In the Toxic Spill right now ... and it's got no "real" purpose. A dead end area that doesn't produce anything worthwhile to use in the rest of the game.

What the Toxic Spill gives me (and the reason I love it ) is that it's hands down the FASTEST place to level. Every time I get in at Grand Duchess I get 3-4% closer towards Archduchess.
To the second point, I was rather... disappointed with the Polluted Base because all of their recent areas have favored power over luck. So even though the Polluted Base + Ultimate Polluted Charm is the luckiest setup you can consistently get, unless they give us an area to use it, it's a waste. So I'm holding out hope that they give us a nice lucky area, and then it will make it worth something.

Double posting, kind of as a followup to my previous post, but mostly my own observations that I thought you all might be interested in.

As I now have all the cool trap setups that the game has to offer, I've been playing around with them this Toxic Spill to try to figure out what works best. I had assumed, based on previous observations of people my level and the MH Wiki, that the Washboard Base was hands down the best base in the area that you could get. Because I also got tons and tons of Soapy Charms from the Easter event, I busted out the Washboard Base and Soapy Charms for probably 75% of the Grand Duchess level....and I rocked it. Flew up the point scoreboard big time.
After running out of Soapy Charms, I then switched to the Washboard Base with Ancient Charms, where I discovered that while it worked decently, it wasn't that great.
I bounced over to the horntracker and started researching setups, and found that WB + Soapy wasn't any better than GTB + Champion Charms. So then out of curiosity I checked Polluted + Ultimate Polluted. Same story, almost the exact same catch rate.
So I decided since I had plenty of polluted charms to burn thanks to the Easter Event, I armed the Polluted Base + Ultimate Polluted Charms and my catch rate went way back up again. Used those up and switched to Extreme Polluted Charms and still my catch rate seems to be higher than the Washboard Base + Ancient Charms.

Moral of the story, you may want to read about other people's experiences on the forum before burning a whole lot of crafting materials on the Washboard and Polluted Bases. Particularly since Soapy Charms give you a massive boost to your trap and the Washboard Base seems just ok.
It may have been my random luck the past few days, but I thought it was worth sharing.

So after sitting at 99% Countess for the majority of this Toxic Spill, I finally reached Duchess this morning. You telling me I should yell at that last percentage point seems to have worked, FK.

I'm still trekking through the Living Garden. I almost have enough essences to craft the POWN, but that will have to wait until after the Toxic Spill since I don't have the large waste barrel yet and I don't think I'll have the essences before the spill is over.

Dot, I mentioned it elsewhere, but I need to post here too, mega-congrats on reaching Duchess! I'm glad yelling worked. I saw you caught at least three of the four new mice available to you in the Toxic Spill so yay!

Well, we're getting close enough to the release of the new area that they're dropping hints now. I'm sure most of you have seen these by now....

The King has heard your demands to combat this heatwave! He has a solution in the works that should tide you over!

Damaged fragments of coral have washed ashore where the cliffs of Daredevil Canyon meet the Rodentia Ocean. The King has sent Larry to investigate, who will be sharing his findings over the next few days.

Sooo... maybe next week? Or at least the week after? I'm probably in the minority, but I am definitely ready for something to do besides stockpiling supplies!

On a personal note, this Toxic Spill has gotten me to Grand Duchess: 87.68% currently. I'm hoping to hit 88% before the end of TS Countess level (which is when I bow out of the Toxic Spill) but I don't think I'll quite make it. Arrrg! So close and yet so far away. I'm already ready for another high level Toxic Spill to help me rank! LOL

I'm at 14.67% Grand Duchess. I'm hoping I have enough gold to get started in the new area when it's released. I've only managed to recoup about 4.2 mil in gold since Ronza.

I'm going to go ahead and leave the toxic spill. I find the area utterly boring

If anybody wants to do any tournies or trains, I'm more than willing to help

@DiGs, normally I'd be down for tournies and trains, but starting tomorrow my husband is off work until July 7th. So we're likely going to be either working on projects around the house or possibly going on a mini-vacation. So I can't really commit to anything active for a while. We'll see though.

Done with the Toxic Spill now that Countess level has passed. I made it to 88.3%. So I guess I'm going to be dividing my time between the Rift (leveling) and the M400 mouse (fun for me).

I won't make it to Archduchess before the new area, but I also don't believe it will be necessary. I'm going to be curious to see what level they end up making the new area. It'll be at least Count, but I guess they haven't decided for sure.

If you didn't see on FB already, yesterday Jacob did a new mouse in Art FBF. Not for the upcoming Mouselantis area (as I'm calling it ) but for the next new area after that. During the drawing, several devs came wandering through and jokingly commented about being "dead hungry" or "dead tired" and "you heard no hints *winkwink*" which immediately made the chatroom speculate that the new area will be some kind of Rift Burrows/Mousoleum area.
The mouse definitely looked "Rifty"... perhaps the Lycan?

In other news, I'm getting my behind kicked by Claw Shot City. Last night wasn't so bad, but I was in there yesterday morning trying to get the Prospector Mouse for my M400 assignment. After 1/9 catches, I left and spent the rest of the day in the Fiery Warpath trying to earn gold for the next area.
Currently working on an LG map.

Well, I went hunting for Twisted Carmine this morning and got enough to make my next Shattering Charm. I used the rest of my Lunaria going for Shattered Carmine, and missed on my two attractions. I'll be working up toward either an awful lot of Lunaria or a shot at King Scarab over the next little while. Here's hoping the third SC isn't far behind.

I'm getting very excited for the new area. I really hope they open it up soon.

