Island Adventures
I knew the day was going to be eventful. For one it was by birthday (51). I had a goal of getting Mage's Self and Focus up a bit. I had hunted several times, including a very nice hunt with my new vassal Blood Dancing.
I decided the best way to achieve my goals was to hunt some Vapor Golems. I headed over to the castle. No Vapor Golems around. A much higher-level mage had got in ahead of me. One spawned and I killed it. I was well away from the castle but that did not stop the Plasma Golem from tossing Life inept VI on me. This made me useless for high-level monsters. I decided to hunt up the beach a bit more until it cleared.
About this time lag started to set in so I logged hoping it would get better later. A few hours later I logged back in and started to buff. There was another player drawing and fighting the Bandies in front of me. When I was about done buffing he ran in back of me and started buffing. Then I did a stupid thing.
I saw a group of Drudges and put a Yield VI and Fire VI on the lead one. It ran up to me. Just as I was hitting my Fireball key I went into yellow. I came out lag just in time to see the drudge had attacked and killed the other player. My spell fired and it died but I felt bad about drawing it to the other player.
As that Drudge died the pack of 4 decided to take some revenge. Normally I can take three or four if they don't chain cast. This time they were on top of me before I saw them move, dam lag. I was down over half my hit points. I tried to run and was hit for all but 6 points. I had broken contact but one persistent drudge would not let go.
I ran with a few twits and switches. This worked as the spells passed to my left and right. The orange dot fell back a bit then rushed forward. It fell back again the rushed forward and killed me. Lag was doing a big number on me.
I get back to the island and headed for my body. I get a message from the guy my error had killed. He wanted to know of it was an accident or should he be watching of me. I would have sent him an apologue before but his name was not easy to remember. I told him how sorry I was and that it was a stupid error on my part.
I did a little hunting to clear the vit and he caught up with me. Together we recovered the bodies.
I headed back to the Vapors again. I had seen several of them as I ran for my body. I killed one and a mage came up and asked if it was ok for him to hunt them as well. Nice guy. I said I would take the ones on the east side.
I killed one more and saw a group of players coming around the island. Of course the Plasma Golem had to toss Imperil VI and Weakness VI on me about then. The group was Fist's vassal Menelaus and some of his friends. He had been doing the island quest and died. Now he needed to recover the body. I said I would be glad to help.
We headed off but with a high burden (Weakness) I was having a hard time keeping up. We ran all the way around the island. I was praying nothing attacked before the Imperil wore off. Again they were doing what I hate to do. They ran past monsters instead of fighting and clearing. I know this is faster but people die doing this.
As we hit the spot where the bones are it turned into a mess. I was chased all over trying to shake them. I finally did and met up with everyone. We stared to rebuff. We got a message that our fellow Bismarck had died. I had no idea how.
Menelaus went on ahead to find his body while we buffed up. I know now where the body was. There is a city of bones and some pet Diamond Golems. His body was camped by a few Golems and other nasties. There is an undead there that when killed starts the last part of the quest.
There were a few bones and a big pack of Drudges we had to get around. I attacked the bones and between me and the other mage had no problem. Kind of funny, we took turns tossing a spell at the last one. With each attack it would switch. Back and forth it went until dead.
We tried to take a wide swing around the Drudges. That was not going to work as the land block was forcing us closer to them. I was trying to find a way past when a block of lag hit. Next thing I know I'm standing in the middle of the pack of Drudges. The other mage ran passed us in the wrong direction. Nowhere to run I quickly ported out. Very close, hit the LS with 30 hp.
I send a message to Menelaus what happened. The other mage said he had lagged out as well. I made the long run back. It was a little quicker this time because the Weakness had expired. I got back and Menelaus had recovered. Now we had to get the other guys body.
We headed up the hill and it looked clear. Then the lag hidden monsters appeared and we were in the middle of a horde. I ran to a clear spot where I could fight. I quickly dispatched the 4 bones on me. Menelaus said they had gotten the body. I was going to go back to my hunting.
As I turned towards the shore I saw several players running up the hill. One shouted, "Fist, follow we're on the quest." I have been wanting to do this so hell, why not. Ran past bones, Tuskers and god knows what else before we shook ourselves clear.
We were on the top of the Crater and in a safe place. A few more people were coming and we were waiting there. I noted Lucy the Lag Monster was in the fellowship. She was one of those we were waiting for.
I saw Lucy many times but never introduced myself or adventured with her. At that time I had a distain for drain mages. She was at the Lugie fort draining Lugies long before it became a mage camping spot. I was glad the see her dead the few times she died. I was ignorant and stupid back then.
