Campaign Zone Guide with Feedback

Preface
I've completed the campaign on almost every ascendancy and all of the endgame content. There were some good changes to the layouts in the zones and to the monsters, but there were also a lot of undocumented changes that made some zones worse than they were in 0.1.

I see a lot of complaints about zones being too large which is definitely a valid complaint, but if you know the landmarks and the patterns that the tilesets spawn in, you can deterministically find the exit of the majority of the campaign zones rather quickly. Because of this I've added directions for most maps to find the exit and key side quests along with feedback. There are a few zones that are just egregious in their size and rng that should be addressed.

Act 1

Riverbank
Zone Unchanged. Straight forward.

Clearfell
Layout made more linear, but LARGER. Previously head NE to exit. Bear E for WP/SQ. Bear W for Boss. Now, a giant U with orientation change. This change feels worse.

Mud Burrow
Only worth doing on first playthrough of a league. Otherwise, skip.

Grelwood - Please Address
This is the prime example of a map layout that should have been addressed. We're searching for two random spawns that occur in the center of the map and one that spawns randomly on the outer edge. At least make the Red Vale entrance spawn in a fixed position of the SW wall to align with the position on the actual map of the zone. Have the WP spawn somewhat close to the entrance similar to Valley of the Titans.

The Red Vale
3 Random checkpoint spawns. Small zone, easy to find.

The Grim Tangle
It seems as though layout has been change where we've been forced to do the boss more often, otherwise fine. Hug wall til you find the exit.

Cemetery of the Eternals
2 Random checkpoint spawns. Small zone, easy to find.

Mausoleum of the Praetor/Tomb of the Consort
Find boss in maze layout, small zone, ok.

Hunting Grounds
Hug a wall and eventually find Boss, Freythorn and Ogham Farmlands.

Freythorn - Please Address
Find 4 random ritual spawns in a maze full of mobs much stronger than the player (depending on build) in tight quarters with tons of aoe damage. The size of this map needs to be reduced by at least 25% and the final ritual location should be in a fixed position. This is the worst zone in A1.

Ogham Farmlands
Head in a straight line from the entrance. Head either L or R at the fork and return back to the center line to retrieve the Lute. Keep heading straight until exit.

Ogham Village - Please Address
This zone was changed and now takes 2-3x as long to find the boss. Previously head straight from entrance for a few houses, then head L to the fixed boss spawn position. Now, the boss spawns much farther from it's previous position. Bad change, please revert.

The Manor Ramparts - Please Address
Another bad change because it's been made much longer than before. Previously head straight from entrance and veer N. Now if I choose the wrong direction from the entrance, the dead end goes farther than before. Now the spawn distance of the exit is much farther than previous. Please revert.

Ogham Manor
Hug wall until you come to the hole where you can see the boss below. If you come across this quickly, that means that SQ boss will spawn in the area after the hole. If takes quite a distance before the hole, you'll probably have to backtrack since the SQ boss spawned before the hole somewhere. No changes.

Act 2

Starting Area
Unchanged. Hug wall, find boss.

The Halani Gates 1
Not sure if we still need to go through 4 loading screens just for 1 conversation still, but I still do it out of habit.

Mawdun Quarry
Large zone. Hug wall until you find exit. Straight forward and fine.

Mawdun Mine
Head straight from entrance past checkpoint. After a few screens start heading NW/N and you'll eventually see the crashed minecart before the boss. Straight forward and fine.

Traitor's Passage
This layout actually seems to have improved. There are multiple landmarks here. Short narrow stairs > long narrow stairs > lore marker. From the marker, it's 50/50 L and R between Balbala and the exit. Previously Balbala could spawn prior to passing all 3 landmarks, which could result in a ton of backtracking. Good change.

The Halani Gates 2
This zone seems to have been improved. The gates seem to be closer than they were previously. Good change.

Keth - Please Address
Bad changes. Sand section is much larger than previous. More variation in exit spawn location. More variation in SQ boss spawn. Previously head straight from entrance. Bear L or R, usually not that far from center to find the SQ boss, and exit was along the southern wall. Please revert.

The Lost City/The Buried Shrines
Straight forward and fine. Find checkmark landmark then find exit.

Mastodon Badlands/The Bone Pits
Straight forward and fine. Find checkpoint landmark. Hug wall. Find exit/boss.

Valley of the Titans
Great changes here. The exit WP always spawns close to the entrance now. Grab the WP, then hug the walls to find the flask upgrade/3 markers.

The Titan Grotto
Pick a side, and hug until you find boss. Straight forward and fine.

Deshar - Please Address
Every time I do this zone, I find the exit prior to finding the corpse for the SQ, which leads to a ton of backtracking. Because of the nature of the map design, this always feels like a necessary waste of time since we need the skill points. At least add a checkpoint on the corpse, because currently we either need to find the exit and go to the next zone to get the waypoint, then find the corpse and then tp/wp, or just walk back to the exit from the corpse location. Both feel bad. The exit spawns along a wall. The corpse can spawn anywhere.

Path of Mourning - Please Address
No changes, but this zone feels like serves no purpose. Hug a wall and find the exit. There's barely any monsters and I rarely come across the SQ here. Density needs to be increased here.

