Tusker Camp
Saw on the map there was a Tusker camp southwest of the spot I start for the island. I decided to check it out. I had never seen one of these camps. I heard of Tuskers, Hollow Minion's and Virindi there.
It was a typical Direlands run, lot of nastys trying to make a meal out of me. Most were easy kills but had at least one hard fight with some bandies. Lot of level VI de-buffs which I really hate.
Finally I got to the spot. It was on a plateau. With pre-GSA I felt I had a shot at the Tumideon Minions. Just had to do some hit and run. One Tusker Guard attacked me and I made short work of it.
Now the question was, what to attack it with? Lets see, they look like scarecrows so maybe fire. Got a yield after a resist on one. Two chased me for a bit. I ran back and got fire Vuln on it. Only it came so I guess they have to same AI as a lot of the monsters.
Fireball was resisted twice and I was taking bad damage. The third fireball hit and did about 36 damage. Well, fire is not it. I was lucky in that it ran back to the spawn point. I was at 40hp and low on mana. I had a vassal waiting for me so I figured I would try this some other time. Anyway two resists in a row, at 313 skill, with a yield VI on it, might mean I don't want to hunt them anyway.
The Lugie Disc's me.
I promised Jeff Sailor Bane I would take him to the new Lugie place when he hit 30. He did that this week. He has limited playing days so we set it up for Saturday. Got a call on Thursday morning that he has to do a special project this weekend and could not make it. Good news was he was off early and could do it then.
I finished off the buffing cycle Mage was doing and logged Fist. Jeff got on and we ran from Lin to Awric. Taking Awric mine we got to Old Mine. From there we ran to the Fortress. After looking around we headed down the east side to try and find the portal. I would do the big jump off the mountain but Jeff could not follow me if we went that way.
I got lost but we ran into some Elders who know the way. Seems there is a route down the west side that is much shorter and will not get you lost.
While running along the west side we encountered three Extra with hollow rocks. I charged in and the other four we a bit behind me. Rocks hurt. I was taking good damage as one of them was off to the side and away from my shield. I was at 100 hit points and hoping to take out the one before I healed. Big mistake.
I don't know that the hit was but it was over 100 with a single rock. Now the funny part.
The Lugie sent me a tell, "Stay way soft one, your kind is no longer a challenge to me." Or something to that affect. First time I had a laugh over a death.
My mage on WE is camping the Lugie fort near Qbar, I get insults every time one resists me. This is something new the role-players are going to love.
Jeff does the Fortress.
After we got to the dungeon I started to lag a bit. I found out that Zone Alarm will lock up AC with a hit, even if you have the pop-up's turned off.
We met another player who was there to recover his body. I buffed his robe and let him join us. Got his body a short time later.
Jeff is doing very well there. He found he can take an Extra one on one. This surprised a few people including me. The 40+ level fighters were leaching me because they are afraid to fight them.
At one point I lagged out and lock up from Zone Alarm. When I got back I was in the middle of 6 Extras. Good thing they did not have hollow rocks. Had to use a lot of stamina elixirs to finish them off.
When Jeff and I got to the Fortress proper he was amazed. Turbine did an outstanding job with it. Last word Jeff told me was he wanted to do it again. He wants to show his wife the Fortress but cannot get there alone. Have to find a day where all three of us can get together.
Words have power
It is strange how a simple question can turn someone in a totally different direction. The question in this case was directed to Menelaus. It was "Why are you yielding the Corals?" The reason for the question was that Menelaus is a 72lv mage. The questioner felt at that level he should not have to toss yield.
This got Menelaus to take a look at his himself. Menelaus is a 2nd generation template. This means a lot of skill but few if anything spec'ed. He asked me a few questions and broke out splitpea. He found that a 55lv Battlemage was as strong as his 72lv Archmage. (Battlemage spec War, Life, Mana conversion at 7, Item at 20, Creature at 50)
So now there is a Menelaus II. We went over to a spot I found while exploring with Fist one day. This spot has about eight Lugies around a tower. It is a bit of a run there.
I put Yield VI and Lighting Vuln on them and Menelaus II killed them. Then we would log and do other things for 10 minutes. After 10 minutes we would long them back and do it again. This saved on buffing.
I got him to 8th Level and he had to leave. Funny, without Item getting back to Qbar was going to be hard for him. I had subway but he might not live from the jump. Still I think he should have tried but he had a different plan.
With the new looting command this works. He @Lifestone and gave me permission to loot him. I got his helm and use the subway to get to Qbar. I think we will be seeing @Lifestone and permit a lot.