She said she was almost there when we got a message, "Your fellow Lucy the Lag Monster had died." She said she had fell off the ledge somehow. She had lived but then a Tusker fell on her.
She was told we would find her body after the monster was killed.
Her and others arrived and we buffed up. Let me tell you, buffing in a large group of Mages is not fun. I had to carefully watch the text to see if my spells had fizzled or not. To much noise to tell any other way.
Myself and Heideggar had finished buffing. Heideggar said he was going to take a look. I followed him. No sooner did I hit the ledge than I had Life inept VI tossed on my by a Plasma Golem. The other Golem must have passed the word to keep and eye out for me.
Now I knew that my 308 war was not going to touch the stuff in this hole. About all I could do was put Yield on everything to help the mages out. They did not need me. The mages and fighter quickly killed everything. I was surprised to see the big bad monster looked like a normal Magna Golem. I had no trouble putting Yield VI on it.
Now the hard part, getting Lucy's body back. We headed up the hill and fought a lot of Plasma Golems, Sliver Tuskers and Fire stuff. Lucy got the body and we quickly ran out of there.
Everyone rebuffed and headed over the hills into the harbor. I had gotten much lighter by this point. Before we started I dumped most of the loot I had found that day so I could move. I was surprised to see I was still having problems keeping up. A quick check showed me at 130 burden! Now how did that happen? I re-toss Strength VI and that was not it. Looking at the spell list I found Weakness VI and Imperial VI on me. Dam Plasma Golems.
So again I had to hang back in the fight. I was tossing Imperils on the Diamonds and bones. Being careful not to kill anything close to a pillar we found the right bone and killed it for the portal.
After a long download we were ready for the last part of the quest. There were a few others but in our group was Egg Shan', Dragon Dancer, Nynaevese Sedai, Nephtays, Supra-Sword, Lucy the Lag Monster, Heideggar and Quartz. I think if we had kept it at just them we would been better off.
There was a bridge leading to a gate. Inside were a few undead and Diamond Golems. Of course the first thing the Diamond golem does it toss Life inept VI on me. Must be talking to the Plasma Golems. After this it gets very laggy and I was just holding on. I could get an Imperil off ever so often but the delay for the spell firing was several seconds.
One trap killed all my buffs and drained all my mana. It was right after I had buffed so I had to do it again. There was another trap that just took my mana. There are ways around these traps but you have to know where they are.
In one room we fought a Shadow. The lag was so bad I could not target it. I was hit a few times but one of the fighters used his healing kit on me. Not your normal Shadow as this one seemed much tougher.
We headed down a ramp and I lagged out. Next thing I knew I was in a room with 7 or 8 bones and a Diamond Golem. I was lucky I guess. They abandon my running against the wall self and attacked the party.
I ran at the party but there was no way around the monsters. Someone killed the Diamond Golem and that gave me room to exit. Everyone was suffering lag. I saw Supra-Sword die and several seconds later a message. "Supra-Sword says Heal." Then, "Well I guess not".
I read somewhere that there was a Lag Monster. I thought it was a joke. Well it really exists. We headed into a twisting passage and at least two of the monsters we called "Lag Beast".
We were finally in the last part. Life inept VI wore off and I could fight. I moved up to the head of the group so I could toss imperils and de-buffs. Big mistake. The passage seemed empty but we drew a few Bones and the battle was on. The lag had me half frozen.
I started losing health fast. A Nightmare Wasp had decided to take me on. I hit the heal key only to get an hourglass. I watched my health drop, 60, 40, 20, 3. And I was dead. Two high-level death items and 5 portal gems. I can live with that. I have an endurance V item that drops ever so often.
I see the message that the lady was killed. The person who got the key was told to stay alive. (The key drops on death.) Then I watch the deaths roll in. Heidegger died, Lucy the Lag Monster died and several other members.
Seems someone did something stupid and enough people followed him to split the group. After that it was over quick. My first high level quest and it did not go well. I got a taste of it. I will work mage a bit higher before I try it again. I have to be strong enough to be effective with level VI de-buffs on me. Until then I cannot be useful.
Always nice to get another point of view. This is Menelaus's story.
About 8 of us started off on the Aerlinthe quest. I have a really nice Ethernet connection, but my computer is behind the times, so I have a lot of CPU lag when Im running around Aerlinthe.
I lag and when I come back everyone is gone. Then I'm surrounded by a gazillion monsters trying to give it to me up my hoary. I portal out, and die. Luckily, my body is at the ls. So I run back to the island and encounter more CPU lag. This time, its not too bad. I make it all the way to the first dungeon and I run down the steps but then a big hairy Sewer Rat stops me. I turn around and 3 diamond golems are molesting me. Between the rats and the golems, I was trapped, and died.
