Underrated dungeons?

[Zard]

<div>My regular group likes to explore and hunt in underutilized dungeons that do not suck. We are currently working on the Tower of Drafling access quest (which I'm not even sure is required anymore) with the hopes of exploring a new area that few people regularly visit (besides zipping in to get the Bixie L&L book and advancing the Heirophant's Crook HQ).</div><div> </div><div>Do you have any recommendations for dungeons that are underrated? An approximate level range and whether an access quest is required would be a great help too.</div><div> </div><div>Thanks in advance!   :smileyhappy:</div><div> </div>

[Kaiser Sigma]

<div>The access quest for Tower of the Drafling is no longer necessary to enter the zone although doing it still rewards you with a weapon. In my opinion one of the best zones in the game that is very underrated is Obelisk of the Lost Souls. There is no access quest involved to zone in into the place althought to enter through the front door and to open the door to the second level you need to do access quests for each one. The level range for the outside of the Obelisk and the first floor goes from lvl 35 to 40, second and third level are good for people on the lvl 40-50 range. Very bizarre, dark and interesting lore can be found in that place.</div><div> </div><div>You can zone in through many portals across t2-t3 zones or enter directly in the first floor via the portal at Feerrott.</div>

[Zard]

<div></div>Good to know, we are working on the access quests for the Obelisk too and have entered the cave from several different zones including Enchanted Lands and the Feerrott. I rarely see anyone in that zone but remember exploring it long ago (with another character) and being amazed by the bizarre technology inside.

[Pins]

Obelisk and Tower, the most underrated zones ever, that barely anybody goes near.

[SageGaspar]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:Obelisk and Tower, the most underrated zones ever, that barely anybody goes near.<hr></blockquote>I don't know if I'd called Obelisk underrated, I've never seen anything halfway decent drop off the nameds. It's certainly underutilized and has some very nice architecture, but there are very few things that could convince me to go back in there, hehe.</span></div>

[Lornick]

<div></div>Some of the bloodline chronicle stuff is pretty interesting and is never used.  It's all around 35-45 in level range and the entrance is in nek forest by the waterfall if you've never been.  Obelisk and Drafling Tower are both really interesting dungeons too.  It's a pity that the loot was never made good enough to validate going there for anything besides quests.

[Pins]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>SageGaspar wrote:<div><span><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:Obelisk and Tower, the most underrated zones ever, that barely anybody goes near.<hr></blockquote>I don't know if I'd called Obelisk underrated, I've never seen anything halfway decent drop off the nameds. It's certainly underutilized and has some very nice architecture, but there are very few things that could convince me to go back in there, hehe.</span></div><hr></blockquote>I've seen some pretty good drops in there from the time I used to level in there.  Lotta chances for named in there as well.

[DarkMirrax]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>SageGaspar wrote:<div><span><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:Obelisk and Tower, the most underrated zones ever, that barely anybody goes near.<hr></blockquote>I don't know if I'd called Obelisk underrated, I've never seen anything halfway decent drop off the nameds. It's certainly underutilized and has some very nice architecture, but there are very few things that could convince me to go back in there, hehe.</span></div><hr></blockquote>I've seen some pretty good drops in there from the time I used to level in there.  Lotta chances for named in there as well.<hr></blockquote><p>Shed loads of drops in there , the place owns !!</p><p>First area with no access needed there are around 10 nameds that spawn , granted most are needed for access to lvl 2 but still drop master chests</p>

[Benboe]

OOLS is a very nice Zone.And according to the test patch notes, it will get even more interesting in LU 22 <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /> ...Oovaan<div></div>

[SageGaspar]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>DarkMirrax wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>SageGaspar wrote:<div><span><blockquote><hr>Pinski wrote:Obelisk and Tower, the most underrated zones ever, that barely anybody goes near.<hr></blockquote>I don't know if I'd called Obelisk underrated, I've never seen anything halfway decent drop off the nameds. It's certainly underutilized and has some very nice architecture, but there are very few things that could convince me to go back in there, hehe.</span></div><hr></blockquote>I've seen some pretty good drops in there from the time I used to level in there.  Lotta chances for named in there as well.<hr></blockquote><p>Shed loads of drops in there , the place owns !!</p><p>First area with no access needed there are around 10 nameds that spawn , granted most are needed for access to lvl 2 but still drop master chests</p><hr></blockquote>Hrrm, well, all I can say is I spent a good five hours outside killing everything waiting for the named, and got each of the shadowmen once and the dragon a couple times. Every time just some poor quality treasured. Same deal on the inside with the evil eyes and shadowmen, and then even on the third layer with the named I found. Killed the ring event named and the maze named at least four or five times with nothing, even killed the boss in the vestibule once (never again will I go back there <img src="/smilies/69934afc394145350659cd7add244ca9.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />) and got a treasured box with a vendor ring.Glad they're upgrading loot.</span></div>

