Zone explore order

[MeCho]

So ive played the game twice got to levels 14 and 15 i made a conclusion that my success is highly determined by which zones i visit first after doing all the tier 1 zones in te 4 wiki zone list i did Old Forest and The Maze quite easily but when i got to golem factory got into a couple of fights during one of which my equiped weapon and shield suddenly disapeared there i died twice trying to find them on the ground and just gave up.

So my question is in which order exactly should i visit tier 2 zones

[Micbran]

Old forest, Maze and Sandworm Lair are all interchangeable in order. After that, people generally do hidden compound, ruined dungeon on lower difficulties, and then Daikara.


Oh, and the status effect you experienced is called Disarm. It doesn't drop your weapons on the floor, just kinda makes them disappear for X number of turns. You can cleanse it with a physical wild.

[MeCho]

it isnt a complete list... but thx anywawy

[HousePet]

Weapon and shield disappearing is likely you pressing the quickswap key.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

Zone order takes alt/non alt into consideration as well.

In rough order of difficulty, from easiest to hardest (and this is certainly up for debate, and not necessarily entirely spoiler free, though it stops at dreadfell)

Norgos Lair
Trollmire/Alt Trollmire (no real difference there, but you're skipping Bill either way)
Alt Korpul
Alt Norgos Lair
Korpul
Alt Heart of the Gloom
Heart of the Gloom
Thieve's Tunnels (Merchant dungeon. Do whenever it shows up, really)
Crystal Caves/Alt Crystal Caves (no real difference there)
Rhaloren camp
Alt Rhaloren camp
Bill (Can be done earlier, but I'm cautious here.)
Old Forest
Maze
Alt Sandworm Lair
Alt Old Forest (Might be outdated. I feared this place when it was new, but the boss got toned down a lot. My fear stays though.)
Sandworm Lair (Not so much threat, as royal bloody nuisance. More loot, but more annoyance, timewasting, irritations)
Daikara
Tempest Peak
Temporal Rift (Can do just after diakara, if confident. Build varies this.)
Hidden Compound (slavers dungeon. Lower threat if you're just killing the slaves.)
Alt Maze
Ruined Dungeon (Can be easier, but randomness of gaurdians can make it a much bigger threat, if not well prepared)
Alt Daikara
Halfling Ruins
Dreadfell
Mark of the spellblaze (Can be done just pre-dreadfell, but there's not much reason to, unless you have special plans, and the risk is significant.)

Fairly concise ranking on difficulty. Note that while a few are more or less interchangeable, and others might be adjusted based off class/build (alt maze is MUCH worse for pyromages or anything that's hurt by silence/is frail), this is a rough estimation of difficulty, as viewed for a player on normal/adventure. I'm sure someone will debate this, especially for higher difficulties, but it's my take on it.

Golem graveyard can be tossed in, but there's practically no value in doing so. Minimal enemies, tiny area, no real loot. Unless you're on the absolute edge of a levelup you want, there's no point in doing it at all.

[MeCho]

thx for the list and what does alt mean ?

[Micbran]

Zones have a chance to spawn as an alternate version with different enemies and set-up.

[MeCho]

okay im level 19 lost my last life to a rare wolf at daikara after beating the lvl 24 boss but the thing is there arent many places left to explore what is the maximum level ? im sure that there are atleast 36 but i cant imagine getting to level 36 in such few zones that have left since one zone most of the time provides only over 1 level when fully explored some zones like Slavers dungeon provided me wit a lot less then that

[Micbran]

Max level is 50. As for ruined dungeon, look harder.

[Crim, The Red Thunder]

If you've finished all the tier 2 stuff,the journal guides you towards dreadfell, and clearing it moves you into the second half of the game. I didn't list the second half dungeons, both to avoid spoilers, and because they're a LOT more mutable in terms of order, depending on your gear loadout and race/class.

[Coldbringer]

"Golem graveyard can be tossed in, but there's practically no value in doing so. Minimal enemies, tiny area, no real loot. Unless you're on the absolute edge of a levelup you want, there's no point in doing it at all."

That's weird, I usually get 3 or more treasure chests, and 3 to 5 rare monsters wandering around the level, sometimes even a bonus area (like stairs down to a cave). I end up getting nice items each trip

[Effigy]

It's worth noting that the danger of some zones changes as you go into higher difficulties. Norgos and Heart of the Gloom are easy on Normal difficulty, but on Insane+ difficulty these are the hardest tier-1 zones. The list Crim posted is accurate for Normal though.

I do feel like people make Bill the Troll out to be harder than he really is. I would wait until after the Arena quest to kill him, but by that point you're probably fine to fight him if you know how to play your class. Maybe put off killing him if you're a melee build with poor gear/defenses.

Golem Graveyard is fairly dangerous. I usually do it either before Dreadfell if I need more loot/xp, or just before going East. While there aren't many enemies there, there's usually a couple gold chests that might drop something good.

A few zones that Crim didn't mention:
1. Dark Crypt - This is a random encounter that appears when you're level 24+ and traveling on the world map. This is a very dangerous zone and should be skipped if you're not confident in your character. That being said, if you're playing on Adventure mode and have an extra life, it's probably worth doing just for the fun factor. There are several achievements available here too.
2. Ancient Elven Ruins - Although this zone is on the same worldmap as the early-game zones, many people put off doing this area until after they come back from the East. This is one of hardest zones in the West.
3. Sludgenest - This area appears in the West when you're level 30+. I would say this is the most dangerous zone in the West, and arguably in the entire game if you let many of the walls turn into slimes. Definitely wait until coming back from the East to do this. You may even want to wait until after beating the final bosses.
4. Dogroth Caldera - This area is somewhat dangerous, but a lot of the action takes place in dream sequences so your character level and gear aren't as important as usual. I'd recommend being at least level 25 on Normal difficulty.

[Bloodist]

I found this very useful!I've just started playing TOME4 and have died on nightmare mode more then 50times.I use trollmire and the 2 zones where the shalore ellf starts.I was looking for a 4th zone to vist or even a 5th for when things get unfair.I do love the fact the game can just kill you:D

[torin555]

How do you know if a zone is "alt" or not? if one of your zones is the alt version does that mean all your zones are the alt version?

[netphenix]

How do you know if a zone is "alt" or not? if one of your zones is the alt version does that mean all your zones are the alt version?

For most zones you know if you're in the regular or the alt version based on terrain. Alt Trollmire has marshy water terrain all over, alt Raloren starts with two outdoors maps, alt Maze has scrambled terrain and holes in the ground, alt Sandworm has the giant sandworms, etc. However, alt Khorpul is identical except for the boss room, and alt Crystal cave has the same terrain but more, smaller levels. Also, each alt version has a different, usually harder boss than the regular version.

Getting one zone in the alt version has no impact on the others. Each is selected randomly each game, and each dungeon can end up alt or regular independently of the rest.