Search for the Diamond Lord
I really could use a Diamond Shield. I figure I can take a Diamond Lord with little trouble. Mage buffs to 363 in Life and Creature and 350 in War. The problem is finding the darn thing.
I have done several trips from the North Dire portal to AB. The North Dires right now I would call Island lite, a lot of the same stuff but more spread out with room to work. About the only thing different are Ascendant Drudges, Shadows and Grievvers. The Virindi are plentiful but in the north the worst I ran across was a Masters. Masters and below are one War kills, don't even need a de-buff.
I came across a fort there. Lot of Tommies and it was surrounded by Grievvers, Bandies, Virindi and assorted other stuff. I was tempted to try and conquer it just to see if I could. As my goal as a Diamond Lord I left it for another day.
After several trips in the north I decided to try the South Dires. Where the North Dires portal comes out there is a portal to the South Dires, just north of the plains. I searched around there, traveling just short of AB several times. Not a glimpse of a Diamond Lord.
Elder has a response team set up for them. Knowing how hard it is for a melee to fight one we have several mages ready to respond. The idea is for the guy who finds it to get the loot. The Elder mages are hunting but when responding to a call it is to help, not gain.
A call went out on the boards the other day. I logged mage and asked the coodi. I saw that it was about halfway from the South Dires portal and AB. I quickly buffed up, ported to the Island (love that spell), took the North Dires portal and then the South Dires portal.
Run was about 25 clicks and I did not stop to fight. As I got there I saw trash on the ground but no monsters. The guy who I was contacting said both melee's died trying to fight it and the spawn reset before they got back.
I think they felt a bit stupid but I understood wanting to do it an their own. About a minute after I got there several other Elders showed up, Cat, and Mars-Hill are the two I remember.
I hunted Southwest until I was next to the AB BSD. My buffs were gone so I logged there.
A few hours later I logged back and buffed for the trip to AB. I had a Broken Mask I found on a Master to get repaired. I also was thinking that AB might be a good place to tie now.
If the North Dires is Island Lite the South dires is equal to the island and at times a bit better. It is better mainly because of Nobles. I'm finding better loot on the Nobles than Bandies or Umbris. As I can kill a Noble with two spells they make a great hunt. One thing I noted is that while they die easy they do have a mean punch. Fighting three I will have to heal and drain a bit before finishing the battle. Being well armored and heavily protected this was a surprise. Not too many things that can damage me with anything but Spells.
Another advantage to the Dires over the Island is steel chests. I'm finding them all over the north and south. Seemed to be more in the South but that could be observer error.
After buffing up I circled around AB. Found a Steel chest and got a creature VI out of it. Not sure if it is self or other. I know how to find out but did not do it yet.
While fighting several Grievvers I had a guy come up and try and heal me. Checking it is another old-timer name Reveer or Revver. This guy has done some really bad stuff over the ages but we have got along. Not sure why as I have chastised him for some of his actions. We go back well over a year. Did not have time to talk to him other than say thinks.
I had about a four minutes on my buff and was working my way toward AB. Reveer came running by with a Virindi Executor on his tail. I checked his health and he was full so I did not toss a spell. As the Executor passed me going back to the spawn I put a yield on it. It stopped and I put a blade Vuln on it. Rather than let me kill it, it ran back to the spawn.
When I caught up I found three of them next to four Ascendant Drudges. Feeling my oats I attacked. Getting very skillful or very lucky I guess. First the three Executor fell then the Drudges. Only a few resists.
I ran into AB and got the mask fixed. Then ported back to Lin for selling, restocking and Muling. It was a good trip loot wise. I had several good armor pieces and over two M-notes. Of course I'm down 12 plats right now so I'm not gaining all that much in cash.
One final trip for the night had me heading north from AB. I'm finding a lot of Diamond Golems but no Lords. Got to get lucky in time but not so far. Several times I have found pockets of Bandies on a fast spawn. Good xp and some loot. At the end of the might I had enough xp to raise my Creature two points.
