Discussion - TDS HAs (1 Viewer)

Just curious, which TDS HAs are folks running the most often and why?

Degmar = long and tricky
Thulisaur = just killing a bunch, pretty easy, about an hour to do in group gear
Arx Mentis = bread and butter, probably best if you're just after pieces of 8.

Those are the only 3 I find worth running for time and reward, even then it's too little. I'm working on coding a way to run thulisaur over and over, but it's got a lot of camp spots and lot of variables.

Katta - chest after killing the giant blueberry chick which means a chance at a briny.
Degmar - I do the one in the church with 15 to 20 angry dwarfs and the commander. You need a mezzer for this one. Chest at the end.
Brother Island - Kill lots of sirens. Easy with a chest at the end.
Thulisaur - kill a bunch, no chest just pieces of 8.
Caverns - The one which drops the Endless collectibles. Easy to do with pieces of 8 as the reward.

These all take quite a bit of time to complete and in my opinion the rewards are only good for the first few runs. After that is just boring with little reward at the end.

Dallas41 said:

Katta - chest after killing the giant blueberry chick which means a chance at a briny.
Degmar - I do the one in the church with 15 to 20 angry dwarfs and the commander. You need a mezzer for this one. Chest at the end.
Brother Island - Kill lots of sirens. Easy with a chest at the end.
Thulisaur - kill a bunch, no chest just pieces of 8.
Caverns - The one which drops the Endless collectibles. Easy to do with pieces of 8 as the reward.
These all take quite a bit of time to complete and in my opinion the rewards are only good for the first few runs. After that is just boring with little reward at the end.

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I agree with all of those but the Katta, Brother Isle, and Degmar ones you mention are actually missions, not HA (so no Po8).

If you're flagged for it- Arx Mentis HA all the way. Kill mobs, move, kill mobs, move, kill mobs, win. If you're boxing, using KA or autofollow, the narrow halls may be a bit annoying for you though. Unlike the static AM zone, most crowd control works in the instances (mez, stun, etc.). That may not be a huge consideration for you but it's something to keep in mind. The instances are 10X easier than the normal zone so don't let any frustration from the static zone influence your choice to do this HA.

Now, if you're not flagged that far, Thuliasaur is the next straight up kill HA. Unlike AM, it's a wide open area so boxing/following is much easier here. It has relatively easy pulls but know that in the Lizard area you're in a swarm of see invis mobs. Since 99% of collection pieces spawn in the lizard temples, have an Enchanter, FD class, or Rogue available for easy access if collections are any motivation for you. Otherwise, plan to kill those extra mobs. Thuliasaur also has a chance to spawn 3 named whereas all the other HA only have 1.

The Caverns HA isn't bad on paper (another kill, kill, kill mission mostly) but you're underwater for most of those kills. Water. I don't think I need to say more. Get your named kill for Hunter, get your collection pieces, and never return. The amount of Po8 rewarded is low as well.

The Degmar HA, as stated above, is a real PITA. It has lots of annoying splits/pulls. I would box this one a lot (trying to get named for Hunter) with my Enchanter main and still had some issues. If you're boxing/MQ2ing, this is probably not a great choice. Lots of moving and narrow hallways. It does yield much more Po8 than TT or Caverns though. If you have more than 1 real player, this isn't a horrible choice.

The Tempest Temple HA is just garbage IMO. You get minimal Po8, only 1 named can possibly spawn, and it's mostly just X # of mobs (which are going to be blue or light blue to you at 105 so bad XP). It's not even exceedingly quick to finish. Like Caverns, I'd only do it as much as absolutely necessary if you want collects and the named credit.

Dredge... no. Just no. It takes forever. Maybe I just found this one to be annoying. Maybe I was in a bad mood when I did it. Idunno. :p I'd say it's better than Degmar and you get more Po8, but if you're not trying to churn out the max # of HA per lockout period, I'd skip it. It *used* to be good when the named and collects spawned after the first two steps and you would just chain-flip the instance but they nerfed that unfortunately

Now, if you were interested in missions as well (which Dallas41 outlined some of) here is my opinion on those. Remember you always get a chest on winning (one guaranteed loot + chance at visible drop + chance at spell):

Katta- Short, simple, and sweet. Kill a few waves of mobs, kill a "boss", loot chest. Since they recently increased the Briny drop rate, you're much more likely to get a spell. Lv 101 spells also sell for the most after Glowing so you could make some decent $$$ this way too if you don't need it for yourself.

