Favorite Expansion Packs

[Shavron]

MoTU for me because it gives soo much and Eveningstar is such a nice place.
Ravenloft comes second.
Then shadowfell for the storm horns.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Notice that no one has voted for The Shadowfell Conspiracy, even after 41 votes.

[Dark_Lord_Mary]

Shadowfell isn't a bad expansion for content reasons - the quests and zone and ideas are all interesting and fun - the problem was the way it was implimented and marketed -

I've said this so many times its dumb now but red alerts should not flag in public slayer zones - it makes the shadowfell zones idiotic because you red alert no matter what you do -

Menace was the best in my opinion simply because it was a nod to the fanbase who loved the Drizz't books - they gave the fans what they wanted and they did it well.

Ravenloft was arguably the best of SSG's expansions - it was extremely well done - Death House is top 5 DDO quests of all time - Castle Ravenloft quest was so well done it was immaculate.

Sharn is the expac I see people run the most because the loot was the best - 3 piece great set bonuses. Sharn is a very good expansion and the Eberron specific content generally very good - it baffles me why Eberron is not more popular with players because it is an extremely rich setting - very very interesting - We have only seen 1% of Eberron in DDO - its an epic landscape. Would be fab if we could see the Mournlands or time travel to the Last War. We really need Kalashtar and Changelings and different warforged bodytypes

[Oliphant]

My order best to worst:

1. Sharn (fun to play on day one, light setting)
2. Ravenloft (elevated the game but a bit dreary, overly difficult for too many players, nasty/tricky required quests)
3. Feywild (nice setting, cool gear, story seemed weak and incomplete - great raid)
4. Saltmarsh (cool setting but chincey slayers and not enough eventfulness to justify being expansion)
5. MotU (in hindsight this content and art was meh, another chincey offering, this time in terms of providing any real meat from Faerun)
6. Shadowfell (not cool selling this as an expansion - game was also aesthetically broken during the purple era)

[The_Human_Cypher]

Feywild (nice setting, cool gear, story seemed weak and incomplete - great raid)

I re-ran the entire Feywild chain on a different character and my opinion of the expansion improved, but not greatly. The story makes much more sense the second time through but still falls flat. The Lord Arden/Hyrsam story arc just isn't that interesting, and the two parts of the expansion's story aren't closely woven together, making the ending anti-climatic to some extent.

[Aelonwy]

I think this is a part of the problem with Sharn for me. For a place that's known for the verticality of its structure all the quests feel quite flat (I will make an exception for reach but tbh that's the only quest where I felt like I was in Sharn). I don't think it ever really got the feel of being a place where height was a major factor. A lot of the quests I thought were great (some comparable or better than RL) as far as mechanics and story went but the atmosphere just felt too closed in and horizontal.

Hmmm interesting. I got a different impression from Sharn. House of Pain for instance took advantage of the verticality. You get glimpses and suggestions of it here and there such as Vaunt's escape in Sharn Welcome and our subsequent drop through the smoke stack? The window (very nice touch) in No Refunds. Just Business could have used more of it certainly, optionals accessible only by climbing below the cloud floor or climbing above the reach of the sky sleds would have worked. It was different but I think the tech for the sky sleds was too limiting for what they ultimately wanted.

I think what Sharn really, really needed to feel solid was a portion of the "wilderness zone" to be the middle city with a few recognizable locations from the quests. For instance if the bar from House of Pain and its surroundings were part of an entry map that connected in some real physically-going-down way to the Cogs and was connected in some way to the map from Red Rain or even just a portion of it then you would get a feel for a "real" interconnected city. The issue with the sky-taxi just teleporting you inside all the quests is it feels disconnected and surreal and looses integrity.

To be fair, I purchased the following Sharn pack immediately on its release and I do feel it adds to the cityscape and imaginary conception of Sharn, but I realize its not part of the Sharn expansion.