Then I go back to the island and I see Fennec and Bismarck, my real life brother. We kill my vitae on some coral golems and we run, this time, AROUND the island to get my body. On the way to my body, we see Fist de Mage!
Fist agrees to help me get my body. Unfortunately, Bismarck lags and when he comes back hes in the harbor about 2 miles from where he was before. So I run to my body. I see my body but it is surrounded by all sorts of crud-- 3 diamond golems, 2 sewer rats, banderlings, relic bones, drudges, and maybe a rabbit.
Fortunately, since I am sooo uber (Bismarck and Fennec help too) we recover my body. I recall because I don't want stuff to spawn and kill me again. Then I run back to the island to help with Bis body. We run across a ravine and into a crap load of monsters. His body ended up being on the shore and around no monsters.
So then I give Nynaeve a tell and she says I can meet her on the island for more questing! I should have known by this point to go to Holtburg and sleep under a tree. BUT I am a dork. So I run back to the island and I run all around the crater looking for them and my computer crashes. I reboot hoping I am still alive and miraculously I was alive! Then, I run around the crater looking for them. Somehow, my brain kicks in and tells me, "Hey, maybe you should portal out, because youre going to die soon."
This seemed reasonable to me. I portaled out and called it a night.
Menelaus
Level 66 Uber Mage "I eat coral golems for breakfast."
Lugie Ore
I was in the Nest trying to pickup a few keys and make 500k to level. I was getting tells from another Elder member about needing a Cestus. He said he was in Lin so I looked for a safe spot to log. After getting to the end of the Nest I logged there to bring up the mule.
After logging the mule and finding a Cestus I checked all the names looking for this guy. He was not there. I waited and chatted with Elders hoping he would show up. My vassal Fu' Leng stated "Anyone who wants to get a Hollow weapon meet me at the Awric LS."
Fu' Leng is a 38 lv mage. I was glad to see him in GSA but without a stone it was not going to help him that much against hollow weapons. I decided to tag along to keep him alive. It turned out to be a wise move.
I logged Fist and picked off seven or eight soldiers and leveled to 75. I killed a lot of soldiers that day and did not find a single key. Then I ported to the Subway and ran over to the Awric LS.
There were only three of us. Both Fu' Leng and his friend were mages. If I had not come I'm sure we would have been doing body recovery later.
A short run to the Beach fort and a portal to the south got us close. I had them power up as my first trip there introduced me to Ash G's.
A bit of running got us to the Lugie Quary. Fu' Leng was wise enough to bring a shield and staff with him. The other mage hung back to provide support. As long as we did not face to many of them we were ok. I could take a lot but Fu' Leng was calling for heals quick in big battles.
A lot of times a Lugie would rush the mage. The mage would drain until we killed it if only one. If two he ran around us until we got them off his back. They both were close to dying a few times but overall we did ok.
The magic traps were a pain for them. Only effect on me was as we go to the cave part. I stopped there to for rebuffing. They put on supporting spells as protecting spells are useless here. I had to pull out my life orb and do stamina to mana a few times to get enough to buff my lighting weapon.
After a few nice battles we found the ore. Had not found a pick so I told them to wait while I killed a few and found one. At the next four corner spot I saw three Lugies in the center. As I attacked them Lugies from everywhere started showing up.
They're not doing any damage as I have high Melee and Missile. Only worry was stamina. I was having a ball. I typed, "I found a armor". I meant to say army of course but in battle typing is not that easy. Now I was getting questions about the armor I found. I finally had time to type "Army". They both showed up to help me clear them. Found three picks.
We fought back to the ore and we all got a chunk. Then I said to meet me at the Awric LS and we all ported out. Humm Medium ore? That is for making dispel potions, not hollow weapons. After we met I told them of the error.
They did a few things in RL while I looked up the right place in AC Explorer. First I had to go to the web site and pay for it, my 30 day trial had expired. Got the coordi and reloaded ac.
This time I was going to lead. We used the Awric Mine to get to Old Mine. Then a short run to the Lugie Mine. This was easer as the monsters are weaker here. We had little problem finding ore. I made a portal to the Subway for us.
I told them to take the Holtburg Portal. We had a very long run ahead of us. No danger for me but for two mid-level mages it was not fun. Both are slow so I was doing a lot of run stop. I would say it took us an hour to make the run. Kind of fun to look at the screen and see it covered with orange with our three green dots scattered in there.
