Adventure Pack Reviews and Buyer's Guide

[LuKaSu]

PS: If, and only if, you want to roll up a shuricannon, both catacombs and sorrowdusk have the best heroic shurikens for leveling.

Do you mean STK and sorrowdusk? (Shadowstar and Snow Star, respectively)

[EllisDee37]

Do you mean STK and sorrowdusk? (Shadowstar and Snow Star, respectively)

I didn't at the time but I do now.

Not sure why, but I thought shadowstar was from catacombs.

[partybasher]

Thanks for the help folks, guess I'm sold for both high road and druid's deep (and 3BC). Not sure about ToEE (I can get it, but then I may not have enough points for BF, still hope it goes on sale soon..) So now I can do sagas other than GH, which will be nice.

Again, thanks for helping me decide.

[Sisma]

The moment BF goes on sale you'll see many many happy people, including me...

[A3oN95]

Bump up as a useful reference (since there's a 30% sale on right now)

Also, a little advice needed:

I already own more than enough content to get me by (heroic, epic, raids, etc.). I have ~1k TP leftover from previous purchases and favor rewards, and I'd like to buy one or two packs in this sale.

Since I got XP and loots needs already covered, I'd simply like to get the most FUN pack(s) I can possibly get right now. Give me non-combat challenges (puzzles, riddles, mazes, etc), interesting/novelty quest mechanics and good storytelling, and I'll be happy

Based on the previous sentence, my favorite owned packs/quests are (in no particular order):
* [Vale] Rainbow In The Dark, Coal Chamber, Let Sleeping Dust Lie, Shroud
* [Red Fens] Into The Deep, Fathom The Depths, Claw of Vulkoor
* [Carnival] Partycrashers, Small Problem
* [3BC] Prove Your Worth, Ghost Of A Chance, Scoundrel's Run
* [IQ/DD] I Dream of Jeets, Dreaming Dark
* [VoN] The Prisoner, Haywire Foundry, Vault of Night
* [AoS] Blockade Buster, Undermine

Pack these with GH's Crucible, Halls of STK, and a few F2P adventures (Proof is In The Poison, The Pit, Tear of Dhakaan, Frame Work, Delirium) and it pretty much becomes a list of the only quests I enjoy in DDO

So now the options I'm considering are:
* Sentinels (basically for reading wonders about Spies in the House, not sure the pack is worth it just for a single quest though(?))
* [Harbinger/Reign/Heart] of Madness (there should be bundle with these. Some quest descriptions sound amazingly fun. I probably wouldn't have enough points for all of them... which one of them should be my priority? Are they better when bundled together?)
* ToEE (is this just a beat'em-up dungeon crawler? I kinda liked the board game version, although it seemed a little pointless story-wise...)

Which pack(s) from this list (or not) do you think would be more enjoyable for me to play?

Thanks in advance

[EllisDee37]

Sentinels has Spies in the House, which is sort of similar to The Pit in spirit with a higher emphasis on air jets. The rest of the pack isn't terrible; from the sound of your preferences you'd probably enjoy it.

Harbinger dials the atmosphere up to 11, and has a great boss fight in the final quest. Not a ton of puzzles/riddles/interesting mechanics outside of that end fight, but a few here and there. Sadly one of the quests is a "stand in small room while waves of mobs spawn", so there's one boring quest right off the bat.

Reign has a sweet puzzle, on par with that optional puzzle room at the end of that one 3BC quest. Like 3BC, this uber-puzzle is optional. The Xoriat insanity reaches new heights here, putting Harbinger and the F2P Delirium to shame. Wild and whacky, for sure. Unfortunately one of the quests is a long, straightforward run to the end killing stuff kind of affair. This is probably the pack you'd like the most out of the ones you listed.

Haven't run the third madness pack yet so I can't offer feedback on that one.

ToEE is a long, grindy DPS-fest with nothing of interest. No puzzles, no riddles, no collectables, no NOTHING to click on anywhere. Just random groups of a dozen mobs at every other intersection in a VERY large quest. Think of The Portal Opens, that last quest in Schindylryn. You know those huge halls and portals to get from one hall to the next? ToEE is just like that, except ten times bigger and with much less attention to details.