The Spires of Deshar - Please Address
The SQ for the Lightning res is mandatory. It's easy to spot because it's always in that large platform surrounded by the narrow paths. This zone feels needlessly large and you usually find either the boss or the SQ, then have to backtrack to find the other. Please reduce size by at least 25%.

Dreadnought/Vanguard
No changes. Pretty much a straight mazey line.

Act 3

Sandswept Marsh
Head straight until you cross the bridge that connects the beach area to the jungle. 50/50 between L and R wall for exit or SQ with Lesser Jewelers. Unchanged and fine.

Jungle Ruins - Please Address
This zone needs the same treatment as the Valley of the Titans. Needlessly large zone with the WP and mandatory SQ both being completely random somewhere in the center with a random exit on one of the sides. Either reduce the size of this map or have the WP spawn close to the start OR have the Infested Barrens exit spawn in a fixed position OR all three.

Venom Crypts - Please Address
Monsters were just nerfed. This zone is still way too large. Hug a wall and pray you find the SQ and pray again that it didn't randomly spawn in the center and not along an outer wall. This zone is Freythorn 2.0.

Infested Barrens - Please Address
Again, this map needs the Valley of the Titans treatment. We're expected to find a WP that spawns randomly in the center and two random side exits. Usually best practice here is to find one of the side exits, and get their WP, then repeat until you find all 3.

Azak Bog - Please Address
This zone is just simply too large. The size combined with the mazey narrow corridor layout and strong mobs, just make it a huge mandatory chore. Hugging the wall is usually the play here, but the boss CAN spawn in the center, which results in a TON of backtracking. Either make it so the boss ONLY spawns on the outer ring of the map OR ONLY in the center AND possibly reduce map size by at least 25%.

Chimeral Wetlands - Please Address
The changes here feel worse. Previously you just hug the left wall and you hit the boss. Then if you need the Trials of Chaos WP, continue around and you hit it. Now it's split. Head left from entrance for Trials of Chaos, then checkpoint back to entrance, then head right and hug that wall for the boss. The variation in the boss spawn makes it very unreliable to just continue along the wall from the Trials of Chaos entrance, so starting from the checkpoint is always the more efficient play. Please revert.

Jiquani's Machinarium
Find 2 cores. Find SQ boss and find exit. SQ spawns to the right of the exit most of the time, but can spawn to the left. No noticeable changes here.

Jiquani's Sanctum
Great changes here with the added soul core spawns and the added checkpoint at the WP.

Matlan Waterways - Please Address
Add more checkpoints. Dying here is extremely punishing.

The Drowned City - Please Address
This zone was changed in one of the patches. This feels worse. Previously head N/NE from WP. Follow path til fork, then head right til it forces you to head N/NE again to the first landmark where the crawler guys ambush you. After that head right at the next fork, then N/NE again to the exit. Instead of going N/NE, and heading SW, that usually led you to the Molten Vault. This was pretty deterministic in 0.1, but it feels more random in its current "fixed" state.

The Apex of Filth
I'm unsure how to feel about this zone. It's gone through a change and currently the previous layout seems faster to me. It was a static U shape. Pass lore landmark > head right and follow the water, then loop back in the direction of the entrance. Once you see the second lore marker you know you're close to the boss. It now feels like the location of the second lore marker is more random. This zone size in combination of the mob type just make this feel like a chore. Please make this smaller.

The Molten Vault
Once you pass the fist lever, head NE until you get towards the wall, then head SE to the boss. Straight forward and feels unchanged.

Temple of Kopec
Feels unchanged. Straight forward.

Utzaal
This area was changed, but I honestly don't feel like it needed it. The exit was always in a fixed layout. Follow the main path NE from the WP. Head right at the fork until you find the water crossing landmark then follow the main path which eventually turns NE to Viper. Now there seems to be more variations to the first area prior to the water crossing landmark so that portion is no longer fixed in layout. After Viper, previously you'd just head right at the fork, then NE to the exit. There seems to be a bit more variation that's been added to this section as well. Indifferent on this zone as a whole. Once you learn the layout, it's extremely fast to navigate.

Aggorat - Please Address
The first landmark to look for is the chanting guy at the shrine. You can hear it if you're close. After you pass that entrance, head to the sacrifice altar. It's ALWAYS in a U shape from the gate past the chanting guy. So directly after chanting guy at the loremarker, you enter the next area. L or R is 50/50 one is an immediate dead-end, the other is the correct way. Once you find the right way, loop immediately and hug the wall that's next to the area you just left and hug that wall and you'll always end up at the altar. From there heading NE will lead you to the exit. The problem here in the zone isn't the layout or the size since those are deterministic. The heart spawn is my biggest issue. I will end going through all of these zones and the large mobs never drop the heart which forces me to fully clear Aggorat to get one to drop. Please increase the heart drop rate.

The Black Chambers
Straight forward and fine. Head straight from entrance and veer L or R if you hit dead-ends.

TLDR
Grelwood, Jungle Ruins and Infested Valley NEED to have the same treatment that Valley of Titans got in 0.2 with one of the main map objectives always spawning near the entrance. These are the worst offenders out of all of the zones. Other zones could use some tweaking, but these three should be the priority. Otherwise, there have been some good changes.