Day 4: Rise of the Angry Earth (MSQ, PvP Arenas, and Outpost Rush)

 Read about all of my Rise of the Angry Earth experiences here.

 For my fourth day in Rise of the Angry Earth I finished off the main story quest (MSQ) and did some PvP arenas and a round of outpost rush (OPR).  I had fun.  Lots of fun!

 I pushed through the MSQ for the new zone, Elysian Wilds, and wrapped it up.  The story was click-through material (something, something, Medusa... mammoths...) and other than some amazing visuals it was forgettable.  I respect the effort the team put into the story, but as I've said before about all the MSQ reworks I am not a big fan of the new story-line with King Arthur and now apparently Greek stuff.  I really miss the original concept of discovery-era "new world" and a bunch of mystery about Aeternum.

 Part of the MSQ was a series of single player trials which were like dungeon boss fights.  Unfortunately they were stupid simple to beat and I was not challenged in any aspect.  This can be said about most of the new zone as well; there is zero sense of danger.  I was able to complete the MSQ and solo trials with my 625 gear.  I have NOT upgraded a single piece of gear.  I get that AGS wants the game to be approachable but this is too easy and gave zero incentive to progress my character which left me feeling like I accomplished nothing (remember, I was already level 65 before starting this just from other activities).

 To celebrate finishing off the MSQ I jumped into some PvP content.  First I did some 3v3 arenas and went on a stellar 7-0 run!  The mode scales gear score up to 670 so my prior 625 gear has been more than sufficient.  Other than a couple opponents I honestly feel my build is as strong as it was prior to the expansion.  I feel no pressure to upgrade my gear.

 This was reaffirmed by playing my first post-expansion OPR and I finished in the top 10 with a good  number of kills and high damage.  We lost the match 900 to 1000 so it was a long match.  Like 3v3 arenas, OPR scales players up to 670 gear score.  At this stage of the expansion this seems sufficient for a good experience even in my 625 gear.  I won multiple 1v1s and got into (and out of!) multiple clump fights.

 I am sure as time goes on more and more players will be 700 GS and my 625 up-scaled to 670 gear will start to show its age, but I think that is still a bit off into the future so like I said yesterday, "I'm taking it easy!".  No rush here and will enjoy a more planned out upgrade path for my "Wheelchair mage" build.

 Day 4 screenshots!

Yadda... yadda.. click... click

I think this means I did something important

I win the main story!

I don't know what this does in the new Savage Divide expedition but I just had to click it!