One of those days.
It was a day when I and my vassals should have kept the computer off. First I got a call from Menelaus. He had been disconnected while outside of BSD. I said I would meet him in Mayoi and get a ride. It was the Plains BSD, a place I had never been to.
While there I got a tell from Adrahill Veranith. He was vited up a bit and needed information about a conflict he had. I invited him along to help search. Sprawls was on but he was looking for bodies he had. Later he said something about 27% vit.
I had just adjusted my spell defense setup, but had not tested it. After getting it on Menelaus made a portal for us. Now my new setup is very nice but hard to put on. I have a new armor piece that is 262 lore requirement. The changes in protect gave me more acid protection but less Piercing.
As I hit BSD I ran outside. I was not set up to fight tuskers. I mostly use my centus in when I going into an unknown situation. The outside of the two BSD I had been to are not too bad. This was very different. I was attacked by golems, fat boys and tuskers.
As soon as I was there I had the idea that I had messed up my spell setup and did not have blunt protection. I was right but in trying to fix it I messed up bad. I had to take off my bp to get my blunt VI shirt on. My error was that the shirt was no longer my piercing protect, it was my acid protect. This meant I now had on two Piercing items and no acid.
With my bp off I was attacked by a tusker. I was down 150 points very quickly. I ran to the entrance of the BSD, praying there were no tuskers waiting. It was clear so I could get my lore stuff back on. This let me get my bp back and the other items that needed high lore.
Of course in the middle of this some weak player came running with a pack of tuskers on his tail. I was blocked off from the exit but it somehow it cleared enough for me to get out. As I came out I saw a message of a Tusker killing Adrahill Veranth.
Things were not getting better. I buffed up my fire weapon because it seemed like the best weapon for now. I was really lacking mana but had no time for a stam to mana and rest. So just BD and HS was it.
Menelaus ported back to Mayoi and picked up Adrahill. Finally we were clear enough to make a try at searching. I said I would run in the direction he thought he was going when he disconnected, which was west.
It was a nightmare run. Spells spinning by as I dogged and weaved. A few tuskers were on my tail most for of the way. All the time I'm hitting the [ key in hopes of finding the body. I headed over a small hill that fell into a large trough. The other side had enough dead ends that I felt he had not run passed it.
It was filled with enough monsters that I could not stop much. I ran down the trough until it emptied into some large mushrooms. I heard that this place was bad news so I ran up a hill. One thing I noted was a large number of fragments. Unfortunately they were all heavily guarded.
Without a safe way back to BSD and not finding the body I decided to port out. I sent a message to Menelaus. A short while later he called off the search as a loss cause. Adrahill searched more but after a death called it as well.
I pay for my error
As I had my spell caster setup on I decided to do a bit of hunting around AB. I took down some Grievvers, Golems and Drudges. Nothing was giving me trouble, despite lacking my coordination VI item.
I saw some Bone lords and decided to take them out. Running past to draw I saw there were four of them. I can take two with little problem but four was too much. Only two followed and I stopped a short way off to fight them. Too short as it turned out.
It was going ok but slow. I was doing a lot less damage that I was use to, dam thing had a shield. I'm sure now that my weapon buff had dropped and I had missed it. Then wam I'm taking big damage. I try to heal but I'm sent spinning to the lifestone in no time.
I should have checked the damage. If I had I would have saw I was taking full damage from the acid blasts. I was relieved to see that I had dropped only death times, five robes and a 15k necklace.
I ran back and found the body. I kept a close eye on the Bones and creep up to the body. As I was just at it two Bones Lords charge. I race away and one drops off. I felt I could take one easy, even with vit. Of course without acid protects the result was the same.
This time I was lacking armor and other good items. By running a further from the spawn the second body would be easy to recover. The first one was still camped. I decided this was a job for Supermage.
I logged out Fist de Yuma and logged in Fist de Mage. After buffing he ran over and dispatched the bones with little trouble. A bludgeoning Vuln VI and a shockwave V was all that was needed. Two charged him and did a little damage but a few drains and he was full again. It was ridiculously easy for him.