[Zard]

<div></div><div>Our little group, three level 44's, cleared out most of the <strong>Tower of the Drafling</strong> the other night and completed a few quests within. XP was great but the best loot we earned was from the access quest!  :smileysad:</div><div> </div><div>It was a good adventure, though, with some interesting textures, BIG rooms (unlike most dungeons we have seen) and new models. OK, <em>one</em> new model, a bixie, but they look great (much better than the silly little human-faced bees in EQ1).</div><div> </div>

[Moorgard]

<BR> <BLOCKQUOTE> <HR> Lornick wrote:<BR> Obelisk and Drafling Tower are both really interesting dungeons too.  It's a pity that the loot was never made good enough to validate going there for anything besides quests.<BR> <HR> </BLOCKQUOTE> <P><BR>Obelisk will be a lot more rewarding when LU22 arrives. There will be improved named encounters with all new loot, similar to the revamps we've done to other older zones (CT, Sol Eye, etc.). In addition, a number of long-standing geometry bugs in the zone have been fixed by the art team, and a few new visual goodies added (Obelisk is one of the very early zones that we built, so we've learned a lot about building better zones since then). Overall, it should be a much more pleasing experience to go there.</P> <P>I'm sure we'll get to Drafling Tower as well. It's one of the most unique zones in terms of look and population, so getting more people to go there would definitely be a good thing.</P>

[Dimgl]

<div></div><p>A couple other dungeons that may be worth checking out, though keep in mind these dungeons do have their own problems (loot, difficulty, etc.)</p><p>Condemned Catacombs (28-33): Fantastic little known dungeon off the coast of northern Antonica. Good number of nameds, excellent experience, and a very nice boss fight at the end. Only problem is that the mobs in the dungeon love to drop chests with "white"  items in them, and the dropped loot from the bosses is only so-so compared to quested gear, and doesn't compare to ROV equipment at all (similar level range.)</p><p>Nektropos Castle : The Return (50-55): The content is good for mid 50 groups, but the loot isn't worth using for even most level 40s, not to mention how difficult the content generally is, the golems you have to kill to open the doors  to even get past the opening courtyard are worthy of being epic x2 and they're not even "boss" mobs, that or someone typoed one too many zeros in their HP number. This dungeon also has the tons of "white" chests as a problem.</p>

[SageGaspar]

<div><span><blockquote><hr>Moorgard wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Lornick wrote:<div></div>Obelisk and Drafling Tower are both really interesting dungeons too.  It's a pity that the loot was never made good enough to validate going there for anything besides quests.<hr></blockquote><p>Obelisk will be a lot more rewarding when LU22 arrives. There will be improved named encounters with all new loot, similar to the revamps we've done to other older zones (CT, Sol Eye, etc.). In addition, a number of long-standing geometry bugs in the zone have been fixed by the art team, and a few new visual goodies added (Obelisk is one of the very early zones that we built, so we've learned a lot about building better zones since then). Overall, it should be a much more pleasing experience to go there.</p><p>I'm sure we'll get to Drafling Tower as well. It's one of the most unique zones in terms of look and population, so getting more people to go there would definitely be a good thing.</p><hr></blockquote>That's great to hear. Every time I take a group to Obelisk for their dragon runes (usually the first time they've been there), someone is incredulous about jumping through doors and ends up falling through the geometry and ending back at square one. I hope this is the issue you're fixing. Also, while you're making a pass at Obelisk, the Vestibule could use a retuning. The camp for the named inside after all that questing to get there is mind-numbing: either eliminate that or make the loot from the boss guaranteed legendary at least. The Vestibule quest itself could use a change too, the camp for the goblin in Runnyeye is boring and by the time most get there quite grey. I'd recommend having the goblin be triggered by the quest and also 50ish. Or even better, make him the Overlord in the back or something.Other zones that could use a look are Bloodlines, Splitpaw (though a little less so), and a lot of the other instances. None of them are really offering the loot quality of comparable-level dungeons. If you want people to be utilizing Bloodlines and Splitpaw at all, their drops have to at least be kicked up to match the level of Ruins, Runnyeye, Sol Eye, et al. There's very little motivation to go there otherwise.</span></div>

[Andu]

