Fist de Yuma Jr
Slowly but surly Jr is building up. If I can catch OHN at full spawn I can make 700k in a buffing cycle. If not I'm lucky to make 300k. There are times you can go top to bottom without seeing an Olthoi. Really makes you wish the old spawn rate was back.
Those were the days. I think the spawn was under a minute back then. Both the OHN's and BSD's were on a very fast spawn. We were told it was cut back because it caused lag over the entire server.
Very few people could go deep in OHN back then. I think the farthest anyone made it was the flood room. I remember being part of a major body recovery when it first opened. A strong party made it to the flood room and was overwhelmed.
Today my 40's UA with level VII buffs can clear the entire place in a 30-minute buff. Sad, if two strong people are in OHN it is quickly empted of Olthoi. I sure would like to see the spawn rate improved or at least something new for Melees.
Watching the problems of my vassal Bleu Sky brings this up. He is a 75lv swordsman with little magic. For good reasons he does not like magic tossing monsters. Fist is about the same way right now. Quests, body recoveries and sightseeing is about all Fist does these days, other than hunting Hollows.
Bleu does not have lock pick so even Hollows are not an option for him. At 75 Olthoi are far to easy and the xp has been reduced a lot. Still he camps an OHN all day. Without magic there is few places he can fight that match even the low xp he gets in OHN.
Part of Bleu's problem is he uses shadow armor. This means he has to get his creature spells from other items. This will put lots of holes on his protections. Bleu told me how he keeps getting two shot in the Direlands. We are working on getting him some creature armor so he can fill the holes.
Of course anytime Bleu is in an OHN there is little left over for anyone else. His being in the one I was hunting got me searching for a new one. Funny getting ran out of an OHN by my own vassal.
In the new one there are still high levels running around there. I really don't blame them. Unless you want to spend a lot of time drawing and killing a monster what is there?
Take the island for example. There are few monsters that don't spawn in packs. This is no trouble for Fist de Mage. I can draw with a de-buff and kill with war. Even if the AI gets stupid and will not draw the monster, Mage can kill easily from a distance. A fighter has to get right up in the face of a Bandie or Drudge.
There are few fighters who can stand up to them a pack of them. It almost requires level VI buffs to even think of fighting. Another problem is the run away AI. With Mage I know that if I don't kill quick the monster will turn and retreat to the spawn site. A fighter would be lucky to get it to half health before it runs back.
Of course there are fighters who do well on the island. I see them everyday. I will toss a heal or Imperil for them as I pass. Having played both Fist and Mage on the island I know the difference. For melee it is a lot of work to fight there. For a mage is it easy.
Fist de Yuma Jr will not have these problems. I should be able to use imperil to draw. Even if it does not draw it will weaken the monsters enough to make the battle quick and easy. When he hits 80 I will not even have to worry about items. Total self-buffing will be nice.
Of course the major problem for Jr will be de-buffs. Mage just dispels them. The creature dispels takes a ton of mana, mana Jr will never have. It also takes a skill level Jr will not reach for a while. Until level 80 it is moot anyway. With a level V de-buff I'm not going to be imperiling much.
At 40 Jr is tossing V's in life with no problems. Item is lagging right now but IV's will be easy. The main reason things are slower right now is something I knew would be troublesome. To make this template I needed to train lore instead of Spec'ing it. To use my creature armor and buff items I'm need a lot higher lore than I want to pay. After 80 lore will be close to useless so I really hate spending the points.
Turbines answer has been less than effective. First attempt was the Tusker camps. If it was left at that things would have been fine. But no, they had to put Virindi and Hollows there as well. This means it is a much better mage spot than melee. A melee attempting to fight the spawn will have to contend with major de-buffs from the Virindi. Of course Hollows are not nice to mages but they can be killed from a distance or avoided.
I don't really count the Bore as it is more an attempt to force teaming. Teaming with a mage is more than effective for leveling. Even with a 50-50 split of xp Bleu Sky and I made great gains. Sorry to say finding a mage willing or able to team with a fighter is hard to do.
The reason for that is a mage can solo with little problem. After 45 they can hit the island and have adventure after adventure. A fighter would be lucky to do half as well at 65.
I'm against the leveling for leveling sake but there are times when leveling is needed. Restarts are a good example. Unfortunately places like the Citadel, OHN and BSD are full of people who have never been anywhere else.