Logged off Mage and logged in Fist to pick up his body. It was then that I saw my stupid error.
Now the challenge was to clear the vit. Mostly I do a quick trip to the nest to clear it. This time I had a little problem. The second death had removed my bp and I could not get 262 lore, even if I could install my lore items. My lore V would not install. I have 218 raw lore without vit. I now had 198. Without the lore V I could install my focus VI, will VI or item VI orb.
So the bottom line was I had no protection at all. My bp is al 98 with poor piercing. It is a 298 with Piercing IV if I could get it to work. No strength VI, no endurance VI, no rejuvenation VI, no quick VI, no Coordination VI, I was kind of dead in the water. Even my shield needed more missile defense than I had.
I felt I would just have to work off the vit a worker at a time. It was a nice try. Got one and then another. I was taking damage but one on one I was ok. Problem is one on one is kind of rare in the nest.
Someone came running by with three Soldiers chasing him. I attacked one and a few more joined in. I was cut off but hoped I could get one to turn on me. As soon as I attacked three turned on me. I was hit hard and fast. I took off running in the only direction I could go, deeper.
I was praying the two Soldiers at the end of the ramp were part of the mob in back of me. As I ran down the hall more and more joined in the case. I ran down the ramp and found it empty. Only one Worker was still chasing but with 27hp I was on no condition to fight it.
I pulled my orb and hit Lifestone Recall. The Worker took on poke at me and ran back up the ramp. I was very lucky.
I decided the hell with this. I was not going to the nest without protection. I did a quick search of players around the LS at AB. There was a goddess. Connnie Wolfbane was there. She and I go way back. Her alliance shared the basement in Awric with Cobra La. I told you about the basement last week.
I told her about my problem and she fired a quick lore VI and Focus VI on me. This let me install all but my BP, coordination VI and shield. With V's on my weapon I was almost back to full strength. Took me about 10 minutes to clear the vit.
Revenge
After my debacle fighting the Bones I decided to go on a Bone killing feast. Mostly I was hunting Fragments but decided to kill as many Bone Lord and Knights as I could. I must have killed 20 or 30 of them in total. This time I got smart. If I was below healing I ran.
Killed a lot of Fragments but no shards. The loot in Bones seems to be getting better. I even found a key on one.
Helping a Friend
I keep forget Thorin Darkblade's name. Thorin was the person who gave me 8 motes after my disappointment with the weapon maker. He has also helped me out a lot in the past. After losing a body last week he was lacking of death items.
I told him to meet me the Lin Hall. I had some d-notes and a few robes I could give him. That was before we headed off in search of Menelaus's body. With my two deaths and everything else I forgot about him.
So it was very late when I got to him. I met Thorin in AB and give him some notes and two of my robes. Then ran to Lin (via Blinks mule) and got the three robes I had stored.
I also searched my mules for a lore IV hat I have. Now I was set for vit. With a lore IV item I can get my lore V item on and, well you know the rest.
Weak stupid mages
Weak stupid mages are the bane of the game. They give mages a bad name and get people killed. Most level up with skimming or macroing. They never learn how to play, just how to exploit.
I met two of them today. I was working on some stats with my mage. The best way to get the points is fighting Coral Golems.
I saw a 48lv mage fighting a Coral. I ran past that fight to take the next one. I have it half dead when I see one coming up in back of me. Both start hitting me with acid spells for 50+ damage. I'm low on health so I decided to switch to the one in back of me. A quick drain will get me back up.
I target it and see that it has low health. I also see that someone is blasting it with shock wave. I stay with the one in front, hoping the mage will drop the one on my back.
What happened was the 48lv mage ran from his battle. When it attacked my back he attacked it again. Despite that he still could not kill it. With a final acid blast I was dead. I'm sure he ran again because it was several minutes before I got the xp on the mostly dead golem I was fighting.
Kind of bad that he was there. He cannot kill them but will damage one and run. That leaves the next mage with less to drain. Draining is the way a mage stays alive.
