Yep, you read that correctly. I Werit, the guy who writes about how he doesn't enjoy PvE, ventured down to the Tomb of the Vulture Lord. Last weekend the stars aligned and I was able to give this dungeon a serious try. How did it go? I'm sure you can guess.
First, I'd like to say that the dungeon itself looks amazing. The artists and designers at Mythic did a fantastic job. I am a really big fan of the Egyptian inspired theme of the whole Land of the Dead. The dungeon does not disappoint when it comes to aesthetics.
I'd also like to say the folks I grouped with were awesome. We couldn't get passed the fifth boss (out of 8), but it was because of our group makeup and not anyone's fault.
There are three general reasons why I don't enjoy PvE dungeons and raids.
Time. In my history as a MMO player, I've found that group PvE content rarely finishes in the planned time. My Vulture Lord trip was supposed to take about one and a half hours. It actually took over three. Now that I'm older (job and family) time is my most valuable resource.
Loot. My first trip was as much about exploration as it was getting some new equipment. Any other attempts at this dungeon will pretty much be just about getting loot. The Random Number Generator was not friendly to me at all. I lost all but one roll on everything from boss drops to scarab's. I left with a Kamenra fragment (AP steal), which is better than nothing.
I did get 4 Silver Ankhs since I lost every Boss PQ. I did need these, so that is something.
Boring. This is especially true as a dps. All I had to do was make sure I stood in the right spot and kept up spamming Firebomb. I barely had to be awake to get through the run.
Now we get to my biggest problem with WAR. Doing the PvE in the Land of the Dead is almost required if you want to stay competitive. There is a lot of awesome stuff to get down there, but it is all PvE. Tyrant armor, nice weapons, the best souls (time limited talismans), crazy jewelry sets, Odjira talisman without spending a lot of gold and the list goes on.
I should mention the nice jewelry sets can be had for 12 Silver Anhks, which are also rewarded by raiding the opposing warcamp. Still, I have to stop what I'm doing (PvP), fly down there, hope for a warcamp warband, trek all the way across the zone and more than likely take an empty warcamp. That's not how I like to spend my time.
I have Invader Crests and Medallions which have no use to me right now. I would love to trade all of these for a few Silver Ankhs. I have no idea when I might see the ToVL again (or if I even want to), so most of what the Land of the Dead offers is out of my reach.
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