Egypt -- Al Simhara

Egypt -- Al Simhara

In theory you can do this destination next if you like, since your experience with Mummy battles in China should have clued you as to whether you are prepared enough or not, but honestly you might find it easier to do France first, I am just saying.

Egypt feels like it is the largest of the destination zones, and the most dangerous as well as offensive for most Sims. There is, however, a lot to do here, and it is an excellent place to level-up skills like Photography. Be sure that you purchase a Snake Charming Basket here, as it is one of the more useful pieces of adventure kit, especially since it serves as both entertainment and a cure for the Curse of the Mummy.

Welcome to Egypt, land of lots of shades of tan!

-- Tombs in Al Simhara --

While the bulk of the Tombs in Egypt can be explored outside of the quest system, you will find that if you simply focus upon the quest system, it will take you to the different Tombs eventually, and by using it as your motivating factor you will miss less. While raising your Visa Level in China was important -- just as doing so is important in France and here in Egypt because it allows you to stay longer -- there is another reason why you want to get your Visa Level up and a good reason for focusing upon the quests system: The Tears of Horus.

That is a special Relic that you can only buy from the special vendor using Ancient Coins AND having a high Visa Level -- and along with Pangu's Axe it is one of the items you will want to have obtained in the game. Just saying.

-- Abu Simbel --

To access this Tomb you will need to make an offering of a tiny space rock, and an Ancient Relic (or older/rarer), and you will need to have mastered both Martial Arts and Meditation to proceed deeper into the Tomb, since you will need to Zeniport to get to the statue to move it onto the switch and reveal the hidden entrance when you reach the point where the two paths diverge.

You will obtain The Sigil of the Sanctuary of Horus here, as well as some good loot and Relics, and the Eyes of Horus (about which you will learn more in the game) that are sort of the whole point to this Tomb. Bear in mind (I am not risking a spoiler here mates) that there is a moral challenge at the cusp where you can obtain the Eyes, and you cannot afford to fail it because you need the Eyes to negotiate a puzzle deeper in the Tomb...

Mind the traps here, and make sure that you check the walls for switches and doors -- which is as close to a spoiler as we are going to get here. After you have completed the main areas and you depart, be sure to solve that puzzle at the beginning that you could not solve before (now that you have the tools to solve it), right?

-- Copper Quarry --

This Tomb is part of the quests system so you will naturally come here, and while it is one of the smaller ones in the region it is an easy and fun romp that will make you happy you spent time in China first... Just saying. You will snag The Sigil of the Copper Quarry here, along with lots of copper as well as other metals and gems, it being a loot-rich environment.

The Great Pyramids

-- Great Pyramid --

Pretty cool, eh? Almost as cool as the Sphinx! This is not only the largest Tomb in the region, I think it may be the largest in the game, and clearly it received the most Tomb Love from the development team...

It is fully accessible from the start assuming you have Pangu's Axe and it is loaded with loot and puzzles (but it is not going to strain your puzzle senses). This is where you find the Sarcophagus of Kings which will see you exercising your Mummy battle skills -- and where you will score The Sigil of the Den of Lost Souls. Keep an eye out for the Death Keystone here.

-- Great Sphinx --

In addition to being a very cool Tomb this is also one of the places you can go to to reverse the Curse of the Mummy -- as it is where the cleansing ritual takes place. But if you have the Snake Charming Basket and you have leveled it, you do not actually need to come here to do that... Just saying. If you did get cursed though, the quest Cursed! will take you here automatically.

In addition to being one of the more cool Tombs, this is also a great place to find loot, and in particular to find valuable gems like the soulpeace and rainbow variates. This is also where you will obtain The Sigil of the Soulpeace Chamber, which is located in a hidden room inside.

-- Pyramid of the Burning Sands --

You will very likely clear this Tomb in two stages -- and it is where you will obtain The Sigil of the Tomb of the Rock and some nice Relics. Bear in mind though that this is Egypt, and so the Treasure Room inside does contain a Mummy so you will be having a battle or three!

Access to the second stage of the Tomb is obtained during a quest, and delivers The Keystone of the Burning Sands to you -- so be sure that you snag the Sigil and clear all of the chambers as you will miss out on some good Relics if you do not. An added note if you plan to make Nectar (and who does not?) is that this is where you will find the highest concentration of Flame Fruit Bushes for harvest (that is actually part of a quest) and is a good source for plants to take home with you as well...

-- Pyramid of the Sky --

This is another Tomb that you can pretty much explore at will if you want -- as long as you have Pangu's Axe -- but first you should explore the area to obtain The Keystone to the Heart of the Water Temple and clear each chamber and room for loot.

