Swamps or Skeller?

[Snakespeare]

I posted this under new players but it was lost, so maybe someone will answer me here.

I am confused about the next set of maps. There are two that are or levels 30-35, supposedly, but only the Swamps are yellow for my level 31 characters (I refer to the color of the circle next to the opponents' life meter). The Return of Skeller Krunch seems to be red. That would mean I get extra experience points because it is "above my level". So, what level does it go yellow? (By the way, yellow gives some bonus XP, too, but only about 20%.) I mean, what level do I have to be to enter Skeller Returns and have the circles beside the life meters be yellow?

And what's the deal with Skeller Krunch Returns? When I read the most recent blog post (see front page), they don't even mention Skeller. They talk all about the development of modules, but they just don't mention this one. Is it like the next level after the Crypts (which gives level 35 items, but has gray, no XP, colored life meters at 25th level). Did Skeller get added later? Was it like a sequel?

What am I missing? Should I just go... Lost, Swamps, Oasis?

[Royce]

Skeller was added after the swamps at the same time as AO1. The swamps are way more fun IMO, and has better gear drops, but Skeller is much faster to level in and has a ridiculously high (stupid-high) drop rate of pinks and purps. XP has always seemed weird in Skeller, but I can't specifically answer your question except to say both are intended for levels 30-35, and should contain mobs within that level range.

[cry]

Oa2 - 3. Go! Power level now!

[FluffNStuff]

Royce should pop in soon for a better history but I will brief you in the mean time. Swamps was originally the only levels that were 30-35, but are extremely tough (in a VERY good way). There must have been much complaining of the difficulty because when AO1 was released, they also added Skeller Krunch at the same time. This was added as an easier way to level from 30-35, and also provided some variety. At the time, people were spending A LOT of time repeating the swamps to level. As for the item drops, the basic ones (including pinks) are identical in stats to the Swamp items but have different names. (Snipers Bayou Bow is now Snipers Crossbone Bow etc) There still are some items unique to the swamps, such as the Voodoo Doll.
Now as what I would suggest you should do, I would normally recommend the swamps as it is a tougher, funner and more rounded level. You really need to develop good teamwork skills to survive and that seems to be lacking in the current players that just skip to AO2:3. But that whole team thing is a problem, since it might be hard to find one. So I suggest look for a team in the swamps, and if that fails, join a team in the Krunch. It would be a shame to miss out on the swamps, but if you only other option is going alone, well, the level is really not designed for that.

edit note: Wow, that took me longer then I thought to write, as Royce ALREADY posted.

[Royce]

Cry, some people actually enjoy playing through the game as was inteded. There is no reason at all to race for the cap, and AO2-3 is the most tedious thing I can imagine doing in the game.

[Royce]

FYI, swamps are my favorite campaign, so I'd be happy to help you out there if you can't find parties. I recently leveled a bird and could only find good swamp groups once in a while (pretty much the same with Skeller though since most people seem to go the tombs of lameness route). I won't be on for a few hours though.

[cry]

Cry, some people actually enjoy playing through the game as was inteded. There is no reason at all to race for the cap, and AO2-3 is the most tedious thing I can imagine doing in the game.

No really? OMFG I did that; FYI after your first character leveling the correct way is just... boring.

[Royce]

Well I actually just finished leveling a bird the old fahioned way to alleviate boredom, but if you want to race for the cap where there is little to do be my guest ;)
BTW, honest question: If you don't enjoy playing PvE, why play the game at all? I mean PvE is the core of the game, the most polished part. I really dont understand the Mynas generation. Do you level just to collect and trade gear (to not use) or what? I guess if you only care about PvP, but there just dont seem to be enough PvPers for that to be the explanation.

[smokester]

Snakespeare, if you choose to lvl the old fashioned way and go through the swamps, add me i will help you whenever im online.... its alot more fun because it is indeed harder than stupid skeller crunch munch LOL...

[Snakespeare]

Thanks, guys. I did notice that Swamps is harder and slower, and has fewer parties. I took my tank into each one, figuring he'd be welcome anywhere. I discovered that people actually mine the levels in Skeller. After one run I had more purples than I know what to do with. People started giving me their purples because they wanted pinks.