Because they did not do that... they could sometime in the future make another Sharn pack with a Middle-city urban wilderness zone, and so long as they re-use some of the locations from the quests even if its just exteriors like the exterior of the bar in Same Old Song it will spark recognition and pleasure and give players a sense of where locations are in relation to each other... something sadly missing due to the over-use of the Skytaxi.

[Dilbon]

1. Ravenloft. Only negative thing is the boring and pointless wilderness. Recent gear balancing made this even better. Only one quest I don't like: Mad Tea Party.
2. Feywild. Can't think of anything negative right now but I still like Ravenloft more. There are a couple of quests I don't like.
3. Sharn. I don't like the quests or the setting but the loot is good. On the other hand gear balancing made this expansion less necessary.
4. Menace of the Underdark. I don't like Underdark but still this was pretty fun in 2012, a true expansion with lots of stuff. Basic gear for commendations is a great concept. Maybe this should come before Sharn.
5. Shadowfell. There's nothing I like here. I feel forced to run the quests for favor and saga, the wilderness is big but pointless, the loot is not DDO, it's more PnP. Good XP though in some quests. Edit: Actually there is one thing I like: basic gear as quest rewards. Useless now, but some items were good.

Saltmarsh not included.

[Oliphant]

I re-ran the entire Feywild chain on a different character and my opinion of the expansion improved, but not greatly. The story makes much more sense the second time through but still falls flat. The Lord Arden/Hyrsam story arc just isn't that interesting, and the two parts of the expansion's story aren't closely woven together, making the ending anti-climatic to some extent.

Yeah. Did we ever even really wake up Arden? Feywild has the most quantum plot. Did anything happen and if it did, what was it?

[Oliphant]

People make good points about the substantiveness of MotU, links to Forgotten Realms book content people like. Maybe I'm too hard on it. I can't get into any of that once I got into town and saw a bunch of cubes with yellow garbage pixel straw everywhere. Eveningstar is just a bunch of pixels and annoying psuedo Anglo accents to me. Whoever made the thatched roof pixels in Eveningstar completely lost me.

[erethizon]

Not only did Ravenloft have the most rich and immersive environment, but they teleported you right to the quest so no walking through any stupid, confusing wilderness area when all you want to do is quest (I'm looking at you Cogs), and they gave you a heroic and epic weapon of your choice as soon as you started (we have enough gear we are required to farm for, sometimes it is nice to just be able to choose exactly what we are looking for right from the start). The free weapon system makes Ravenloft an excellent way for a new player to somewhat catch up in power immediately upon making a purchase.

[erethizon]

No love for Sharn? You all wear the gear but won't rep the pack lol

It's got great gear...the quests are all great outside of Just Business and Same Old Song with the sound on....I love that it's got nice bite size quests as well as longer form ones...and a decent and well presented storyline to boot..and it gives Inqui, which is pretty much the ranged playstyle of record

One of the best elements in any quest is in Reach, one I'd like to see more often: you can choose between a trash-heavy path that favors aoe, or a boss-heavy path that favors single target burst. Well kinda, two target burst I guess..

Sharn is good gear for exactly 2 levels when it is replaced by Soul Splitter gear (which is a stand alone quest pack and not part of the Sharn Expansion even though people love to act like it is just because it is located in the Sharn city area). If I haven't bothered to write out exactly what pieces of gear to switch I often don't find myself level 15 and 16 long enough for the costume change. Ravenloft has a 5 piece set that can be used many more levels because it is so versatile in how you can choose which 5 slots to fill with it.

The Sharn quests are okay, but they suffer from the same dislike I feel for the Reaver's chain. The quests were so bloody difficult when first released that they were more stressful than enjoyable. Since we already have plenty of heroic quests (including plenty of quests that are heroic only and can't be run for exp during epics) Sharn usually gets saved for epics and since they decided that good reaper experience should only be granted for legendary quests Sharn suffers from the stigma of being a chain that was programmed to be unreasonably difficult when run in epics (especially when raising the reaper level slightly so you can get some half-way decent reaper experience). I know they recently made it easier, which was badly needed, though I'm still not sure it was enough and still suffers from the memories of dread I feel for it from how hard it used to be (which is part of what I dislike about Reavers).

