3BC Improvements

[Quetzacoala]

While a fun pack, Three Barrel Cove needs some serious help to recover from its current condition. As it is, it is in my honest opinion the adventure pack with the least incentive to purchase it.

1. The quests need to give a lot more xp... the xp they currently give is decent at best, nothing worth spending money on

2. The quests need to drop some decent named items, as currently all that drops is vendor trash

3. Unless this adventure pack is drastically improved, the cost of the pack should definitely be reduced

This is just my opinion on what needs to be done to make this adventure pack worth running

[Kmnh]

I think the main reason this pack costs so much is to make people not buy it. The same goes for Threnal.

[Dendrix]

Really some special loot would be all these quests need, they are quite fun. And the whole zone is so evocative and pretty.

[AZgreentea]

I think all of those things are fine, for the most part. For its level it gives decent XP and loot. Named items would be nice. Given the shortage of Dwarf Axes, a named one from this pack would be great. Maybe convert it to a chain with a repeatable end reward from the town leader standing near the ramp (forget his name). Its also a good source of Free Agent favor.

The biggest improvement it could get would be something like the ability to get teleported to a quest entrance once they have been discovered. Its a long brutal run for a newbie to find the entrances without a guide, and that discourages PUG's. I like the theme so I run the quests, but a PUG is hard to fill even half way. If you do fill, there will be several new players (usually one who cant find the entrance to 3BC in the harbor) and you will spend 20 min getting to any entrance that is not Old Grey Garl or the one with the ladders.

[ArcaneMelee]

IMHO, the biggest hit 3BC took to its popularity was when they implemented the huge, beautiful explorer area.

I ran it all the time when all the quests were close together, but once you've seen the huge explorer once, it just becomes a pain.

If they added the option to teleport back and forth (like Tangleroot) once you've found the quest entrance once, that would be sufficient to entice me to run the quests more often.

[FranOhmsford]

I think all of those things are fine, for the most part. For its level it gives decent XP and loot. Named items would be nice. Given the shortage of Dwarf Axes, a named one from this pack would be great. Maybe convert it to a chain with a repeatable end reward from the town leader standing near the ramp (forget his name). Its also a good source of Free Agent favor.

The biggest improvement it could get would be something like the ability to get teleported to a quest entrance once they have been discovered. Its a long brutal run for a newbie to find the entrances without a guide, and that discourages PUG's. I like the theme so I run the quests, but a PUG is hard to fill even half way. If you do fill, there will be several new players (usually one who cant find the entrance to 3BC in the harbor) and you will spend 20 min getting to any entrance that is not Old Grey Garl or the one with the ladders.

I can tell you now that every quest in 3 barrel can be reached in 2 minutes or less.

Yes you may have to fight a few Scorps and Mephits + a Fire ele if it spawns on the way to The Fire Caves.
NO other quest in the area requires you to kill anything.
There's sometimes a Hyena outside Prove Your Worth - Kill him if you wish before entering.
There's 3 possible rares extremely close to Scoundrel's Run {Earth Ele, Spider and Kobold} and 2 more on the way {Sahaugin and Troll} BUT all these can be swum past - Spider and Kobold are actually just past the quest too.
Ghost of a Chance and Two Toed Toby are both underwater - Swim to them {Remember your underwater action item for Toby - Ghost only requires a pot}.
Old Grey Garl - Run to the bridge and drop down - 0 kills.

The Explorer Zone is AMAZING - Best in game - 350 kills possible each run 11k xp first clearance, 1500 slayer total.

I will echo everyone else though in saying that the loot is Truly Terrible - This pack needs some named items {Crystal Cove min lvl 4 gear with a very rare chance of min lvl 8 gear would be nice}.

[Thrudh]

I think they should make it a level 15-17 area, up the experience, and add a few named items.

That's a lot easier than building a brand new 15-16 explorer area with 6-7 quests.

[Thrudh]

The Explorer Zone is AMAZING - Best in game - 350 kills possible each run 11k xp first clearance, 1500 slayer total.

The problem is, I can run Tear of Dhakaan once and make twice that amount of experience in half the time...

I agree, it's a GREAT explorer area... Move it to levels 15-17 where we could use more quests, and the people might actually buy and run the pack.