[Sianys]

The Reaver's Reach pack has some quests with puzzles in it: For example, there's "Enter the Kobold" and its "Knight's Tour" puzzle. (Spoiler link: http://ddowiki.com/page/Enter_the_Kobold). The end boss battle is a challenging fight due to tough mob respawns if you don't get him and his sidekick taken care of fast. Atmosphere is a bit so-so, though. I mean, it looks sorta interesting, but the GMing doesn't really take full advantage of it and draw you in. Loot... well, that depends on how you feel about Dragontouched armor.

ToEE isn't great at puzzles at all, but atmosphere is definitely there, and part 2's boss battle is also challenging and requires you to take advantage of the sheltering mushrooms and similar mechanics if you're playing at (or near!) level. I love ToEE's atmosphere, and finding Wil's commentary is a two-part draw for me: xp and sheer fun. Otherwise, there's definitely rather large sections where it's just fighting.

Sentinels, based on your criteria, might not be worth it for just Spies in the House. BUT: getting the pack does mean that you can complete a Heroic Saga (since you have 3BC), which to me is always worth it. More xp or a Skill Tome? Yes please!

The new pack, Trials of the Archons, has one quest with a puzzle in it that you're required to traverse, and each section of puzzle unlocks a short battle that must be won before you get a new section of puzzle. There's not a whole lot of other puzzle-solving for this quest chain, mostly fighting, but I enjoy "divine" storylines like this and it had nice, though not spectacular, atmosphere.

EDITED TO ADD: A Study in Sable has a really interesting and kind of fun quasi-puzzle quest mechanic, and is loaded with atmosphere. I really enjoyed this quest, and fighting the optional Golem is a challenge because he's a big bag of hitpoints that can deal massive electric damage.

[EllisDee37]

I added a review of ToEE, updated the "stats" for 3BC and added place-holders for Trials of the Archons and Heart of Madness. I plan to add placeholders for Haunted Halls and Shadow Under Thunderholme as well.

Depending on my motivation I may update the reviews for 3BC and High Road later today.

[A3oN95]

Thanks to both for the insight

From what you said, ToEE is definitely out (I already have enough dps-fest quests as it is). The new pack is not on sale, so I can always get it later if I feel like it.

I have Reaver's Reach, but unfortunately I seldom play it, because noone in my static group has the pack, there's close to no PuG's for it and I didn't like my solo experiences over there in the past (IQ is usually way more enjoyable for me). Study in Sable seems fun, I've never played it (been a while since I had a character in that level-range).

I barely have enough TPs to get 3 of these packs, so it's either the Madness packs, or Sentinels + 2 Madness, or simply save the TPs for another occasion.
- Sentinels has the additional problem of all the other content I already have for the lvl 6-9 range (3BC + VoN + Fens + most of the best F2P quests coming up), I'm not sure the saga alone would make me play it unless I really enjoyed the quests...
- Heart seems like a standalone pack, while Harbinger+Reign apparently work better when coupled together. I usually do Vale+IQ/DD+Expansion stuff during lvls 15-19, I guess it will depend on how easy it is to get PuG groups for the Xoriat quests.

Lvls 10-14 are my "boredom range", when I lack fun content to play (not liking most of Sands and GH may have something to do with this). Since none of the packs cover these levels, I might simply save the points for later... but that "30%"... decisions, decisions


Anyway, I'll surely check the rest of your reviews when they come up, EllisDee. You were able to gather an incredibly thorough and informative (although subjective) thread together, a worthy successor to sirgog's reviews (even better, imho). Well done!

[EllisDee37]

Heart seems like a standalone pack, while Harbinger+Reign apparently work better when coupled together.

I wouldn't go that far. Having owned and run both Harbinger and Reign for a while now, I consider them separate and unrelated, mainly due to the level split. Sort of like Wheloon and Stormhorns.