The next person I meet is a thief, coward, skimmer and braggart named Raidon. I'm fighting two Corals. I have got yield and Bludgeoning and voln on both and getting ready to drop one and kill the next. Raidon was watching me. After I got the yield and voln on the second one he started sending shock waves at it.
Now I gave him the benefit of doubt. Maybe he thought I could not take two. Of course he was standing there for a while watching so me had so see I was doing ok.
He then said he was working off vit and needed to kill two more. I was ready to rebuff so I went to the end of the pillars. I saw Raidon running off so I felt he must have gotten his two.
I headed up the pillars and killed one. A second one spawned right next to me. I got my yield on and then my voln. As soon as I did, here comes Raidon sending shock waves at it. He killed it and I said, "Please don't leach off me." He said, "Check my level."
I don't know what his level had to do with his leaching but I did check it. Pitiful, at 72 he was 21 lvs higher than I am. Why does he need to leach off me? I also saw that his patron and monarch were friends of mine. I point out that they would not approve of his leaching.
He said he did not care what they thought. Even more pitiful. He went on to say he had vit and he only stole two Corals so I should stop whining.
I guess he is a very weak template. I can kill Corals with vit and would never think of stealing from others. Somehow he felt his level gave him to right to do whatever he felt like.
I was talking to some alliance members on what he had done. Seems they guy is a skimmer. It is easy to level up by skimming. He has less danger and more xp than a mage that fights.
Skimming, stealing, leaching cowards like this give mages a very bad name.
One of those weeks
With new event a lot of people are spending time looking for bodies. A friend of my vassal named Liquid-Smack was helping someone get some bodies. We needed his 29lv mage to help Fist de Muya.
Muya was in the under 30 part of the event. There is a big acid pit that he does not have enough jump to get across. While thinking what to do a door closed, trapping him. Then he was attacked and had to log with a handful of hit points.
Another vassal Bhal tried to get in to help him. He is the only one within the level requirements. He met up with a few people but they did not help her. She ended up having to port before getting to where Muya logged. Liquid-Smack other player is a 29lv. We felt with Bhal and him could save Muya.
I asked Liquid-Smack if he needed help getting the bodies. He did and I logged Fist to help him. It seemed someone had tried to get to the island with the C note place and died. Liquid-Smack and Fist ran to the fort. Pew the Molted was there and he recruited us in to his fellowship.
I drew a Diamond golem as I had killed many with little problem. Well I had not counted on all the de-buffs I had gotten on the run there. Diamond made quick work of me.
I left only death items on the body so I could take my time. I learned that I needed to clear vit as soon as I could before trying to do body recovery. A quick trip to the Nest had my vit clear in about 5 minutes.
I got the body and saw Pew trying to get his. A Diamond Golem was attacking him. He ran as I attacked the Golem. I must have been de-buffed again because I started taking big damage, I ran. I'm thinking I had slow on me as well because the Golem stuck to me. One blow and the 69 hit points I had left were gone.
This time I dropped my armor. I tossed imp VI and added Piercing and Acid protection on my piercing VI shirt. Then made a quick trip to the Nest to clear the vit. Then ran to the body.
Everyone was stocking or running back after dying when I got back. The body was in a safe enough place so recovery was not hard. At this point I felt that Mage would be more help.
I logged mage and ran him to the drunk. I met Pew there and he got us the portal. I let Pew lead the way, as I'm not all that fast and it would help to have someone play drag on the monsters.
Got there ok but made a stupid error. When I fight Diamond Golems I have to double buff for blunt. I did not do that. I got an imperil on one and was fighting the other. With the de-buffs I had taken and my lack of double buffing I took to much damage. I was draining ok and sure a single blast would have killed it, but it got a 80+ hit on me.
It was a pisser because it left my gauntlets on the body. I cleared the vit, one point coming when Pew killed the Golem I had been fighting. I ran back and recovered my body. Pew and the gang had finally taken the fort and all the bodies were recovered.
