Hardcore quest lockouts - Either change it to match the rules, or write it up!

[Kristii]

Yes, this is copy + paste from my other thread. I'm not going to type it all over again.

According to the official rules, this is the ONLY rule for quest lockout in Hardcore:

"There is a level lockout to prevent characters from running quests too far over level. (Base level +4, or effective level on elite +2)."

However, when actually playing on Hardcore, no one seems to actually know what's going on with higher-level quest lockouts and challenges.

Some people insist you can only do challenges at the base level plus 4 (Meaning if a challenge's lowest difficulty is 5, you can do them at lvl 9 max or not at all, even if you try to step into a higher CR). Others say you can do a challenge whenever you want as long as you enter no higher than CR + 4 (So even if a challenge's lowest difficulty is 5, you can do it after lvl 9 by entering CR 6 or above).

The late teen quest lockout rules are an even bigger mess of rumors and conjecture. According to the official rules, you should be able to do a lvl 16 quest at 20, a lvl 17 quest at 21, etc. Keep in mind I'm NOT talking about Reaper here. I'm talking about N/H/E. However, from what I've heard, once you take lvl 20 in Hardcore, you're locked out of ALL heroic quests, including lvl 19 and 20 heroic quests like Dreaming Dark. However, it gets better! I've now heard you actually CAN enter heroic quests now so long as the level you're playing it on is over 20, meaning a lvl 19 quest on elite, but I don't know for sure.

What the heck guys?! I don't really care what rules you decide to make up, but abide by them! Make it clear in the official rules (Seriously, this would take five minutes for you guys to write in if you're too lazy to fix the coding) exactly when a character will be barred from entering challenges and heroic quests. Whether a character is going for Reaper xp or favor, a sudden lock on planned quests basically throws a wrench into everything.

/rant over

Now, a question for the community:

Can anyone verify from PERSONAL EXPERIENCE (not hearsay) on Hardcore Season 3 (NOT past seasons) what the state of these heroic lockouts is? If anyone with a lvl 20 character (haven't made it there yet) can take a bit of time to just push the "Enter" button on a lvl 16, 17, 18, 19, and 20 (heroic) quest, that will help me and I imagine many other people immensely. You don't have to complete it or anything. Just see if you can enter it.

On challenges: I took a lvl 10 character today to see what I could do. I went into Rushmore's Mansion: Behind the Door, Lava Caves: Circle of Power and Kobold Island: Kobold Chaos (all lvl 4-15 challenges) and got the same result in each: Not only was I able to enter the challenge on CR 6 (which is the lowest official rules say a lvl 10 should be able to enter), I was able to enter all three challenges on CR 4, 6 levels below me! As of this post, there appears to be no lockout at all on challenges, but experiences from other people to confirm this would be good.

[Xyfiel]

All of these issues have already been discussed during past seasons and are on this subforum.

Want to know the answers to these questions quickly? Check a previous leaderboard and ask the people who finished at the top. For example I have top 10 in every board so far. I was also the first ever 30 so found out the hard way. We know from experience. Don't listen to general chat from people who don't know from experience.


Once you take 20 you are locked out of heroic quests and challenges regardless of their adjusted level.
Tod and Dreaming can be done in heroics or up to max 24 since they are base 20.
Challenges are +4 over what they are in the lfm panel. Start to make a lfm and find the challenge in the list. Add 4 to that level. It is max level 10/15/19 because they are level 6/11/15+ in the lfm panel.
Explorer zones and psuedo quests(dragonmark, deleras, etc.) were made exempt after we brought the issue up in season one.
DA is max 10 in heroic.
If you want max challenge favor you have to do max challenge level while staying in the max char level(i.e. you are level 10 doing 4-15 challenge, you do it on 15 for 6 stars). If you just want 1-5 stars you can do it at lowest challenge level.
If you want to farm tokens you have to be mindful of the +4 on quests that can drop them. You can't farm tokens at 30 that I know of.

[Kristii]

All of these issues have already been discussed during past seasons and are on this subforum.

Want to know the answers to these questions quickly? Check a previous leaderboard and ask the people who finished at the top. For example I have top 10 in every board so far. I was also the first ever 30 so found out the hard way. We know from experience. Don't listen to general chat from people who don't know from experience.


Once you take 20 you are locked out of heroic quests and challenges regardless of their adjusted level.
Tod and Dreaming can be done in heroics or up to max 24 since they are base 20.
Challenges are +4 over what they are in the lfm panel. Start to make a lfm and find the challenge in the list. Add 4 to that level. It is max level 10/15/19 because they are level 6/11/15+ in the lfm panel.
Explorer zones and psuedo quests(dragonmark, deleras, etc.) were made exempt after we brought the issue up in season one.
DA is max 10 in heroic.
If you want max challenge favor you have to do max challenge level while staying in the max char level(i.e. you are level 10 doing 4-15 challenge, you do it on 15 for 6 stars). If you just want 1-5 stars you can do it at lowest challenge level.
If you want to farm tokens you have to be mindful of the +4 on quests that can drop them. You can't farm tokens at 30 that I know of.