Adding to Creature as some stuff requires yield. If I cannot land the yield on the first spell I'm in for a long fight. So far the only one I have not won was a draw. After seeing the Ascendant Drudge level I figured it was a hopeless battle and moved on.
I have had two battles where I got the yield and Vuln on but could not land a War. With 350 War on a monster with Yield VII on you would figure I could win. I do but it takes a whole lot of spells before one lands.
First Kill
I had buffed in the hall and ported into AB for a Diamond Lord hunt. As I ported in I heard Mars-Hill talking about getting a group together. I figured it had to be a Lord sighting. Asked him what was up and he asked me to follow him.
It was about a 20 click run. I stopped at one point to clear some monsters around a body. A message later to the body owner showed him not on. Checking the body I found the guy had looted it but not picked up the pyreal. I hate it when people do that.
As I arrived I saw Mar-Hill and one other buffing. Both were melee so I charged up to take a look at the Lord. I did not see them before they saw me and the battle started to soon. I have heard that their Magic Defense is no better than a Diamond Golem. May be true as I was not resisted in the battle
As I got in range the Lord and two of the Golems changed. I did a little running around until the Golems moved back. With Bludgeoning VII on it my Shock wave was only doing 200 damage. I'm use to it doing over 400. It also drained me a lot. I could not let my health get too low as I knew his finisher was a level VII spell. It was a running battle for about 45 seconds before it dropped.
Mars-Hill and the other melee cleared the Diamond Golems with the help of an Imperil or two. I checked the body of the Lord and no shield. Got a mote and key with a few expensive items. Offered them to who found the Lord but was told to keep it.
Later I found they were a little mad at me for jumping the gun. I understand and said I was wrong. One did not know me well enough to be sure I did not grab a shield and say it didn't. Live and learn, next time I open it and let them decide who gets what.
I have read that people have taken down as many as 24 Lords without finding a shield. I hope that was just extremely bad luck and not the norm.
Long Safari
It started out as a simple body recovery. I was in the hall and asked if I could take an Ascendant Drudge. The only one I ever gave up on was one that had leveled so I assured them I could. Several Elders and some associated Elders were along. (There have been several people who for one reason or another have broken from Elder. Many of them are still close to us and I call then associated Elders.)
A portal to Teth was made and we ran to the plains outside of the fort. Now this was strange. After clearing a multitude of monsters around a small hut I confronted the Drudge, inside the hut with the body.
For a while I was trapped in the doorway when several Bandies ran up in back of me. I fought my way clear and decided to work the first two spells from outside of the hut. Before I started back on it I heard the leveling sound inside the hut.
I knew if it leveled it was going to be hard. Several minutes of fruitless attempts at yield proved me right. I decided to try and draw the Drudge out. That worked and it ran back to the spawn site, a short distance from Teth.
Body recovered we were free to do a little hunting. I decided to resume the battle with the Drudge. I toss my yield VII several times as it ran up, without result. Que'zart attacked it. The Drudge wanted this to be a mono on mono battle so he turned and with two heavy blows knocked Que'zart to his LS.
The Drudge and I decided to respect reality and call it a draw. He could not hurt me and I could not hurt it. As it ran away I checked its level. LOL it was 252! The normal level is 245. The other Drudge was 248. I'm guessing its close proximately to Teth had a lot of people who should have know better fighting them.
Que'zart got back and recovered. I re-buffed and decided to head out hunting for a Diamond Lord. I heard they were a few of them in the Teth area. I got into a few battles and Que'zart joined me. We decided to team up.
Thus began a trek of epic proportions. We were not just going to run across the land, we fought out way across. Countless Bandies, Giervvers, Lugies, Shadows, Nobles and assorted other nastiness fell as we sweep over the land.
Que'zart is a 67lv sword. With my level VII buffs he was stronger than that. We fought as a team and when overwhelmed as individuals with mutual support. Several times I would have a small break in battle where I could toss an imperil on his target or a heal on him. He would make sure the few things that give me trouble (Grevviers) were his first target.
We moved Southwest from Teth. I think it was about four hours total. We made around two million each in xp and I was full of high-level loot.
