating a cluster of powerful undead dragons. The quests are varied, with Monastery of the Scorpion being a puzzle and trap themed dungeon crawl, Enter the Kobold being all about one deadly last fight, Prey on the Hunter being a unique race against time where you must save an evil dragon (one you might recognize from Korthos Island) from being captured and turned into a draco-lich, and Stealer of Souls being a different type of race against time, where you must disrupt a ritual within an hour, then take out Sor'jek himself.
Fun factor: These quests are reasonably good quests, but the combination of extreme hitpoints, weak attacks and rampant immunities make some of the foes quite dull to fight.
XP: 9/10. These quests are all quite zergable and very rewarding XP-wise to the seasoned veteran, except for Stealer of Souls, which has terrible XP.
Challenge: 10/10. Except for one (Prey on the Hunter), these quests are all among the toughest in the game on Elite (although all of them are very accessible on Normal except Stealer of Souls, which is still beatable in non-guild groups). Again, like Gianthold Tor, they are seldom run above normal because the loot is essentially the same on all difficulties.
Immersion: 6/10. Stealer of Souls has a compelling storyline (which drives the chain), but the other quests really don't.
Loot: 7.5/10. The best armor for some builds and second or third best for many others can be crafted here. Unfortuneately, other than the Dragontouched armor, there's... nothing, just random loot and the joke that is the Toothpick.
High level replayability: 8/10. These quests aren't a cakewalk at 20, and still offer loot improvements, but suffer from one weakness - there's no real reason to run them on Hard or Elite. As such, you'll eventually just grind them on Normal until you have an armor set that's either perfect or 'good enough', and they get dull on Normal. Prey on the Hunter is an alternate source of white dragonscales for players that want white scale armor (usually as a stepping stone to epic red scale), but Gianthold Tor is more efficient.
Best feature: The Stealer of Souls (SoS) quest is a blast, when you are flagged for it. Be warned - it's somewhat tough even on normal. Elite is brutal indeed.
Worst feature: The Frost Giants and White Dragons are tedious to fight - they don't really pose any threat to you as they don't do much damage, but they have extraordinary amounts of hitpoints, and so the fights go on and on and on and on.
Ease of getting a group: Quite easy if you are willing to accept XP penalties for having level 20s in the group and running Normal. Hard/Elite groups are not easy to fill.
Overall: A worthwhile pack to purchase, but not a must-have.
Recommended level range: 16-20 (normal); 18-20 (hard); 20, geared and experienced players (elite)
Rating: 8/10


The Path of Inspiration - 495 points
Description: Five short to medium quests that pit you against a quori infiltration of Stormreach. These see you fighting a wide variety of foes inside the realm of nightmares, in some of the more unique and interesting quests in the game. All of them are solo-friendly, although the loot mechanics savagely punish soloing the Mindsunder quest.
Fun factor: Good stuff here. The quests are varied, have interesting battles, and a really unique feel. Two minor gripes - first, the loot mechanics of the Mindsunder's bonus chest are unforgiving, and disadvantage groups of less than six. Secondly, these quests are all a bit too easy for their levels.
XP: 7/10. These don't offer much XP per quest, but they are all fast to complete.
Challenge: 5/10. Even on Elite, these are all pretty easy. Normal and Hard are a joke.
Immersion: 7/10. Quite a decent storyline.
Loot: 6/10. Some useful stuff here for casters, but the loot mechanics are frustrating, particularly on Dream Edges (the few good ones drop only on Elite, which is good, but they are ultra-rare and bind to account on acquisition, making it near to impossible to ever get the one you want without extreme grinding).
High level replayability: 6/10. These quests offer a little in loot to level 20s, but don't really offer much challenge to 20s.
Best feature: Some of the hidden easter eggs in I Dream of Jeets are just amazing. Who hasn't wanted to literally save someone's bacon or kill the skeleton in their closet?
Worst feature: Again, the anti-soloing loot system.
Ease of getting a group: Easy.
Overall: Worthy of consideration, but others are better. If you find some of the other high level content too difficult, this might be a great place to hone your skills.
Recommended level range: 16-18 (normal); 17-19 (hard); 18-20 (elite)
Rating: 7/10