We came to a lake. I said, "Nice vacation spot". That was funny until we hit a dead end by the Olthoi Nest. I knew were we were but now we had to back track to get around the mountains.
With only one lag out that Fu' Leng did not die from we got to the fort. For those that don't know about this quest try this. Open up the map and find the sun in the upper left. Near there at the edge of the map you will see a little dot. That is the fort. Now find Holtburg and see how far we ran.
I got the Ore refined for my potion and hollow. Then used my mortar and pestle to make the powder. Loaned it to the others for them to use. I also had brought a nugget to get 5 silver scarabs.
Fu' Leng decided to log there as he had another dispel to refine. Me and the mage ported back to the Subway in hopes of getting a ride to the Crater. Lucked out. Someone said to go to Hebian-to and go to a set of coordi for a crater ride. We got there with a bunch of others and got the ride.
So I have a hollow weapon if I ever need it. Lately there has been attacks on our hall by rogue PK's. Most of them are people we have removed from Elder for dishonorable actions. I know how to go PK quickly and more important to me, how to go NPK even faster. If I'm needed, I'm ready.
Mage fighter teaming
I have an idea on how a mage and fighter should team. I'm sure others will disagree and I'm open to debate. I've been wrong too often to think I'm always right.
Each has to learn a different style than solo. Each has a job that needs to be understood by both. Mage starts out with providing the missing protections to the fighter. I always have one of four missing. One of Armor, Piercing, Acid or Blunt has to go as I have seven slots and eight protections. So the mage will have to help there.
The fighter must be willing to wait for the mage to buff. This is not easy. A mage will spend three to four minutes buffing depending on lag. If the fighter gets bored and runs off to fight he will get into trouble.
Now the battle. The mage de-buffs the monster. Forget about war, killing is not your job. Imperil and whatever vuln your using is what you toss. Many times a mob will charge after the first spells go off. Mages job is to de-buff every monster as fast as possible.
Fighter waits by the side of the mage. As monsters charge you set up for a full power hit. Keep track of which monsters were de-buffed. A few feet before the monster arrives let go of the hit key. You will charge passed the monster. As you go passed you will automatically turn and attack its back.
If de-buff right you will kill in one to two swings. Now you have to target and swing on one of the de-buffed monster. If you did not keep track you may attack an un-buffed monster. This will lead to disaster so keep track!
The mage is the target of a lot of monsters and will need to use drain to keep alive. Skimming is useful here. Not only does it keep you alive but can bring down the health of all the monsters, making the melee's job easer.
I have done this with a lot of fighters. We can mop up a mob of 100+ level monsters in a few seconds. I have seen 600 hit point monsters die with one hit. A de-buffed monster is dead meat to a melee.
Melee wandering off or a Mage who wants to use war will kill this. It may take time to learn but this works and is proven.
Lastly there is a matter of trust. You see that the melee will be getting all the kills. That once in a lifetime Uber item might fall. If you find it you have two choices. Give it to the mage or keep your trap shut. Nothing will kill a team more than. "Ooooo, got a Magic Resistance VI, Focus VI, Self VI, Endurance VI ring. My mage will love this."
There has to be a lot of trust. The fighter and mage must know that the loot will be split even. While hunting with a fighter he found a really nice shield. One I really would want for Fist. I was sure he was going to use it himself. A bit later I met him as Fist de Yuma and he gave me the shield.
Fighters must also remember that every spell the mage tosses costs. Sometimes that cost is very high. Fighters have expenses of mana stones and other item but generally a mage is in more need of money. Two pyreal scarabs burns can cost as much as a mana stone. Burning a scarab on a level VII spell will cost the mage 44k. Remember this when it comes time to split the loot.
A fighter knows true joy when moping up mobs of high level monster in seconds. If they want to keep doing it they better be making the mage happy.
Dragging
I'm commenting on this because I was almost killed three times by draggers. What happens is your running somewhere. You keep close to the beach as the land blocks sometimes push you there anyway. Any monsters are ignored as you can out run them.
The problem with this is the poor guy fighting for his life you run by. The mob on your tail will lose track of you and return the their spawn site. As they do they will find the guy you ran passed. The person now has twice as many monsters as he can fight.
My Archer died this way last week. I was in big battles three times this week where this happened. If you have to run somewhere, try to keep away from the beach. If you have a mob on your tail and you see a fight, head out to sea. If there is no way to shake the mob, fight it. Don't leave your trash for someone else to pick up.
Newsgroup tales.
I wasn't going to include any tales this column but saw the below and had to add it. I hate thieves and love helpers. This story has both.