I was thanked by Liquid-Smack but I had not really done much but die. Guess the Imperial on the Golem and half-killing the other helped but mostly I was in recovery mode.
I hope we can do something for Muya tomorrow.
News group tales.
The following story has good information on how to rid yourself of leaching bow-users.
My general rule of thumb is to ask the other guy if he minds if I participate. If it takes him a while to answer, I heal him (figuring hes too concerned with health issues to answer). If he doesnt answer, I find another battle.
I do this because I know what its like to have invested time and/or mana in a battle and have someone benefit from my work in an instant. Time investment example: My level 45 warrior is fighting an Umbris Shadow. I have to dance around with the thing for 3-5 minutes while he nails me with damage, casts drain spells, and heals himself. When the thing is out of mana hes now a LOT different creature than he was when I started. Now hes all melee and hes mine. Someone can come along just as Ive finished this dance and really pissed me off.
Mana investment example: My 28th level mage FINALLY casts a successful debuff on a creature. Now I can lay into the creature with the damage causing goodies. Along comes some schmoe and benefits from my magic. Boooo!
My tip for handling players that are projectile firing leeches i.e. War Mages and Archers: Get the creature to chase you in circles around the dumbass leeching human. Youd be amazed at how long an Umbris Shadow will chase you if you run circles around his spawn point. The enemy can fire arrows or war spells all day and probably hit 1 out of 10. Sadly, if the creature stops to fire a spell he often gets hit. Also, Drain Mages can maintain their typical 100% Assosity levels despite your circles.
Keep in mind that Im a tirelessly vengeful person. If someone goes out of their way to ruin my game then I do what I call "marrying" the person. Im his for life, through thick and thin, making his life miserable from here on out. BOOYEAH!
I did this once with several archers who attempted to benefit from my work (a generally redundant description of archers). I did the circle thing and they kept trying to hit for a while...and eventually got frustrated. Then they started insulting me and cursing up a storm. F*%& you and Ba$tard this, etc. Eventually the curses turned to begging. "Please! Just let us finish it off. Cmon! Jeepers, man! Stop!"
While they were typing I veered away from the creature spawn point and kept running till the creatures broke off from me. The creatures headed back to the spawn point and killed ALL three of the archers. I laughed like the devil.
They all recovered their bodies. Two guys logged. The remaining guy I healed while he fought the creatures (and killed them) and he apologized for his previous behavior. I did this for an hour and we parted on good terms.
-Eric "celt/kelt" Wescott/Frostfell
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Axemaster Setfeb has been a good friend for a long time. I loved this story and I hope you like it as much as I did.
Hail all!
I am hunting the island constantly since I got my new hardware and I have to say it is a blast!
For those of you who have not been there yet:
The portal opened by the Emissarys(sp) brings you on a small podium with a portal back to the main land (northern direlands west of Teth). Up there you are safe, can buff and look around. To your left are some pillars with a couple of Coral golems (level 340+ - not sure). There is a huge light house and to your right are some swampy woods with banderling manglers (level 120), maulers (level 120), altered drudges (lvl 108), and the occasional white phyntos wasp and wasteland rat with a couple of Malus shreths mixed in.
I usually hunt there with the exit portal in sight. It is useless to go any further because you will always find some of the same mob in this area of 1 square click.
One day I got bored and a follower of mine - Rohan II - led me to a place where Vapor golems spawn. To go there follow the coast to the north/east until you reach a Castle. Around the castle usually Vapor golems can be found.
At first I couldnt see the Vapor golem but my follower told me to buff for Cold and attack with cold. So I did it and was pretty damn surprised when the Vapor send me a Flame bolt VI in the face. I died pretty fast and came back after working off my vitae. Rohan II got killed as well and had trouble with his connection so I didnt see him when I finally made it back.
What I knew about this creatures was not much. I only knew that they are apparently vulnerable to cold and that they have an insane Melee defense. I have a self-buffed fighting skill of 357 with my Axe and use a 8-16 BD VI +8% AS frost axe that I buffed with level VIs. This resulted in a total attack skill of 446... I heard of people on the COD boards that they had trouble hitting Vapors with an UA skill of 380 +8% AS + HS VI so I figured I will have real trouble scratching the Vapor.