Had a few funny parts. We charged three Augmented Drudges that in the dark I mistook for Ascendants. I was really surprised to see one fall to him. The next battle was with an Ascendant Drudges and I leaned my mistake. There were a few resists so it lasted a while. He was surprised to get one hit in.
Another time he lagged out while we were fighting a bunch of the Titan Lugies. I had three on me and could see one pounding on Que'zart. After sending the last Lugie shuddering with a lighting bolt I checked Que'zart health. He must have good melee defense as in peace mode he was a full health. The Lugie had been pounding on him for at least 30 seconds.
We found a farm where no farm should be. Like to know the story about that someday, if there is one. If not there should be. I might write it myself.
At the end we had a spot that seemed to never stop spawning. My buffs were gone as it finally cleared. I said I would make a portal to the Hall. Que'zart said to sweep the loot. I got a few items, including a 15k ring, nice death item.
As we were doing this all three spawn points did just that. I have no buffs at all, zero, zip. I quickly run in a circle to confuse the five bandies on me and switch to the right tab. I stop to make the portal. I had to run around the Bandies to get into it but made it was 100 hit points to spare. Soon after Que'zart showed up.
In all that fighting, covering a lot of ground over hours of hunting, we did not see a single Diamond Lord.
Gang Banging
After coming up empty so often in both the south and north of the Dires I was getting frustrated. Taking to Mar-Hill he said he seen them more on the Plains than anywhere else. At that point I was on my way to Mayoi for plats so I had to turn him down on his offer if a ride. What I figured to do was take the portals to the South Dires and run to the plains.
This might be a good idea is you know the route. I didn't but I'll find the way in time. The instructions to the Virindi Amulet dungeons might be the best place to look.
I felt that by just heading south I would find the river. Then I should be able to find a path up to the plains. Right off I got into a drawn out battle with six Bandies in two spawns. As I kill one another one would spawn. Good xp and loot but I wanted to move on.
Finally cleared that and started forward. I was going through a grass canyon that expanded and contracted at points. Decal hit on a chest.
I have Sixth Sense set for chests so I can use my keys. This way I mostly get two scrolls and don't have to camp.
Guarding the chest was two Tusker Guards, a Master Virindi and an Observer Virindi. This is nothing I cannot kill with little trouble normally.
A vuln on one Tusker had it dead from a single fireball. The other fell soon after. A single Blade spell fell the Master. The Observer resisted a blade spell. I tried yield, which was resisted.
At this point I see two things. In back of the Observer were two Gievvers Destroyers and a Bane. Not something I like to deal with unless I have to. As I was sliding to avoid spells from the Observer I noted several spells flying to my left and right.
A quick check in back of me showed Shadows. I saw a two legless and two legged. Without checking I was not sure if they were Pans or Umbris on legless or LT or plain Shadow on the legged. In any case I was not going to attack them until I had the observer finished off.
I ran off to the side of the Observer and finally landed a yield. I got the blade Vuln on and started firing Blades spells. Most were resisted but two landed. It healed and drained me between spells so it was not dead but really close.
I fired two more blades that were resisted when a Pan attacked me from the rear. Pan's have a bad habit of attacking someone from a long way off. I was low on health and grabbed a quick drain from the Pan. I forget about the Gievvers. Gievvers will defend Shadows.
Another resist by the Observer and I was covered with monsters. I fired one last Blade, knowing if it hit I had him. I turned on the Pan. A fire Vuln and a fireball killed it. I was at about 80 health and hit heal. As the spell went off I was blasted to the LS.
Scrolling up I saw that the Gievvers did enough damage to bring me down but it was the Observer who finished me off. I guess that last Blade spell was resisted as well.
I ported to the Island and cleared vit. I searched up and down the valleys until I found the body. That recovered I continued my quest.
I found the river and the first path up the hills dead-ended. Headed back down and found another path up the side. This narrowed into a canyon that likely ended in the center of the plains it self. I was not sure if there was a way out without going to the center and my buffs were dropping. It was late and I called it a night.