So I have done what I really hate to do. I have started a problem, lack of places for a fighter to level, but have no solution. Anything that helps a fighter level will also bring players who will do nothing else.
I have only one idea but doubt that Turbine would do it. A new monster that is identical to Olthoi Nobles except for the loot needs to be created. Then an OHN like dungeon with these loot-less Nobles needs to be made. Even better put these in an one of the OHN's without warning.
This would create a hard to fight monster that would not bring out the greedy players. At 15k a pop, instead of the 5k of a Soldier, it is worth fighting. A 75lv fighter like Bleu Sky would be hard press to survive the flood room in such a place. No more standing in the middle of the room and clearing it in 3 minutes. God I would love it.
Of course I would demand there be a reward worth fighting for. Not loot, more a boss monster at the end. Of course that would create camping, another problem. I'll have to think of an answer to that.
Making goals
Most of this week was spent leveling Jr. The family is doing the Virindi Amulet quest this Sunday and I want to be ready. According to Rain Pea I need to be about halfway to 42. I didn't make it but I got close. Mana Conversion is low and I need more health and stamina.
The biggest problem is lore. I have some level V items but they are all around 190+ lore requirement. I got to 155. The answer was to have Fist de Mage buff his lore, put on the items and keep tossing mana stones at them. Not the best but it did work.
First test for Jr.
After the family meeting an impromptu quest for the Fire Stone was set up. The problem with quick quests is lack of organization. This can lead to deaths and frustration.
I had the armor and items ready to go on a mule for Jr. I had been gathering the stuff together all week for the Amulet quest. It only took me a few minutes to get Jr set up.
I logged mage and did the lore buffs he needed. It was just in time as they made the portal to the Crater just as I finished buffing him.
It was a big group with more than one fellow. That was the first problem. If everyone is in one fellow we can keep together better. Someone ran ahead and I was not sure who to follow. Finally I said the heck with it and headed to the Crater exit.
First battle did not go to well and I had to run from a Flamia. Then I got smart and pulled out my wand. I was able to put imperil on all of them. Not bad for a 41lv fighter with a 10 self start. After that I quickly cleared the exit of Fire monsters.
I waited a bit as the group I was following had disappeared. I knew by then that most of the party was behind me. Then someone said they were at the Vault. The others were taking a lot of time and my buffs were burning. If part of them were at the vault I figured to join them.
It took me a few minutes to get to the vault and found that only one person was there. After a short wait people started filtering in. I was buffed so I headed in to see who was doing what.
One person was at the first drop. I figured to wait but he jumped down. Someone needed to guard his back so I followed. He raced forward and I followed him to the first jump. I said we should wait for the others but he kept going.
I waited for a bit and rebuffed. I figured I would do the first few jumps. I will mostly miss at least once. With a miss I would be behind the group and catch up with them. Strangely I had little problem with the jumps. With lower skill I did not over jump like I would with Fist Sr.
The guy who ran ahead did miss so I was in front of everyone. I waited and two guys ran passed me. We could not get passed the Infernal. I was able to imperil it but my weapon buffs had dropped. By the time I had re-buffed myself the other two were gone.
The main party was having its problems at the jumps. This is normal. The way this should be done is a strong member jumps down and kills the monsters at the bottom. A person who knows the way and can fight well also jumps down. The strong keeps the monsters clear while the other leads the people who miss back up.
I have done this with Fist a few times. Jr is not strong enough to be the first in but I could have been the second. In hindsight I should have. The people who missed the jump had a lot of problems. One recalled and another died. Next time we have this quest I will insure a experienced leader is there or take over myself.
So being alone between the main party and the two rabbits I decided to keep moving. I caught up with them in time to help with the Zeffers and Infernal. The guy who kept running ahead recalled as soon as he had the stone.
Me and the other guy felt guilty as hell. We could hear the problems the main group was having. We should have been there.
At last the main group dropped in. We had one death here when the Zeffers spawned. Fortunately he had gotten the stone before he died.
Other than a slow buffing problem I was doing well with Jr. To help with buffing I hit OHN that night and put all the points into Mana Conversion. OHN was packed with people so I did not make that much xp but it was better than nothing.
Virindi Amulet quest part I, The Run.