[somenewnoob]

/signed.....just like I sign every 3Bc thread!

One of the most well done explorer areas in the game, rich, flavorful, interesting.

The quests are pretty fun too. I'm not sure why people have such a problem running to quests here, It's never taken me longer than a 3 min invis clicky to get to one. That's not that far.

[FranOhmsford]

I think they should make it a level 15-17 area, up the experience, and add a few named items.

That's a lot easier than building a brand new 15-16 explorer area with 6-7 quests.

So what you're saying is that because one lvl 7 quest gives a huge amount of xp that's the only one worth doing?

Yes there are some very nice xp quests at these levels

A Small Problem {Lvl 5}
Bloody Crypt {Lvl 6}
The Missing Party - Delera's Pt 2 {Lvl 7}
Tear of Dhakaan {Lvl 7}
Tomb of the Shadow Knight {Lvl 8}
Thrall of the Necromancer - Delera's Pt 4 {Lvl 8}

I'm sure I've missed some.

Does that mean that all other quests are pointless?

Searing Heights also gives very nice xp for a first run through and can be cleared pretty quickly for even more xp upon completion.

Sorrowdusk's not so nice, neither is Tangleroot comparatively.

As slayers go 3 Barrel's xp is phenomenal for it's lvl - It's also in my opinion by far the best looking slayer beating Orchard and Sands into second and third place respectively.
The quests aren't so good so I concentrate on getting the slayer done and favour farm the quests later on.

Btw with this general acceptance of certain quests being run to death to level up fast newbies are reaching the higher levels before being ready for them spawning other problems amply referenced in these here forums.
Get in a Shadow Crypt farming group at lvl 7 and you can be level 10 with all lvl 1-6 gear easily.
Take this further and farm Delera's Pt 2 and 4, Bloody Crypt, Tear, Shadow Crypt, VoN 3 - Where's your gear coming from as you charge thru level after level?

Yes I know most of these quests are P2P - Something that gives Tear a massive advantage BUT we are talking here about a P2P pack.

In my opinion 3 Barrel is a far better pack than Delera's, STK, Sharn, Tangleroot, Devil Assault {even with Chronoscope being added}. Phiarlan Carnival does come close.

What the pack need though that all these packs have is LOOT - Sharn's is not so good anymore since Chronoscope and Crafting came out, STK's is pretty terrible but it does at least have some named loot, Tangleroot suffers in the same way as Sharn and apart from the gloves and Carnifex Delera's isn't great either {I personally don't consider Voice to be as good as many people make it out to be but that's another thread or 1000}.
Carnival has epic of course, without which it would also be suffering due to Chronoscope so any new loot added to 3 Barrel has to be at least equal to what's on offer from Chrono otherwise it's going to make no difference.

[JOTMON]

Pro's: Great explorer area visually, quests are fun.

and the sad truth....
Con's: XP sucks, Travel time to/from quests does not=time spent., No rewards of any value worth running quests for other than favor.

... oh wait...

The entire Free Agent Favor line s u c k s! ...

...+5 tools are readily acessible via AH and higher level quest drops and have no level limitations.....
Crafted traps are garbage.. duration is too short and traps are useless/ineffective for the most part, improve this by adding longer durations and some sort of trapcrafting bolts skill for mechanics and maybe this would be better..)
Artificers/rangers can cast spells for bolts.. Rogue Mechanics own 3+quivers and run to house D for bolts.. ...a lot.. (another pack for house D favour..of course)

Favour Tiers....
Well-Known - 75 - Access to affordable +2 Thieves’ Tools and Heal and Repair kits. ( really?? +2.... no thanks)heal and repair kits lol... even in the starter quest on Korthos we throw those space wasters away in favor of aid/heal clickies.
Also Trapmaking ingredients and guides. (see above..)

Famous - 150 - Access to affordable +4 Thieves’ Tools and Heal and Repair kits. (really ??....+4 ... no thanks) Change the access to whatever useless purchaseable +thieves tools from the merchant to a fixed thieves tool kit that does not get consumed. A +4 Thieves tool kit that is not consumed upon use would be more desirable by trappers.