The Diamond Lords must have heard I was coming. I'm sure the Virindi are spying my movements. They cannot hide forever, I will track them down at there hiding spot. I need to keep this up as I'm afraid the shield might be like the Mattie robe, a one-month deal. Probably not but why take a chance.
Wedding
I was honored to be the best man at Ashens wedding. This is former Sentinel Ash. For a time he was thinking of moving to MT but ended up in Thistledown.
I logged the Fist there for a trip to Eastham where the party was meeting. From there we were to be ported to the real location. This was not public to keep the grief players from disrupting it. It is a sorry state that this precaution is necessary.
I was a long way off but was lucky enough to get a subway ride. From there to Awric and then a run to Eastham. I was afraid the road was going to be hard but found it was not to bad. The Eastham beach is really tame now. I'm sure if you move north along the beach it will get harder.
The Fist on Thistledown is a 25lv second-generation gimp. This is my second oldest Fist. When he was made we had just figured out how lame Spec'ing was. Soon after they fixed the curve and spec'ing became not only good but necessary. I was lucky that I got stubborn and spec'ed UA and Lore anyway. If he had taken life at 16 instead of Xbow and Fletching he might be a good toon.
The next day I logged in about half an hour before it should have started. They made a portal to Nanto Falls where the wedding was held.
The bride was Binah Tiffrt. This is also a former Sentinel. The brides maid as Dutchess of Windsor. Performing the ceremony was their Monarch who's name I neglected to write down, sorry. I'm guessing he was a Sentinel as well as the lines were the same as Sentinels used to marry people.
In attendances were people from many servers. I met a lot of new players and many fans of the column. At the last minute Astrangeone logged on. He missed the marriage but made the reception.
All in all it was a great event. I really enjoyed meeting new people like this. I was very honored that Ashens asked to there.
A nice letter
I got this from Mike Majeski. He agrees that teaching a player to play is much better than powerleveling them. With the DM coming there will be an influx of new players. We need to get away from this powerleveling mind set.
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First of all, I would like to say that I have been a fan of your chronicles for some time now. I appreciate the insights and ideas that you place in your column. Your column has given me a lot of tips to make my AC experience more enjoyable.
I have never thought of writing you before this point, mostly because of the volume of emails you must get every week. I didnt want to add to that until today, but after reading your "Teaching to Fish" article, I felt I had to write.
A friend (Ang la Sahke) and I, have recently convinced 2 other friends to try out AC. The first started out about a month ago, and the second a week ago.
Well, for our first friend, Ang and I fell into the Power Leveling routine. After a couple of sessions, we both realized that he was not learning the subtleties of the Game (or really any part for that matter, other than swing, swing, dead... next target). He seemed dependent on our support, and unable to fend for himself when we were not on. So we set him up in a dungeon (more in line with his level) and tried to guide him the best we could, explaining to him that this was the best way to "learn" the game. That Character is now Level 25, has his first Atlan, and almost enough motes to make 2 more. We should be moving him to the Citadel soon.
Our Second friend, we started out differently. Setting him up with places to hunt, giving him advice, and a mild helping hand every now and then. We have since moved him to a more advanced dungeon, and he is currently Level 12 and gaining experience like gang busters. Before we moved him, other players were trying to tell me to take him to Qalabar to Power Level him. They couldnt understand what we were trying to achieve, that it actually taught a new player how to play the game. I politely thanked them for their opinions (Im not in this game to make enemies, only to have fun) and left to continue the way we originally planned.
After I read your "Teaching to Fish" article, I thought "Thank GAWD, someone actually agrees with this line of thought". We feel this is the only way to teach a new player the game. If a new player gets everything presented to him/her on a silver platter, they will end up getting bored and quitting. Not to mention the time it takes away from us earning experience / having fun.
Thank you again, and keep up the good work,
Marcus Cole of Solclaim - Level 47 Slicer/Staffer/3 School Mage
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Grief player caught in the act
As you know I hate people who get joy out of making others miserable. The Ben-li Sung caught this one bragging about his grief playing exploits.