Be aware that there are Life Plants that you can harvest here -- which are critical for making the more useful Nectar -- as well as the Death Flower and The Sigil of the Tomb of the Desert Ocean.

The carvings of Aby Simbel

-- Pyramid of the Wind --

I do not believe that this was added as an afterthought so much as it feels like it was a place where there was going to be some questing and they did not get around to adding it? It is a very small Tomb with a What You See Is What You Get feel to it, though you should be able to have a nice Mummy Battle here as well as find some loot...

-- The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut --

The first thing you should know is that they did not make up that name -- there really was a Queen called that in ancient Egypt! Gotta love it that the game is peppered with real-world factoids, right?

This is one of the rare Tombs where you really cannot get into it unless you are doing its associated quest -- In Search of Love -- but if you are interested you should read up on the real Queen online, because the quest line actually relates to her legend.

This is a two-parter but as you work through the quests you will clear it out -- sadly it is not a source for really great loot, but you should be sure you get The Sigil of Queen Hatshepsut before you leave.

-- Tomb of Discovery --

Part of the Business Abroad quest series, you will obtain The Sigil of the Tomb of Discovery here concealed behind a hidden wall, as well as some moderately valuable loot. This is not a complicated Tomb, in fact it appears to be the training Tomb for this region, which is why you encounter it sooner than the others.

-- Special Locations --

In addition to the regular Tombs there are a few locations that you need to explore while you are here, as they have items you will want... They are:

The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut

Criminal Headquarters

While you are working your way through the Business Abroad series of quests you will find yourself coming here -- this is where you obtain The Sigil of the Criminal Headquarters, so be sure you search the chest at the end in the process of clearing the rooms.

1 Quarry View Place

The Sigil of James Vaughn Command Center is obtained here, as well as some other items of loot, and you will arrive here as part of the Nefarious Intentions quests. While I have made considerable effort not to include any spoilers in the guide, the puzzle here can be very frustrating, so I sort of have to help you... Basically you need to search for the three codes in the house: one is in the bookcase, one is in the stereo, and the last is in the toilet -- these three are basically the codes that you need to gain access to the floors below, and that is all that you need to know :)

7 Marketview Place

You will not get far here without Pangu's Axe -- but since you have that, no worries mates! You get taken here during the Trapped at Home quest, but this is another simple WYSIWYG destination, so do not be disappointed when you find it is not a loot-filled treasure fest.

20 West Riverview Place

This is one of the destinations that is late in the Business Abroad quest series, and when you get inside look for the hidden latch to gain full access... Be sure you obtain The Sigil of the Ancient Library before you depart, and clear each room as there are some desirable items/Relics here.

-- Area Quests --

The quests that I flagged are organized below by series -- there may actually be quests that I did not get offered, so take the list that follows to be as complete as I could make it but there may be one or two I never was offered, just saying:

-- Business Abroad --

Wow was this a long and drawn out quest series... It also happens to likely be the first one your Sim will get here -- but it eventually leads you to a lot of locations, where you obtain several Sigils, as well as some decent loot, so it is not to be missed mates.

At the risk of spoiling some of this, it will help you if you prepare for this quest series by making sure that your Charisma is leveled (actually it should be leveled enough considering the quests you did in China even if you did not do France before Egypt) -- and you should lay in a supply of Mummitomium as well, particularly during the quest phase for it since it includes markers on the map for it... Assuming that you complete this quest line you will find it to be one of the most rewarding as far as Visa Points go for the region.

-- Cursed! --

Yeah, this is the quest that most Simmers dread getting, because it means that they failed a battle with a Mummy and ended up being cursed... If you leveled Athletics and Martial Arts you may never actually get this one flagged, but if you do, you are in for a small adventure. I do not want to ruin that, and no worries, this is intentionally made simple to follow in the game as it is really about curing the Curse and not so much confusing you :)

The Great Sphinx of Egypt

-- Trapped at Home --

This short quest is how you are directed to the special location 7 Marketview Place, which is a simple WYSIWYG Tomb but you will need Pangu's Axe for it, so if you did not do China first, well, you are not going to do this!

-- Tomb Tours --

This is one of the Visa-Point-Centric quests that basically involves being a tourist and visiting the different sites, for which you are rewarded, but what it is really about is showing you where everything is without being really obvious about that. Actually it was pretty cool of them to do that, since it translates into exploration rewards!

-- In Search of Love --

This quest takes you to The Temple of Queen Hatshepsut, where you will obtain The Sigil of Queen Hatshepsut and some Relics. If you have the time you should Google the Queen, as she was an interesting person... The instructions for this one are fairly straight forward and the first 2/3 will go very fast... The last 1/3? Not so much.