The Pits?

[onomastikon]

In ActV, I've come across three areas which all look alike, two areas labeled the "Pits" -- one in the Tundra, one in the Plateau, plus 1 level of Abbadon (Highlands I think).

All have sparkly chests at the end.
I've run these now a couple of times in Nightmare and find them all equally unspectacular, particularly considering the drops.
But apparently, one of these is supposed to be extra groovy, since I know people mention "Pit Runs". When people mention them, they mean that one is particularly good for getting good items. I presume they mean the sparkly chest at the end, right?
I guess I have just had bad luck so far. But maybe I am wrong about the exact location. Or maybe they are only good in Hell, not NM?
So when people refer to Pit Runs, which one exactly do they mean for good treasure?
thank you.

[vorstelman]

with pits run they mean the pits in act 1 in tamoe highlands. lot of people run that place because it has very high area level, though i think thats only in hell and not in nightmare.

[Crowd Control]

Actually all lvl 85 areas are Pits and they are only lvl 85 in Hell. These are the Pits:


The Pits (Tamoe Highland)
Ancient Tunnels (Lost City)
Disused Reliquary (somewhere at Kurast)
Forgotten Temple (somewhere at Kurast)
Maggot Lair (Dry Hills? forgot actually)
Mausoleum (Burial Grounds)
River of Flame
Ruined Fane
Sewers lvl 2
Chaos Sanctuary
WSK lvl 1,2,3
ToD

[Mursilis]

To not confuse you, on Battle.net when someone mentions Pit runs it is as Vorstelman says, the cave in the Tameo Highlands in Hell difficulty only.

[BlargX]

I think a big reason people rave about the Pits in Act 1 is that it's a good place to get socketables to make rune words. They drop a lot there, and good socketables can be kind of tough-ish to find.

[Evrae Altana]

I think a big reason people rave about the Pits in Act 1 is that it's a good place to get socketables to make rune words. They drop a lot there, and good socketables can be kind of tough-ish to find.That's not the sole reason why the Pits in act 1 is preferred, since all the other level 85 areas can drop the same items. The reason why people like Act 1 Pits so much is that despite being able to drop such high class items, the monsters there are mostly easy (Devilkin and bone warriors in Pits compared to Souls in WSK or Oblivion Knights in Chaos Sanctuary).

[channimal]

I almost exclusively run pits in hell.. especially when I come across a "wait 4 free" game. Also the ancient tunnels in act 2 lost city area.

Like Evrae said, it is mostly because they are very easy areas with minimal multi immunes. With my Blizzballer, the ancient tunnels is extremely easy.

[purplelocust]

That's not the sole reason why the Pits in act 1 is preferred, since all the other level 85 areas can drop the same items. The reason why people like Act 1 Pits so much is that despite being able to drop such high class items, the monsters there are mostly easy (Devilkin and bone warriors in Pits compared to Souls in WSK or Oblivion Knights in Chaos Sanctuary).

Also, The Pit is useful for experience/leveling purposes as the monsters are reasonably easy to kill and yet the level difference penalty on experience is not as likely to come into play for a high level character as for other, lower level areas.