<span><blockquote><hr>SageGaspar wrote:<div><span>Also, while you're making a pass at Obelisk, the Vestibule could use a retuning. The camp for the named inside after all that questing to get there is mind-numbing: either eliminate that or make the loot from the boss guaranteed legendary at least. The Vestibule quest itself could use a change too, the camp for the goblin in Runnyeye is boring and by the time most get there quite grey. I'd recommend having the goblin be triggered by the quest and also 50ish. Or even better, make him the Overlord in the back or something.Other zones that could use a look are Bloodlines, Splitpaw (though a little less so), and a lot of the other instances. None of them are really offering the loot quality of comparable-level dungeons. If you want people to be utilizing Bloodlines and Splitpaw at all, their drops have to at least be kicked up to match the level of Ruins, Runnyeye, Sol Eye, et al. There's very little motivation to go there otherwise.</span></div><hr></blockquote>I agree. The access quests to get in OOLS are easily the worst in the game. Im generally a fan of access quests but these were terribly boring and kept a lot of people well away. I guess some people might have liked them for that reason <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" />All of the small solo instances that were put in a while ago are a nice way to pass the time but have very little by way of reward for the time invested in doing them. I don't know anyone who does them as a result.</span><div></div>

[Bi]

am I the only one who would like a bixie dungeon similar to Drafling Tower on Bixie isle in TT ?I think that would rock, I really, REALLY liked the drafling tower as it was original and difficult (getting 4 adds from wandering ^^^ bixies was interesting)I would really like to see a t7 zone that utilised some of these textures as I enjoyed them immensely.Stuff that I liked about Drafling:the tunnels that kept you guessing. Without a map drawn out this place was very easy to get lost in. The multiple ways to reach the same destination was excellent, albeit short tunnels generally it really did add a lot of atmosphere.Frequent large rooms with textured walls and floors. - Every Large room you encountered wasnt like entering a Ball Room with wandering mobs.Styled floors, ramps, platforms, or just mounds and hives around it, or it went up to a window you could go through, but couldnt see the other side until you got there...  My favourite room is definitely the Overseers room where you have to make your way down around the outside, being careful not to get too close to the centre of the room as the bixies are all socialDifferent Rooms. You really felt like you were in rooms of people with different status as you moved through the dungeon, and the styles were similar but with a definite status level attached. eg: the difference between the nurses room and the queens had a massive change, as did the numerous rooms between the overseers and the distillery compared to the queens.Different Mob placement- You knew the queens area had guards on the doors, compared to other areas which didnt, the tunnels had wanderers, the distillery was highly social. I guess there was a real sense of progression and change through this dungeonOOLS was original, but not particularly interesting IMO. I felt like it was just another dungeon, rather than something completely new.the few things that I really did like about OLS were: the maze, which was superb, as well as the way you had to find the named to get access to the chamber at the other side, and the named encounter was very interesting (although by the time I had found that chamber I had sadly far outlevelled it, and was able to duo it with a pally (was playing a 50 troub then)The other thing I liked was the stairwells in the towers, but again due to the incredible difficulty of getting to OLS it was rarely explored (the only actual access is from a relatively high t5 zone, otherwise you are stuck outside in a monotonous lvl 35 zone which then spawns lvl 39-42 nameds [iirc])I didnt find OLS accessible enough for the level range it was intended for. The permanent access points to the centre of it shouldve been from the EL nightblood area, rather than Feerrott (or as well as)I would really like to see more zones with original concepts used far more, I have no idea why I chose to write this (maybe a break from levelling) But I really would liked to see another bixie zone, OLS should be more accessible IMO tho, the nameds should be an easy spawn, but difficult to defeat- but on par with what's inside.my wiz couldnt solo any of the nameds there when she was 10 levels above them (not saying that she should be able to - but compared to the rest of the zone, this was definitely a much more difficult encounter - and by rest of the zone i mean all  of the first dungeon in the bastillion)<div></div>

[Aquilist]

With the revamp of the oblisk, can you also try to fix the various holes in the zone geometry? I was there collecting runes for the Dragon language quest and fell through the world, not once, not twice, but thrice! I got the [Bug]You fell through the world blah, blah. Message too so the game flagged it.<div></div>

[Sassinak]

Moorgard just said they are fixing the geometry bugs.  Let's give it a chance to hit live. <img src="/smilies/3b63d1616c5dfcf29f8a7a031aaa7cad.gif" border="0" alt="SMILEY" /><div></div>

[Bhagpuss]