Well congrats on the Shattering Charm at least stwin. That's most of the battle. I think King Scarab is the easiest to get out of the three. I always maxed out my meter, though I don't think everybody does that.

I'm getting very excited for the new area. I really hope they open it up soon.

Goodness yes. I was resisting hanging out in Muridae today and then I got a M400 cheese assignment that required quite a few mice there. Of course, it dawned on me later that today is Canada day, so there's no way they're going to release new content unless it's JUST ordering the new map pieces from the Cartographer and it takes a week to fill (or something like that).
At any rate, based on their FB hints, I'm expecting it to be within the next 7 days. We'll see if I'm right. If it comes out this week, I definitely won't be able to focus on it much. But next week will be back to normal and then it's like "BRING IT ON!!!" (I still want it to come out this week. )
In the meantime, I've been farming Rift potions. Dunno if I'll need them or not, but it seemed like a good idea. Working on M400 stuff when bored.

The Sunken City has been discovered. It looks like the area will be quite extensive after they add more to it. There are two new Hydra traps. I wonder how they compare to the Chrome POWN. I'm tempted to not bother with the new area for now and just continue farming essences. But I couldn't resist taking a quick peek so I'll decide if I want to go back to the Living Garden later.

Thanks for the heads up Dot! I don't know how long it was open before I found it, I was outside painting my house. But it wasn't too terribly long, so that's good.
Looks like the first step will be a long, slow grind according to the News (unless you donate to get a basket o' goodies). They recommend 100 Oxygen Canisters, so that's what I'm going for. I have 18 so far.
Dot, I think the whole area is out. It looks like all of the mice and fish are available now, and they're already working on the next Year of the Noble area.

So two observations right off the bat.
~The price on that Hydro trap and upgrade. Whew! That's pricey. We'll see how far along I get farming the rest of the parts needed. Maybe the mice further along will drop lots of gold.
~Makes me think of the Iceburg right off the bat. Hopefully it's more fun/less boring.

That trap looks sweet. Although it's a strange feeling to have to actively farm points again; I haven't done that in probably a year and a half.

I'm SO close to finishing the LG, though, I'm going to get my last Shattering Charm and craft my Rift Base first. I might end up wanting the extra power, anyway. And, next Toxic Spill I'll be actively hunting in the top area...sigh, I hate the Toxic Spill but it's one of the best places for points.

I'd also like to do more M400 assignments. And cash in on all of these Ancient Relics I have and restock my Map supply, lol. Plus I will need to make a trip to Furoma at some point and restock my gold; probably soon since I don't have enough gold to buy my Rift Base yet.

ETA: For Stwin, I did my LG Bosses in the order of Dark Magi, Shattered Carmine, King Scarab. It was largely due to timing, though. When I got my first Shattering Charm, I had time to babysit my horn which made picking that boss easy (since he's not "hard" to catch but you have to do it in batches of three hunts, which requires monitoring your horn so you don't waste Graveblossom). I was out of Duskshade at the time and didn't have any Pours in the Twisted Garden, so I couldn't go after the Shattered Carmine. I did my SC second because I had 12 Lunaria and wanted to see if I could get her quickly so I could spend the rest on Twisted Carmines.

King Scarab will be last; I just have to make sure I salt all the way once I get close to that last Hix. I'm 6 Gurs away from my last Shattering, so I've got a ways to go. Shouldn't take too long, though; I'm thinking I need 24-30 Lunaria + related Essences to make it. I dunno; I've had good luck with Twisted Carmine's lately.

My thoughts on this new area are mainly positive.

On a whim, I went ahead and dove with only 22 tanks of Oxygen. With 10 tanks required to dive, that left me with twelve tanks (12 hunts). The mice here are gorgeous!

Based on drop rates, it looks like this area is going to take a LONG time to complete. . . we're talking like 6 months or more. You'll also need at least 60ish tanks to get all of the ingredients to craft that new cheese.

Although. . . to be honest, it looks like if you wanted to go through this whole area without ever crafting the cheese, it could (in theory) be done. I think this will end up being akin to "You can do the warpath with no charms if you want! A run might take 2 months, but you can do it."

We'll see. So far I like it a lot!

@DiGs, I'm curious how much Fishy Fromage you were able to acquire during your dive? (Or even just the supplies for it.)

Some additional observations from me this morning. My catch rate and item drop rate seem to be exceptionally good. Yesterday, both my sister and husband were here and we were all playing MH together so I could really compare and contrast.

My setup - C.POWN, Rift, Snowball, Gouda, GS, Rank: Grand Duchess
Hubby - C.POWN, Rift, Snowball, Gouda, No GS, Rank: Grand Duchess
Sister - C. POWN, Horse Jade, Snowball, Gouda, GS, Rank: Duchess

My husband's catch rate is very good, but definitely not as good as my sister's and mine. I have yet to FTC a mouse (and I'm sure by saying that, I'll jinx myself) and my sister has FTCed one mouse.
My item drop rate is a good deal higher than the other two. My husband's seems to be a bit higher than my sister's.
So the extra luck from the golden shield definitely seems to make a difference in catch rate, and it's hard to tell this for sure, but it seems like the higher rank + luck gets you more canisters? Or maybe my sister is just really unlucky cause DiGs seemed to get them quite quickly yesterday.

Currently up to 61 Oxygen. Aiming for 100.

This does NOT seem to be a very profitable area. The Treasure Troop looks like the only group of mice with a significant amount of gold. I may be heading elsewhere to farm the necessary monies for the traps. We'll see. Boy am I glad I didn't spend all my gold at Ronza's this year! LOL