Tomb of Annihilation Preview: Soshenstar River Treasure Hunt

Chult will bring back one mechanic that has become quite a staple in recent modules: Treasure Hunting! In Soshenstar River players will once again be able to figure out the locations and hunt down chests. In this article we are going to preview what the rewards look like and how the Chult Treasure Hunt compares to former versions.

Obtaining Maps

Treasure Chest Spot

Treasure Maps in Chult come from completing the weekly Patrol Quests that you get from Wakanga O’tamu in Port Nyanzaru. As mentioned in the piece about the campaign, these are capped to six per week. Players are still able to complete more Patrol Quests for additional campaign currency, but they won’t grant additional maps.

Finding the spots is not particularly easier or harder than in previous modules. Normally there is at least on distinctive point in each map that separates the location from the otherwise generic jungle theme. In Soshenstar River the locations are easy to spot as piles of stones that stand out on a mostly green-ish ground. The mechanic to dig up the chests and pick up the loot is the one already known from Sea of Moving Ice (SoMI). You interact with the node once to bring up the treasure and a second time to loot it.

Rewards

Evolution of the Treasure Hunt

It’s interesting to see the evolution of the Treasure Hunt throughout three modules. In SoMI the hunt was probably the most lucrative, yet most boring thing to do. In my eyes for a fun, cool and exploratory mechanic the Treasure Hunt in SoMI was a bit too important for overall progression. I haven’t checked recently, but it may even still be viable to buy stacks of maps from the Auction House and resell the unbound drops for profit. The overall pressure to go back to SoMI every now and then, fish a bit and hunt treasures is still there, because it nets so much useful stuff.

In the River District the devs noticeably dialed back the rewards. You would only get some campaign currency, Dig Site Passes and very rarely valuable Reagents for the River District weapons. This made the Treasure Hunt in Module 11 completely insignificant. You would pick up the maps inside Dig Sites and loot chests when you did your dailies, but not specifically farm them. And once you are finished with the campaign, there’s no point coming back.

Salvage & Refining Points

Now in Chult the devs tried to find a middle ground between SoMI and the River District. Treasure Maps once again come with Refining Points, but much less than in SoMI. Also due to the maps themselves being capped, you can’t really farm them anyway unless you have an army of alts that can survive the jungle. Next to the campaign currency Chultan Riches and resources for the League Armor sets, each chest also features one Ring of the Hunter and a chance at the “Mask of the Voodoo Witch” or new Voodoo Dolls that instantly kill specific minion on use. All of these items can be only obtained from the Treasure Hunt.

Ring of the Hunter

The Ring of the Hunter is interesting for a few reasons. First of all it’s one of those items that help in specific areas of the game. Depending on its rank (it comes as +1 to +5) it grants up to +5% damage against Hunts, which should outperform any other equipment in that area. It additionally features Movement, which might earn it a spot in a farming loadout where speed matters (Voninblod, Masterwork nodes). It is pretty meaningless in other content though. In 30+ chests I wasn’t able to dig up a +5, but already encountered a +4.

The inclusion of a ring in the chests also means that players at least get 12,000 additional RAD per week as Salvage. It’s not major, but relatively easy to get and should definitely become part of your weekly RAD routine.

Mask of the Voodoo Witch

The Mask of the Voodoo Witch could be an interesting item for tanks as it features all defensive stats. It has an unique look as well, the equip bonus on the contrary is not really appealing however. The drop rate seems decent. I was able to pull up two in about 30 tries, making this very cheap item level 480 equipment.

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Conclusion

Overall I think the devs did a decent job with the Treasure Hunt this time. The mechanic features some unique rewards, but isn’t mandatory to run. I personally like that it’s only complementary and doesn’t offer so much rewards that it’s the single best thing to do. While this makes it not as lucrative as SoMI, the Treasure Hunt in Soshenstar River offers enough incentive to go after the six chests per week. You can pile up maps over time and farm them at once, netting RPs, Salvage and a good head piece in the process. And after completing the campaign, there’s no pressure to come back for the loot, which is important based on the amount of daily tasks players already have to perform.


What’s your take on the Treasure Hunt in Soshenstar River? Do you like it or won’t you dig up too many chests? Share your thoughts in the comments below and visit the corresponding thread on our message board.

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2 thoughts on “Tomb of Annihilation Preview: Soshenstar River Treasure Hunt

  • July 19, 2017 at 7:12 pm
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    Is the +5 Ring of the Hunter really BoE like in the photo?

    • July 20, 2017 at 1:57 am
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      We’ll double check as soon as possible.

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