After an especially brutal night of eruptions and bugged skeleton captains I was wondering if Athena voyages in the Devils reach are worth the extra time, in relation to Athena reputation?
Is there much of a difference in the amount of Athena reputation you receive for normal voyages vs Ashen voyages?
@malicus81 It all depends on how you approach the voyage as well.
I will often dump cargo, leave anything other than a cursed or Captain Chest/ Villainous Skull and then go for the final chest ASAP.
Can get an Ashen done with optimal conditions and favourable eruptions in less than an hour with a duo.
That's in a sloop too!
And one more thing is distance and visibility. You can easily see ships in DR, and usually there aren't many of them hanging around. Islands are close and only thing you need alertness so if earthquake starts, get back to ship and go do next closest island and then return.
I have done many athenas is roar and just can't do them in normal islands.
Mostly I did them for those nice payouts but now I know the ridlles, where shelters are if the volcanoes go off, range of volcanoes.
At beginning it's always hard to get used to but after a time you will start to love those rocky mountains.
Have a nice luck and safe voyages.
Oh they are worth it.
Pro's:
Con's
So generally we do an ashen athena's within an hour (and that's just casual play, no speed run) while we take a lot longer for a normal athenas. I think that's worth it alone.
Once I got used to it I never went back. The extra gold and rep is unbeatable. Like someone said the skeleton captains are way easier if you use the geysers.
My number one reason is it's my favorite outpost to turn in Athena chests. You have two guys jump out on the northeast corner, go through the tunnel and you come out behind the tavern.
@mr-dragon-raaar said in Ashen chest of legend vs chest of legend.:
@malicus81 have to agree with @Lord-Pharqwad. the skellies are so much easier as well with the geysers helping.
You pay for that convenience though, in the constant environmental threat on the ship and to pirates.
The skelly rounds can be easier and the loot is 2x BUT
-treasure hunting/digging is much more harried, with the island shaking, geysers throwing you off digging. Forget taking a moment to study the map or your surroundings, we have to get off this island now!
-the boiling water hampering hauling & fetching treasure
-the volcanic eruptions can decide to take out any ship/pirate on a whim (we lost a 4 player galleon last night anchored at the edge of the eruption waters with a dedicated 2 pirate repair crew, because the volcano got angry and just decided to exceed the repair rate of 2 pirates until the ship sank)
With the Ashen missions, you get what you pay for.
@khompewtur aye. X-marks-the-spot quests can be a bit more challenging. And its overall much more difficult if you actually want to keep treasure. But as has been mentioned, the DR is a tap-and-go dream! When I run solo Athenas in the DR, I don't bother stocking up on resources, and I expect my ship to get sunk a few times if necessary. I just go for map completions without even keeping the treasure, then take the time to fully stock my ship and take extra precautions only for the last map with the chest.
I prefer Athena Dr to normal.
The wife and I usually do a sloop and can knock them out faster than a regular one.
@malicus81 1000% worth it. There is a way to do them without getting hit by volcanoes at all. You just leave when the earthquakes start.
@juan-jalapeno @Malicus81
The islands, sometimes have earthquakes geysers etc, but still won’t erupt. The general rule of thumb, is to leave when the island starts smoking, once you see the black smoke head back to your ship and take off, island will erupt shortly after.
@juan-jalapeno said in Ashen chest of legend vs chest of legend.:
@malicus81 1000% worth it. There is a way to do them without getting hit by volcanoes at all. You just leave when the earthquakes start.
The avoidance technique makes sense.
It's a little baffling though, the ratio of crews who think moving offshore and waiting it out is too much of a hassle, and instead "plank up" and tank the damage parked right next to the volcano.
Many often try to run pirate-ops mid-eruption with the understanding you'll most likely die, and progress achieved during this perilous window is just gravy.
Also.. someone should mention, if you're NEW to DR missions, the island design is somewhat different.
With all the crags, cut off lines of sight, sections without coast, and blending shoreline patterns, the large DR islands were designed to be a bit more disorienting than usual.. and you won't be given the time to take a leisurely stroll to study them (imagine all quests on circular islands like Plunder Valley or Old Faithful, where it is easy to lose your compass bearings and landmarks)
@malicus81 Personal Experience- Ashen Athena Voyages are about 2x faster than Non Ashen. Purely based on distance required to sail, geysers eliminate the skeletons for you, Riddles are much easier to memorize after a few runs, Cargo is usually ignored (Currently worth a TON of gold) but can be convenient if the destination is on the way, or already a destination required for another part. Hardest part is cashing in an Ashen Chest of Legends due to Morrow's Peak Outpost being the only Forsaken Ashes outpost, and players that want to steal a Chest of Legends usually take notice of a long voyage in a limited area. Best of luck to you and remember, Chapter 2's Treasure is the important part!
@dyfrin I just got to Athena 10 yesterday, but I definitely only turned in 32 chests total. I guess I really made the most of the double rep weekend lol
@dyfrin this chart isn't up to date anymore...since they brought in commendations for the athena faction it's definitly faster
The chart shows chests to turn in per level without interference of commendation bumps, alliances, the double golden turn in.
I don't think there is a way to state exactly how many chests for each level for everyone including the above.
Even without alliances or double weekend, some may get the chest/skull/etc turns commendation in from saving all their athena voyages/others and some may just skip all turn ins except the legends chest and not.
Some may get sailing and number puchased, others may have a friend that always purchases them.
So the chart is factual, but results will vary.
When you get to the end and see you had to do a lot less voyages, you can be thankful to Rare for adding commendations and not needing more voyages.
@dyfrin but you can't do them anymore without them...that's why I said "this chart isn't up to date anymore"...
It still says 93 chests for AT10...it's the half of it now if not less
@malicus81 Its 2x rep and gold as the other post have stated. I will suggest do what my crew did. We speed ran them, we didn't need the gold so we just ding the chest, only took the villain skulls and chain ran them. The shortest time we had was 30 mins from start to complete.
We would shoot people off one island go tot he next, repeat. If they died to the volcano while dinging the chest we would just sail back. This way we never lost our ship and it went by really quick.