Last word he was 19lv and using another restarting mage to powerlevel each other.
Changes in the game.
Speaking of the new permit command I'm reminded how much the game has evolved. Over time there has been a lot of changes. Everyday there is fewer of the old timers left that remember how it was. I'm going to bring us back in time a bit.
First big change did not affect me at all. This was a shorting of the range on drain and harm. Before that change drain and harm were at the same range as other life spells. There was a lot of bitterness over that one. Some said that Life mages were over.
Snow and robes were what I remember next. Until that change there were no robes. When I logged that day everyone was wearing one.
Snow was cosmetic but robes affected mages a lot. At the same time the big Mattie was in the game for a month. This was a mage only monster. I cannot confirm it but I was told no fighter ever defeated one. I gave it a shot and had to run. Of course the Mattie Robes had a big affect on the game.
The biggest change of all was sticky. I'm sure this was put in so a melee PK could hit a running mage. They had a lot of stuff on how it was so a melee could protect but we knew it was just words. This change was a PK only change that the rest of us had to suffer with. Up until then a melee or monster could not hit if you ran.
A lot of mages re-rolled for melee defense after sticky. Mages did not do all the buffing we do now. If you could run you were safe.
Along with sticky came big problems that people take as a part of the game now. The biggest problem was the swapping of position. Before sticky where you started the battle was where you stayed. No dancing while the server tried to figure out where you were. This made fights much safer for a melee. After sticky that safe spot you planted yourself in was not so safe. Many a fight I start safely with my back to the wall, only to be swap and have my back to a pack of monsters. It was without a doubt the worst thing ever done to the game.
After a bad change they made the best change. When we started the game we had to rely on what Turbine told us. They recommended specializing a lot. Some smart person found that the difference between a spec and non-spec skill was only 10 points. This took some time as there was no charts to track the difference.
A lot of people restarted with a lot of skills and nothing spec'ed. Turbine took a look at this and saw it was unfair. There was a lot of talk on the boards and a Turbine person admitted a change was coming. We logged on after that patch to a big increase to our spec'ed skills.
Atlen weapons and Shadow armor were next. When they first came out there was a general ignorance to the importance of elemental protections. The first person to point this out was Pyreal Rat. He had stories on how he could one-shot people with an elemental arrow. When looking at armor we only saw the AL.
Atlens and Shadow armor really brought this out. Atlens gave people more opportunity to get elemental weapons. Shadow armor had great protection and people started looking at their armor. Many found they had no protection to fire, cold and lighting. With more and more monsters having elemental attacks Shadow armor became very important.
Then it was nerfed. Seems the armor was too good. I have a set of the pre-shadow armor I can attest to this. It is much better than any armor in the game. The nerf came in two stages as Turbine tried to figure out what they were going to do with it.
For one month the armor created was less than the pre-shadow. The next month you could add stones to shadow armor to make them good against all but one element. I don't know if the armor for that month was converted to what we currently have or if it still different. Someone send me a letter if you know.
Lately we have found that post-shadow can be made as powerful as pre-shadow with level VII item spells. I don't know of Turbine wanted that or not. Time will tell.
There have been a lot of changes such as secure trading, new islands, level VII spells, AB, harder dires on and on. None has affected the game as much as the big three. The big three are Life range, Sticky and the Spec curve.
Hollows revisited
I never know that is going to happen when I long on. With a lot of vassals and a big alliance, trouble awaits me at every turn.
I logged Fist to check something before logging Mage. Planned to run him to the island and maybe do a buff or two. Said "Hi" to my vassals and found that Fu' Leng needed help.
He died in a spot mages really should not be walking around in. He said it is in the Plains somewhere but he had a tie so I did not have to play that game. I met him in Mayoi where he was stocking.
As soon as I showed he made a portal. As I had no buffs, or even had my armor on, I was hoping it was safe. After a download we were in a passage. Nothing came there, which was a relief.
All I knew was there were Hollows there. What else I was not told. The best all around damage type is slashing so I buffed it up with level VI spells. I heard that Hollows were best attacked with Cold so I made sure my Frost Atlen was ready to go.
We advanced down the hall and ran into a load of Drudges and a few Virindi. With Fu' Leng imperiling they fell fast. Only problem was the Hollows, which attacked us after we killed the Virindi. I quickly switched to my cold weapon when I saw them coming. I did not do that much damage per swing and was getting hit.