Tempest- Straightforward kill mission but requires a lot more moving compared to Katta. I know I keep mentioning the movement issue but I'm kindof guessing you'll be using MQ2 / boxing for some of this since you're on these forums. I know moving can certainly be an inconvenience factor. Also note, the first few steps of this mission are in the *static* zone. If you're going for 100% discreet, keep that in mind.

Degmar- Straightforward again, kill waves of mobs but almost no moving around. A tip- If you stand on the bridge (the spot I'm talking about will be 110% obvious the first time you zone in) for all but the last wave, the mobs will aggro on the friendly NPC and you can peel them off 1 by 1 if you don't have a mezzer. Note for the last wave you'll need to move across the room (if you're facing Thubr, move up and right to the lil cubby area) since those mobs spawn on the bridge but they will aggro the friendly NPCs still if you do this. After Katta, this is probably the second easiest mission but takes 2X as long... you're also in a T3 zone though whereas Katta is T1.

Thuliasaur- Much like the HA, kill mobs, move, kill mobs, move, kill boss (see a theme here in TDS? lol). The first 1/2 of the mission the mobs are in rather close clusters so have some way to split or crowd control. These guys seem to have a lot of HP, low XP, and you have to kill a lot of them. I find this to be completely unlike the HA which is much easier. Again, a T3 mission though so better loot/spells.

Combine Dredge- This mission makes me cry. It's essentially yet another kill kill kill mission for the first 3/4ths but you have to slaughter way too many mobs with way too many HP. If you're not doing this with a full group of real people, stay away. It will just take too long to be worth it on a regular basis.

Arx Mentis- Multiple missions here, make sure you get the right one! 'All Rivers Lead to the Sea' is a run around-kill mission but it has a lot of steps and a lot of running. However, it does award a chest. 'The Cost of Balance' is short and sweet but you get NO chest. There is no reason to do this mission except for the credit once (And if you do it have a beefy tank or pet tank). The newer mission 'Confronting Calix' is actually given in Katta and DOES award a chest. However, it has slightly more involved mechanics but essentially little to no moving. I haven't boxed it myself (did it with friends) but I'm sure it's possible, especially if you're using some "help". Overall, it's straightforward and rather short provided you know what you have to do. Don't recommend attempting this unless you've read the outline on Zam or EQResource.

So... here's my summary:

HAs: You get Po8, chance at a named, and some are quick and easy. While you won't always get one to pop, the named drops tier appropriate non-visibles, chance at a visible, and a chance at a spell. The last patch greatly increased the chance for those extra items to drop btw. Another perk to consider is that if you want to farm gear and spells, you won't get a lockout unless you finish the HA. This means you can get, try and spawn named, drop, repeat as much as you like. You will lose out on Po8 but it just depends on what your priorities may be if this matters. Compare this to missions where you HAVE to win and DO get a lockout for your loot.

In order of preference starting with what I consider the easiest and best (based on time, named, # Po8): Thuliasaur, Arx Mentis, Degmar, Tempest, Caverns, Combine Dredge. Honestly, I'd only do T3 HAs (soooo much more Po8) and only Thuli and AM. Time and Risk vs Reward just isn't there to justify the others.

Missions: Guaranteed loot of a non-visible with a chance at a visible and spell, but, no Po8. Compared to HAs, most of the missions take longer and are more convoluted (although not *always* the case). The Katta mission is stupid easy and is a good cash cow because all of the loot drops are tradeable (ie. if you like playing the Bazaar game, this should be your go-to mission). If you want a shot at Glowing spells though you're gonna have to venture into T3.

My order of preference considering time, loot, and potential for plat would be Katta, Arx Mentis (Either All Rivers or Calix), Degmar, everything else, Dredge.