I've been working the pre-zone several times, with some observations:
First time I tried it I died 3 times. Once had an add that proved too much. After 3 mobs, I Inviso'd and explored. The boxes can be moved around to form a stack where you jump from one to the next, until you can get onto the high rock. The chest on the high rock requires a key from the boss (not named) mob.
All the groups are Blue/White/Yellow. Man, I hate those Gnoll casters! wait...I'm a caster... :)
I went back to the broker and upgraded some armor, maybe a spell or two. Some of my armor was Green/Grey, so I upgraded to Orange stuff. My robe is still Green, as I can't afford the bigger gear yet. All my spells are Adept 1, pet is Adept 3. INT is self-buffed to 171. All mitigations are 1200+.
I went back in, went slower, watched adds. I didn't use root as it draws agro, just pet-attacked each mob in turn until it turns away onto the pet. I'd stay on the last mob facing me and burn it down with single DoT's. If a mob turned on me, I'd pet-attack that one and do the same.
I'd refresh the DS when the timer let me, only had to use Essense Shift a few times.
Once down to 2-3 mobs left, I'd unleash the AE DoT's...at which time they would all turn on me. I'd jump into melee with the pet, hope for an Infernous Seed proc, stacking as many DoT's as possible.
Only a few fights I had to turn and run, using my imbued wand and pet to kite.
Pathing seemed much improved, but hit a snag a few times. There seems to be places on the rock "ramps" that my pet or the mob would quickly "jitter" back and forth, not attacking anything. A simple pet-back-off/pet-attack cleared that.
Loot and exp was good. I was getting 8-10% exp, and each of the drops sell for 20s. Netted 10g after a few runs. One of the Adept drops sells for 2g, probably more at the broker.
When I grouped with a 41 Guardian, I was getting significantly less exp. But since we were able to run through the zone much faster, over time it balanced out.
Still can't figure out what the barrel and the plank of wood is for...didn't use them or need them.
I'm not fond of dungeons but do like the level-scaling function. These will become "Baal_Run_01" territory for me to make quick exp and loot when in a time crunch. I still plan on exploring the rest of the zones since I recently got access to Everfrost and Lavastorm. 10 minutes in EF and my blasted quest log is full again! :(
And I've been hydrating in preparation for Desert of Flames. :)