I'm not use to getting hit by melee monsters. With a 360 melee d in magic mode and over 370 in combat, not much can hit me in melee. With my Frost Atlen I did not have the massive combat plus my other weapons give me.
Still I was given them damage and the damage I took was not the big hits. Big hits are a danger as a few in a row can take you below healing point, a little bad luck and your dead. The biggest problem was they would turn to run a lot and drag me down the hall with them, dam that sticky.
I switched back to my slashing weapon just to see if the damage was any better. Surprisingly it was. Not sure if it was the level VI spells on the slashing or whether slashing is better than cold. I would guess by the damage difference that slashing is at least as good as cold.
In any case with an almost +30% to my melee I was getting hit less with the slashing weapon.
We got his body and tried to explore a bit. Fu' Leng died again and recovered. A short while later we were swarmed. I had to run after he ported out. This definitely place for a mob of good fighters. Two were not enough.
New Spells Quest
I logged in and decided to get the new spells. I was reading a post and had the coordinates on my note pad. My vassal Bleu Sky asked if he could go with me. I had been in contact with a high level archer but of course I forgot to write his name down. Please forgive me.
The Archer said he would meet Sky and me at the portal. We waited for a Trog but something came up so he could not go.
Sky and I ported to the subway and took the Qbar portal. We then ran N/E. We ran into some Shadows which a few imperils and Sky's sword made quick work of. Archer said he was at the coordinates and no portal. I logged off and loaded up COD to check the coordinates. Either the poster had it wrong or I transcribed it badly for it was at 61.6 not 69.6.
That fixed we met the Archer at the portal. Sky had to go eat so the Archer and I went in alone.
At first it was just a few drudges. Then something new attacked us, floating heads. I had not seen the Dolls so this was new to me. Imperil worked nicely and they died quick. We got to the end and killed a Virindi for the first of the three scrolls.
We headed back to the start and found Bleu Sky and a vassal of Archer. Now it was a real walkover. Almost did not have time to toss the imperils before they died. Got the second scroll then found another portal.
This spot was empty until the end. There we found some Hollows and the Virindi. Virindi died quick but the hollows were a bit harder. Even with imperil it took a bit for the fighters to down them.
Rather than a scroll there was shard that looked like the two scrolls I had. We stayed until everyone had one and then ported to the subway with Bleu Sky.
After eating I got back on. Archer sent me a tell saying we had missed a scroll. I was still in the subway so I took the qbar portal and ran back. Following Archer's instructions I got there fast. Had to fight my way in this time.
Archer and his vassal had killed a bunch of them so I got the scroll without fighting. I made a portal to the Subway and the three of us headed to get the spells.
I'm not sure what advantage they have over the normal life and war spells. One is a fireball, other increases mana recovery and the last increased healing. I will have to check to see if the life spells have and advantage over rejuvenation and regeneration but the fireball looked the same as the war spell. Maybe a special monster will be affected more. I'll keep you posted.
The shard got us a note from a Virindi. It told how they are instructed to set up a post near the Lugie Fortress to recruit the Lugies to the Virindi cause. We need to watch this closely as I would bet it is part of the next event.
If you think I'm Exaggerating.
The trip to the C-note portal is an adventure in itself as I have stated before. Some might thing I'm embellishing the de-buffs you get there. I pasted this in after my last trip so you get the idea.
You cast Nullify All Magic Self on yourself and dispel: Bludgeoning Vulnerability Other VI, Bludgeoning Vulnerability Other VI, Bludgeoning Vulnerability Other VI, Fester Other V, Weakness Other VI, Imperil Other VI, War Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Imperil Other VI, Life Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Bafflement Other V, War Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Weakness Other VI, War Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Weakness Other VI, Imperil Other VI, Life Magic Ineptitude Other VI, War Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Life Magic Ineptitude Other VI, Life Magic Ineptitude Other VI, and War Magic Ineptitude Other VI.
White has been my vassal for a while now. He has a retired high level under Fist and this archer under Mage. He is also my brothers' patron and a good friend. I asked him to make an essay on his archer. Here are the results.
The Extreme Archer By R. Scott White
First some background about me. Ive been roleplaying for the last 15yrs. From AD&D to systems we made up on our own. We enjoyed the characters as much as we did the fighting and adventures. To us if we couldnt see the characters in our minds then all we were doing was rolling dice against numbers on paper.
For a truly detailed look at the archer in AC Id suggest checking out a breakdown by Long_Ranger on the AC Vault boards. It was this that helped guide my character.