You know, Swamps is cool! It has a sense of humor. I hope the derbies will be included in the new hats. And I can't wait to take my goth'd out enchantress in there.

Help would be cool, but I am on at wierd times, while riding the commuter bus back and forth to work, so it would be hard to coordinate. Thanks for offering. I will add.

[smokester]

Thanks, guys. I did notice that Swamps is harder and slower, and has fewer parties. I took my tank into each one, figuring he'd be welcome anywhere. I discovered that people actually mine the levels in Skeller. After one run I had more purples than I know what to do with. People started giving me their purples because they wanted pinks.

You know, Swamps is cool! It has a sense of humor. I hope the derbies will be included in the new hats. And I can't wait to take my goth'd out enchantress in there.

Help would be cool, but I am on at wierd times, while riding the commuter bus back and forth to work, so it would be hard to coordinate. Thanks for offering. I will add.

i didn't bother buying skellar crunch munch so i can only help you on swamps... ill see you on soon

[Snakespeare]

LOL! 8:45 (my timezone) was right when I had to bail. Cya next time.

Wow, only two levels in 35 minutes of play. I can see why people wanted something faster. Also, no prize for the first boss, Beaux Beaux, and only a white derby for killing Le Chomp. But I did get a Swampy Stomper, which is funny if nothing else! :D

[cry]

Ladys and Gentlewomen the always fashionable Copperheads Wammo The Hammo.

[Snakespeare]

I will look for that. Sounds great!

I did notice that the Auto-crossbow I got from Lost does a good job of freezing the crocs. Makes it an awesome weapon. It has both offense and defense, assuming you step back after a freeze so you can shoot three times before they unfreeze. And chances are, it could freeze them over again. They only get a few swipes in before they croak.

[Mahk]

I would second Royce's comments -- Swamps is fun! Very tough to even solo lone mobs, let alone the bosses. I ended up in Skellar mostly, and very rarely in AO2:3. I really want/wanted to run Swamps completely...

But it's really lame now at Lvl 32-40ish -- everyone is in AO2:3 and must be buying their gear. I like to earn the stuff, see what drops, put my ragtag kit together the best I can.

I haven't seen more than 1 or 2 Swamps or AO1 group each night for the past week. Those I've joined have disbanded when then hit a boss... sigh.

[smokester]

yeah they all run when after they get pounded by a boss... so quick to give up are the new generation of players speakin in general... thats why its good training for them to learn the team strategies/tactics and how to work together as a team to slay those crocs/bosses lol... especially frogmar and le chomp OMG you need great team coordination to kill her and can teach you survivability like no other..... like i said ill be glad to run wit those ppl who wanna run swamps... im on off and on all day but after 9:00 pm EST im on until bedtime....

p.s sorry snakespeare i got busy all of sudden maybe catch you laters

[Snakespeare]

np, smokester

So, will Skellar Krunch Returns be part of Crypt Towne in the new build, or what? It really seems to be missing from all discussion of the new client. Read the current blog: http://www.spacetimestudios.com/content.php?160-Pocket-Legends-Adventures-the-Evolution-of-a-Mobile-MMO. Are they going to dump it? Are they going to make it a sequel to Fathom?

I don't suppose anyone but the devs know for sure.

[Snakespeare]

A new day and new thoughts on this...

So I have been playing in swamps for two days and all I got was one green Toad Leather Tunic and a bunch of orange things like swampy crossbows and such. Most of the treasure useless, I must say. The level 35 items in the crypt are way better. Your chance of getting pinks and purples is higher in ther, except I can't get XP there.

Also, it takes forever. Yesterday it tok an hour to get up to halfway through the third map. Today it took about an hour and a half to get from restarting the third map to finishing the fifth map. By the time I got to mardi growl I had to go to work.

In the recent blog post, they said they were aiming for 5 to 15 minutes chunks. Well, I can see how these Swamps maps demonstrate exactly why one would want to have those smaller time chunks.

In conclusion, the swamps take a lot of commitment, and frankly, I don't have that kind of time. And the rewards just aren't there, or are very rare. I did get the saintly shield once in there, but I can't recall where. ( It was last week when I ran it the first time. And it may have been from mardi growl... )

So, I have done it once, and I can understand why people prefer the return of skeller crunch.

