pdblake wrote: »

Lastly, I've been thinking of getting Blackwood if they reduce the price a bit (or a lot) in the event. What's people's views on it? The reviews on Steam don't exactly giving glowing awards tbh.

The zone story line is pretty good. It is hard to be critical without spoilers, so let me just say it is "Pretty Good" and not "Wonderful'.

I don't think the zone environment is really "Blackwood" but that would not stop me from buying it. . Leyawiin is beautiful, but I would sacrifice this if they could make it an open city and eliminate the doors to get in and out. Gideon, the other city, ended up being rather disappointing. My main objection is that it could stand to be more "black" and a little more "wood". It is certainly better than the Deadlands DLC zone (PTS version) in terms of providing a place that feels interesting to explore

The delves are the newer twisty map ones with multiple paths through them. I like these, even though I do tend to get lost in them. Maybe that is why.

The public dungeon, Zenithar's Abbey, is fun, including the Ra'back group event boss. This feels like a real group event to me because it isn't all about DPS.

The public dungeon, Silent Halls, is OK, but it basically feels like a large delve. This is not my favorite place.

I cannot comment on Rockgrove, the trial.

I find that Companions are actually the better part of the chapter. I know there is some push back on that sort of statement, but anyone who is starting the game, or is not an expert at the game, should make Mirri or Bastian one of their first stops. They are not OP and they are not Pay To Win, but they aren't Nothing, either.

One of the more convenient houses in the game will be Water's Edge in Leyawiin. While I think that you can buy that without owning Blackwood, the benefit comes from easy access to the wayshrine.

The Deadlands portals world events are a mixed bag. They pop up quite frequently in overland, but take you to what I will described as a "rolling instance" of the Deadlands oblivion plane. If you enter at the beginning of the instance, you will face a variety of daedra and daedric bosses on your way to The Final Boss. If you enter after those places have been cleared, you will only encounter the daedric bosses on the way to The Final Boss, but the ambient dialog will make it sound like you are mowing through piles of daedra to get there. The Final Boss is not super tough but it takes a bit of time to knock him down. One interesting thing about this world event is that here you go to the bosses, rather than the bosses coming to you.

I do think that this Chapter is worth buying. In the grand scheme of things, I place it below Elsweyr, but above Summerset. It is roughly on par with Western Skyrim in that the Blackwood story and world event are better, but the Blackwood zone is not as good as Western Skyrim + Blackreach and Antiquities>Companions.

As previously mentioned, they're using a loot addon that lets them see party drops. You are not obligated to trade with anyone for any reason--especially if they're being pushy or a pest. Trading at the end of dungeons is normal for those who are looking for something.

Blackwood is...interesting. If you can pick it up on sale during the event, I definitely recommend it. If not, your mileage may vary.

Companions are interesting and great for crafting harvesters-- they can take aggro. They're also useful for solo players since Mirri can function as a pretty decent pocket healer, and Bastian can kinda of be a tank. Both have a tendency to stand in AEOs, so be careful bringing them into harder fights unless you're prepared to heal them-- and no, they don't learn to avoid aoes over time (at least not currently). They can also provide a boost to your dps if you equip them for something other than support roles.

Leveling them is time consuming--and don't forget to swap out weapons and gear to unlock their skill lines. Mages Guild and Fighters Guild can only be unlocked via their respective daily quests. Companions have no storage of their own, so you'll be carrying their gear as well as yours (you can buy basic companion gear from armorers/merchants, but NOT the crafting area ones). Drops of better companion gear are rare-- but there's listings on guild traders. Rapport is a grind-- there's a cooldown timer as well to further gate you from easily raising it. The good news is, you only need to level rapport on ONE character. Once you've unlocked the comapnion's totem, any of your characters can benefit from it. Each character will need to go on the quest to unlock the companions before they can be used, but companions level is account bound.

The deadlands portals are interesting-- access points randomly spawn around Blackwood. Look for a red-orange flare similar to a skyshard's beam, and when you're close, you'll see the portal. Once inside, it feels a bit like the public dungeons in cold harbor just with a warm color palette instead of blue & black. The final boss fight is fun-- do NOT take any portals from the final boss area near the anchor until AFTER you've looted the chest, or you will be returned to Nirn minus your loot and have to run it again.

There are useful sets, a new trial, new zone story, new public dungeons, the deadlands portals, and companions-- which I do like, even if they're not quite as good as I'd hoped. Overall it's a solid bit of content.

PS: Never catch torchbugs, butterflies, or other insects while Mirri is out--and avoid stealing, assaulting, or killing NPCs while Bastain or Mirri are out. Rapport is slow to raise, but there's no cooldown on it's fall.

Loot Log is the addon, but there might be several with similar functionality. Essentially, they're able to see what drops for anyone in the group, so they know who gets something they need.

The etiquette with that is usually on a person-to-person basis. Most people will only trade at the end and only link the pieces that they don't need in stickerbook. Some people don't link anything and just expect people to have the addon, so they'll just decon everything unless someone specifically asks for something that drops. Some people are also offended by loot snooping and will just decon something out of spite if someone asks for something, especially if that leads to badgering for it. It really depends on if you see drops as personal loot that you can trade, or as group loot that one person just happened to pick up... and there are different people who think about it differently.

It's really up to you how you want to handle it. I know I don't use it (I can't imagine farming for something and seeing everyone else get what I'm after - that'd be more than a little annoying), but I know a lot of people who do. Some also have a functionality to automatically post everything you have excess in chat at the end so you don't have to yourself.

But if someone is being annoying and pestering you, feel free to ignore and block them. If someone asks at the end, you can trade it. I personally think the most appropriate is that is someone asks at the end "did anyone get X?" (knowing that you did because of the addon) because they're specifically farming for it, it's much better than demanding "I need X" right after it drops.

As for Blackwood, I haven't done much outside of random stuff in the zone, the trial, and some companions so far. If you play solo, companions are actually a lot more fun than I thought they'd be. Sure, they're not high-level players, but I main a tank and it's great to be able to go around without having to change out of my dungeon setup. I have managed to take mine through a bunch of dungeons and even some of the easier basegame hardmodes 'solo' (just me and Bastian), and it's a lot of fun to see what he can and can't handle.

I think I'll give it a shot if the reduce it then. At full price it's a bit much but it is pay day tomorrow

Personally I find the loot add-on to be rude, and would not feel bad denying someone who was snooping with it. I am happy to trade or give anything I don't need at the end, but I will link those pieces in chat.

Blackwood is okay. I enjoy exploring any new land but the main story is just fair, about on the level of Greymoor. There are some really good and amusing side quests (and one I found quite annoying featuring some recurring characters).

The Deadlands portals (this zone's world events) are a letdown. The place itself is an eyesore. However, I do like the idea of making them seem random and hope they use that again in the future. It makes it feel exciting to stumble upon one.

Companions are interesting but I hope they are developed quite a bit more. They feel a bit basic and premature now.