Hi,
I'm Succi, playing a 80 ToS on Dagon.
For the last few weeks I've been madly trying to work out exactly what sort of endgame this game has pve-wise (6 man groups). Due to alot of negativity in the forums, I felt it would be nice to have a positive thread for once. My end goal here is to get as much information to ever-increasing number of level 80's to make people feel semi-comfortable with their gear prior to raiding and PvP (I'm purely aiming for PvP personally)
So here are some of the things I've learnt since 80.
Firstly a disclaimer - alot of the loot tables are getting revamped/changed with these patches, so alot this information could soon be incorrect or inaccurate.
Right then, so you've just got 80 and you're looking at the green lvl60-80 items you most likely have equipped. The question you ask is 'What now?' Well in order to attempt some of the harder dungeon instances/raids and also feel semi-ready for PvP it can be worth investing a little time into getting a full-ish set of level 75+ blues.
I've used mainly three dungeons, which are in differing stages of itemization. I'm very aware that onyx, ravine, fortress and numerous other dungeons can be farmed, however I feel the best item per time-invested ratios and ease of building groups are probably in the ones i've outlined. I'm sure this will all change when some of the afore-mentioned dungeons get proper itemization.
I've spent the majority of my time in these places, and have complied a decent-amount of the loot dropped there (but by no means a comprehensive list). Helpfully, all three dungeons are located in (or close to Kheshatta).
Firstly, lets look at the
Scorpion Caves.
Scorp +Caravan Loot
This instance can be done with 3-4 people however a full group is safer. As a ToS/PoM this instance is your first port of call due to the decent quest rewards you get there. The final boss also drops a nice staff and mace. The only other boss currently itemized is one spawnable by a quest, required for the shield.
The 'final boss' :
Scorpion Zealot
He's located in a cave on the second level of the dungeon, basically the first proper ramp in the main chamber you go up will have a path leading to the left - take that one.
This guy nukes until you get him to 50% hp, when he turns into a scorpion which knocks back and deals melee damage. When in scorpian mode, if anybody dies the scorpion's hp will regen at an increased rate, and some people have suggested he also fires an ae cone based hp regen (everyone get behind him except main tain. If you have trouble with this guy, kite him around the cave and it should be fine.
The second relevant boss is located by the chest on the lower floor of the main chamber by clicking on the chest. Before clicking on the chest you need to have the quest which gathers keys from close to the other scorpion bosses (a real pain). Other than the shield quest, this guy has dropped a blue 2h mace (see screenshot) and a crossboss - both were unimpressive.
Caravan Raider's Hideout
I used this dungeon very little, when I went it was virtually free of trash mobs, and the bosses have a very, very limited loot table. You can find some of the items on the image I posted above the Scorpian Cave section.
It's possible to farm all the bosses with 2 or 3 people (healer + tank generally needed). However the main reason to go here is for the level 80 sword, all the other items are easier farmed in the Oasis.
Overall, Don't spend much time here - move straight on to the Oasis of Zaara.
Oasis of Zaara
This place is in the Lotus Swamp, very close to the entrance of Kheshatta. It is best attempted with a full group of 78+ players, although it is possible to kill bosses with 4 or so. Generally a DT or Guard is needed to tank, with at least one healer (pref 2 different class) to clear quickly/safely. If you're looking to get a fair amount of level 80 loot, then you will most likely be spending alot of time here. Personally I have probably racked up 50 to 80 boss kills.. the joys of pve! :/
loot :
Heavy Armour
Full and Medium
Light Armour
Cloth Armour
Farming this dungeon is all about speed and efficiency. Therefore I suggest sticking to purely killing the first boss then resetting the dungeon.
First Boss Location
The loot tables of the first boss is very, very large possibly meaning that all the bosses within the Oasis are sharing the exact same loot pools (unconfirmed). 95% of the loot within the images have dropped from the first boss, so don't worry on missing out on your specific type of armour.
The instance requires one of many quests to enter. Once you complete a Oasis quest you will be locked out for 24 hours, therefore
DO NOT ever complete any of the quests. The boss image has also contains the name of the best quest to take, as all the steps require a manual action from the player (which you should avoid!). To reset the instance, simply exit and wait until all your group members are outside. Then the group leader right clicks the instance door and selects the 'unbind' option - the instance will then bind to the next person who enters. It's worth noting that worse loot will drop if the instance is bound to a non level 80 player - so watch out who enters first.
It's best practice to avoid as many trash mob as possible on your way to the boss, however I will leave this up to you to figure out. I'm not trying to keep information secret here, simply I'm still in correspondence with
exploits@ageofconan.com to find out which methods are 'legal'.
General tips for the dungeon would be to crowd control archers very early, always been on the watch out for patrols and target thiefs first (highest dps). Around the first boss perhaps 60% of the mobs are patrolling around which have a decent aggro-range. If you decide to clear the entire instance the caster mobs (seers I think) do alot of damage so be careful of those and its often best to stick to zonewalls to avoid the majority of trash mobs.
Feel free to repost this in the US forum, I cannot as I don't have an account. Same goes for guild and external forums, I'd rather people were equipped for PvP/Raids ASAP.
I hope this has been useful and saves some time.
Please post a reply if you've read this, to keep it on top and available to all
/Succi