Never the less I prepared for battle (this time with fire prot IV) and was amazed about the sight of the Vapor. Think about a Nightmare Wisp in the shape of a Magma Golem. It hit me with Fire Vuln VI, Imperil VI and Flame bolt Vs and VIs. I healed every time I got a spell in my face and used stam elexiers every couple of seconds. After fighting him with a hit and run tactic until his mana ran out I could whack away and heal for the few points he was doing on me with every swing.
Sadly I only hit him for 10 in 1 out of 10 swings or so - with an occasional crit in the 30s. To make a long story short I had him at 80% when the level VI buffs on my axe ran out. Darn! I retreated and buffed up again. Luckily I only fizzled one time so the Vapor could not heal too much. I attacked again and after some minutes started hitting him for 90's in super criticals. He seemed to run out of stam elexiers since I suddenly landed every single swing until the Vapor fell ;-).
Vapors are definitely the toughest bad asses I ever fought in Dereth and are a true challenge for every melee player. When you ever decide to solo one bring tons of stam elixirs and healing kits and your best frost weapon with the highest attack skill bonus you can find - not to mention fire protection IV+.
Unfortunately he only dropped a crappy scepter so that I think he quickly muled the level VI jewelry I was hoping for when he killed me the first time hehe. I didnt notice how much XP a Vapor gives but Corals give 36k so I think from the toughness point of view they should give at least 200k but I think 40-50 is more realistic.
All in all it was not worth the trouble but definitely something worth doing if you look for a challenge ;).
Cheers,
Axemaster Setfeb, level 58 (800k to 59 ;)) axe champion on MT
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Nib is a long time poster. This shows that even the strongest can be brought to their knees if surprised.
How many times have you run by a lifestone and seen a naked traveler and thought "Poor newbie."? I know I have. Well, I just found out that its not always the newbie standing naked at the lifestone.
I visited the islands the other day and before I knew what hit me my naked level 30 butt was standing at the lifestone. I had 4 corpses strewn along the beach and not a sole I knew was online.
How does this happen you might ask? Well, first, I didnt realize there were two new Shallows on the island. Destroyer and Devourer. I dont remember which is which at the moment but I can kill one kind fairly easily. The other kind kicks my ass. That was my first death.
A fellow traveler helped kill the thing and I recovered that corpse. So far, so good. A little further down the beach and I see one of those new tentacle things. Cool. Ive never seen those before. Run up, kill it. It respawns while Im killing the last tentacle. No problem. Kill that. Another spawn. Except this time its cursed wisp.
Wow, another new creature. Start attacking it. Got it down to a sliver and it destroys me with a cold spell. Dead again. Run back. The wisp is down to 30% health. I figure since I got it that low I should be able to finish it off. Even with the little vitae I have. Wrong. It kills me again (thats 2 bodies).
Shoot. I run back. Wisp still there, Im without my nice sword. I get too close. It chases and kills me again (3 bodies) So, I figure Ill try the log out trick, hoping the tentacles would be there when I logged back in. About 10 minutes later I log back in and before I finish materializing Im dead.
Two foul Moarsmen killed me (thats 4). At this point Im standing at the lifestone with nothing but shreth shoes and a non-magical atlan. Im pissed and my wife is laughing at me because I have no pants (she always gets a kick out of that).
To make this long story short, I was able to successfully recover my corpses thanks to a couple of guys that were running by. They didnt actually stop to help but they got the camping Foul Moarsmen to chase them which allowed me to get to my corpses and recover my items. It has just been a long while since I felt that helpless.
nib, Atlan wielding non-magic using swordsman
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I like to help people. Mike here is going the extra mile.
Last night I was outside the portal to the Lugian Excavation High-Ore mine, getting ready to buff my Lightning Atlan for some Extas action. I wanted to get some quick cash, xp and peerless kits. There were about 4-5 people outside doing the same. Someone portaled in and I saw a female character appear and start looking around like a lost child.