When I was thinking about a new character I thought about my previous two that I had played. My first was an Aluvian bladesman, no magic and by todays standards, a total gimp. I played him till 41st and realized how hard it would be to go much further without magic. Then after reading the boards I decided to try the 3 school UA mage flavor of the month. He is a much better character than my first because of his varied abilities. I got him to 51st and had been realizing that he was a jack-of-all-trades but a master of none. I started thinking that I would like to try an archer to see what I could do with it.
After reading some of the boards I came to the conclusion that I wanted to try an extreme template. I went with 30/10/100/10/100/80 for my stats. I specd bow and life, trained item, and healing. I made the choice for healing over arcane lore after much thought. With a low strength I wouldnt be able to carry many potions, and with such a low endurance I would die many times at the lower levels. This character type isnt for a first time player, it should be used by someone who has played the game with a character to at least 25th level.
Mostly this is because you will need good equipment to start out with and as a new player you wouldnt have the money or access to this. Another reason is that with this character will need help from friends. I also came to realize that you should either choose Sho or Aluvian for racial types because the race weapon is much lighter than the Ghru.
First armor choice is a mattie coat. Good protects and al, with a low burden. Also found light leather leggings that were al 50. I couldnt use the full sets of armor I had on mules because of the burden factor. I also started with a 113% yumi, which made life easier. I had a mule set up to make oils and arrows so I would have a good choice as to what I would fight.
I made my character and started him out in Nanto. Reason being is that it is usually empty and some good hunting areas. The first levels are the hardest because the low endurance means you are usually one hit away from death. I started with the Drudges and Shreaths that are past the meeting hall on the way towards Lin. I figured corpse recovery would be easier this way. Time after time I was proved right too. The main factor in playing these first levels is the hit and run.
Id sight up at the far end of my compass and let loose with two shots at full accuracy, at least one is going to hit. At this point its time to start running because your lack of speed means a rabbit can catch you. Keep doing this and the experience will be made.
I choose to up health/stamina/endurance and strength for the first few levels. I used my magic to buff myself and weapon. I kept in Nanto because of the hill west of the city. There are a large variety of monsters to fight, blood Shreths, Mossies, Bandies, Reedsharks, and Drudges.
I learned that distance is my friend, and to quickly judge if a fight was too much for me to take. There were 100s of times Id get off a shot at a Mosswart and have 6 of them coming at me. It was more of the hit and run. Every now and then a friend would buff my weapon so I wouldnt have to run as much, which was nice. Once I made it to 6th level I decided to move to beaches around Tou-Tou. There are plenty of monsters to fight without getting overwhelmed constantly.
With buffing and good strategy I found I could take a water golem without getting killed. I built up my character to 11th level was the payoff for the hard work, melee defense, I took it and moved to the old mine near Qual where I could hunt Lugians.
I positioned myself on the top of a hill and used my lightning arrows, Id take two shots then run in a circle, I know sounds stupid but it threw off the aim with rocks, and if some of them started up the hill Id already be in motion to get away. This would be the only time that I would hunt Lugians on purpose. Working this method I built up my stats quickly, in a short time I was 20th and moved to Teth.
I knew it would be difficult but I wanted the challenge. I didnt want to be like everyone else and hunt the citadels. I got to Teth and found that at the time the fort was usually surrounded by two monster types, Iron golems and Drudges. So I divided my burden up between acid and fire arrows, using the towers and walls as perches letting loose with arrows. At this point my bow skill was getting up there and I was able to usually 3-4 shot irons and 5-6 shot drudges. I hunted here for awhile, building up my stats, getting mana c, which made life much easier for me.
I made a discovery though by accident, I had moved my lifestone tie to Metos and had been hunting irons, ok I was low on cash I admit it, when a fellow guild member told me I should try the Revenants. I had about 100 greater fire arrows one so I decided to try it, I went down the hall and there was one standing alone. I go around the corner to shoot, when I got nailed for 50 points of fire damage. I went back around the corner whimpering and cast level 5 life protects for everything. Moving back into range, I target and shoot, he lets off a stream of acid, 3 shots later, it is dead, and Ive got 10K of experience and a large triangle, oh how life is good. Ive been building my stats using the Revs, they are good for loot and experience. Only 3k less exp than a Tusker but a lot less dangerous to me. With magic defense I find you can resist them at times, which is a big help.
Anyway, my archer is now 43rd, took about 2/3 of the time it took to get my UA/Mage to the same point and Ive very happy. I can fight monsters that my other guy has to run from. After playing the different characters and talking to other people and reading their thoughts, the Archer/Life setup is probably the best and most dangerous character on Dereth.
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