There have been many reports of problems with the Pandora's Box missions. While some seem to be legitimate issues, some may be due to not communicating some important information about how they work. Let's try and rectify that here.
Mission Team Leader is Key
All the critical items and gear will go to the mission team leader. In order for all players in a team to gain the top items, they must all go through the Arcs as the team leader. There are plenty of other drops that are worth going back for if you aren't the leader or have already completed all Arcs as the leader.
This may be one cause of the "disappearing" mission items--the replacement items that appear at the end of the mission will go to the team leader.
You also cannot change team leaders in the middle of an Arc. If the leader changes, you have to start the Arc over.
Pandora's Box Rewards
Separate from the Pandora's Box mission behavior is the box activation behavior. In that case, the player who activates the box is the one who can get the final items. That player must open the safe that appears where the box was activated and grab the reward items.
Pandora's Box Activation
Keep in mind the following rules for activating a Pandora's Box:
- you can only activate a box in the Downtown district
- you cannot be near a hardline or signal booster
- you cannot activate the box inside buildings
- the player activating the box must be at or above the minimum level
Pandora's Box Encounter Time Limit
The Pandora's Box encounters are on a time limit. It is fairly long, but if you don't defeat all the NPCs within the time limit you'll have to go back to the NPC who gave you the final mission of the Arc and earn another box. (You don't have to begin the entire Arc over.)
Four Full Arcs
There are four separate Arcs, each ending with the acquisition of a different box. After you win a Pandora's Box encounter, you get the item you need for the next Arc. You have to find the Collector who wants that item and trade it in to him or her.
Arcs Are Item-Based
Because each arc uses items to move through the storyline, you don't have a time limit on completing the Arc. As long as you have the correct item, you can start the Arc at any time. This includes if you don't defeat the Pandora's Box encounter for that Arc the first time--you can go back to the NPC who gave you the final mission and earn another one. (You don't have to restart the entire Arc.)
You gain items at the end of each mission in an Arc. That means you don't even have to complete an entire Arc at once. After you have earned the mission items and left the mission space, you can stop and come back to the same part of the Arc at any time.
Some Items Must Be Activated
The items that launch each Arc and the Boxes themselves must be activated. You can either right-click them in your Inventory and select Use Item or drop them into your hotbar and activate them from there.
Operator Error
If you're getting a message from your Operator about a bad connection, it most likely means there are no available mission spaces. Wait for a while and try again.
Pandora's Box Content is Permanent
Unlike the main storyline missions, the Pandora's Box content will not be going away with a new chapter. In fact, you'll get an item at the end of the fourth Arc that you may want to hold on to...
Message Edited by Walrus on 09-01-2005 07:44 PM