She said something to the effect of "OMG, this isnt the hub...", "Does anyone have HUB?". I know I didnt, and nobody else around the portal did either. She /telld me directly, "How can I get to Qbar?". I said that Qalabar is a pretty far run to the west of here, and Mayoi is closest. I am thinking that Kara is closer, but I wasnt sure of the exact coords and its not super easy to find. I then assessed her and saw that she was level 16.
At this point, she was definitely not going to make the run. As the eclipse started to turn the sky and everything else a shade of crimson, I knew what was to come next.
Can you take me to Mayoi?"
I said "Yes".
The entrance portal to the Lugian Mine is on the side of a mountain, on a small flattened area. I turned SE and I could see the red sea. I figured it would be a little safe to run the coast, because inland there are Shadows, Zefirs, Wisps, Lugians, and Linvank Ursuins that could give her trouble. I also found out she was burdened. How fast could a level 16 be, while burdened? Since I am a sword melee, I had no way to buff her for speed. I would just lead the way and draw the nasties to me.
With the sky and surrounding scenery in dark red, we ran towards the sea, avoiding Hunter shreths, some mosswarts, nothing too troublesome. I had to stop a few times, because of my 300+ run. Our feet hit the sand and we make our way along the coast and work our way to the E, NE. There were a few Shallow Lurkers, tainted Golems and Azure Gromnies. As we were running I saw 3 dots start chasing her. This had been happening the whole time, so I ignored it at first. I noticed they were right on her, and I heard her character SCREAM. "Help!" she says. I assess what is chasing her, and its 3 Ash Gromnies. OMG, I am thinking. Not a problem higher levels but anyone 20 and under, its a nightmare. I said "Keep Running". Two backed off, and one was still on her, I flanked it and engaged. Sticky melee comes into full effect and Im getting dragged. Two low powered swipes and its gone. She runs to the beach, and starts healing. I give her a heal for 30 points, and she only had 80 something health. She said she was down to 5.
I gave her a peerless kit and a few potions, just in case. We continued running and started inland. I saw a few Greater Mattys, and I said "Hold up a sec". I figure its worth a try for a hide or horn. She kept running. Behind the mattys were more Ashs and she almost got killed again. I told her to please heed my advice. I was originally worried about the matties and her, since they can be a little nasty to a lower level, but I didnt see the ashes. She was ok, and we continued over the mountains running NE to Mayoi.
After the last hill, Mayoi came into view. I stopped. I said there it is, you should be able to get hub ride there, many people hang out near the Armor and Weapons shop. She said "thanks", and I said "take care". I said "make sure you assess a summoned portal before entering, there are many nice people in the world, but there are also many that wont help you". She agreed and I portal recalled back to the Lugians.
Ekim Sti
Thistledown
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I have had my battles with Shadows this week, mine was with two Umbris, Pan, LT and Shadow. As exciting as it was this one is written better that one I could write.
The prologue to this story is that some companions in our monarchy decided to try the Soulfearing quest. We were running west along the inner see when we ran into a full shadow group, 2 Panums, a Lt, and a Shadow. One of our youngest companions got very unlucky and took a hit from a Frost Volley 5 spell and couldnt return. Being very late, the others decided to head back but I decided to stay...
I stuck around for awhile, feeling a bit brave, feeling a bit vengeful..
Spread out beyond Respawns body were two Panums and a Shadow, positioned in a wide pattern between the forest and the inner sea. They seemed to be saying, "Youre not getting past this." Might as well try for a little revenge, I thought.
Applied full buffs, made sure supplies were in easy reach, and pulled out my creature wand. Though the shadow resisted my attempt to de-buff his war skill, it sure got his attention. He ran over, mad as hell, and we engaged. While I poked him mercilessly with my flaming shamshir, he seemed intent on trying to heal himself. He cast a few de-buffs on me and then four heals in a row, but he couldnt keep up, and was quickly dispatched.