Hero of the People - 400 - Access to expert repair in Zawabi's refuge. ( Pft... 400 favor for access to a useless repair guy in another pack) to call 400 Favour a disappointment would be an overstatement.


Bottom line, when asked if someone should buy this pack..... NO! dont spend your money or points here....
There is nothing worth anything anywhere in this pack. Pickup Tangleroot or even Sharn Synidcate.
Named items and BTA items from these other two packs will give you better bang for your buck.

[Thrudh]

So what you're saying is that because one lvl 7 quest gives a huge amount of xp that's the only one worth doing?

Yes there are some very nice xp quests at these levels

A Small Problem {Lvl 5}
Bloody Crypt {Lvl 6}
The Missing Party - Delera's Pt 2 {Lvl 7}
Tear of Dhakaan {Lvl 7}
Tomb of the Shadow Knight {Lvl 8}
Thrall of the Necromancer - Delera's Pt 4 {Lvl 8}

I'm sure I've missed some.

Does that mean that all other quests are pointless?

Nope, that's not what I'm saying....

I'm someone who likes to do as many quests as possible... I never farm anything in the low-mid levels anymore, but there is so much experience at that level, that I find myself leveling past 3BC almost everytime I TR.... I sometimes do the explorer area for kicks, but I haven't done any serious adventuring in there for a couple of years.

There's too much experience already at that level. Move it to 15-17 and more people will run it and enjoy it. Why are you against that?

[Thrudh]

Pro's: Great explorer area visually, quests are fun.

Con's: XP sucks, Travel time to/from quests does not=time spent., No rewards of any value worth running quests for other than favor.

... oh wait...

The entire Free Agent Favor line s u c k s! ...

...+5 tools are readily acessible via AH and higher level quest drops and have no level limitations.....
Crafted traps are garbage.. duration is too short and traps are useless/ineffective for the most part, improve this by adding trapcrafting bolts skill for mechanics and maybe this would be better..)
Artificers/rangers can cast spells for bolts.. Rogue Mechanics own 3+quivers and run to house D for bolts.. ...a lot.. (another pack for house D favour..of course)


Well-Known - 75 - Access to affordable +2 Thieves’ Tools and Heal and Repair kits. ( really?? +2.... no thanks)
Also Trapmaking ingredients and guides. (see above..)

Famous - 150 - Access to affordable +4 Thieves’ Tools and Heal and Repair kits. (really ??....+4 ... no thanks)
Change the access to whatever useless purchaseable +thieves tools from the merchant to a fixed thieves tool kit that does not get consumed. A +4 Thieves tool kit that is not consumed upon use would be more desirable by trappers.


Hero of the People - 400 - Access to expert repair in Zawabi's refuge. ( Pft... 400 favor for access to a useless repair guy in another pack) to call 400 Favour a disappointment would be an overstatement.


Bottom line, when asked if someone should buy this pack..... NO! dont spend your money or points here....
There is nothing worth anything anywhere in this pack. Pickup Tangleroot or even Sharn Synidcate.
Named items and BTA items from these other two packs will give you better bang for your buck.

This is a good point... Favor rewards for Free Agents definitely need to be looked at.

[somenewnoob]

Nope, that's not what I'm saying....

I'm someone who likes to do as many quests as possible... I never farm anything in the low-mid levels anymore, but there is so much experience at that level, that I find myself leveling past 3BC almost everytime I TR.... I sometimes do the explorer area for kicks, but I haven't done any serious adventuring in there for a couple of years.

There's too much experience already at that level. Move it to 15-17 and more people will run it and enjoy it. Why are you against that?

Yeah I also don't farm and do as many quests as I can, and you just completely blow by those levels because there are SO MANY quests around that level. I usually try to hit everything elite once before I start to get the over level penalty.

I definitely like the idea of moving it to a different level range, or even an option to enter 3BC level 5-10 or 3BC level 14-17 and have things scale accordingly. Not so many quests at that level, would probably get run a lot more.

And I still think they need a big huge pirate ship battle type raid added, make the quests flagging for it, and a sweet pirate raid.

[FranOhmsford]

Nope, that's not what I'm saying....

I'm someone who likes to do as many quests as possible... I never farm anything in the low-mid levels anymore, but there is so much experience at that level, that I find myself leveling past 3BC almost everytime I TR.... I sometimes do the explorer area for kicks, but I haven't done any serious adventuring in there for a couple of years.

