Isle of Dread Quest Impressions

[Marshal_Lannes]

First quest impressions on the outstanding new expansion, the Isle of Dread. (some spoilers)

Captive of the Hidden God - first quests in a chain are never easy to pull. Into the Mists isn't great. Welcome to Sharn does have a surprise ending. Saltmarsh skipped the whole first quest intro. If we are calling Wake Me Up Inside the first Feywild quest then that's the standard. Captive falls somewhere between Mists and Sharn. On reaper, the intro to Vecna can be perilous since the whole party gets charmed and can't act but an active reaper isn't charmed and can attack you at will. A fear reaper will wipe the party since the dialog is quite long. The entire quest is a flashback which is an new twist. At this point, pirates on ships is a bit overdone, even in a flashback. Probably won't be run much after the initial go-through.

Fall of the Forbidden Temple - the concluding quest to the expansion and the end of the Kopru storyline is a classic. Extremely challenging and tests characters in a variety of ways. The artwork demonstrates how far DDO has come - compare this for example to the temple in Fathom the Depths. A series of fights, traps, and exploration leads to an unsettling conclusion for our characters. This ending is foreshadowed in the Vecna notes from the explorer zone. Nice touch. Ties in well with the story from Captive and is a satisfying narrative where the heroes prevail but not without a cost. It will be interesting to see where this goes in the upcoming raid. Tieing the curse to chests was a nice touch.

The Curse and the Captive Crustacean - my least favorite of the expansion. Mostly a one-room quest that feels something like a throwaway. Ballista mechanic would have been inventive if part of a larger quest. Don't see myself running this again although if it has good loot the farming would be quick. Most like Knight Who Cried Windmill.

All Hail the King - possibly my favorite, certainly one of the best. It has all the things players like - a fantastic end boss (TRex), high XP per/min, interesting map, great title, can be zerged or enjoyed. I'll run this many, many times. Only negative is the quest is off on its own in the Volcano region.

Bullywugs and Booby Traps - one of two either inspired by or adjacent to Tomb Raider. We have other trap-heavy quests in DDO but none that combine exploration and trap avoidance quite like this. This is an amazing quest. Probably better solo than with a group so you can fully experience for yourself the heart jumps as a floor falls away and you look around for an escape. The brilliance of this quest is the design allows for different classes with different abilities to navigate the traps in multiple ways.

Plundering Pirate's Point - Feels like an evolution of Bargain of Blood. I do enjoy quests that feel like they are a living breathing entity. You can imagine pirate commerce going on here before the adventurers arrive. This is a snapshot into a colony that would function in a SIM. Players can wreak havoc (do what you do best!) in various areas all of which make sense for being there. Structure here provides compelling optionals. PPP and Precious Cargo are the two best pirate-themed quests in the game.

Spiders and Flies - Or Thornwright part deux. DDO has experimented with claustrophobic tunnel quests before. These are decent for a change of pace but I much prefer large rooms. Not my favorite but I wouldn't avoid it like Crab or Captive. Spiders does offer multiple ways to end the quest in terms of Pixie freeing. Do we ever find out why there is Pixie camp and why there are down here? Suffers from lack of compelling bad guys. I see what they were trying to do here but for me, it doesn't quite hit the mark.

The Stone Crypt Chronicle - absolute classic. If you ever wondered what it would be like to play Tomb Raider with your DDO character this is the quest. Feels like I'm in Tomb Raider 2 or 3. Loved everything about this quest. Again, this can be zerged in a group with a party splitting for crests or you can do it solo and spend an hour in there hunting down pterodactyl eggs. I did so enjoy how each crest offered a different type of challenge - very Last Crusade going through the trials. This quest is brilliant. Great job!

The Trouble With Tar Pits - felt like an updated Sorrowdusk. Not bad, not great. I don't have much more to say about it so that seems to be the very definition of average. Does get bonus points for the location as the tar pit area of the zone is spectacular.

Trials of the Triceratops - easy to get to with the port so will likely be run a lot. Good story. I like how the various factions are using/compelling people for different purposes on the island. The oil trap was awesome. Most people have Triceratops and TRex as their favorite dinosaurs so both of them getting quests was smart. Tons of bonus points for the Triceratops not being a villain and providing a Barret moment of helping aid. Solid feel-good quest.

