New Server
First thing I read after the patch was a message from Greyscout. He logged into the new world and found his name taken. I had worked overtime the day before so I left an hour early and rushed home.
My brother-in-law is a Marine. He is going overseas for 6 months so I'm letting him play. Because of this I had lost out playing the day before. But the advantage was he had already done the downloads.
I had written up what I wanted the new server's Fist de Yuma (III) to be. I like how Fist (Sr.) is but he is one dimensional. Without a ranged attack he lacks the ability to do a lot of stuff. After seeing how Fist (Jr.) does with a crossbows, a range weapon of some sort was key.
In testing I found I had two points left over after making a Unarmed/Crossbow. So I changed it to Unarmed/Bow. Stats are:
S 100
E 30
C 100
Q 50
F 40
S 10
Spec'd
Unarmed
Melee
Lore
Trained
Fleching
Bow
Healing
Starting with 30 endurance and 50 quick is a problem. But at high levels they are the lowest costing stats I have. That means I can lower them now to even out costs later. The most expensive stat I have is strength followed by coordination. Unarmed and melee needs to be high and the new spec fix make this more than worth it. Bows are overwhelming at much lower levels so I can train and be as bad as a spec'd skill.
Someone wrote me saying I was giving up to much melee defense starting with a quick of 50. Fist (Sr.) started with a coor of 90 and a quick of 70. This makes the total difference for melee 10. That is 3 points of melee defense. With the spec fix I can live with a 3 points loss.
I will get Item at 9 and mana conversion at 20. Then creature at 55 or lock pick at 45. Have to see how they add stuff for lock pick.
I decided that getting my range weapon set was my first priority. Then I would work on armor. Of course the first stats to raise are endurance and health. After a few rabbits I started on drudges. Been along time since I used my fists to fight. Got to third level and picked up enough junk off the ground and off bodies to get a Yumi.
I'm sure this is not typical but my first shot with the Yumi was for 22 points on a Reedshark pup. My brother-in-law's jaw dropped. He has a 12lv fighter and would die if he looked at a reedshark at 3lv. I killed it before it got close.
No deaths but a lot of close calls. Now I need to earn enough for some armor. I'm still wearing the starting cloths.
New Spec'd stats
When I logged I was hoping for good news on my spec'd skills. I have 4 skills spec'd and the cost of moving three of them were getting expensive. I had read bad news on the news group. Mostly complaints of; "I gained nothing", or "Big deal 2 points". There was even a report of someone who said they lost points.
But I was not really worried. Turbine said the difference would be felt more at higher levels than lower. Well I was right to not worry. By buffed Arcane Lore went from 214 to 219. My buffed Melee defense was 302 and is now over 320. My buffed unarmed skill went from 323 to 340. Additionally the cost for increasing these stats is much lower now.
The Stone Quest
The lag was bad running to the vault. So bad I twice ran into the middle of a mob that I otherwise would have avoided. You cannot stop to fight, keep running and get to the portal. In the up side I resisted three spells by some liches.
The vault was not crowded. I found out why later. I had a few battles and then got into a big one. My new defense and attack power made it seem easy. I'm standing in the middle of a large mob of Soldiers with only 1 and 2 points getting off me. Of course my stamina is going down quickly. But I'm killing faster so I knew, while I might have to drink a stamina potion, I was in no danger.
A mage named Paco (not to be confused with the archer Paco') came up. He was concerned to see me in that spot. "You ok Fist". I told him yes and he proceeded to blasting them with very powerful spells.
Another fighter came up and killed one to two as well. We and another fighter whose name escapes me now (sorry) then fought in a room that spawns about 10 soldiers, plus a few that run out of the side tunnels.
After a battle where a number were trying to hit me a fighter came up and tried to use his healing kit on me. My natural healing rate at already taken care of the damage. He said, "Dam, you don't get hit."
Paco wanted to get to the stone. He had stones and I had one, and no need for another. I don't even have the weapon for it. I lack an acid weapon so I think I will soon. Paco wanted to go mainly because of the great fighting there. I was unsure but felt if it got bad I could always port.
Mainly I wanted to see of just the three of us could do it. The first time I went we had a huge mob of player. So many that we could step back into the crowd if we got into trouble. The next time I went with Badmof and a good friend. We joined a group of 5 powerful players after some aborted attempts.
So doing this with just three people would be and adventure worth writing about. (Yes I know that Elder and a few others have soloed it, but that was before a fix they did.) Paco knew the way. That was the key to our success. Between us we had some epic battles. We were lucky that the other fighter lagged out in a safe place. We were able to wait until he re-logged.
In the final bridge before the stone room we had two big battles. First one was to clear it. Then we rested and rebuffed for the big fight. We waited a little long and had to re-fight the battle all over again. Paco was jumped on while resting, that was funny.