The big day arrived. I had done a lot of work for this but knew it was going to be hard. I figured to hide in the pack as much as possible and be part of the wall.
We had a big group. Many more people for the high side than I expected. The portal was made to the Direland and we buffed there.
Started running south until we hit the river that runs around the plains. With level VII run buffs on I had to be careful not to run past the leaders.
It seems the people in the front did not know the exact route. We ran up several canyons, only to have to run back down after hitting a dead end. At one we hit a dead end but with a jump people were getting up. I found out later that this was not the right path but did work.
I jumped and was bouncing around. Then I was back where I started. I did this several times before I found you had to turn and run up the hill while bouncing.
By the time I got out of that most of the group had run out of sight. We had several people and we waited until everyone had got clear of the bounce before moving. Unfortunately no one in this group knew the way. What made it especially bad was we did not know it.
We were following people who were lost. Running around the Plains with no idea where your going is not smart. I looked at the coodi and tried to lead us. I got lost and ended up back at the river. I was glad at that point that no one had followed me. I figured this was the end of the quest for me.
After escaping the chasing mobs I was at a dead end. I retraced my steps and found the body of Rizean. He had been following me and did not make it. I got permission to lot his body.
The leader gave me instructions on the right canyon. I was hoping to get there without being killed but did not like my odds. Being a 41lv alone here was not going to be easy.
I avoided most of the monsters and found the right passage. My buffs had dropped and I needed to reapply them before moving. The group knew I was working towards them and was waiting. Better than me, I would have told for me to recall so the party could move on.
I told them I was rebuffing and got a message from Balash. He was looking for me. I said I was close but needed to rebuff before moving. I got two spells off when here comes Balash with about 10,000 monsters chasing him.
Now Balash is crazy but he is also smart. He did not stop next to me. He kept running and gave me time to figure out what I was going to do. He circled back around and I followed him. I was a bit ticked as I was now running over the Plains with only Armor and Acid V on me.
With shadows, Umbris, Diamond golems, Tuskers, Virindi and sundry other monsters beating on me I was sure I was dead. All I could do was keep running. I was trapped on a ridge several times but somehow was able to escape.
I really don't know how I survived that run. Amazingly I did not take much damage. Of course in my un-buffed state any damage would have killed me. I found at this point that several people were lost and trying to get there. Rizean was also trying to get back. Sorry to say he died again before he could make it.
Virindi Amulet quest part II, The Dungeon.
After buffing we headed in. Took a while before we could all download. I could hear Balash telling people to not move until we were all there. Balash had a pack Ursuin called Crazy. On quests he pulls it out to lead us. Balash warned people that if they moved forward he would let Crazy attack them.
This part was easy. Tuskers, Hollows and Virindi all lasted about three seconds when they found us. With the high levels there this was a walk over. I knew it would he different when the groups split.
At the dual portals we rebuffed. This was were I saw I had a problem. My buffing was taking longer than anyone else's. I fizzle a lot trying to do V's and with not much mana and low Mana Conversion I took a while getting all the spells.
I had to stop buffing and chase after the group. Being alone in there made me very nervous. I caught up quick and was able to get my last few spells on while people were fighting.
At the first switch I found we had a good leader. He had us wall in a half circle around a corner. I shouted out how the fighter were not to fight, just hold and heal. The few monsters that spawned were killed by the archers and mages while we protected the group.
At the next rebuffing I had the same problem. Everyone ran off without me. Had to grab my weapon and chase. At the next door I as able to finish buffing.
I was worried about the acid pits. I heard they were hard to get over. The first jump we got to was a bit hard but no danger. We had to jump to a doorway. Just takes timing. I missed once. That made me really worry. If the jumps over the acid pit was like that I could easily miss time it and die.
My worry was for nothing. The jumps were full jumps that I could have done half again more of. Several people did fail the jump, mages I figure. Some wanted to try to recover the bodies. The party leader warned that if they jumped into the pit their quest was over. There was no way out. Everyone had been warned to bring a lot of death items. I had about 20 myself.
It took a while before the high side got the last door opened. Me and two other fighters guarded the rear. A Tusker Guard and several Virindi were spawning but we took care of them.
At last we got to the end.
Virindi Amulet Quest Part III, Lag hell.