Whispers of Return - first major introduction to the Kopru. The quest does a solid job of depicting the ruins of their civilization. Overall vibe is done better in Stone Crypt, Bullywugs, and Temple but that's not to say this quest doesn't have its own spin on the crumbling Lost World atmosphere that permeates the expansion.

Wild Thing - felt like going through Jurassic Park with the dinosaurs unleashed. Dinosaur movement in the expansion is incredibly well done. A serious achievement if you ask me. And while you've been used to smacking them around in the explorer zone, suddenly, on Reaper, the way that Velociraptor moves, retreats, and charges are a whole lot more dangerous. Another clever story that is a piece of the overall narrative. Excellent map.

Isle of Dread features the most vibrant, living, and picturesque explorer zone in the game. That is going to be what leaves an impression on most gamers but the quests within the zone are gems themselves with some rising to the level of classics.

[Wizard1406]

I agree the quests are good, no quest that I'll dread on every saga run (like "Just Business" etc.)

Things that will be a problem on higher difficulties is the overtuned Kopru damage (hard to avoid with DDOs lag, high ping, desync) and farming temple if you don't do the attunement quests to lift the curses beforehand.

Was there a key to unlock the wheels in "Bullywugs and Boobytraps"? I didn't find it, but lucky could melt the locks. (on a roll of 20......open lock DCs have become very high for casters lately.....for the skill as rogue/ arti there are more ways to buff it, than a lvl 2 spell that can't even be heightened)

"The Curse and the Captive Crustacean". It's problematic, having to deal with a respawning wave fight and unlocking and firing ballistas solo. There should be a way to do this quest solo easier. Thankfully the quest is short. Anyone figured out the "puzzle"? I was just hitting random levers and that took a while and I got several respawn waves.

Stone Crypt chronicle was real laggy in the open area. My PC can't handle it well.

[Strider1963]

The quests in this expansion were well done, and the explorer area is for sure the best in the game, though since its quite large, it would have been nice to be able to port right to the quests once you've completed them, like 3bc. The only quest that I really don't like doing alone is the1-roomer with the crab and the ballistas. I just couldn't find a pattern to the puzzles so it was just hit and miss till I finally finished the quest. Very annoying. Overall, great job Devs!

[mikarddo]

I found the quests decent without being amazing. Nothing remotely as well done in terms of immersion as Death House or as complex as the Vale quests but very decent.

I do think, however, that some of them are on the short side. On my 3rd run through I went solo on R1 for a quick Saga and several of the quests finished in 3 mins - and the character isnt even great dps. Good for xp and loot but a bit low on content if most quests can be done in less than 5 mins. While I dont care for another Slavers part 2 length quest several of the IoD quests are very short.

The capstone quest with the 3 curses is very well done. Run with curses for more loot - or disable curses. I give that one an A+.

The wilderness is pretty - definitely better than Saltmarsh, but imho still lacks some heights compared to Storm Horns, Sands or the Vale. The real issue is a lack of mob density for me. I love Orchard Slayers due to the mob density and the Isle wilderness just doesn't make me care to kill mobs - but simply to run through to the next quest ignoring everything on the way.

[TedSandyman]

Most of these are simply minor impressions I get from the series. My opinion only. I don't really expect any of this to be addressed or changed except for the outdoor area maybe.

Really hated the temple the first time, but didn't know you could turn off curses.

The super high damage of the ball spell in the crab one gets me. I can outrun it most of the time. But it is harder to do if soloing and having to concentrate on all the other mobs too AND while try to get the ballista going.

Quests shouldn't be dumbed down just for soloers, but soloers should be taken into consideration. This game is more and more becoming high reaper players and soloers with fewer players in between.

I don't like being locked in a small room in an end fight with something that can damage in one shot the way the t-rex can in the bamboo quest. In general, I don't like quests where it is pretty easy to get to the end fight, but the end fight is FAR more difficult than the rest of the quest. It makes it really hard to solo that one too.

I am not saying the end fight shouldn't be harder, it should. But in some quests the difficulty of the end fight is far above the difficulty of the quest itself. I know a lot of you high reaper players don't notice because it is all easy to you. But that one is a more difficult end fight than the others.

I don't like mobs that you have to get absolutely on top of them before they "activate". I assume it is to make melee more useful, but they need to work on melee and not make this a default mechanic.