There's too much experience already at that level. Move it to 15-17 and more people will run it and enjoy it. Why are you against that?

Not necessarily against the idea of changing the level requirement for 3 Barrel - 15-17 seems a bit high for my liking though as these quests don't fit in with those levels and would require extensive renovations.

Lvl 12-14 I could get with but I'd still expect some serious changes.

I feel though that it's the loot that's the real problem with this chain not the xp and certainly not the time spent getting to the quests - Chains of Flame in Sands is a much bigger issue there.

Give the pack some good loot and people will run it - Maybe add 25% to the xp of each quest {300% for Guard Duty}.

P.S. The 400 favour reward for the Free Agents in my opinion is a total joke - I'm not going to Zawabi's Refuge after every quest just to get my weapons fixed - You still have to fix everything else elsewhere.

[AZgreentea]

Ghost of a Chance and Two Toed Toby are both underwater - Swim to them {Remember your underwater action item for Toby - Ghost only requires a pot}.

The Explorer Zone is AMAZING - Best in game - 350 kills possible each run 11k xp first clearance, 1500 slayer total.

AUGH!! The swimming to the quests to avoid encounters is the worst part! Its 5 min of

*slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog* *slog*

I think the sound of the old pale master death aura is less brutal.

I agree that the slayer area is amazing. My wilderness only character is currently leveling up here (and for whatever reason she never finds any rares). However, a little easier access to the actual quests would improve the number of PUGs for this area. There aren't many of us who like slogging through a CR 5-8ish wilderness area for some moderate xp quests with no named loot.

I usually run this area after I finish farming things like the WW to get my character ready for some Phiarlin Carnival leveling. I pick up a rank or two here in 3BC and finish off the lvl in that chain.

[CheeseMilk]

Prove Your Worth Epic, for those who are bored of Spies in the House.

I'd like to see this pack get some love, it's really a waste of great art and fun quests.

Moving it up to be a lvl 15 would be a great idea.

[kilagan800]

3BC needs a major overhaul. I really enjoy these quests, but not for the xp or loot. Some of these quests have areas that are obstructed by invisible walls, ie the fire caves when you make the jump to the chest. In the same quest there's a door with a lock that doesn't need to be picked -- it's already unlocked.

And I don't like the fact that I have to go out to an adventure zone to get and turn in quests. It wastes loot boost/xp/guild renown timers. I think the quest givers (or some of them) should be in the tarvern or make another area where quest giving doesn't run down the clock.

There are really great packs in this level zone, like Delera's, STK, Necro 1, Sentinels, etc., but 3BC lacks the quality of any of these. imo, it comes off as a loosely-knit adventure zone with a few mediocre quests at best and some potentially really good ones that could be more exciting. But all in all they appear as if they're the harbor quest rejects.

Prove Your Worth feels like it was made on a whim with easily maneuverable traps laid out, and a puzzle that's unsolvable unless you look up ddo wiki. It takes wit to look up wiki I guess.

Gnarl's Tomb Pt 1 is a good quest with not enough xp or treasure. Pt 2, which is boring because you have to run the whole thing all over again, doesn't offer enough xp or treasure. And the Gargoyle part doesn't make any sense since you killed them the first time around.

Guard Duty is tedious, and again it feels like it was made at the last second.

Please make 3BC a quality pack like the other packs you purchase at the ddo store. Or else you may as well make it a f2p zone. A really bad f2p zone.

[Hafeal]

There's too much experience already at that level. Move it to 15-17 and more people will run it and enjoy it. Why are you against that?

I disagree, you want to give new players multiple choices to enjoy the game. Even a TR can choose to go through 3BC on one life for a change of pace.

At 15-17 the pack would compete with Sands, GH and the Vale - all of which are better. Visually they have as much to offer 3BC, they are big, have more quests and have better loot.

[EnjoyTheJourney]

A gear upgrade would be helpful and the ability to teleport to another part of the map, to make getting into missions easier, would also be helpful.

I don't believe that changing the level range would be a good idea. It was sold as a pack for a certain level range and it seems appropriate to keep it in that level range.