The party leader again had us in a half circle protecting the mages and archers. I had forgot my own advice about sliding. The archers and mages were protected from the Hollows and Tuskers but spells were something else.
The line for the Amulet was lowest to highest. No one jumped the line or acted the ass. A few fighters tried to fight. That broke our line. I chastised them and we got them back were they belonged. I joked that I have leveled too much when I found my number. I had a long way to go.
It was working well with the Tuskers and Hollows running against us and unable to damage anyone. If the mages and archers had been sliding we would not have had any problems.
About halfway done things started to go wrong. The Virindi were one spell killing people. A fighter in line called for a heal but was dead before a mage got to her. I looted her stuff but she was not happy.
I started to lag. I had my video settings at 1/8 but it was getting worse and worse. Several people complained about it. I was forth in line as the lag started getting really bad. Someone died and someone said we were down to one archer.
I'm sure people were porting out because we had far less people than we started with. It is really lame to run out on the people who got you there.
When I was number 2 in line my lag was so bad I was in stop motion. My turn came up and I could not move. I could not even get my mouse to move. People were begging me to get the Amulet and I could not even type to tell them my trouble.
Finally I decided to log. If I realized before it was not a general problem I would have logged before I got into this state. I was so bad I could not click the X to log out. By this time everyone knew I was lagged out. It took me over a minute to get my mouse on the X. I know there is a hot key to log out but had no idea what it was, never had to use it before.
When I had logged out my mouse came back so I did not go all they way to the desktop like I would normally. I got right back in, praying the others had not left.
At the time I logged we had lost the last archer. There was only a handful of us left and without a mage or archer we could not kill the Virindi. I figured the best I could do is live. Getting the Amulet was out.
Total luck out. I got back and they had waited for me. I'm guessing we had a mage left as the Virindi was dead. I ran over to the other side of the hall, praying there was an Amulet on the body. There was! I grabbed it and ran back to the group.
I said I got it. I was expecting we needed more as there were a handful of players with greater levels than me. While I was lagged they had all got the Amulet so I was the last one. The leader said port and he did not have to ask twice. I hit my hot keys and was gone in seconds.
Negative WI?
Now here is the amazing thing about all this. Not once in the entire quest did I have to use my healing kit! I have heard of the WI flag. I must have had the -WI flag. Even when running alone all that came close to hitting we were wasps. With my melee that was a miss.
Of course while running I'm a hard target. I'm zig-zaging all the time. I listen for spells and make sure I'm moving in a different direction if I hear one go off. Still I was face to face with so much so often I should have taken damage. Even when being attacked by the Umbris they missed and never tried to spell me. My melee is 294 so they should have hit me.
While on the wall monsters were running against me but never took a swing. While guarding the back of the group I was one of three. They always died before I became a target. I lucked out so often on this quest. With all that went wrong it is mind boggling that I lived, let alone got the Amulet.
Thieves
Thieves and scammers are the worst part of this game. I warned over a year ago what E-bay would cause the pro's to started working it. The below log file tells me I was right. This was posted on the VN board by a player.
You say, "who you scammin today babe?"
No-One tells you, "ah no one =)"
No-One tells you, "im at 0 burden, nothing on me"
No-One tells you, "im gonna restart and mak ea new thief"
No-One tells you, "lol, us thieves or so superior to your type"
No-One tells you, "do you realize that yesterday i made about 10 scints 1 matty robe and 2 HQIngots through stealing?"
You say, "PUSH DELETE NOW No One, you aint thieveing nobody on this toon again"
No-One tells you, "just yesterday"
No-One tells you, "in one day"
No-One tells you, "do you realize that i made about 500 dollars worth of stuff on eBay?"
No-One tells you, "do you realize that in the last month ive made about $5000 by stealing and selling on ebay"
No-One tells you, "its better than a real job"
These slimes are very good at what they do. Be careful. There was even a person who got the patron to log. The thief had a player ready with a small change. The victim was sure the name was right. A small odd tick in a name can be easily overlooked. It has got so you need to use the Patron tell to be sure it is your patron.
Another case we think the Patron's account was hacked. Then the thief used the patron's account to steal from the vassals. It is getting really sad and if MS does not do something it will get worse. People will do bad things for money. If MS does not shut down E-bay selling it will never be fixed.
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