Finally I did it, I got my 16th mote. I have worked long and hard to achieve this as does anyone else who goes for the Atlan(Even those who purchase from Ebay, they work for their money in RL). So what is a guy to do when he has 2 pyreal bars and no Alchemy skill at all? Find a nice person to help! So first thing I @tell two RL friends that are on and ask if they know anyone. Unfortunately they dont. So what next? Go to a populated place and put out the word! But where to go? HUB. My first impulse was someone is going to take them and leave dont do it! And then I said to myself not everyone is bad, give it a shot.
I portal recall to the HUB and @tell a few times for help and finally a player by the name of Kazushi asks what are you willing to offer. Honestly I was only able to offer a C note for the effort. He gladly accepted that. I gave him the C note and the bars. He then told me he would need buffs. So I started to ask people if they could buff him and he logged. At first I was like WTF?? He took off with them. Then he logged back on and said he got disconnected and asked if I found help. I said I was working on it and then he logged again. This time I waited 30 mins and he didnt show up. I admit I got real scared by this. But I added him to my friends list and went to the Cit to gain the few extras exp needed to hit level 24. A few hours later he logs back on and I @tell him "What happened?" He said he was having ISP problems and everything was ok. So I portal recall back to the HUB and we meet. He immediately asked for another C note for arrows. I said what the hell made a bit of money today and give another C note to him. He said later and took off. I was like wait a minute I need my bars back.
Kazushi then messaged me "No you dont, I need them!" I chased him to the bottom and lost him. I was furious I had just realized what had happened. He then messaged me again saying "Get it yet?" I got it.
So I LS recall back to Lin and message my patron, Kaneda Rashoku, to switch to a mule and give me his undivided attention, I needed to talk! Kaneda did so and I told him what happened. He was furious also, he helped me earn those motes more than anyone. He even traded some stuff he was saving for a few and spent a great deal of money on some as well. He worked for me even though I never asked him too. He @tells Kazushi and gets squelched, after all his chars get squelched by Kazushi. He proceeds to spread the word to his contacts in Allegiances.
At this point I cant take it and need fresh air, so I grab the phone and head outside to smoke. I call Stan D Andeliver at home and tell him what happened. He was very upset by this also and messaged his Allegiances and friends trying to get more info on this guy. Alas nothing panned out. So we talk and then I go back inside and make plans to go to Rocky with my patron and start over. There is no chance of getting my bars back!
Kaneda and I are halfway to Rocky when Stan @tells me. I will have 2 pyreal bars for you tomorrow. I am stunned I dont know what to say. He put the word out and someone came forward to help. It was Nera, a RL friend and co-worker. She had 2 HQ Ingots and gave one to Stan for me. Kaneda and I were ecstatic and happy as hell. Two nights ago we had gotten 2 of the minor Atlan Stones and decided while the mood was right to get the other two. So we went to Mayoi and went for the one there. After we each got one. Stan @tells me, I have the Ingot where do you want to meet? I said I am almost to Nanto now and he met us there and gave it to me. My Atlan in hand!! This day is indescribable!! I honestly do not know what to say. Of course these are my RL friends and ex-roommates. They have always helped when I needed
it, but this is time invested into something and they are giving it. I didnt expect this much help. The most I wanted was to get the word out about Kazushi. Let people know that he is not nice and dont trust him. They came to my aid when needed.
My patron was happy for me. He and I dont have a normal patron / vassal relationship. Yeah he helps me and we quest together a lot. But I also help him and I do things for him when I can. We are more like two friends playing together. We met in game 9 months ago and he helped me when I first started and has been with me through it all. He even kept in touch when I didnt play for six months. Kaneda Rashoku is one of the nicest guys in the world, even if I do get him killed every now and then. He went with me to the north shore of Dearth tonight to get the last Minor stone. I had portal recall and could have left him and he urged me too, but I stayed with him and ran back beside him almost the whole way till we spilt for the night in Holtburg. I am the luckiest player in the game because of him.
Now back to my friends. Stan D Andeliver and Nera I thank them for their selfless efforts to help even though I never asked for that much. I am the luckiest player and person to have friends like this.
Today I have learned a valuable lesson: There are wonderful, selfless people out there. And there are bad, selfish people in Dearth. Be damn careful!
Once again thank you to Kaneda, Nera, and Stan, you make the game worth it.
I ask that anyone who reads this, please get the word out. Kazushi is not to be trusted. His mule is Mule of Banana. Watch him carefully.
Thank you,
Ima Drizzit / Galathanas
Thistledown
No comments:
Post a Comment