Not feeling very satisfied, but knowing I didnt stand a chance against the Panums, I walked back to where they were. I just wanted to look them in the eyes so they would know Id be back for them some day. Before me lay Respawns corpse, and beyond that the two Pa.. wait.. Three? No.. check again - that new one is a Shadow Lt! Well now, maybe I can get some satisfaction out of this after all! I had never fought a Shadow Lt before (as Izadora) but I had been itching too. (In previous chars, I usually got beat up pretty bad by them) Feeling my heart begin to thump noticeably along with that wonderful rush of adrenaline, I rechecked my buffs and supplies and decided it was time.
Again I used the creature spell to get his attention. After a little back-and-forth, I finally got him to me, safely away from his big sisters. The fight was on and, as I knew it would be, it was pure tension the whole way. This one seemed to be mixing his attack up pretty well. A few swings of his axe to which Id counter with my sword. Hed pause to cast a spell at which point Id begin running, listening intently for his spell. When it was war, I tried to dodge it. When it was a life spell, Id quickly take the time to heal myself. Then wed hook up again and repeat. Sometimes hed drain my health low enough that I had to quickly dig for a health potion, always keeping half an eye on him for his next attack. I believe his fatal mistake was casting three Focus 5 de-buffs in a row on me. With his mana drained, it seemed just a matter of time. I was winning this battle and he was going down, by my vengeful hands. Soon, before me lay my first Shadow Lt.s corpse.
I felt then that the journey had been worth it for me. My hit and run, hit and heal tactics were in better shape then they had ever been. I felt I had in a small way made it up to Respawn and the others. Bolstered by my success, I slowly walked back to Respawns body to assess the situation. No new spawn, which was good, but the two Panums still hovered, with what seemed to me the slightest concern over where their younger brothers had gone.
In my mind I went over the previous battle. I mentally drew it out to twice and three times its length. Could I survive? Against a Panumbris?? After playing the war-game over and over in my head, I came to my conclusion: maybe - if I was lucky. So far this night, I had been lucky, and I decided to see how far I could push it.
Emotion went dead as I turned into the swordess machine Id been training for all the way up to this point. I made sure every buff was intact and secure. I made sure every skill was at its peak. Every healing kit and potion available. I put aside my sword and shield and took out my creature wand once again. I targeted one of the Panums, took one final deep breath, and let the spell fly. The battle was on.
Again, it took some dancing and playing, but I finally got one alone, away from its twin. This one hit hard and fast and it hurt, but Id been hurt before. Healing as quick as I could, I continued to dodge what war spells I could and take whatever de-buffs she cast on me in stride. Attack and watch, run from spells, heal when necessary.. on and on it went. Despite my best armor and buffs, she continued to pummel me with her fists, which really seemed to be taking the most out of me. After a few more debuffs she finally resorted to using her fists only and then I knew what would happen from here. She pummeled, I swung, she pummeled, I healed.
On and on it went. I took a glance at her health and saw it at half. I knew that meant nothing though if she cast a heal spell. Yet, she didnt.. she couldnt.. It continued like this, and, thank Asheron, my sword kept landing. 40%, 30%.. Heal heal!! 20%, 10%.. Heal heal!! Will she cast a war? Watch out! 5%, and finally.. death.
Her smoldering remains lay before me, and all the emotion that I had shoved deep down quickly came welling up. I laughed out loud, frighteningly, maniacally, as I ran circles around her corpse. I threw off my helm and threw down my sword and shield. Pulling at my hair, cackling like a madwoman, staring at that corpse, afraid that perhaps she wasnt really dead, but that maybe I was the one who was dead, maybe I had finally lost my mind or my life and this was hell. Reality pretty quickly sank in and I came to my senses. I picked up my armor and weapon and grew quiet. I had done it. Pride and humility mixed together and I solemnly replayed the battle in my mind. I was good, but I got lucky. And it was only one. There were thousands more of her sisters and, in fact, there was another one just a few dozen meters away.