[erethizon]

I am definitely not here to defend Shadowfell, but I am curious as to why it is so disliked? The only thing that comes to mind that makes me dislike it is that all the quests are located in confusing adventure area (you can't just run in a straight line or along a route that is obvious your first time) and they tried to charge astral shards to use the teleporters instead of making them available for free. Shadowfell badly needs Ravenloft-style teleporters that teleport each person directly to the quest. Shadowfell suffers from the Chains of Flame problem where, if the newly added group member doesn't already know how to get to the quest there is a good chance they will leave the group in frustration before they find it (especially for Mirror and the last 3 quests in Stormhorns).

[WruntJunior]

Sharn is good gear for exactly 2 levels when it is replaced by Soul Splitter gear (which is a stand alone quest pack and not part of the Sharn Expansion even though people love to act like it is just because it is located in the Sharn city area). If I haven't bothered to write out exactly what pieces of gear to switch I often don't find myself level 15 and 16 long enough for the costume change. Ravenloft has a 5 piece set that can be used many more levels because it is so versatile in how you can choose which 5 slots to fill with it.

I know this is an opinion-based thread, but I doubt most people swap out of Sharn gear to Soul Splitter gear at 17. Soul Splitter gear doesn't fit most builds that well. I don't see any melee giving up PotF for any set from there, and there's basically nothing my caster would like to equip from soul splitter gear. I do know if you're playing a pm, the grey leathers in particular are nice at 17 though.

Edit: I also find it interesting that Shadowfell is so disliked. I feel the same way, but I purposefully didn't by the expansion when it was new more because of the enhancement rework than because of the expansion. The expansion itself is nice, but really just two quest packs wearing an expansion trench coat imo.

[erethizon]

I know this is an opinion-based thread, but I doubt most people swap out of Sharn gear to Soul Splitter gear at 17. Soul Splitter gear doesn't fit most builds that well. I don't see any melee giving up PotF for any set from there, and there's basically nothing my caster would like to equip from soul splitter gear. I do know if you're playing a pm, the grey leathers in particular are nice at 17 though.

Edit: I also find it interesting that Shadowfell is so disliked. I feel the same way, but I purposefully didn't by the expansion when it was new more because of the enhancement rework than because of the expansion. The expansion itself is nice, but really just two quest packs wearing an expansion trench coat imo.

Set bonus for Soul Splitter gives a bonus to crit chance (rather than only spell power, though it gives that too), making it the best gear I have found for a caster that simply wants to do more damage.

[WruntJunior]

Set bonus for Soul Splitter gives a bonus to crit chance (rather than only spell power, though it gives that too), making it the best gear I have found for a caster that simply wants to do more damage.

Yeah, but not to fire, cold, or lightning. It doesn't even fit in that great with a divine caster. Again, I agree dreadkeeper is potentially amazing for a PM (especially including the grey leathers with negative heal amp), but not for most casters compared to sharn sets.

Keep in mind Sharn has sets that give crit chance for spells as well, with hruit's, arcsteel, and flamecleansed.

[Aelonwy]

I am definitely not here to defend Shadowfell, but I am curious as to why it is so disliked?

Well I already wrote out most of why I dislike it personally. It has two of my least favorite mobs to fight, Shadarkai and Howlers. The purple glow of the Shadowfell forces me to change my graphic settings or be blinded. I don't like the Netherese voice acting, it grates on my nerves so I change my sound settings before doing Shadowfell quests too. I forgot about the cash-grabby astral shard teleporters maybe because I've never used them but yeah that's certainly not a highlight of that content.