Thank you for replying! The thought of asking those who led leaderboards did cross my mind, but I didn't want to be sending messages to random people who may or may not want to talk to me.

That said, this is great info, especially about the challenges and lvl 20 quests. Thanks for taking the time to write it up concisely and clearly. My hat's off to you!

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Do I understand this correctly ? If the original base level of a quest is - for example - level 1 ... which level is the highest I can do that quest with ?
I wonder because elite difficulty is several levels higher than the original base level ...
Sorry, but my dyscalculia drives me nuts.

[DYWYPI]

Alrik, Character Level 5, is the highest level you can be when entering any: Level 1 Quests (regardless of Normal, Hard or Elite). Level 6 Characters are "Locked out" of Level 1 Quests: 6 - 4 = 2.

If you basically just focus upon the 'Base Quest Level' value rather than adjustment to (Hard or Elite). The calculation then should be easier to comprehend as you are always working from the listed 'Quest Base'. For example: just add four to the quest Base (Quest Level [one]: 1 + 4 = 5), or 'subtract four' from your current Character Level, (Character Level [five]: 5 - 4 = 1). Thus by using the Quest Base value you'll loosely see, which are the lowest Level quests you can still enter. That way you don't have to faff around thinking about calculation adjustments as whether you are on: Normal or Elite, etc.

[Alrik_Fassbauer]

Thank you, that was very helpful for me. Now even I could understand it.

[vageta311]

Explorer zones and psuedo quests(dragonmark, deleras, etc.) were made exempt after we brought the issue up in season one.

I could have swore in season 2 I tried to go back and do the level 12 Ravenloft quests at 16 but wasn't allowed in the adventure area due to it being lvl 10. Are we positive that's the case?

[Careall]

I could have swore in season 2 I tried to go back and do the level 12 Ravenloft quests at 16 but wasn't allowed in the adventure area due to it being lvl 10. Are we positive that's the case?

Into the Mists acts as a gateway to Ravenloft; if you never run Mist, the gate remains closed. If you don't run Into the Mist by level 14, you will be locked out of Ravenloft until Epics.

[gildorxix]

They really need to change the rules page to reflect the rules change for heroic quests with epic characters. Maybe I should have known it was too good that I could use my destinies to do the higher heroic quests but I relied on the rules page and the wiki to tell me I couldn't and now I cannot do a ton of favor. I guess I am done with this one, I don't think I will grind out another 3900 favor to get back where I am now.

[YUTANG75]

They really need to change the rules page to reflect the rules change for heroic quests with epic characters. Maybe I should have known it was too good that I could use my destinies to do the higher heroic quests but I relied on the rules page and the wiki to tell me I couldn't and now I cannot do a ton of favor. I guess I am done with this one, I don't think I will grind out another 3900 favor to get back where I am now.

I don't know if I'm for or against changing the epic lockout but I do think that there should be a note on the rules page explaining the level 20 lockout, wildernesses, devil assault, challenges and exempt "quests" (delera's for example).

Also (of possible) I would be in favor of making devil assault and challenges work off of the effective level so we can experience them at their intended difficulty and also clear up the counter intuitive ability to do challenges at greater than +4 "base".

[Xyfiel]

They really need to change the rules page to reflect the rules change for heroic quests with epic characters. Maybe I should have known it was too good that I could use my destinies to do the higher heroic quests but I relied on the rules page and the wiki to tell me I couldn't and now I cannot do a ton of favor. I guess I am done with this one, I don't think I will grind out another 3900 favor to get back where I am now.

Many of the 16-19 quests have epic versions. You could check wiki and add up what you haven't done. I bet 5k is still possible.
Menace of the Underdark is 300+
Haunted Halls, Study in Sable, Brothers of the Forge, and Precious Cargo could be another 100.
Sharn, Soul Splitter, Druids, Spinner, High Road, Wheloon, Horns, Madness, epic challenges, and Good Intentions.

[Xyfiel]

Once you take 20 you are locked out of heroic quests and challenges regardless of their adjusted level.
Tod and Dreaming can be done in heroics or up to max 24 since they are base 20.
Challenges are +4 over what they are in the lfm panel. Start to make a lfm and find the challenge in the list. Add 4 to that level. It is max level 10/15/19 because they are level 6/11/15+ in the lfm panel.
Explorer zones and psuedo quests(dragonmark, deleras, etc.) were made exempt after we brought the issue up in season one.
DA is max 10 in heroic.
If you want max challenge favor you have to do max challenge level while staying in the max char level(i.e. you are level 10 doing 4-15 challenge, you do it on 15 for 6 stars). If you just want 1-5 stars you can do it at lowest challenge level.
If you want to farm tokens you have to be mindful of the +4 on quests that can drop them. You can't farm tokens at 30 that I know of.

Bumping for both new and returning people to Season 4.

[Zoveride]

Bumping for both new and returning people to Season 4.

Thanks for this.
How does it work for quests with both Heroic and Epic versions?
For example: If I skip borderlands, Ravenloft and/or Sharn, can I still do them in Epic for favor?