[smokester]

well i dont blame you for goin to skellar... i guess swamps are for ppl who have a lot of time in their hands and you obviously do not lol...

[Jstizar]

Don't even own skeller...how is it? :P

[Snakespeare]

Oh, I guess I will do Swamps again, it's just that I get about an hour and a half on the morning bus commute, and some of those crocs take about 30 shots and two combos and three thorn roots, plus multiple freezes from the bow, before they finally go down. Even five players all attacking the same croc take a long time to take him down.

I started with 230 Health potions and had to buy a quick 25 fom the Store Tab during the 5th map. I also used about 100 mana pots. So that is 4500 gp spent right there. The orange, white, and gray items got me about a quarter of that back. So it was a losing proposition. I had a lot of gp from the Lost Expeditions, so it's not a problem, I just don't feel like doing that again.

I will go back to Mardi Growl. Maybe there is better treasure, and maybe it can fit into my available time.

I did have fun, mostly because the two groups I played with were made up with people who had a sense of humor. That definitely made up for the lack of treasure. :)

I only gained one level over two days of play in this...

J, I'll let you know...

[Royce]

Make sure you kill the red crocs first ;)

[Snakespeare]

LOL! It seems you know me well. My disgruntledness with the lack of drops (seriously, one green in 5 levels, no purps or pinks at all, and the oranges were useless) has passed already and I am beginning to strategize my next pass through the swamps.

It seems to me, these guys need to be de-buffed, badly!

[Snakespeare]

A NEW DAY

But the same old swamps...

Thanks to the players who joined my game, it was too bad you all had to leave after 5 minutes. I thought, when two went one way two went another way and I got surrounded that I would have to respawn for sure, but you all came back to me, and we had about ten crocs, hit them with every combo we could, before we all died. It was like fireworks without having to buy an emote. Way to go out flaming!

Anyhow, I realize that everyone feels a little testy because someone moved the cheese (http://whomovedmycheese.com), so feel free to come back next week when you decide that you still like this game and still want to do the hard parts.

Today I tried throwing spikes and wearing a wing shield. That made me live longer, but I still used a truckload of potions. Apparently, I can do about 4 or 5 np of damage even with 5 levels of focus. They have hundreds of hit points, however, and they heal, too, so this does not kill them. Only my combo damages them. The ones with tridents are easier, but these dagger users have shields, I guess. It takes me about 5 minutes to kill a dagger user or two, because they always seem to bring friends. There are 84 crocs in level 1, so at this speed I will be in level 1 for about 3 hours, alone.

But you know, maybe I should just give it a rest. I need 700 xp for the next level, and it is not going to happen this way.

[Snakespeare]

(((FOUR DAYS LATER))) just so you know, I'm not bumping...

Today I calculated that I can take down a red or grey, or a blue dagger dude, in about 1 minute, solo. Obviously, clearing mobs isn't something you really can do in Swamps. But if three archers were working together with me (as they were this morning), we can get through a map in about 20 minutes, which is great for Swamps.

Here's the fastest takedown I have found yet for my level 33 Archer. With Focus active, use Break Armor to knock it down by 40, and Shattering Scream to knock the armor further down, then Blast Shot for the combo, and you can do 200 hp or more!!! (as opposed to 9 or 10!!!)The grey, red, or blue dagger crocs can be taken dow with 3 such sequences.

[Iambirdman]

Yo I am old fashioned like Royce and smoke :)
I have always been against speed lvling and always will be,
I will always help low lvls on their right maps but I will boot a low lvl from higher maps,
So holler when you need a hand I think every map is hella fun, well except the AO2 cause of endless farming :)
Choose skeller if you need quick exp and swamps for some fun and a change at some awesome pinks:)

Peace!
Yours truly, the one and only, Birdman!

[Developer]

I think swamps are harder than AO2.. Who thinks the same?

[Snakespeare]

Yo I am old fashioned like Royce and smoke :)
I have always been against speed lvling and always will be,
I will always help low lvls on their right maps but I will boot a low lvl from higher maps,
So holler when you need a hand I think every map is hella fun, well except the AO2 cause of endless farming :)
Choose skeller if you need quick exp and swamps for some fun and a change at some awesome pinks:)

Peace!
Yours truly, the one and only, Birdman!

Cool, I'll add you in the game. :)