A question about map exploration.

[Emerald Unicorn]

So I recently got into this kind of ARPG from bouncing around between multiple before landing on this one. (Torchlight 1 and 2, Titan Quest, Sacred 2) I'm loving the game aside from one bit, and a particular part of that bit... map exploration. I enjoy the process, mostly, it's the bit at the end when I realize there's still some unexplored part but I have to backtrack across the whole map to get there. And it feels like 4/5 times it's just a single room or two with nothing of value but I can't bring myself to move on until I've explored the whole area.

So my question is this, with maps being randomly generated how do you more experienced players go about exploring maps? Is there some tip/trick that I just haven't been clued into yet? Or is this just something that everyone has to deal with?

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by Emerald Unicorn:

So my question is this, with maps being randomly generated how do you more experienced players go about exploring maps? Is there some tip/trick that I just haven't been clued into yet? Or is this just something that everyone has to deal with?

Short answer: You don't explore as an experienced player.

You know where to go or what you want to do. You don't waste your time backtracking to kill a group or two of enemies, you know a route to get to kill most of them and you're content with it. (Areas have a limited amount of base layouts that they generate from, e.g. some will always look like a ⊕ or a Ø or a line or whatever, which in turn dictates backtrack-less routes for most areas... and you ignore the rest whenever possible)

There are no hidden treasures at the end of the rainbow. And if there is you could have found that treasure elsewhere as well.

[Emerald Unicorn]

Maybe I should be clearer, still new, as I now know "maps" can be oddly specific items for endgame... right now I'm talking about zones/areas for the story. Not endgame stuff. I read a tooltip that said something about completing areas to find all the named/unique bosses in them and to get achievements for 100% clear.

Not sure if that changes your answer... lol.

[The_Driver]

Originally posted by Emerald Unicorn:

Maybe I should be clearer, still new, as I now know "maps" can be oddly specific items for endgame... right now I'm talking about zones/areas for the story. Not endgame stuff. I read a tooltip that said something about completing areas to find all the named/unique bosses in them and to get achievements for 100% clear.

Not sure if that changes your answer... lol.

There's only a very specific subset of areas that have such an achievement associated. If you're into achievements, I'd still recommend to wait for your character to be high level to do them, as with that comes higher movement speed and options, as well as kill speed.

Then you go through them in a structured way (zig-zag pattern, hugging wall with your hands like firefighters do, stuff like that), and even then the most important things are the /remaining chat command and a good set up minimap, so that you can spot where you were and where you still need to check for monsters.

[Scarsick]

There's no reason to fully explore the areas during the acts. Ok, if you care about achievements you can do it, and it's a way for new players to get to know the game, since the acts are more like a tutorial. Completing the story over and over can get quite boring though, so the only reason to waste time on act areas is if you're farming a specific item. Other than that, is just a rush to test your build and get to endgame.

[Maximy]

As someone who plays 3 month league only I tend to rush trough acts as fast as I can. Unlike Titan quest, the rarity of an item in this game is usually locked behind league modifiers.

For example: If you want headhunter you gonna need "Nemesis" mod, Which is league restricted item. So you have two choices here: Farm the cards or get it as a full drop which again you need nemesis mod, or to get extremely lucky (League specific encounters can drop it : Example Legion,Methamorph etc...), so overall you need to finish 10 acts.

Conclusion : 10 acts are more like a tutorial, kill the main bosses , get familiar with zones, unlock ascendancy skills etc... Later on when you unlock map device,maps are usualy made out of these zones and bosses.

[flipmode949]

Sounds like you are mixing up some stuff.

You start leveling your character in the story. There are 10 Acts. You dont have to fully explore those areas. Just do your main or sidequest and get through the story quickly.

After that you got another quest to get your map device running. Once this quest is done you can run maps. In those maps you also dont have to explore every corner.

Exploring your maps has nothing to do with exploring your atlas. To explore your atlas you have to run different maps and got to complete the achievents. To get those achievents yo also dont habe to explore the whole map but you need the right map on the right map tier and rarity. Goal ist to kill the Boss.

When you ar running maps for dropps or XP its better to kill most monsters, than to just rum through it but that doesnt mean its recommended to look into every little side room.