The Dreaming Dark - 495 points
Description: Four short quests and one long one that (like the last pack) pit you against a quori infiltration of Stormreach. Again very solo-friendly (one quest is solo-only).
Fun factor: Quite similar quests to the Path of Inspiration chain. With the partial exception of the final quest) these quests are easy - I soloed all of them except the final one on Hard on my first try, and never came close to dying.
XP: 9/10. Some of these quests offer 1300+ XP/minute and are fast.
Challenge: 6/10. Would be 4, but the last quest is somewhat tougher than the rest, especially on Elite.
Immersion: 7/10. Again, a solid storyline.
Loot: 8/10. Loot is somewhat lacking except for one item, the Xaochasian Eardweller - you can otherwise only upgrade Mindsunder items and Ioun Stones, and the upgraded versions are often just weird and unimpressive. But, the Eardweller is ridiculously powerful, and outclasses the one similar Epic item (the Epic Dragon's Eye), and while the base Ioun Stones are pretty **** near impossible to come across, the upgraded versions of one or two are amazing.
High level replayability: 6/10. Some nice loot, not much challenge in obtaining it.
Best feature: The XP.
Worst feature: The Xaochasian Eardweller drops in the open, so unscrupulous players can ninja-loot it. This is, of course, one of the absolute best items in the game for multiple classes.
Ease of getting a group: Reasonable, if you want to. The Eardweller drop mechanics encourage you to solo instead, however, and just recall for mana as needed and brute-force the quests with effectively unlimited SP.
Overall: One of the lowest priority high level packs.
Recommended level range: 16-18 (normal); 17-19 (hard); 18-20 (elite)
Rating: 6.5/10


The Devils of Shavarath - 650 points
Description: Four long quests, two short ones, and a raid, plus the town of Amrath (which is IMO the best town in the game) and an explorer area.
Fun factor: There's some excellent quests here. A New Invasion rewards groups that work as a cohesive team, particularly in the last fight. Sins of Attrition is a long battle of attrition that can be done in many ways, and also lets you choose which one of six bosses you will fight. Bastion of Power and Genesis Point are slightly more complex quests, with interesting things you can do in them. The two short quests (Wrath of the Flame and Weapons Shipment) are a nice change of pace - letting you run some quests here even when very short on time. The Tower of Despair raid is an excellent raid and a real challenge, particularly on Elite.
XP: 4/10. Except for classes that can speed solo in here, XP/time is just appaling in here, except in Sins of Attrition.
Challenge: 11/10. This has most of the hardest content in the game (at least on Elite). On Elite, the Tower of Despair raid contains two of the game's hardest fights (Judge/Jailer elite and Horoth/Suulo elite), and the Barnzidu and Nytharios fights (A New Invasion and Tower of Despair respectively) require careful tactics and near-flawless execution on higher difficulties and aren't cakewalks on Normal.
Loot: 10/10. Loot is stellar, pretty much every character will have major upgrades out here. Unfortunately, while each item set has been designed for a specific class, many builds will want an item designed for a different class - as an example, my main (FvS20) wants a Barbarian set and a Monk set.
High level replayability: 8/10. Would be higher, except that beyond a certain point, there's not much incentive to repeat anything except the raid.
Best feature: The multiple endings of quests - several quests play completely differently depending upon how you approach them.
Worst feature: Opposite of Necropolis 4 - Arcane casters feel weak and like they are a burden on groups. The best players piloting arcane casters do pull their weight, but the very high saves on foes restrict what they can do.
Ease of getting a group: There's a lot of groups for this content. However, many people prefer to solo/duo the quests on Normal due to dungeon scaling (Sins of Attrition in particular is notoriously easy for a cleric to solo)
Overall: High recommendation. Fun quests, and gets you ready for the new endgame of Epics.
Recommended level range: 17-20 (normal); 19-20 (hard); 20 (elite)
Rating: 9/10

[sirgog]

Reserved for future use.

[sirgog]

Reserved (again) for possible future use.