I'm not sure, because I usually really like urban-style wilderness zones but maybe Wheloon is extra unpleasant to me because its so morbid and depressing and no matter what you do, even completing the quests for that zone isn't really helping any of those poor oppressed people, especially those incarcerated unfairly. It just doesn't feel heroic... any of it. Thinking about it is really disheartening. Oh and failing the DC to save someone and they start attacking you so you have to slay them? Really?! Oh that's not dispiriting at all. /s What about all the starving dogs in the zone that die by AoE or hireling or the cleric rare? Yeah that's so fun to watch repeatedly happen... for a sadist maybe.

The Stormhorns I enjoy, its bright, beautiful, a joy to run... mostly... still have to deal with those aggravating Shadarkai but still far better. In the Stormhorns you're clearly disrupting enemy supplies and troops and very obviously helping to prevent a war. Those quests culminate in WGU, one of the best quests in the game and you still have to deal with Shadarkai and the purple glow of doom but what a spectacular ending?! That moment when the glacier hits the mountain is momentous. It feels awesome. You feel awesome for having accomplished it. Nothing in Wheloon feels like that, not even Mirror.

[The_Human_Cypher]

Yeah. Did we ever even really wake up Arden? Feywild has the most quantum plot. Did anything happen and if it did, what was it?

Lord Arden did wake up at the end of Part I, but the entire story arc seems only incidentally related to what happens in Part II. Both Ravenloft and Sharn had stories which built to a climatic finish, where the Feywild story just seems to...end.

[Axeyu]

Sharn is good gear for exactly 2 levels when it is replaced by Soul Splitter gear (which is a stand alone quest pack and not part of the Sharn Expansion even though people love to act like it is just because it is located in the Sharn city area). If I haven't bothered to write out exactly what pieces of gear to switch I often don't find myself level 15 and 16 long enough for the costume change. Ravenloft has a 5 piece set that can be used many more levels because it is so versatile in how you can choose which 5 slots to fill with it.

The Sharn quests are okay, but they suffer from the same dislike I feel for the Reaver's chain. The quests were so bloody difficult when first released that they were more stressful than enjoyable. Since we already have plenty of heroic quests (including plenty of quests that are heroic only and can't be run for exp during epics) Sharn usually gets saved for epics and since they decided that good reaper experience should only be granted for legendary quests Sharn suffers from the stigma of being a chain that was programmed to be unreasonably difficult when run in epics (especially when raising the reaper level slightly so you can get some half-way decent reaper experience). I know they recently made it easier, which was badly needed, though I'm still not sure it was enough and still suffers from the memories of dread I feel for it from how hard it used to be (which is part of what I dislike about Reavers).

The soul splitter gear are useful for a very limited number of builds compared to the sharn sets. Part of the Familiy is best in slot from level 15 to level 29 for more or less every melee build.
Heroic Sharn has very good exp. Not sure if you know this, but first time bonuses and bravery bonuses are seperate for heroic and epic so there is no reason to "save it for epics" if that's what you meant.

[erethizon]

Heroic Sharn has very good exp. Not sure if you know this, but first time bonuses and bravery bonuses are seperate for heroic and epic so there is no reason to "save it for epics" if that's what you meant.

I run each quest exactly once per life so any given quest is either run at heroic level or epic level but not both. Running a legendary quest at heroic levels is terrible for RXP so I am inclined to save it for epics. I'd be much better off running Terminal Delirium as a heroic quest if I need more experience to get me to 20, though really, there are enough quests that are heroic only with no epic option that very few quests that have both options need to be run at heroic levels to get to 20.

[WruntJunior]

I run each quest exactly once per life so any given quest is either run at heroic level or epic level but not both. Running a legendary quest at heroic levels is terrible for RXP so I am inclined to save it for epics. I'd be much better off running Terminal Delirium as a heroic quest if I need more experience to get me to 20, though really, there are enough quests that are heroic only with no epic option that very few quests that have both options need to be run at heroic levels to get to 20.

Running a legendary quest at heroic levels doesn't affect the rxp you get at legendary levels though. There's a reason people run sharn at 17 regardless of whether or not they intend to do r10s that life for first time completion.