The outdoor area still needs some works. There is a water weird that disappears, at least one rare that doesn't count, and there are still a few message issues. (I'm looking at you number 13.)

It seemed that the drop rates were pretty low for named items. The first time I ran the series, I only got one named item. But it seems that was just bad luck. Subsequent runs seemed to be about right.


But other than those minor details, I feel they did a good job with this one.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Was there a key to unlock the wheels in "Bullywugs and Boobytraps"?

"The Curse and the Captive Crustacean". It's problematic, having to deal with a respawning wave fight and unlocking and firing ballistas solo. There should be a way to do this quest solo easier. Thankfully the quest is short. Anyone figured out the "puzzle"? I was just hitting random levers and that took a while and I got several respawn waves.

There is a lever for the Bullywug wheels. I share the thoughts of others here about Crustacean as I too did it solo. What I did was only unlock one ballista and then wait for the crab to appear in the zone it covered killing mobs until it did. The crab moves around in a pattern (or maybe randomly) but eventually gets to your zone. Mobs seemed easier when I left one archer alive, didn't spawn as much. No clue on the levers. I tried L, R, M. Then M, R. M, L. Then just started button mashing till I got them lit.

I petition the Devs to give Vecna power over reapers, haha.

[LightBear]

First quest impressions on the outstanding new expansion, the Isle of Dread. (some spoilers)

Captive of the Hidden God - On reaper, the intro to Vecna can be perilous since the whole party gets charmed and can't act but an active reaper isn't charmed and can attack you at will. A fear reaper will wipe the party since the dialog is quite long. The entire quest is a flashback which is an new twist.

This can only mean that reapers are more powerful than a God and because we can beat reapers.... so are we... We're Titans!

[Aelonwy]

Point of View from Lamannia, but my favorities were Fall of the Forbidden Temple, Bullywugs & Booby Traps, and Stone Crypt Chronicles. Gorgeous, fun quests with plenty to do and explore. Really loved these three so much.

Middle of the Road, I still liked them just not quite as much... Captive of the Hidden God (loved the boat bit and washing ashore, not so much the recap and dues ex machina -I have you now- mechanic), Plundering Pirate's Point (very fun), Spiders and Flies (this felt a bit like a Feywild quest but also felt so much better because of the vertical exploration of the tunnels), I also enjoyed The Trouble with Tar Pits.

Just missed the mark for me, sometimes barely... All Hail the King (felt unfinished, particularly the passage behind the dispellable door and I much dislike the range and power of Trex's shout?), Trials of the Triceratops (idk, just felt okay not particularly memorable), Whispers of Return (again just felt mediocre perhaps because I ran Forbidden Temple first and that one is so very much better), Wild Thing (okay this one might grow on me but the Lamannia runthrough had an awful map and I got separated from the family twice and just left me aggravated.)

Absolutely hated it on Lamannia... Curse of the Captive Crustacean. Not enough to explore or do outside the one-room battle and within that battle its too busy, too chaotic with not enough control over what's happening for me.

The wilderness was lovely, but I didn't like how close I had to get to mobs to activate some of them while simultaneously I dislike herbivores becoming activated at all. I did love the Brontosaurus ignoring us and being able to climb on its back. Most of the rares were really cool but it was odd there was ONLY 2 dino rares.

Wake Me Up Inside the first Feywild quest then that's the standard.

Why would you think Wake Me Up Inside is the first Feywild quest? Just because its accessible from the town zone? In the course of the Feywild story (if you are reading and paying attention) Wake Me Up Inside presupposes you have already run Make Believe (in which you acquire Hyrsam's Lute) and A Frosty Reception (in which you acquire the Frosty Cerise Flower). You then fall under the hag's spell while she is disguised as Melody the Apothecary and have to reacquire the items in the dream and beat the hag into submission for Arden's true name. I thought Endless Revels was the first Feywild quest in the story although it doesn't feel like there is much point to it except idle fun.

[Oxarhamar]

Point of View from Lamannia, but my favorities were Fall of the Forbidden Temple, Bullywugs & Booby Traps, and Stone Crypt Chronicles. Gorgeous, fun quests with plenty to do and explore. Really loved these three so much.