Luck was giving generously tonight and far be it from me to refuse her tidings, I prepared for battle one more time. Again the battle raged on and went very similarly to the previous. I had a nagging feeling though - this Panumbris went into melee mode a bit earlier. Again I watched her health steadily whither down - to the point where it was just a sliver. I was close, but that nagging feeling was getting worse. My health was low and I realized my mistake. I had let my health get too low in my confidence, and this one had been fighting melee long enough to let her mana recharge. It was my fatal flaw, and with her health less than what one solid blow of my sword could dispatch, she let loose a demon war spell that did me in.
Back at the lifestone I prepared for my run back, which gave me plenty of time to think over the nights glory. Yes I had died, but my success outshined that failure quite a bit. I knew I had been quite lucky at times as well and that Id have to keep that in mind if I encounter the shadows again.
Back at my corpse, just a couple of sandstone golems spawned. The shadows never returned, and frankly I was glad. I hunted nearby for awhile to work off the vitae, and keep a check on Respawns body. It never opened for me, but I had an idea. Not far from his corpse I logged out for the night. This morning I logged in and it appears that no one had been in that landblock all night. His corpse decayed before me and I picked up his items. It seems Luck gave me the final nod in this adventure and I knew I wouldnt be the only thankful one.
So Respawn, get in touch with me. :)
Izadora
___________
Lastly here is some good advice from a great player.
Random thoughts off the top of my head. All views here are my own and Im only posting this on a whim - Im not trying to make anyone follow my own code of conduct. Do as you like.
If someone is fighting a monster one on one, see if they need help before jumping in. You can do this by asking, or IDing the person and checking their health and stamina. You may wish to support the player instead of simply helping to kill the monster - healing them, casting buffs, or debuffing the monster. But, when in doubt, kill it first and figure it out later.
If someone is fighting more than one monster, feel free to pick an unengaged monster and attack. Choose monsters that are attacking the back of another player first.
If there is a pile of corpses, try to only loot the ones with your name on it. If the body has dissolved, I consider it a restrained free for all. Take a few things that catch your eye, but dont be too greedy. And you may want to check the health of nearby players or simply offer a comment like, "Good fight." before digging for loot. A silent player is easy to hate - one simple comment makes the atmosphere tons friendlier.
Be very careful as an archer - if you attack the same target as a melee, that target may decide to come after you, bringing the melee fighter along with it. This exposes the back of the melee fighter to other monsters, potentially getting them killed and surely getting them upset. Same deal as a mage.
If you are a melee fighter, you dont have the right to fight every damn thing. If an archer is plinking arrows at a monster, try to figure out if they want help before you jump in. If a mage vulns or imperils a monster, they arent doing it for you - leave the monster alone. The way a life/war mage works is thus: cast a yield, cast a vuln, drain health a few times, finish with a war spell. In the meantime, they are probably taking lots more damage than a melee would. Those drains restore that health - but if you are there killing the vulnd monster, they cant heal very well. Then they die. Because of you. If you dont leave it alone, dont be surprised if the mage starts draining monsters that you are fighting.
If someone is buffing, consider lingering in the area for a second in case of surprise spawn. Totally optional, but a savvy player will pick up on it and appreciate it.
If someone is running around lacking an essential piece of clothing, you might ask if they need help finding a body or if they forgot to put on their pants.
If someone is being an ass and pissing you off, ask them to stop. If they dont, go elsewhere. If someone is harassing you, move on. If they follow you, move on again. If they they follow yet again, report them.
If someone asks for a spell comp, give them one. We are all human. If they ask for six different spell comps, you might want to tell them to go restock.
If you hate the crap that happens when you are red, go white. If you are totally bored, try going red. If you are red and totally bored, jump off the Tou-Tou lighthouse until life is dangerous again.
If you die once or twice and need help, no problem, it happens. If you die six times in the same spot and then need a ton of help, you waited too damn long and you better not keep hunting there after everyone comes and saves your ass.
Uh, enough preaching for now.
Onyx, aka
Brian P. Shea
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