[Jere]

On your Red Fens review you accidentally have the Overall part (and everything after it) copied from the previous pack.

Very nice update to your fantastic original thread.

[sirgog]

On your Red Fens review you accidentally have the Overall part (and everything after it) copied from the previous pack.

Very nice update to your fantastic original thread.

Fixed. Copy/paste FTL. Copy/paste FTL.

[frznvimes]

I would +rep but I've given you rep too recently for something else, so I'll just say thank you. I found the old version tremendously helpful, and I'll be continuing to rely on your knowledge.

[Otherworld]

Just wanna note that Von and GH don't have their scores bolded like the others.

Great thread as I already said in the previous one.

[Kourier]

Very nice! I hope it didn't take too long to do the update.

[sirgog]

Just wanna note that Von and GH don't have their scores bolded like the others.

Great thread as I already said in the previous one.

Copy/paste fail. Fixed. There isn't perfect universal formatting, but it's closer to it now.

[maha0201]

You left out Dreaming Dark in list of packs
nice review and i did use youre last one too

[Aaxeyu]

The Red Fens - 450 points
XP: 6.5/10. Nothing much here. The wilderness area has OK XP, but none of the quests offer overl much.

Well, Fathom the depths is quite good xp/minute.

[Antheal]

After seeing that packs are on sale again, I was just about to do a search for your old review thread when this one came up in the new posts search.

Great timing!

[Kielbasa]

Thanks for making an updated version of your review, Sirgog. I'll be using this as I continue to transition from low level to mid/high level content. Out of all the content I've gotten so far the only pack I regret getting was Ruins of Threnal. Coyle and his death wish is very frustrating for a new player doing that part of the chain. I do have to say first time having to fight an elder beholder and living was quite satisfying and scary. I agree end loot revamps for both Threnal and Sorrowdusk would do both packs a world of good. If Sorrowdusk had loot comparable to Delara's I would easily rank it slightly higher than Delara's. Keep in mind I really dislike running undead quests due to the classes I tend to play right now.

I think Sharn Syndicate deserves a 7. One of the first packs I bought. Short fun quests especially if you enjoy running characters who do traps like I do. For a new player with little to no plat a +1 elemental weapon with an added effect is a really nice weapon upgrade from most of the stuff available in the harbor. The only loot that is missing is a nice pair of handwraps for monks.

[sirgog]

I think Sharn Syndicate deserves a 7. One of the first packs I bought. Short fun quests especially if you enjoy running characters who do traps like I do. For a new player with little to no plat a +1 elemental weapon with an added effect is a really nice weapon upgrade from most of the stuff available in the harbor. The only loot that is missing is a nice pair of handwraps for monks.

The original review had Sharn higher. But new players tend to have to-hit issues, and so a +1 force mace of stunning +2 is really not any better than the +3 mace they'll get soon enough. In addition, the very existence of this pack has pushed down the auction prices on all but the best '+1 elemental of some kicker' weapons, so they are much more accessible on the AH than previously, even for newbies.

The loot there is just outclassed by some of the newer lowbie packs.

[DinoBaggio]

This guide (and the previous iteration) is very useful to a premium player like me, thank you very much for updating and adding to it. You're a credit to the forums.

I think you've left a sentence unfinished in your GH review, it goes 'Immersion: 9/10: Some good storylines, some of the best DM text in the game (albeit the least realistic), and'.

[sirgog]

I think you've left a sentence unfinished in your GH review, it goes 'Immersion: 9/10: Some good storylines, some of the best DM text in the game (albeit the least realistic), and'.

I've gone back and fixed

[CE2JRH123]

Totally awesome and absolutely helpful towards people who are trying to get the most bang for their buck. Thank you.

[xJx]

You could add a mention of the Necropolis bundle that has all 4 of them for a bit cheaper. Not sure where the mention would fit though.

[stille_nacht]

I liked the phiarlan carnival a lot, especially partycrashers, which has a unique "foiling the assassin" feel.

on epic they are easier than most others, but i like that, it get people ready for other epics.


other than that i agree with these review, very helpful, thanks.