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Ive been popping out to Teth lately to sell off insignias to the Tumerok Collector there. Theyre only worth 500xp and 1000p each, but these days its easy to get 10 or 12 of them very quickly.
Since the economy nerf, Teth has become a ghost town. The population normally consists of six or eight characters with levels ranging from their high teens to low thirties. Like Weijhou, you get a fair number of bow users (Archer is a defunct template) and mages up on the walkways plinking away at spawns that would be too difficult for them to engage without a wall to perch on.
I get annoyed by skimming bow users more than just about anything else in the game. Ive been plagued by bow users for almost my whole career as a blademaster. I like to hunt out away from the population. I dont begrudge bow users the opportunity to hunt, I just dont like being their meat shield. If Im going to take a pounding from a creature, I expect the experience and loot.
The solution when Im near Teth or Weijhou is to simply stay out away from the wall. It was kind of funny today, because I got back from the Dires after the bow users at Teth were annoying me again. I had a bunch of cash, so I hit the Aluvian Casino. After the casino trip, I was selling some Platinum Scarabs at the Lin Mage tower and overheard the following conversation:
(Copied and pasted exactly, with screen shots to prove it)
Dreemaka Jr says, "are there any places nearby that sell mana stones bigger than tinys?"
Mystie Rhea says, "yes... go to nanto"
Dreemaka Jr says, "thanks..... Rhea"
Mystie Rhea says, "yw"
Mystie Rhea says, "oh you are mean one... well listen to this..."
Mystie Rhea says, "theres been this guy out at teth for the pastthree days whos been a jerk to all archers..."
Mystie Rhea says, "hes cussed me out dozens of times saying i stealkills and loot...."
Forsaken Knight says, "who?"
Mystie Rhea says, "coolcam or something like that"
Mystie Rhea says, "any way he got toasted and was in the sub begginfor a portal to teth..."
Mystie Rhea says, "while his body was tucked along the wall"
Mystie Rhea says, "his body disappeared... and i was camping it..."
Forsaken Knight says, "ne thing good?"
Mystie Rhea says, "he had over 45k in goodies on him"
Mystie Rhea says, "and a helm i decided to keep"
Forsaken Knight says, "nice"
Mystie Rhea says, "sold all his armor..."
Forsaken Knight says, "lol"
Mystie Rhea says, "made a killing on it all"
Forsaken Knight says, "thatll teach him well"
Mystie Rhea says, "jerk.... he shoulda known not to mess with me..."
Mystie Rhea says, "whats really great was i carried his gear right past him in the sub..."
The conversation started out with Mystie telling Dreemaka Jr to go to Nanto for mana stones and then laughing about it after he left. I corrected Dreemaka Jr with a private @tell after I copied and pasted my dialogue box to a word document.
I happen to know Coolcam and his patron. It wouldnt shock me if he were outspoken toward Mystie Rhea when they were competing for kills at Teth. To publicly gloat about looting his corpse and selling his equipment is not a strong defense of Mysties integrity. The fact that Mystie went out of her way to send Dreemaka Jr on a snipe hunt when she didnt even know him doesnt speak very well of her either.
Mystie Rheas patron is Storm of Fury and her Monarch is Red Rage. They may not care about Mystie looting coolcams corpse or about her messing with Dreemaka Jrs head. I just hope that Im not the only person that messages them about it.
I dont know Coolcam very well, but I was at Teth last week and the place was overrun with Umbris and Panumbris MOBs. There arent very many high level characters out there and some folks were having trouble recovering bodies. I helped clear out the shadows so some folks could get bodies. Coolcam was up on his perching healing me instead of taking useless potshots at the Umbris shadows like some of the other characters.
I think it sucks that Mystie looted his stuff and then laughed about selling it after she walked right past him in the Subway. Mystie could have fixed things with Coolcam by giving his stuff back. I have no doubt Coolcam would go out of his way to help her from then on. Instead, Mystie Rhea had to act like an eight-year old. Mystie is obviously played by a guy, I dont know any females who are that immature.
Ben-Li Sung, Blademaster Quips Personal Blocking Dummy Morningthaw
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