Middle of the Road, I still liked them just not quite as much... Captive of the Hidden God (loved the boat bit and washing ashore, not so much the recap and dues ex machina -I have you now- mechanic), Plundering Pirate's Point (very fun), Spiders and Flies (this felt a bit like a Feywild quest but also felt so much better because of the vertical exploration of the tunnels), I also enjoyed The Trouble with Tar Pits.

Just missed the mark for me, sometimes barely... All Hail the King (felt unfinished, particularly the passage behind the dispellable door and I much dislike the range and power of Trex's shout?), Trials of the Triceratops (idk, just felt okay not particularly memorable), Whispers of Return (again just felt mediocre perhaps because I ran Forbidden Temple first and that one is so very much better), Wild Thing (okay this one might grow on me but the Lamannia runthrough had an awful map and I got separated from the family twice and just left me aggravated.)

Absolutely hated it on Lamannia... Curse of the Captive Crustacean. Not enough to explore or do outside the one-room battle and within that battle its too busy, too chaotic with not enough control over what's happening for me.

The wilderness was lovely, but I didn't like how close I had to get to mobs to activate some of them while simultaneously I dislike herbivores becoming activated at all. I did love the Brontosaurus ignoring us and being able to climb on its back. Most of the rares were really cool but it was odd there was ONLY 2 dino rares.


Why would you think Wake Me Up Inside is the first Feywild quest? Just because its accessible from the town zone? In the course of the Feywild story (if you are reading and paying attention) Wake Me Up Inside presupposes you have already run Make Believe (in which you acquire Hyrsam's Lute) and A Frosty Reception (in which you acquire the Frosty Cerise Flower). You then fall under the hag's spell while she is disguised as Melody the Apothecary and have to reacquire the items in the dream and beat the hag into submission for Arden's true name. I thought Endless Revels was the first Feywild quest in the story although it doesn't feel like there is much point to it except idle fun.

Wake me up is the last quest in the storyline

[Aelonwy]

Wake me up is the last quest in the storyline

Last quest in the first group of Feywild quests, IIRC. But Immortality Lessons was the very last quest in the storyline. Still it was Marshal that said Wake Me Up Inside was the first Feywild quest, I was explaining why that was incorrect.

[Marshal_Lannes]

Wake Me Up Inside feels like the first since it's in Wynnwood Hall and you have to collect most of the quests there so you're likely starting your quests here (if you didn't just teleport there). I don't see Make Believe as the first since you need to be in the Hall to get it and it's then at the extreme West of the zone so if you were just entering Feywild from the Hut it's unlikely you'd ever hit that first. Narrative - maybe but could not the Winter zone just as easily be the first ones you do? I'm not sure exactly how Lord Arden and the Prince of Frost's timelines intersect. Immortality Lessons is definitely the last. Probably the more complete answer is Feywild does not have a "first quest" and is more like Saltmarsh than Sharn, Ravenloft, and Dread which clearly have first quests.

[Epicsoul]

The quests in this expansion are by far the best since Ravenloft. I had a wonderful experience running it the first time through, and each subsequent completion has been very fun as well. The Fall of the Forbidden Temple and The Stone Crypt Chronicle are absolutely amazing quests. I can't wait to play the raid.

[Oxarhamar]

Wake Me Up Inside feels like the first since it's in Wynnwood Hall and you have to collect most of the quests there so you're likely starting your quests here (if you didn't just teleport there). I don't see Make Believe as the first since you need to be in the Hall to get it and it's then at the extreme West of the zone so if you were just entering Feywild from the Hut it's unlikely you'd ever hit that first. Narrative - maybe but could not the Winter zone just as easily be the first ones you do? I'm not sure exactly how Lord Arden and the Prince of Frost's timelines intersect. Immortality Lessons is definitely the last. Probably the more complete answer is Feywild does not have a "first quest" and is more like Saltmarsh than Sharn, Ravenloft, and Dread which clearly have first quests.

You have to fill the storyline

being in the hall doesn’t make it the first quest

That the quests can be done in whatever order is one of the strong points

[Wimdwalker]

This quest was incredibly easy for me--30th level Necro--solo'd with a couple of hirelings. Hirelings and summoned took care of waves of marauders while I played with catapults. Only used one--blue one?--and kept playing with it 'til "Underbelly exposed" bit then fired away--did take a few tries though--when force field disappeared then all of us attacked crab until it was no longer a problem. Quick and mostly easy, so not sure if bugged or not.