The exception is if you want to craft up some BTA +10 reflex save armor (ML14) for the crucible swim. The base items drop in Harbinger, and the +10 reflex is added in Reign.

[Mariozito]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

I have one question, i should have to buy the "upgrade" to leveling throught 20+? Epic destiny the name if i remember.

I'm focus in epics and mid/high level pacs xD

[VinceWhirlwind]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

I have one question, i should have to buy the "upgrade" to leveling throught 20+? Epic destiny the name if i remember.

I'm focus in epics and mid/high level pacs xD

Yes, you need Menace of the Underdark:

http://store.turbine.com/store/turbi...oryID.58516100

or, if you've already bought those Adventure Pack Bundles, the cut-down cheaper version of Menace:
http://store.turbine.com/store/turbi...oryID.58516100

[Sarzor]

Thank you guys for the feedback.

I have one question, i should have to buy the "upgrade" to leveling throught 20+? Epic destiny the name if i remember.

I'm focus in epics and mid/high level pacs xD

I may be misunderstanding you, so if I am, I apologize.

You do not need Menace of the Underdark to level 20+, nor do you need it for epic destinies.

MotU is a bunch of packs

Epic destinies, which i feel are where 90% of the power at epic levels are, can be purchased separately. I think it's around 1000 TP.

You theoretically could level to 30 without ever buying anything from Forgotten realms or epic destinies, but you'll be hard pressed for XP and quests will be very difficult.

I would recommend buying Epic Destinies first as the power jump is so enormous. MotU had a fair number of quests, but *could* be bypassed as there are so many other epic packs if you do desired.

The epic packs I've found that are run most often in PUGs are:
- Vault of Night, particularly Jungle
- Sentinels of Stormreach, particularly Spies
- Sands, particularly Wizard King
- I see many groups for Three Barrel Cove, though I'm not a big fan of it
- Many groups for Necro4
- Gianthold
- Menace of the Underdark most players run through once. I feel like there's not alot of running through more times.
- Archons/Gambit seem popular, but they're very expensive for the number of quests you get
- Vale has the newest content, and the raids are often run

The other epic packs are run, but I feel like considerably less often.

[AnEvenNewerNoob]

My totally subjective ranking of packs based on the order I plan to get them when my vip runs out (Already have Shadowfell and MOTU expansions):

tier 1:

vale (lots of raids, greensteel)
Von (von is a frequently run raid, great xp. Has heroic and epic content and Von3 one of the best xp/min quests.)
gianthold (Epic and heroic content, 2 raids, lots of favor, epic and heroic winderness, a saga, and I just generally like most of the quests)

tier 2:

Thunderholme (2 raids, and access to thunderforged weaponry which is pretty good stuff)
Archons (I hate the quests, but DOJ loot is really good. Heroic and Epic level quests)
Sands (Heroic and epic level quests which includes great xp/min wiz king. Lots of favor, an easily soloable raid. And I just generally like most of these quests. )
Necro 4 (Couple raids, Heroic and epic level quests, heroic and epic level winderness)

tier 3:

3BC (Fun quests, heroic and epic level quests and wilderness, half of a saga)
Sentinels (Heroic and epic level quests, which includes spies which is great xp/min, has the other half of saga)

tier 4 (which encapsulates all the rest of the raids and saga quests providing you have the expansions):

Devils
Artificers
High Road
Druids Deep


That's just my opinion. Most of the other packs are "once per life" quests and packs for me.

[ThGdDoc]

Why isn't this stickied?

[Saekee]

Why isn't this stickied?

1) has not been updated
2) thread creator no longer plays (Huge loss to community btw)

edit: he is back!

[Kaisheng21]

Wait, EllisDee doesn't play any more?!

[EllisDee37]

Wait, EllisDee doesn't play any more?!

I came back.

[Jetron]

I came back.

1. Welcome back.

2. Are there no versions of the game that contain all of the previous expansions, or is it really necessary to buy them piecemeal?

[Kaisheng21]

Could you update the pdf version please?