The stone room has a short tunnel by an exit portal. Then a large room with a shelf over an L shaped tunnel. At the end of that tunnel is the stone. The stone spawns about every 20 minutes. The room has about 20 soldiers. It used to be easer because the olthoi on the ledge would not jump down. We saw a body in the first tunnel, bad place to die.
We drew out a few and killed then in the tunnel. Then drew some more. This way we did not have to fight all 20 at once. When we hit the room there was only about 7 or 8 left. After killing them the fighter ran in and got his stone. He then stated he had to leave and ported.
Paco was pissed. "Not again!" he yelled. He led us there to fight. I guess others had got their stone and left him before. We could not hold it safely with only the two of us. I would do ok by jumping to the ledge but Paco has 0 jumping ability. I learned that earlier when he could not get to the safe buffing spot.
So we headed to the exit portal. Had a nice battle there and then took the portal. He was buffing and I felt it was safer to buff on my buffing ledge. Outside is dangerous. On the way in I was lag turned a few times and could not find the ledge. I was in a battle with 6 when Paco and someone else joined in.
When I got to the buffing ledge I got a message from "The Saint". I had not seen him in a few weeks and was worried. But it was not a good message. He wanted to be released. "The Saint" was my first vassal and has a special place in my heart. I asked him why.
It seems he feels I have been neglecting him. He must have sent me some messages that I never saw. In big battles a message will scroll off the screen in a hurry. I felt bad but he said he would be unhappy if he stayed so I released him. I was really depressed.
I talked to Jarad and Sidhartha and they both assured me I don't neglect them and they were both happy. That helped but I feel bad that "The Saint" is gone. I feel like I have lost a brother.
I was full of stuff and really did not feel like playing after that so I ported. I did make about a million in points in the time I was there. I planned to add a point of strength but after 7 fizzles tossing a VI spell I put the points into Item. It costs over a million to add a point to Item now. My raw strength was 197. It cost me over 600k in points when I started adding to strength. My plan is to keep adding until I have 200. It costs over 900k now.
Earlier Jarad said he was going to a new place, The Olthoi Nest. I was still learning the Vault and did not want to split my attention. When I hit the Lifestone I met Blitz. He had just come back from the Nest. That was when I found that you could tie to it. The one thing I hate about the Vault is the run from the Temple to the Vault. The first time is ok if there is no lag. But if I ever die that run might become a worse nightmare. So while he was there I got a tie to the Nest.
Portal storm danger
After dinner I sold off my gems in Tou-Tou and went to Awric to sell the rest. Even with my strength V ring on I was at 270 burden. I was not in Awric long when I was portal stormed out.
Now this is a pain but not worrisome ordinarily. As soon as I came out of the portal two Reedsharks attacked me. To my amazement they were ripping me up! With 0 melee defense and only a robe on I was taking full damage, and Reedsharks can hit hard. I have 180 hit-points and I ported out with 50.
Olthoi Nest
After getting notes and muling I buffed up and ported into the Nest. The body lying at my feet was not encouraging. I decided to follow the right hand wall and see where it led. Unlike the Vault this place has square walls and better fighting positions. Lighting is much better too.
I ran into two fighters I know, a 40lv and a 50+lv fighter. The 40lv was an axe user, the 50+ is sword. I knew from experience that an axe user is great against Olthoi but was surprised to find her out killing me a lot. It is something to think about if your starting a new PPL. Both ladies are fine fighters.
We went down a ramp and fought battle after battle. Even though it only takes me 20 seconds to buff my weapon I never got a chance to do it all at once. It was grab wand, toss spell, start getting pounded on, grab weapon, kill Soldiers. Repeat for next spell. One lady named it the xp hallway.
We did this until the two ladies had to leave. I headed back the way I came, as I knew I would not be able to hold this alone. I found two rooms with a short S shaped tunnel between them. I got it timed so I could clear a room, rest and buff, and then clear the other one. I did this until I could add a point of strength.
While doing this I got a call from Jarad. He had left three bodies deep in the Nest. I was trying to find my way to the beginning when I found a few fighters I know. I ask them if they could help.
We met Jarad he lead us down to the second level. Even with 5 outstanding fighters we were having problems. We all could take down an Olthoi Soldier in 10 to 15 seconds. Still we had people running out of stamina because of the non-stop fighting. After Jarad got his bodies he ported, vowing to never go that deep again.
We keep going on. We wanted to see the third level. But it was just too late for me and I had to leave. I gave my apologies and ported. This place makes the BDC look like a beginner dungeon.
The questions are, are there Nobles on the third level, is the Queen in here somewhere?
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