<span><blockquote><hr>Moorgard wrote:<div></div><blockquote><hr>Lornick wrote:<div></div>Obelisk and Drafling Tower are both really interesting dungeons too.  It's a pity that the loot was never made good enough to validate going there for anything besides quests.<hr></blockquote><p>Obelisk will be a lot more rewarding when LU22 arrives. There will be improved named encounters with all new loot, similar to the revamps we've done to other older zones (CT, Sol Eye, etc.). In addition, a number of long-standing geometry bugs in the zone have been fixed by the art team, and a few new visual goodies added (Obelisk is one of the very early zones that we built, so we've learned a lot about building better zones since then). Overall, it should be a much more pleasing experience to go there.</p><p>I'm sure we'll get to Drafling Tower as well. It's one of the most unique zones in terms of look and population, so getting more people to go there would definitely be a good thing.</p><hr></blockquote>Yesterday my 55th Defiler and my GF's 58th Conjuror duoed two lengthy sessions - the first was Solusek's Eye and the second The Obelisk.In Sol virtually everything was green heroic and gave us some some excellent fights, with some really close calls (one which we only beat because I got a mini-ding in the middle). We travelled from the entrance through to the High Shaman and back, which took us around 2 1/2 hours. In that time we saw two  nameds; the High Shaman himself, for whom my GF had a quest, and a Captain. The shaman dropped a Master chest with some Legendary leather leggings in it. The captain dropped treasured loot, I forget what. Apart from that, loot other than body drops was pretty much non-existent.In The Obelisk we first had to complete Spawn the Creator and kill him, which was all grey to me at 55th. It did involve at least six nameds, however, so I assume there would have been some chests. The next level was still grey, except for the Void of Nihility or whatever his name is, and his defenders. They were a decent fight, with three nameds in the cycle of encounters who dropped a couple of treasured items/adept 1s.The third level was mainly green, with the mobs going up to 49th. Lots of good fights and a very intereting layout. I did get stuck on a door three times and fell through the world once, so it will be nice to see that fixed. We killed two more nameds, both of which dropped treasured quality Symbols.Overall, we had great fun in both zones, but of the two I found Obelisk far more interesting. Loot was not inspiring in either zone but personally I am not an advocate of having predictable loot on nameds in the first place, so that's not a problem for me.I look forward very much to the revamp of Obelisk insofar as it fixes the technical problems there, but I am a bit apprehensive that with EQ2 less than 18 months old we are already looking at a series of  revamps that upgrade loot. As someone that <i>doesn't</i> raid, I was actually happier when Master chests on heroic mobs were extremely rare. I don't really see why, as a non-raiding player, I <i>need </i>to be using equipment that puts me up to the bar for fighting Epic mobs. I'd rather see mobs drop appropriate loot for their own level, rather than stuff that lets you build up for the level above them.</span><div></div>

[Goejun]

I'm 70 Paladin with 30 AA and I had to run away from the uber grey golems in courtyard of Nektropos Return. Those mobs are Epics disguised in Heroics....<div></div>

[Kaiser Sigma]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Moorgard wrote:<div></div><p>Obelisk will be a lot more rewarding when LU22 arrives.</p><hr></blockquote>Will this revamp affect Vestibule as well? The access quest for that small instance was tedious at best and there were no rewards or lore involved with it which is a shame because making aside the tedium of the quest the quest per se was so creepy it was amusing. Just wondering.

[Ni]

<div></div>Regarding Nek Castle 2, explorers are encouraged to actually try the keys dropped by the nameds on the chests around the zone. Different key types open different chest types. That said, we still didn't anything but "white" loot from the chests but there must be a chance at some good stuff. The golem at the beginning is [expletive haxx0red by Raijinn] tough, to be sure. We did the zone with 3 55s and 3 60s. Took about 2 hours and everyone got some good AA exp from the 9 nameds.

[Mystiq]

I love all of the old dungeons like Obelisk and Drafling tower, but it seems other people either don't know they exist, or don't think they're worth the effort to explore/exp in. I've leveled up a few alts in my time, and always try to go back to these kinds of places when possible, but it seems, at least for me, that getting a group to go in them is a difficult task. It makes me sad <span>:smileysad:</span>.<div></div>

[Kaiser Sigma]

<div></div><blockquote><hr>Mystique wrote:I love all of the old dungeons like Obelisk and Drafling tower, but it seems other people either don't know they exist, or don't think they're worth the effort to explore/exp in.<div></div><hr></blockquote><p>Eh.. dunno about your server but a lot of (now terminated) bot groups in LDL plundered Obelisk for like two months. Guess only the wrong crowd knew about it. =p</p>